Critical Media Studies

#117: Althusser - Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses, pt. 1

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0400

This is the first of a two part discussion. In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Louis Althusser’s Essay “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” in relation to Simone Weil. Here, they discuss the state apparatuses and place them in dialogue with Weil’s discussion of party politics and attention. They close this episode by investigating the tension between the individual’s imagined and real relation to existence.

#116: Weil - On The Abolition of all Political Parties, pt, 2

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion on Simone Weil’s essay, “On The Abolition of all Political Parties.” They discuss the opposition between the truth seeking individual and the party member, and then pivot to what this question looks like in the current day.

#115: Simone Weil - On The Abolition of All Political Parties

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0400

This is the first of two episodes on Simone Weil’s 1943 essay, “On the Abolition of all Political Parties. In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the distinction Weil draws between “truth” and “ideology”.

Guy Debord - The Society of the Spectacle

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0400

This is a repost of the Guy Debord episode that was originally posted on 3/15/23.

In This episode of the Critical Media Studies podcast we discuss Guy Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle. As the book is aphoristic, rather than trying to address the work as a whole, Barry and Mike look at what Debord means by Spectacle and hone in on a few particular sections (24-28). The focus of this episode settles around the question of whether or not there is a continuity between Debord's mediated society and our own digital mediasphere.

We hope you enjoy and welcome any feedback or suggestions.

#113: Merenda - Reading Arendt to Rethink Truth, Science, and Politics in the Era of Fake News

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Federica Merenda’s essay, “Reading Arendt to Rethink Truth, Science, and Politics in the Era of Fake News”. They discuss Arendt’s distinction between factual truths and rational truths and how they reveal of the interplay of truth and politics.

#112: Kracauer - Photography

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the uncanny ways that Sigfreid Kracauer’s 1927 essay, Photography, anticipates the modern media landscape.

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

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:00:00 -0400

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.

#110: Yudkowski and Soares - If Anyone Builds it, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “If Anyone Builds it, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All” by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares. They discuss the main arguments about the inevitability of our demise at the hands of superhuman intelligence and present a few alternatives to this doomsday scenario.

#109: Rachel Bitecofer -The Whole World Is Getting Dumber (And The Smartphone Did It.)

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Rachel Bitecofer’s substack article, “The Whole World is Getting Dumber (And the Smartphone Did It.)” We question whether her solution of banning smart phones from the classroom will make much of a difference or if we just have to go “scorched earth” on technology to regain our attention and focus.

#108: Alberto Romero - AI Video Should Be Illegal

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode we discuss Alberto Romero’s Substack article on AI video. While Romero argues that perhaps we should seek legal remedies to the problems of deepfake video, Barry and Mike consider an alternative. They discuss the issues that deepfake video brings to the fore and wonder whether the problems caused by deepfake technologies can be resolved by law or if these technologies should be engaged pharmacologically.

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

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 09:00:00 -0400

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.

#106: Bernard Steigler - Elements of Pharmacology, pt. 2

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 09:00:00 -0400

This is part two of our discussion of Bernard Steigler's "Elements of Pharmacology". This time, Barry and Michael focus on Stiegler's discussion of the unique challenges posed by new digital 'pharmaka.'

#105: Bernard Steigler - Elements of Pharmacology

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 09:00:00 -0400

This week on Critical Media Studies, Barry and Michael discuss Bernard Stiegler's "Elements of Pharmacology," a transcription of an interview with the French philosopher from June 2020, just two months prior to Stiegler's passing. This episode focuses on Stiegler's exposition of his key term "the pharmakon" and the defining role it plays in his media theory.

#104: Juan Fontcuberta and the “paper-hankie picture”

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “The Eye of God”, chapter 2 of Juan Fontcuberta’s book, Pandora’s Camera. They reflect upon the impacts that the shift from analogue to digital photography and consider whether the digital image “kills us just as much as it gives us life

#103: Fontcuberta - Pandora's Camera

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Juan Fontcuberta’s “Pandora’s Camera” (2014). They discuss his take on Barthes and Kracauer’s theories about the relations between photography, philosophy, modernity, and existence.

