Siegfried Kracauer: critical observations on the discreet charm the metropolis -- Walter Benjamin in the intellectual field -- Herbert Marcuse and the politics of negationism -- Max Horkheimer: issues concerning liberalism and culture -- Theodor Adorno and Dallas Smythe: culture industry/consciousness -- Hans Magnus Enzensberger and the politics of new media technology -- Jürgen Habermas: the modern media and the public sphere -- The legacy of Leo Lowenthal: culture and communication -- On Erich Fromm: why he left the Frankfurt School