Table of contents : Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements 1 A polite introduction Broadcasting and the imperative to be sociable What are the characteristics of belligerent broadcasting? The belligerent broadcaster and the audience The study of angry TV Cultural setting Civility and its discontents What is politeness? The social setting and context for interaction: argumentation A brief history of the study of argumentation Contemporary approaches to argumentation: the role of the media personality Difference and dialogicality ‘Common ground’ Book structure Conclusion 2 Pugnacious political media talk Politics and conflict The accountability interview and the shift to ‘confrotainment’ Holding the position in Frankly Speaking Conclusion 3 Truculent talk television Defining the talk show ‘Celebrity culture’ and the commodification of the personality The celebrity chat show and the harnessing of belligerence The turn to ‘the public’ Argument and the popular public Tough love: anger in the therapeutic talk show Conclusion 4 Bellicose business Business broadcasting and the rise of the entrepreneur as performer Analysing business belligerence Business makeover shows: Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and the performance of authority Business game shows: I wanna be belligerent like you Conclusions 5 Chastening changes: Makeover TV Presenters as head girls A woman’s best friend The decline of aggressive consumption Every woman’s best friend Banter and bullying Conclusions 6 Banter as playful sociability Banter as playful belligerence Anti-authoritarianism as entertainment Banter as competition Post-production banter Conclusions 7 Mediated fury: Talk radio and its publics The arrangements of talk radio Extending a welcome: managing belligerence The agonistic audience in political talkback Conclusion 8 Some courteous conclusions Belligerence matters Belligerence in the market The anger of the righteous Belligerence and power References Index