Andre Bazin - Ontology of the Photographic Image

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In the “Ontology of the Photographic Image,” Andre Bazin makes the provocative claim that the invention of photography is "clearly the most important event in the history of the plastic arts." At the same time, Bazin questions our naïve faith that the photographic image is just as real as the object that it depicts. He goes on to provide an alternative history of painting and photography, highlighting the ways we value mechanical agency over human creativity. In this episode, Barry and Mike discuss Bazin's essay and also consider how the digitization of images has further altered "the history of the plastic arts." We hope you enjoy it!

#101: Heidegger - The Thing, pt. 2

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0400

This is the second of two discussions of Martin Heideger’s essay “The Thing.” Please see episode #100 for the first installment, which set the table (jug joke) for this discussion. In this episode Barry and Mike focus on Heidegger’s notion of “nearness” and the “thingliness” of the jug/thing.

#100: Heidegger - The Thing, pt. 1

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike begin their two-part discussion of Martin Heidegger’s 1949 lecture, “The Thing.” They focus on his concept of distancenessless as a unique problem of modernity and discuss how what he calls nearness might serve as an antidote.

#99: On Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Artificial Intimacy

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the idea of “frictionless” relationships in the age of artificial intimacy.

ErikaHayasaki – “What Would a Real Friendship With A.I. Look Like? Maybe Like Hers?

The New York Times Magazine

7/20/2025

TED Radio Hour -- How our relationships are changing in the age of “artificial intimacy"

Friday, August

2, 2024

#98: The Re-enchanted World - Karl Knausgaard

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Karl Ove Knausgaard’s article, “The Reenchanted World: On Finding Mystery in the Digital Age.” They examine Knausgaard’s proposed solution to the problem of the separation of knowledge from experience in an increasingly technological world.

#97: AI in Art. A follow up to the Rob Horning discussion.

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion of the place of AI in art. They experiment with Suno and discuss the results. You can listen to those results at the links below.

Barry's Tomatoes

Barry's Tomatoes as Rock and Roll

#96: Rob Horning - No One's Version

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Rob Horning’s Substack essay, “No One’s Version” and whether the world needs an AI generated song about Barry growing tomatoes in the style of “Sympathy for the Devil” with the horns from Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and a guitar line to be determined (we think it does).

#95: Jenny Odell - How To Do Nothing, pt. 2

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion of Jenny Odell’s book, “How To Do Nothing,” focusing on the importance of attention in producing critical thought. They then connect these ideas to previous discussions on the Taste Economy.

#94: Jenny Odell - How to Do Nothing

Fri, 30 May 2025 09:00:00 -0400

This is the first of two episodes on Jenny Odell’s book (and talk) “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.” Barry and Mike discuss the broad outlines of Odell’s project and attempt to connect it to Daisy Alioto’s understanding of the Taste Economy.

In/Visible Talks 2018: Jenny Odell - How To Do Nothing

#93: Daisy Alioto - The Taste Economy

Fri, 16 May 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion on

the “Taste Economy” and the evolution of the internet from 2.0 to 3.0.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUnYbLoyplo

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/11/style/dirt-newsletter-daisy-alioto.html

#92: Kyle Chayka - How to Cultivate Taste in the Age of Algorithms/The New Generation of Online Culture Curators.

Fri, 02 May 2025 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Kyle Chayka’s essays and offer a primer on the new online “Taste Economy.”

How to Cultivate Taste in the Age of Algorithms

The New Generation of Online Culture Curators

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

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 09:00:00 -0400

This episode focuses on Harold Innis’ 1947 presidential

address to the Royal Society of Canada, “Minerva’s Owl” and his appendix to the

address. Barry and Mike discuss how Innis charts the relationships among power,

knowledge, and technologies and their relations to the durability of imperial

systems.

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

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 09:00:00 -0400

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 and Intelligence

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 09:00:00 -0400

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 Century

I'm In Love With Chat GPT

#84: Wai Chee Dimock – AI and the Humanities

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

#79: Bolter and Grusin - Remediation pt. 1

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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"

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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.

