Part I: Popularity and the mind -- The power of exposure: featuring Claude Monet, Adele, and Donald Trump -- The Maya rule: featuring ESPN, Spotify, and the first NASA space station -- The music of sound: featuring John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, and ABBA -- Interlude: The chills -- The myth-making mind I: the force of story: featuring Star Wars, Isaac Asimov, and Hollywood psychohistory -- The myth-making mind II: the dark side of hits: featuring Hungarian vampires, Disney princesses, and cable news -- The birth of fashion: featuring Taylor Swift, the printing press, and the laugh track -- Interlude: A brief history of teens -- Part II: Popularity and the market -- Rock and roll and randomness: featuring the Mona Lisa, "Rock around the clock," and chaos theory -- The viral myth: featuring Fifty Shades of Grey, John Snow, and Pokémon GO -- The audience of my audience: featuring Etsy, Bumble, and Moonies -- Interlude: Le panache -- What the people want I: the economics of prophecy: featuring Game of Thrones, Seinfeld, and Shazam -- What the people want II: a history of pixels and ink: featuring the tabloid, the television, and the news feed -- Interlude: 828 Broadway -- The futures of hits: empire and city-state: featuring Mickey Mouse, BuzzFeed, and Kid A

"An Atlantic senior editor presents an investigation into the lucrative quality of popularity in the 21st century to share economic insights into what makes ideas, productions and products successful,"--NoveList