Barry Glassner is a professor of sociology and author or co-author of nine books, including The Culture of Fear, which discussed the culture of fear phenomenon. He says that many of Americans' concerns and fears are largely unfounded. In it, Glassner decries: "The use of poignant anecdotes in place of scientific evidence, the christening of isolated incidents as trends, depictions of entire categories of people as innately dangerous ... " A new and enlarged edition updated for the Trump era was published in late 2018. In the years since, Glassner discussed the new edition on CNN's "Reliable Sources" program and Comedy Central's "Jim Jeffries Show." He applied the book's analysis to the Covid pandemic as well.