Critical Media Studies

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The Critical Media Studies podcast discusses the interplay of technology and culture from an academic perspective. Each week we consider the work of a prominent thinker in the field of critical media studies and discuss the implications of their work in

Michael Repici


    • Apr 18, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 53m AVG DURATION
    • 90 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Critical Media Studies

    #91: The Episode That is Not on Heidegger or His Letter on Humanism (but sort of is).

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2025 79:42


    In this episode Barry and Mike talk about Heidegger and what comes after philosophy and how that helps us to think about the role of the contemporary university.

    #90: Heidegger - The Question Concerning Technology

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2025 45:02


    In this episode Barry and Mike take a different approach to Heidegger's The Question Concerning Technology. Rather than a traditional "what does all this mean" approach grounded in historical context, they look at the essay with a specific eye towards understanding what Heidegger can teach us about our current digital media culture and the essay's relevance for our interactions in the age of the internet and near total interconnection.

    #89: Harold Innis - Minerva's Owl

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2025 58:23


    This episode focuses on Harold Innis' 1947 presidentialaddress to the Royal Society of Canada, “Minerva's Owl” and his appendix to theaddress. Barry and Mike discuss how Innis charts the relationships among power,knowledge, and technologies and their relations to the durability of imperialsystems.

    #88: Revisiting Deleuze's "Postscript on the Society of Control"

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2025 50:42


    In this episode Barry and Mike revisit Gilles Deleuze's essay “Postscript on the Society of Control.” They attempt to reframe the central arguments of the essay in terms of our current digital culture.

    #87: Alan Turing - Computer Machinery adn Intelligence

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2025 67:24


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Alan Turing's 1950 essay, “Computer Machinery and Intelligence” and discuss whether or not Turing's concept of machine intelligence is a contradiction in terms.

    #86: Freddie deBoer - The Indoor Plumbing Test

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 49:20


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “The Indoor Plumbing Test” by cultural critic Freddie deBoer and ponder the question: Is AI only hype?

    #85: Derek Thompson - The Anti-Social Century

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2025 61:53


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Derek Thompson's Atlantic essay, “The Anti-Social Century.” They discuss how the evolution of media technologies over the last 50 years, culminating in the development of AI have produced our current state of technologically enhanced solitude.The Anti-Social CenturyI'm In Love With Chat GPT

    #84: Wai Chee Dimock – AI and the Humanities

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 47:08


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Wai Chee Dimock's PMLA editor's column, AI in the Humanities. After a brief summary of her argument they focus on the practicality of a humanistic approach to designing AI and its possible impacts.

    #83: Matteo Wong - The GPT Era Is Already Ending

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 27, 2024 48:55


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Matteo Wong's Dec. 9th article in The Atlantic, “The GPT Era Is Already Ending.” They trace the algorithmic shift from Chat GPT to 01 and discuss whether this transition gets any closer to genuine intelligence. We encourage you to listen to the previous episode on Benjamin Labatut's “The Gods of Reason” as a primer for this one.

    #82: Benjamin Labatut - The Gods of Logic: Before and After Artificial Intelligence

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 59:10


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Benjamin Labatut's essay, “The Gods of Logic: Before and After Artificial Intelligence. In tracing his historical approach to the development of AI, Barry and Mike highlight the unpredictability of language as opposed to the certainty of mathematics.Link to article.

    #81: Jodi Dean - Blog Theory

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2024 56:12


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Jodi Dean's book, “Blog Theory.” They focus on her notion of “communicative capitalism,” treating the book as a time capsule of sorts. They take her arguments from 2010 and suggest their relevance to our current situation in 2024.

    #80: Bolter and Grusin, pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2024 53:04


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss chapter one of Bolter and Grusin's book and attempt to define their foundational term, remediation.

    bolter grusin
    #79: Bolter and Grusin - Remediation pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2024 51:30


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin's introduction to their 1999 Media Studies book, Remediation. In particular, they discuss the four key concepts that Bolter and Grusin introduce: mediation, remediation, immediacy, and hypermediacy.

    #78: Kember and Zylinska pt.2

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2024 62:43


    In the follow up to their previous episode, Barry and Mike discuss how Kember and Zylinska use Steigler's notion of an “originary technicity” to articulate a third position between the philosophy Raymond Williams and Marshall McLuhan.

    #77: Kember and Zylinska - Mediation and the Vitality of Media pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2024 56:12


    This is the first of two episodes on Kember and Zylinska's essay “Mediation and the Vitality of Media” from their book, Life after New Media: Mediation as a Vital Process (2012). Barry and Mike discuss the problems with and reasons for the binary divisions in media theory, particularly the way in which the field understands the relations between “old” and “new” media. Kember and Zylinska note that the contradictions in the field stem from unresolved tensions in the McLuhan/Williams debate. We discuss their attempts to overcome the binary.