#75: Distant Early Warning: a reflection on media environments and art after McLuhan

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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?

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 09:00:00 -0400

#73 In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “Panglossian Neoliberalism,”

a term that Evgeny Morozov uses to describe the place of generative AI in the

hands of venture capitalists.

Can AI Break out of Panglossian Neoliberalism?

The True Threat of Artificial Intelligence

a sense oF rebellion podcast

#72: Simone Weil -- Attention

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

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

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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.

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 31 May 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 17 May 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 10 May 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 09:00:00 -0400

#61: Yanis Varoufakis - Technofeudalism

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 09:00:00 -0400

Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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.

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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.

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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.

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 09:00:00 -0400

Jacques Attali - Noise

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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

Fri, 26 May 2023 09:00:00 -0400

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.

Baudrillard - The Precession of Simulacra

Fri, 12 May 2023 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Mike and Barry take the Baudrillardian grand tour: we visit Disneyland, Los Angeles, Viet Nam, and pause to consider the philosophical significance of the 1972 Watergate break-in.

In other words, we discuss “The Precession of Simulacra” by Jean Baudrillard (from “Simulacra and Simulation,” 1981) , the text that introduced readers to the “hyperreal,” the idea that what we call reality is a media construct, a product of the symbol systems that saturate our lives. We consider how Baudrillard’s ideas are echoed in the texts by Plato, Susan Sontag, and Andre Bazin recently discussed on the CMS podcast, and flash forward to discuss the current furor over ChatGPT and college writing instruction. Along the way, Barry proves beyond any reasonable doubt that he hasn’t read William Blake for a long, long time…

Andre Bazin - Ontology of the Photographic Image

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0400

Susan Sontag - In Plato's Cave

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Susan Sontag’s essay In Plato’s Cave from her book: On Photography. In this essay Sontag argues that photographs are much like the images that the prisoners in Plato’s cave see reflected on the walls: representations of reality, but not reality itself. Sontag argues that, like Plato’s prisoners, we too have difficulty distinguishing the image from the event that they represent. Additionally, she claims that these images, though different than what they represent, still have the power to produce an emotional response from viewers.

Barry and Mike bring Sontag’s arguments from 1977 to our current digital existences and investigate current experiences with images, noting that in many ways the differences between the real and the image, as well as the implications of our difficulties in distinguishing between the two haven’t changed all that much in the last 45 years. They focus on Sontag’s claims about nostalgia and negative empathy as being products of our interactions with photography and try to figure out what that means in our current situation.

Jonathan Crary- 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Jonathan Crary’s book, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep. Though there are a few detours, the discussion focuses on two of Crary’s central arguments: the devaluation of sleep, and the human cost of living as a part of the technological spectacle (to borrow a little bit from DeBord). The discussion goes a little bit long, but we had a really good time talking about this. We hope you enjoy!

Guy Debord - The Society of the Spectacle

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 09:00:00 -0400

We hope you enjoy and welcome any feedback or suggestions.

Simone Weil - Attention

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the French Christian mystic Simone Weil and her focus on attention and its role in the “right way” of doing things. This discussion picks up on the previous episode with Byung Chul Han regarding distraction and multi-tasking. Though this chat functions as a stand-alone discussion, In some ways this is a continuation of that previous discussion. If you’ve not done so, you may want to listen to the previous episode first. Either way, we hope you enjoy!

As always, please feel free to leave us comments or questions. We love to hear from you!

Byung Chul Han - Boredom and Multitasking

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Byung Chul Han’s “The Burnout Society” with an eye to his discussion of multitasking and the loss of what Han calls “profound boredom.” The discussion invokes Bernard Steigler’s concept of noesis and Jauques Eleul’s concept of technique as a means of better understanding the spaces of focus and attention in the modern world.

Raymond Williams - Television, pt. 2

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike pick up their discussion on Raymond Williams’ monograph, Television: Technology and Cultural From. In their previous episode they covered the idea that media technologies are answers to specific problems, rather than inventions looking for applications.

