You Are Already in the Witness Box
OBJECTION
A Field Manual for Understanding Power, Persuasion and Institutions
LAW
✦
POWER
✦
MEDIA
✦
INCENTIVES
✦
PERSUASION
✦
LAW ✦ POWER ✦ MEDIA ✦ INCENTIVES ✦ PERSUASION ✦
WHY THIS
BOOK
EXISTS
Recognise the move
while it is being made.
We are surrounded by arguments pretending to be information.
Headlines, scandals, statistics, legal decisions, political announcements, corporate statements and public outrage all arrive with their framing already attached. By the time most people hear about an issue, someone has already chosen the words, narrowed the question, selected the villain, hidden the incentives and told the audience where to look.
The trick is not always a lie.
Often, the trick is what gets left out. The question that never gets asked. The incentive that is never mentioned. The institution that investigates itself. The emotional framing that makes disagreement feel dangerous before the argument has even begun.
Most people can feel when something is off. They can sense when a story does not add up, when an explanation is too convenient, or when a public debate has been shaped before they were invited into it.
But instinct is not enough.
Objection is a field manual for seeing the machinery more clearly. It is about power, persuasion, law, media, outrage, institutions and influence; not as abstract theories, but as forces that shape everyday life.
The goal is not to tell you what to think.
The goal is to help you recognise the move while it is being made.
We are surrounded by arguments pretending to be information.
Headlines, scandals, statistics, legal decisions, political announcements and public outrage all arrive with their framing already attached.
By the time most people hear about an issue, someone has already chosen the words, narrowed the question, selected the villain, hidden the incentives and told the audience where to look.
The trick is not always a lie. Often, the trick is what gets left out.
Objection is a field manual for seeing the machinery more clearly: power, persuasion, law, media, outrage, institutions and influence. Not as abstract theories, but as forces shaping everyday life.
The goal is not to tell you what to think.
The goal is to help you recognise the move while it is being made.
JOIN THE
INTERESTED
READERS LIST
Objection is currently being written. Join the list for progress updates, early pre-order information, launch announcements, and behind-the-scenes notes as the book takes shape.
STATUS
Writing in progress
EXPECTED LAUNCH
October 2026
ABOUT JAMES GLISSAN
James Glissan is a lawyer, former police officer and legal commentator focused on law, power and public institutions.
Through his videos, podcast appearances and public commentary, James has built an audience by explaining complicated systems in plain English and showing people how legal, political, media and institutional arguments actually work.
His work is driven by a simple idea: people cannot meaningfully participate in public life if they are only ever told what to think. They need the tools to understand the argument, recognise the incentives, and see the move before it has been made.
Objection is his first book.
