In this episode, professors Colin and Henry, along with T.L. Taylor , Director of the MIT Game Lab, explore the rise of game studies as an academic field. Taylor shares her journey from studying virtual worlds in the 90s to becoming an expert in live streaming and eSports, shedding light on gaming's cultural impact and academic challenges. They delve into the interactive relationship between game designers and players, examining how games reflect socio-technical systems. The conversation also to...
Oct 18, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 120
In this episode, we chat with Charlie Jenkins, whose lifelong passion for wrestling sparked a remarkable journey into writing. He started writing fan fiction around the age of five, dictating stories for his father to type on the computer. In high school he became an active player and game master in e-wrestling, an online roleplaying game that allowed fans to write their own pro wrestling characters and storylines, and now Charlie has crafted a unique voice in wrestling literature. His novel Ame...
Oct 11, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 119
In this episode, we take a deep dive into the evolution of food television, from the early days of simple, instructional shows to today's diverse and dynamic culinary landscape. We'll explore how icons like Betty Crocker shaped early cooking programs, empowering women in the kitchen, and how trailblazers like Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse, and Guy Fieri pushed boundaries—changing not just how we cook, but how we see race and gender in food media. We’ll also journey into the origins of Iron Chef, i...
Oct 04, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 118
In this episode, we dive into the fascinating journey of Barry, a visionary who started as an aspiring theme park ride designer and evolved into a groundbreaking toy creator and educator. We explore how divergent and convergent thinking shape creativity, and how toys serve as more than just playthings – they're tools for limitless imagination. From Lego’s transformation to society’s expectations on toy use, we challenge the restrictions imposed on children’s creative freedom. Discover how kids n...
Sep 27, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 117
Grace L. Dillon is an American academic and author. She is a professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies Program, in the School of Gender, Race, and Nations, at Portland State University . She received her PhD in literary studies with an emphasis in sixteenth-century literature, and her recent research regards Science fiction studies, especially the use of science fiction by indigenous peoples around the world. Similar to the concept of Afrofuturism , Dillon is best known for coining the term In...
Apr 19, 2024•57 min•Ep. 116
Caty Borum, Executive Director of the Center for Media & Social Impact and Provost Associate Professor in the School of Communication at American University, joins us again to discuss her new book, The Revolution Will Be Hilarious: Comedy for Social Change and Civic Power . Starting with what Caty finds funny and how she uses comedy as part of her practice as an educator, we go on to talk about how comedy can allow us to approach territory where we feel uncomfortable and provide a forum to s...
Apr 05, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 115
In addition to being Henry’s former dissertation advisee, Meryl Alper is am an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies (College of Arts, Media, and Design) and Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (Bouvé College of Health Sciences) at Northeastern University. At Northeastern, she studies the social, cultural, and health implications of communication technologies, with a focus on disability, digital media, and children and ...
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 114
This week we’re joined by USC Faculty colleagues Alison Trope , Clinical Professor of Communication, and DJ Johnson , Associate Professor of Practice, Cinematic Arts. Together they direct the Critical Media Projec t (CMP), a free media literacy web resource for educators and students (ages 8-21) that enhances young people’s critical thinking and empathy, and builds on their capacities to advocate for change around questions of identity. The website includes around 700 pieces of media and wraparo...
Mar 08, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 113
Robeson Taj Frazier is an associate professor of communication and director of IDEA (the Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg), as well as the author of The East is Black: Cold War China in the Black Radical Imagination and KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Ark of Ben Caldwell , and producer of IT'S YOURS: A Story About Hip-Hop and the Internet and Hip-Hop and the Metaverse on PBS. Reflecting on his roots and early influences, he takes us through his journey from New Jersey to China to...
Dec 06, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 112
As a former volunteer and later employee of Fandom Forward (what was then called The Harry Potter Alliance) and a transgender man, Jackson Bird’s feelings about Harry Potter have certainly evolved, especially given the extremely divisive statements JK Rowling has made about the transgender community. He shares how what was once an important part of his identity has faded away and why, as well as how he feels about his memoir four years later and what he’s working on now. Here are some of the ref...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 111
Our guest today is Maggie Hennefeld , McKnight Presidential Fellow and Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, who has co-curated a dvd set of the medium’s early female comedians titled Cinema’s First Nasty Women . Maggie talks us through the current resurgence in interest in silent cinema and the global landscape of festivals, supporters and restoration projects, as well as her own journey of scholarship in the field that l...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 110
Listen to the original episode HERE . –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry , Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected] . Music: “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X. In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet Spaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: ...
Mar 28, 2023•19 min
Bonus content not released as part of Episode 108 - hear the original episode here: https://www.howdoyoulikeitsofar.org/?p=1307 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry , Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected] . Music: “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X. In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet Spaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/les...
Mar 17, 2023•11 min
We’re thrilled to be joined by Academy-Award winning Production Designer Rick Carter, who has four decades of experience working on Hollywood productions, including with his own personal “Mt. Rushmore” of blockbuster directors: Stephen Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, James Cameron and J.J. Abrams. Carter walks us through how he tackled his latest Oscar-nominated project, The Fablemans , and recounts numerous other experiences on some of the most memorable movies over the past 40 years, as he elabora...
