Welcome to the " Talking Mass Communication Perspectives " season of Special Topics in Media . Once again Garret Castleberry is joined by Season 13 guest host Annabeth Fehrle to discuss Multistep Flow Theory and how it functions as a part of #Hashtag Advertising strategies. Reading Reference : Andrew Sharma & Chrys Egan. "Hashtag Television Advertising--The Multistep Flow of Millennial TV Usage, Commercial Viewings, and Social Media Interaction". In Communication Theory and Millennial Popula...
Jul 08, 2025•41 min•Season 13Ep. 4
Welcome to the " Talking Mass Communication Perspectives " season of Special Topics in Media . This week Garret Castleberry and Season 13 guest cohost Annabeth Fehrle discuss Muted Group Theory and how it can be interpreted within the narrative framework of a trio of Disney-Pixar animated feature films: Brave (2012), WALL-E (2008) and The Incredibles (2004). Reading Reference : Bruce W. Finklea & Sally Bennett Hardig. "Seen but Not Heard--Exploring Muted Group Theory in The Incredibles , WAL...
Jul 01, 2025•42 min•Season 13Ep. 3
In this summer interlude, host Garret Castleberry looks back at the past year's programming themes, while setting the stage for ongoing programming to come. Host: Garret Castleberry Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music) Ways to Connect with us online: Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics . "Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media). Jo...
Jun 24, 2025•12 min
Welcome to the " Talking Mass Communication Perspectives " season of Special Topics in Media . This week host Garret Castleberry is joined by Annabeth Fehrle to discuss Fantasy Theme Analysis and how it applies to two politically oriented TV programs, ABC's Scandal (2013-2018) and NBC's Parks & Recreation (2009-2015). Reading Reference : Fogle, Krystal. "Knope vs. Pope: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of Scandal vs. Parks & Recreation ". In Communication Theory and Millennial Popular Culture: E...
Jun 17, 2025•38 min•Season 13Ep. 2
Welcome to the " Talking Mass Communication Perspectives " season on Special Topics in Media . This week we tackle Disney, Hegemony , and the role that Critical Theory plays in shaping our views of the world. Reading Reference : Applequist, Janelle. ""Let it go, let it go"--Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony in Disney's Frozen ". In Communication Theory and Millennial Popular Culture: Essays and Applications . Roberts, K. G. (Editor). New York: Peter Lang, 2016. Host: Garret Castleberry, Annabeth Feh...
Jun 12, 2025•38 min•Season 13Ep. 1
A New Season begins! What is on deck? Who is covering it? And why should you listen! Reading Reference : Roberts, Kathleen Glenister (Editor). Communication Theory and Millennial Popular Culture: Essays and Applications . New York: Peter Lang, 2016. Host: Garret Castleberry, Annabeth Fehrle Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music) Ways to Connect with us online: Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podca...
Jun 10, 2025•11 min
Closing out our Internship Interview Series , host Garret Castleberry visits with graduating senior and MACU's Men's Baseball pitcher Jacob Mallozzi, a student athlete blurring the lines between reporter and player. Jacob talks about his Texas roots and how this background provided the basis for his journeyman shifts in degree focus and professional outlook. This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through participation in internship partn...
Jun 03, 2025•25 min•Season 12Ep. 6
Winding down this month's Internship Interview Series , host Garret Castleberry visits with junior Kaetlen Schier, a student athlete "thriving in the chaos" of work-life balance. Kaetlen talks about the value available when students seek internships that align with areas of passion and/or study;; in this instance interning with a men's semi-pro volleyball organization as the club's social media coordinator. This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating ex...
May 29, 2025•24 min•Season 12Ep. 5
Rounding the corner with May's Internship Interview Series , host Garret Castleberry connects with junior Brady Allen, a missions-minded media production specialist interning in areas that connect lighting, audio, and multimedia production in cooperation with a multi-campus ministry organization. This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through participation in internship partnerships. Throughout the month we will spotlight one-on-one sit-...
May 26, 2025•17 min•Season 12Ep. 4
Continuing May's Internship Interview Series , host Garret Castleberry connects with sophomore Jared Hinkle, a burgeoning videographer and social media coordinator affiliated with Major League Fishing who travels the country by day while casting lines that deepen his social media imprint by night. This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through participation in internship partnerships. Throughout the month we will spotlight one-on-one sit...
May 21, 2025•23 min•Season 12Ep. 3
Diving deeper into May's Internship Interview Series , host Garret Castleberry sits down with graduating senior, MACU Women's Volleyball player , and recipient of the 2024-25 Media Production Award , Annabeth Fehrle. Annabeth discusses her passion for public speaking and how it translates into and out of the classroom. This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through participation in internship partnerships. Throughout the month we will sp...
May 10, 2025•25 min•Season 12Ep. 2
Kicking off May's Internship Interview Series , host Garret Castleberry sits down with graduating senior, MACU Men's Baseball Pitcher, and recipient of the 2024-25 Communication Award Jordan Smith to discuss his transition from collegiate student athlete to junior varsity assistant coach. This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through participation in internship partnerships. Throughout the month we will spotlight one-on-one sit-downs wi...
May 06, 2025•19 min•Season 12Ep. 1
This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize students demonstrating excellence through participating in internship partnership this year. Throughout the month we will spotlight one-on-one sit-downs with current and graduating students in the Media Production and Communication program at MACU. Host: Garret Castleberry Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music) Ways to Connect with us online: Follow and engage with Specia...
