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b'The new American archetype known as the \\u201cInfluencer\\u201d has existed in various forms long before the advent of social media, and long before Kendall Jenner and the offensive brand activism of a now infamous Pepsi commercial. For this episode, we will trace the history of how corporate brands have used the idea of personal \\u201cauthenticity\\u201d to sell us shit we don\\u2019t need since the mid 1800s: we\\u2019ll hear about the early form of visual social media that swept America in the 1860s, the story of the first living brand, Aunt Jemima, the handcrafted PR industry created by Sigmund Freud\\u2019s propagandist nephew, the skateboard sponsorships of the late 1990s. We\\u2019ll look too at the psychological and biological imperatives behind the \\u201cbrand\\u201d, both those of companies and those of our own, and whether this thing we call authenticity even exists at all.\\n\\nSubscribe to Lolita Podcast now!\\n\\nBecome a Patron to get access to our brand new podcast Walk with Me\\xa0\\n\\nAmerican Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith\\nSound design by Clear Commo Studios\\n Research and co-writing by Riley Smith\\nCo-produced and edited by Miranda Zickler\\n Voice acting by Will Rogers\\n \\nFollow American Hysteria on social media:\\nTwitter: @AmerHysteria\\n Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast\\n Find our merch at americanhysteria.com\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'