Mar 10, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 109
We’re joined by Alexandria Arrieta , doctoral candidate at USC Annenberg and Christopher Cayari , associate professor of music education at Purdue University, about how music creators are using platforms like YouTube and TikTok to not just share performances but actually create content and hone their craft. By providing a distribution outlet for amateur artists, these platforms have spawned not just viral sensations, but also new fandoms, new genres, and new paths to composition, technical maste...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 108
We begin to talk about the story between MIT’s Open Doc Lab and our guests’ book Collective Wisdom with Kat’s experiences working for the National Film Board of Canada and how this provided a precious chance for her to dig into collective wisdom. William Uricchio brings in the Comparative Media Studies program at MIT and two major characteristics of its cross-media study: remarkable community and applying humanity to work. Then we talk about the diversity of co-creation, and our guests’ definiti...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 107
We start by digging into each of our guests’ definitions of “meme” (in contrast to Richard Dawkins), zeroing in on the agency of the meming process, how it connects with politics, and the need to be responsive to the way popular culture and the participating communities are using and defining these terms. Whitney offers “trolling” as an example to show how terms can be conflated and the consequences that result. Our guests talk about their recent research focuses: Sulafa has been looking at mult...
Nov 30, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 106
Kevin discusses possible futures of the internet and online communities. Be sure to check out the original episode at https://www.howdoyoulikeitsofar.org/episode-101-kevin-driscoll/ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry , Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected] . Music: “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X. In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet https://soundcloud.com/dylan...
Nov 22, 2022•10 min
This week, we have Paul Mihailidis, Sangita Shresthova and Megan Fromm talking about their insights, stories, and theories in their book Transformative Media Pedagogies . We start with the three authors’ inspirations for their book, and then our guests share their definition of transformation, before discussing more detailed contexts for transformative media pedagogies and their mutual and crucial experiences at the Salzburg Academy which inspired them to write the book. Last but not least, we s...
Nov 15, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 105
Kevin talks about what was happening in the 80s in France with Minitel –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry , Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected] . Music: “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X. In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet Spaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — C...
Nov 08, 2022•8 min
As one of the most influential musicians in Turkish history and the first modern pop star of Turkey, Zeki Müren gained huge popularity beginning in the 1950s across all different communities in Turkey, in spite of his groundbreaking behaviors like cross-dressing, and can be seen as an LGBTQ+ trailblazer. Even now, Zeki Müren continues to have a profound influence on Turkish society and on the Turkish people. We begin discussing how he became so popular with such a wide audience, then Beyza and J...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 104
In this episode, Lynn Spigel , Chair of Screen Cultures in the Department of Radio/TV/Film at Northwestern University, and our hosts discuss her research and new book, TV Snapshots: An Archive of Everyday Life , on snapshot technology and TV history. While working on a research grant for smart houses, Lynn began researching the ways in which everyday people pose with computers and TV sets. From there, she went on a journey of scouring thrift stores, vintage shops, and Ebay for more examples of t...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 103
A lot of parents nowadays are concerned about their children spending too much time on screens. We begin by discussing how screen time is inevitable in this post-pandemic era and that screen time itself might not be the problem. Lynn shares her own parenting experiences to state that parents also can use screen time and technology to build a good children-parent relationship and bond the family together. We then discuss the relationship between screen time and young people’s mental health, point...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 102
Kevin Driscoll , author and associate professor of Media Studies at University of Virginia, discusses the history of BBSs, or bulletin board systems, and how they have been overlooked as part of the history of the internet. Developing out of his early experiences with local online communities, Kevin approaches the history of the internet from a grassroots perspective, offering up true stories and examples of how everyday people developed communities online. He outlines how BBSs, from the late 19...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 101
This week we are joined by archivist Jacqueline Stewart and historian Tyree Boyd-Pates to discuss the power of museum curation. The role of the museum curator is critical to the way that museums are experienced. We begin by discussing museums as “safe spaces for dangerous ideas” – in other words, how museums can be harbingers of racist and colonialist rhetoric when spaces are improperly curated. Museums can not only present history through materials, but also have the power to represent the pres...
May 09, 2022•59 min•Ep. 100
Our guest this week is Diana Williams, who, after 30 years in the entertainment media industry working on premier content like the Star Wars Marvel Cinematic universes, has founded a new company, Kinetic Energy Entertainment , focused on partnering with creatives to build new intellectual property (IP) for today’s rapidly changing media landscape. Starting with a clear and holistic definition of IP as being a story world with multiple points of entry for an audience, Diana sees this as a way to ...
May 02, 2022•53 min•Ep. 99
This week we are further diving into the recent banning of Art Spiegelman’s Maus by a school board in TN by speaking with comics scholar Hillary Chute , Distinguished Professor of English and Art + Design at Northeastern University and associate editor of MetaMaus . She discusses the history of the original publication of Maus and Spiegelman’s roots in the Underground Comics movement, which led to the elevation of the graphic novel. Then we move on to looking at why the book has been banned by t...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 98
This week Henry and Colin are joined by writer and comics critic Jeet Heer and Jeff Trexler, Interim Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, to discuss the broader context for the censorship of graphic novels in schools. Jumping off from the recent censorship of Art Spiegelman’s Maus by a TN school board, we review the long history and reasoning of censorship, policing, gatekeeping of comics – from early newspaper strips, to the first magazine books sold to kids in drug stores, the Senate...
Apr 18, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 97
In this episode Stephanie Toliver, Assistant Professor of Literacy and and Secondary Humanities at University of Colorado Boulder and lifelong sci-fi nerd chats with Henry and Colin about her experience writing her hybrid PhD dissertation. As part of her PhD, Stephanie got the opportunity to work with the DEEP Center’s Block to Block Program teaching middle-school age black girls how to write science fiction. Her now published dissertation combines the stories written by those girls with theory ...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 96
This week Henry and Colin are joined by Cathy Cohen, a distinguished professor at the University of Chicago and Jen Humke, a senior program officer at the MacArthur Foundation to discuss Participatory Civic Media. Cohen discusses her work with The Black Youth Project and GenForward , projects that are focused on building independent institutions and influencing media institutions, respectively. These projects are supported by Humke through the MacArthur Foundation. We discuss the work introduced...
Apr 04, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 95