In this episode they discuss how Williams’ ideas fit and clash with Marshal McLuhan’s ideas of media as being self-determining. In short, they look at whether the tensions between Williams and McLuhan is a case of a terminological incompatibility, or whether the two philosophies of media technologies really do argue for different models and outcomes.

Raymond Williams - Television, pt. 1

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike begin their discussion of Raymond Williams’ 1974 book, Television. Their discussion revolves around the question of the place and purpose of media as a social process. The crux of the debate revolves around the question: Is television a solution looking for a problem, or is it, rather, the form that contains both? As a part of this, naturally, they go back to “their dear friend” Marshall McLuhan, who functions as a useful foil in teasing out the threads of possible insights.

As always, we hope you enjoy!

Adorno and Horkheimer - Antisemitism and takeaways

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike wrap up their discussion on The Dialectic of Enlightenment by taking on the final section on antisemitism and then offering their takeaways from the book. It’s a long discussion that covers a good bit of ground. Among other topics, they spend time talking about the dangers of partially understood ideologies, the role of access to public services (and how belonging to the to public creates impressions of authenticity), and the problems of conflating access with progress.

Horkheimer and Adorno - The Culture Industry

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 09:00:00 -0400

What do Taylor Swift, Beethoven, and Raidohead have in common?

In the fourth part of their series on Horkheimer and Adorno’s

“Dialectic of Enlightenment” Barry and Mike talk about the “Culture Industry.” Among other topics, they discuss how money influences how art gets made and how capitalism impacts media.

We hope you enjoy!

Horkheimer and Adorno - Juliette or Enlightenment and Morality

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Horkheimer and Adorno – Juliette or Enlightenment and Morality

In this episode, Barry and Mike discuss "Excursis two: Juliette or Enlightenment and Morality," from Horkheimer and Adorno's "The Dialectic of Enlightenment." Here Adprno and Horkheimer argue that, despite their many differences, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant and the French libertine writer the Marquis de Sade shared one idea in common: they both believed that Enlightenment reason could be wholly separated from moral concerns. In doing so, they both made it intellectually respectable to subordinate morality to power and thus indirectly led to the rise of fascism.

We had to leave a lot of ideas from this chapter on the table to keep the episode at a manageable length. There' s a lot more here to discuss: as always, we welcome your comments!

Horkheimer and Adorno - Odysseus or Myth and Enlightenment

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike take on Odysseus or Myth and Enlightenment, the second chapter of Horkheimer and Adorno’s “Dialectic of Enlightenment,” focusing on three key moments in the story of Odysseus' journey: the encounters with Circe, the Cyclops, and his return home. They explore the ways that Horkheimer and Adorno’s understanding of Enlightenment thinking is manifest in Odysseus’ actions, perhaps most evident in his uncanny ability to leverage myth in order to succeed in his endeavors. In Barry’s words, “He’s a problem solver, that Odysseus.”

Horkheimer and Adorno - The Concept of Enlightenment

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 09:00:00 -0400

The people have spoken! One of our listeners, Jessica, asked if we would do an episode on the Frankfurt school, preferably Horkheimer and Adorno. And when you folks ask, we oblige!

In prepping for an episode on chapter two of the Dialectic of Enlightenment, Barry and Mike asked the age old question: Why just do one chapter of incredibly dense German philosophy when you can take on the book in its entirety? So that's what we're beginning here.

Over the next five episodes we will be discussing the individual chapters of The Dialectic of Enlightenment. The goal for each is twofold: First, we want to explicate the central arguments of each chapter and then, secondly, we will be applying those arguments to the digital media as they exist now, at the end of 2022.

This first episode attempts to lay out Horkheimer and Adorno's general argument about the Enlightenment and to sketch the direction for the books remaining episodes. We hope you enjoy and, as always, welcome your feedback, comments, and suggestions!

Walter Benjamin - The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducability

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike wrestle with the idea of updating Benjamin's article "The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility." Of the many questions that they attempt to address, perhaps the central one is: Can we update Bejmanin's theory and still maintain its philosophical integrity? Or has the digitization of virtually all media created an environment where his terms remain useful as a starting point, but ultimately anachronistic?

