A Critical Forum on Media and Culture
A Critical Forum on Media and Culture
Brett Siegel examines the NFL’s developing response to the Coronavirus and the George Floyd protests as an extension, and in many ways a culmination, of Trump era anxieties and tensions.
Read moreWhat does it mean to receive notifications from your smart watch telling you to exercise, especially during a pandemic? Andy Fischer Wright makes an argument that his Apple Watch Activity notifications make it clear that the company is more interested in the data he produces than his well-being.
Read moreDeborah L. Jaramillo examines the shifting visibility of the public and private spheres on television news in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read moreBrian Fauteux questions the theoretical “celestial jukebox” of algorithm-driven music streaming services and the actual variety and access their catalogues offer, and compares it to campus radio stations and their rich libraries of more local and diverse music.
Read moreUsing Harrison Ford as a case study, Kathleen Loock examines the shifting role of aging male actors in blockbuster franchise sequels from hypermasculine hero to father.
Read moreMelissa Morton explores how the UK’s public broadcasting channels have adapted their branding in response to the Covid-19 health crisis and discusses the implications of new viewing habits for the future of the UK’s public service broadcasters.
Read moreMeme featuring an “Anti-COVID-19 Smoothie” On April 24, 2020, social media responded to a comment made by US President Donald Trump during a press conference to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In that press conference, the president suggested that injecting disinfectants might be a potential cure for the illness. The White House issued transcript quotes the President as saying, “And then […]
Read moreIn his final installment on television syndication, Taylor Cole Miller examines how particular first-run syndicated programs offered and embraced queerness.
Read moreLaurel Westrup examines several contemporary popular music videos to understand how sound design deepens audience engagement with the video’s diegetic world beyond the basic narrative of the song’s lyrics.
Read moreSinging from the balconies in Spain. Today we are listening harder than ever. But to what? Social distancing and isolation have reduced the noise of everyday life. As cities retreat indoors and transport comes to a standstill, the world has become a quieter place. But while a hush has settled over the outside world, our virtual spaces have exploded into […]
Read moreDavid Church considers how a renewed interest in drive-in theaters as movie exhibition spaces, as well as spaces for religious services during the Covid-19 health crisis, brings further attention to politicization of public space.
Read moreIn his second column, Brian Fauteux, drawing on insights from The Cultural Capital Project, examines the ways digital music industry executives have dominated the narrative of streaming music and argues for more voices from the creative laborers who produce content for the streaming music giants.
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