only by their often vicious incomprehension—
effectively mugged McLuhan’s reputation so that 
by the early 1970s mention of his work within the 
universities evoked at best a condescending sneer. 
Students were discouraged from taking up the 
challenge of extending his discoveries. Those who 
saw merit in his ideas, even greats including Susan 
Sontag, were dismissed as victims of intellectual 
fashion.

Times have changed, but the legacy of these 
controversies lingers. More recently, 
communications history scholars have directly 
extended McLuhan’s diagnosis of master historical