Spoiler alert - They do not reach a definitive conclusion. However, as with most of the episodes, they do wander into new questions and attempt to draw useful conclusions. This one was fun, but a bit messy.

Stuart Hall - Encoding and Decoding

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike take up Stuart Hall's 1980 essay, Encoding and Decoding. They discuss how his arguments hold up after 40+ years and what our participation in the current media landscape mean for not only consumption, but the production of meaning as well.

Wendy Chun - Updating to Remain the Same

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike discuss Wendy Chun's book, "Updating to Remain the Same"

and discuss the political and social implications of her arguments.

They begin by deconstructing the terms of her argument that Crisis +

Habit = Update and pay particular attention to the role that Chun

assigns neoliberalism in defining the perpetually shifting nature of our

networked selves.

This one gets a little messy.

Michael Miller- Platforms of Control: Social Media and the Limits of Theroretical Pluralism

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike discuss the main ideas in Michael Miller's article. They

specifically hone in on three of his main arguments:

1. That as it is often utilized on social media, (T)heory functions

more as a means of accruing social capital than as a foundation for

debate

2. That what he calls "weak theory" becomes anti-intellectual" in its

attempt to create moral superiority

3. About the public value of "progressive punitivism" as a means of

achieving a moral high ground.

In addition to playing with the way that these ideas work on social

media, Barry and Mike look at how these ideas work in our analog

existences as well.

Burroughs - The Limits of Control

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 09:00:00 -0400

As a follow up to their previous discussion on Deleuze, Barry and Mike look at William Burroughs' 1975 essay, "the Limits of Control" and discuss how his arguments hold up, nearly 50 years later in a (much more) digital world.

Deleuze - Postcript on the Limits of Control

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike discuss Deleuze's "Postscript on the Society of Control"

to investigate all of the ways that he argues societies have been kept

in line. As Deleuze argues that we currently inhabit two separate but

related control rubrics simultaneously, there is a bit to tease out.

The guys trace the history of social control according to Foucalt and

Deleuze with the aim of understanding what our technologically enabled

freedoms actually cost and why the freedom to do what we'd like might

not be much of a freedom at all.

Techno-Fatalism and the Moral Alternatives (?)

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the idea of Techno-Fatalism as it pertains to Robert Christgau's response to the Ted Gioia article from The Atlantic where Gioia posited that the streaming of old music was killing new music. As both Barry and Mike are lovers of music (though not all of it "good"), this one has a bit of a personal feel to it. As such, there are new terms coined, ideas for t-shirts, and maybe* a bit of optimism. This was a fun episode. We think you'll enjoy it.

Baudrillard - The Implosion of the Social in the Media

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Baudrillard's 1985 essay "The Implosion of the Social in the Media", in which he offers a very thought-provoking thesis. Baudrillard asks what if, rather than enslaving and manipulating the masses, the media actually empowers, or emancipates them? What if all of the freedom and choice and desire that we fear might be manipulated or taken from us were the problems in the first place? These, and other "What If's", are the subject of this episode. We hope you enjoy!

On Advertising - Barthes in the Modern Media Ecology

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike look at Roland Barthes' 1964 Essay "Rhetoric of the Image" and discuss his theories of advertising against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Spread across multiple foci, the discussion touches on the ways that images, despite their obvious curation, create manufactured senses of what is natural or authentic and are then used to send and sustain powerful rhetorical appeals.

Marshall McLuhan's Culture is Our Business: A Discussion of Media Environments

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike take on a follow up to Marshall McLuhan's famous 1967 book, The Medium is the Massage. Here, they dig into what exactly a media environment looks like and how this environment impacts the lives we live. If you liked (or hated) the first take on McLuhan, you'll love (or really hate) this conversation!

The Top 10 Albums of All Time! Why it doesn’t matter.