    #76: Bruno Latour - "On Actor-Network Theory: A few clarifications"

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2024 69:28


    Barry and Mike discuss Bruno Latour's essay, “On Actor-Network Theory: A few clarifications.” They work through his key terms in an attempt to better understand the new meanings he ascribes to actors and networks and what this theory allows us to do with media theory.

    clarifications bruno latour actor network theory
    #75: Distant Early Warning: a reflection on media environments and art after McLuhan

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2024 55:38


    In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion of William Burroughs' cut-up method. They introduce Alex Kitnick's arguments about the Media is the Massage from his book Distant Early Warning: Marshall McLuhan and the Transformation of the Avant-Garde in order to illuminate Burroughs' practice.

    #74: Burroughs - The Cut-Up

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2024 53:32


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss William Burroughs' 1963 manifesto “The Cut-Up Method.” We worry over some contradictions and tensions in his “new” method of writing.

    #73: Evgeny Morozov - Can AI Break Out of Panglossian Neoliberalism?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2024 58:57


    #73 In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “Panglossian Neoliberalism,”a term that Evgeny Morozov uses to describe the place of generative AI in thehands of venture capitalists.Can AI Break out of Panglossian Neoliberalism?The True Threat of Artificial Intelligencea sense oF rebellion podcast

    #72: Simone Weil -- Attention

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2024 51:59


    This is a look back at our 3/3/23 episode on Simone Weil.

    #71: Bernard Steigler - What Makes Life Worth Living, pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2024 55:00


    In this episode Barry and Mike return to Bernard Steigler's What Makes Life Worth Living: On Pharmakology. They tease out Steigler's terms proletarianism and disintoxification, as well as our possible roles in resisting the poison and fostering the growth of the cure in the pharmakon.

    #70: Bernard Steigler - What Makes Life Worth Living

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2024 47:35


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Bernard Steigler's 2010 book, What Makes Life Worth Living: On Pharmacology. They reconsider their understanding of the pharmakon from Steigler's other work and discuss the significance of care in pharmakology.

    #69: On Life's Terrifying Vacuity: Chayka, Han, and Benjamin.

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2024 57:27


    In this episode, Barry and Mike finish their discussion of Chayka on Han and Benjamin's essay, “The Storyteller.” In teasing out Han and Benjamin's ideas about the distinction between narration and information, they land on the problem posed by the contemporary digital campfire.

    #68: Benjamin - The Storyteller

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2024 49:30


    In this episode, Barry and Mike focus exclusively on the distinction between the storyteller and the novelist as explained in Walter Benjamin's 1936 essay, “The Storyteller.”

    #67: Kyle Chayka - "The Internet's New Favorite Philosopher - Byung-Chul Han

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 38:49


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Kyle Chayka's assessment of the “Internet's New Favorite Philosopher,” Byung-Chul Han. For those unfamiliar with Han's media theory, we encourage you to click the link above and read the Chayka article before listening to the episode.

    #66 Sonny Bunch - The Future of Media is Passive

    Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2024 49:11


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the “Sonny Bunch Hosts the Bulwark Goes to Hollywood” episode “The Future of Media is Passive” and the notion of “linear streaming.” The ponder what it says about our distracted worlds.

    #65: Andrew Milne - Tourists in our own Reality: Susan Sontag's Photography at 50

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2024 69:44


    In this episode Barry and Mike talk about Andrew Milne's essay, “Tourists in our own Reality: Susan Sontag's Photography at 50” in an attempt to update her arguments for the digital age. They puzzle over what it means to have an authentic relationship to photographs, or to be authentic ourselves.

    #64: Jonathan Crary - Scorched Earth, pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2024 42:52


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss chapter 2 of of Jonathan Crary's “Scorched Earth.” They focus on social media as a pharmacological problem within the Internet Complex.

    #63: Jonathan Crary - Scorched Earth

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2024 68:51


    Barry and Mike discuss Jonathan Crary's critique of the “internet complex” and what it means.

    #62: Siegfried Kracauer - Cult of Distraction: On Berlin's Picture Palaces

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2024 47:22


    Barry and Mike discuss Siegfried Kracauer's 1926 essay "Cult of Distraction: On Berlin's Picture Palaces." Written nearly 100 years ago, the essay is strangely relevant to our current political landscape. We pay special attention to Kracauer's unique notion of distraction, which contra Stiegler, Kracauer views as a stimulus to thought.

    #61: Yanis Varoufakis - Technofeudalism

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2024 45:01


    Barry and Mike discuss Yanis Varoufakis' book, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, and the challenge it presents to Marxist theories about global capital.

    Evgeny Morozov - Only Disconnect

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 16, 2024 38:41


    In this episode Barry and Mike relate Evgeny Morozov's 2013 New Yorker essay, “Only Disconnect” to their previous discussion of A. Romero's meditation on boredom and distraction and the internet.

    Alberto Romero - The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2024 45:42


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century,” Alberto Romero's polemical defense of boredom in the media entertainment age. They discuss whether it's possible to be bored today in the way that Romero seems to require.

    Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 19, 2024 70:11


    In this episode Barry and Mike return to the earlier discussion of Sherry Turkle's “Alone Together” and question her conclusion regarding the human/robotic distinction in light of PKD's “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”

    Sherry Turkle - Alone Together

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 5, 2024 61:26


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Sherry Turkle's “Alone Together” and her thesis, that though technology opens new possibilities for communication it simultaneously alienates us from each other, leaving us wanting for emotional connections. We wonder whether Turkle is right and whether authentic relationships are possible.