Fri, 10 Jun 2022 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike take a look at the top 10 albums of all time according to Wikipedia. As with virtually all Top 10 lists, they take issue with what the numbers seem to say, noting some curious omissions and inclusions. However, rather than trying to rewrite history, they take a shot at explaining how and why the list looks the way that it does.

Heidegger - The Question Concerning Technology: The Digital Age

Fri, 27 May 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Heidegger -- The Question Concerning Technology: History and Context

Fri, 27 May 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike look at Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology." They attempt to provide a little context on the work with the aim identifying his core position on technology and an explanation for it. This is not a comprehensive dive into either Heidegger or this particular essay. Rather, it is an attempt to make Heidegger's argument accessible so that it can be brought into conversation with the other thinkers they approach in addressing critical media studies.

On Fake news and Ross Douthat

Fri, 13 May 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike talk about a Ross Douthat article from the New York Times as a means of engaging with fake news.

On Online Education

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 09:00:00 -0400

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss online education as a pharmakon. They argue that while the upsides to this model of learning are clear, there is a problem in understanding the costs. This discussion hearkens back to many of the ideas discussed in earlier episodes regarding the manner in which technologies shape our perspectives and the nature of our engagements with them.

What have we learned about Zoom?

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike return to their roots in the classroom and discuss Zoom through a pedagogical and critical media studies lens. Topics include how Zoom is a pharmakon, the importance of physicality, and the role of distraction.

Don't Look Up

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike discuss the recent Adam McKay film Don't Look Up. They argue that the film plot and characters are a representation of Bernard Steigler's conceptions of algorithmic governmentally and functional stupidity. These concepts were covered in two earlier episodes that you can go back and listen to, but they to a recap for listeners who may not be familiar. By the time the discussion ends they discuss the impact of a mediated existence on individual development, how a fully aware algorithm can predict you mood but miss armageddon, and why the idea of armageddon isn't too much of a problem but the events in the movie left them hopeless. Enjoy!

Jaques Ellul and Bob Lefsetz - Technique in the Age of Digital Streaming

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike discuss a recent blog post by the music industry critic Bob Lefsetz regarding the failures of streaming platforms to release content en masse, forcing us to consume in bite size chunks rather than satisfying our urge to binge. We consider the implications of this release method viewed through Ellul's lens.

E.M. Forster - The Machine Stops

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike discuss the E.M. Forester short story "The Machine Stops" and marvel at how timely it is, over 100 years after it was written. Using the story as a contextual springboard, they discuss the nature of our reliance on technology and the convenience it offers and wonder: is it worth the price? What is the price in the first place?

Marshall McLuhan and Spotify

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 09:00:00 -0400

What does Marshall Mcluhan's mean by the medium is the message? What does that look like when we hold it up to something like Spotify, and what does that mean in terms of how we consume and then process media? Barry and Mike discuss how the move to consuming music via streaming platforms such as Spotify changes the experience from the traditional (old) way of listening with physical artifacts like records, tapes, and cd's.

Raymond Williams - Culture, the Mass, the Mob, and Education

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike discuss sections of Raymond Williams' Culture and Society with an emphasis on how his concept of culture works in our time. We talk about what makes a mass a mob, the role of technology and communication in fostering conceptions of masses and mobs, and how education sits at the center of all of it.

Response to Ted Gioia - Is Old Music Killing New Music?

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 09:00:00 -0400

This episode comes on what is usually a week off because, well, we got pretty fired up about Gioia's article!

Barry and Mike agree (and disagree) about what's happening with the music industry right now. You can Find Ted's article here.

Bernard Steigler and The Automatic Society, pt. 2

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike continue with their conversation of Bernard Steigler's Automatic Society in the second of a two part discussion.

Bernard Steigler and the Automatic Society, pt. 1

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 16:15:00 -0400

Barry and Mike begin a two part discussion on Bernard Steigler and his book, The Automatic Society.

Welcome to the Critical Media Studies Podcast!

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 16:00:00 -0400

Barry and Mike introduce themselves and the show. We talk about who we are, where and how we come to Critical Media Studies, and what the show is about.