    Kazuo Ishiguro - Klara and the Sun pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2023 54:53


    In this episode Barry and Mike resume their discussion of Kazuo Ishiguro's “Klara and the Sun.” They discuss how differences in class and education determine how the various characters relation to Kara as an embodiment of technology.

    Kazuo Ishiguro - Klara and the Sun pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2023 59:04


    Change is good! Barry and Mike shift the focus of their discussions on technology to look more closely at what it means to be human in a technologically dominated world. This episode looks at Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, "Klara and the Sun" and investigates his questions about the spaces between humanity and technology.

    Marshall McLuhan - The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2023 63:51


    In this episode Barry and Mike wrap up their discussion of Marshall McLuhan's “The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects,” focusing on the question of education and media.

    Marshall McLuhan - The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2023 79:26


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Marshal McLuhan's seminal text, The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. They discuss the form of the book and some of the key opening arguments.

    John Law - Monsters, Machines, and Sociotechnical Relations

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2023 65:37


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the three central issues raised by John Law in the introduction to his 1991 anthology, “Sociology of Monsters”: the problem of epistemology; the problem of the social; the problem of distribution. Law argues that the coming together of Sociology and STS (science, technology, society) offers an opportunity to address these issues in meaningful and ethical ways.

    Denise Lu - Want to Enjoy Music More? Stop Streaming it.

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2023 61:55


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Denise Lu's recent New York Times editorial, “Want to Enjoy Music More? Stop Streaming It. Build a real music collection. Reintroduce intimacy to the songs you care about.” They attempt to re-frame the article in CMS friendly terms and end up with an extended investigation of the nature of intimacy and the archive.

    The 50th episode- a look back.

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2023 41:33


    On the occasions of their 50th episode, Barry and Mike get reflective. The discuss the purpose or intent of the show, their favorite episodes, what they'd do over, and the biggest surprises that they've encountered so far.

    John Law – Notes on the Theory of the Actor Network: Ordering, Strategy, and Heterogeneity.

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2023 71:18


    In this episode Barry and Mike discussion John Law's 1992 essay, “Notes on the Theory of the Actor Network: Ordering, Strategy, and Heterogeneity” and in particular Law's concepts of network composition, punctualisation, and translation.

    Bruno Latour - On Actor-Network Theory: A few clarifications

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2023 68:03


    Barry and Mike discuss Bruno Latour's essay, “On Actor-Network Theory: A few clarifications.” They work through his key terms in an attempt to better understand the new meanings he ascribes to actors and networks and what this theory allows us to do with media theory.

    clarifications bruno latour actor network theory
    Jacques Attali - Noise

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2023 68:28


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss a chapter from Jacques Attali, book, Noise: The Political Economy of Music. Following on their discussion from the Glenn Gould episode, they interrogate at Attali's take on the impacts of recorded music as an archive and as background noise.

    Glenn Gould - The Prospects of Recording

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2023 65:25


    In this episode Barry and Mike talk about Glenn Gould's essay “The Prospects of Recording.” They focus on two central arguments from the essay – how technology creates the new, empowered, listener and the significance of background music.

    Andre Bazin's New Media

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2023 74:54


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Andre Bazin's collection of essays on new media and how the evolution of television and technological development impact how we see film. Specifically, they discuss how “Industrial Art” challenges traditional ideas about aesthetics.

    Derrida - Signature, Event, Context

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2023 68:34


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Derrida's 1972 talk turned essay, "Signature, Event, Context." The episode engages his critique of Plato and Austin and turns to the relevance of his findings as they relate to AI. The discussion ends on a thought provoking read of human connection and the authenticity of language. They wonder, is AI a threat, or does it highlight our embarrassment over our inability to generate authentic language in the quest for human connection?

    Adorno - Opera and the Long-Playing Record

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2023 58:48


    At Mike's insistence, the guys return for a second consecutive Adorno episode. "Opera and the Long-Playing Record" sees Adorno pivot, celebrating the advances and opportunities that the vinyl record affords music beyond archival purposes. Here, rather than denegrating vinyl as being a cheap proxy container for art, Adorno adopts a hopeful position, celebrating its ability to save art from staleness and its ability to create virtual spaces where art can be enjoyed free of distraction.

    Adorno - The Form of the Phonographic Record

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2023 55:27


    In this episode Barry and Mike work through Adorno's "The Form of the Phonographic Record", extrapolating his arguments against technology and the phonograph and marveling at the surprising about-face at the end of the essay.

    Dina Litovsky - The Problem of AI Photography is Not the Medium, It's the Message

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2023 63:04


    In this episode Barry and Mike discuss an essay by Dina Litovsky, "The Problem of AI Photography is not the Medium, It's the Message." They channel previous discussions on Susan Sontag, Andre Bizan and Jean Baudrillard to talk about the hyper-real, the role of AI in art and photography, and where the boundary between what we consider legitimate and illigitimate may be in contemporary art.

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