May 01, 2025•6 min
Celebrating independent bookstore week , Special Topics in Media host Garret Castleberry sits down with indie book store aficionado, universal book lover, and nonfiction author J Hall to discuss the release of his newest book College Unpacked: A Practical Guide to Choosing, Preparing For, and Excelling in College . The book provides a user-friendly guide to the increasingly complex process of applying to colleges and universities. This conversation was presented to a live audience commemorating ...
Apr 29, 2025•53 min
Vinylthon month is here! Which raises a fun question: How does vinyl intersect with other mass mediums? To connect the dots between vinyl and film history, Scott McMurry joins Special Topics in Media for a discussion about films that capitalize on the music craze. Celebrate " Vinylthon " by tuning in to the nonprofit event this April, or consider supporting vinyl radio through a subscription to the annual Vinylthon Zine , which celebrates "10 Years of Vinylthon" in 2025. Host: Garret Castleberry...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 11Ep. 3
Vinylthon month is here! Which raises an important question: What exactly IS Vinyl? To deepen listener appreciation for Vinylthon month, Scott McMurry joins Special Topics in Media for a discussion about what distinguishes vinyl from other forms of physically reproduced media. Celebrate " Vinylthon " by tuning in to the nonprofit event this April, or consider supporting vinyl radio through a subscription to the annual Vinylthon Zine , which celebrates "10 Years of Vinylthon" in 2025. Host: Garre...
Apr 09, 2025•27 min•Season 11Ep. 2
Vinylthon month is here! Which raises an important question... What IS Vinylthon? Joining us to discuss "Vinylthon" and more, Dr. Tim Craig (Warner University) joins Special Topics in Media for a discussion about the origins of Vinylthon, grassroots growth of this musical movement, and the ways in which it continues to diversify its programming strategies. Host: Garret Castleberry Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music) Vinylth...
Apr 01, 2025•45 min•Season 11Ep. 1
The time has come. In this "Recalibration Preview", Special Topics in Media examines the data sets that feed into the tabulation process defining the "Film Listology" methodology. Cohost Scott McMurry provides listeners with the clearest explanation yet for how the math works to determine placement in the Super Index ranking for culturally significant films. The "Recalibration Preview" sets the stage for our Recalibration Special, where films ranging from #107 to #76 receive updated alignment. H...
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Season 8Ep. 41
The time has come. In this "Recalibration Preview", Special Topics in Media examines the data sets that feed into the tabulation process defining the "Film Listology" methodology. Cohost Scott McMurry provides listeners with the clearest explanation yet for how the math works to determine placement in the Super Index ranking for culturally significant films. The "Recalibration Preview" sets the stage for our Recalibration Special, where films ranging from #107 to #76 receive updated alignment. H...
Mar 10, 2025•33 min•Season 8Ep. 40
In the "Film Listology" entry to Special Topics in Media , hosts Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry evaluate the legacy of Elia Kazan's adaptation of the Tennessee Williams literary stageplay of the same name, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Boasting a pair of explosive performances by Vivian Leigh ( Gone With the Wind ) and Marlon Brando ( The Godfather , On the Waterfront ), Kazan infuses this Southern Gothic character study with masterful computation of shadow and light. With an award-winn...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 8Ep. 39
This week in our "Film Listology" season of Special Topics in Media , Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry explore the innovation and influence of Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction silent film Metropolis . Can silent cinema maintain high cultural significance in an age of immersive media and high definition spectacle? The dialogic duo wrestle with the film to determine its value in the pantheon of film history. Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurry Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry ...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 8Ep. 38
Continuing the "Film Listology" seasons of Special Topics, the dialogic duo strategize the placement of the #78 film on the Super Index(TM), Christopher Nolan's 4-quadrant blockbuster released by Warner Bros. in 2008, The Dark Knight . The middle act to Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight won praise among audiences and critics, and became a zeitgeist touchstone in intellectual circles for years, a chameleon cypher in the film's appeasement of interpretations among liberal and conservative vi...
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 8Ep. 37
In this "Film Listology" episode, hosts Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry compose an argument both for and against reading the 1985 Academy Award winner for Best Picture as culturally significant to the history of film. Directed by Milos Forman and released in 1984, Amadeus posits a lavish period biopic about the famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the tensions experienced through a contemporary collaborator-rival, Antonio Salieri. Played with Machiavellian charm by Best Actor Academy ...
Feb 11, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 8Ep. 36
In this episode, hosts Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry assess the cultural significance of the 2008 Pixar Animated feature film WALL*E . Directed by Andrew Stanton and released to wide critical acclaim, WALL*E centers on a labor robot fascinated by the haunting reveries of the now-vanished human civilization. WALL*E imaginatively embodies qualities of the silent film in its vaunted first half, and then shifts gears toward a more conventional animated adventure in its second half. Do these t...
Feb 04, 2025•38 min•Season 8Ep. 35
In our January RETURN to the Film Listology experiment, Scott McMurry reveals the next five films currently ranked by the analytics super index. What movies emerge as the Dialogic Duo debut the #80-76 entries? Should each of these be canonized in the Top 100, or is the data scheme exhibiting flaws in its matrix? Screen these film classic all month long and connect with the show online to share thoughts and insights into why each does or does not belong in our intermittent "Film Listology" long-f...
Jan 21, 2025•54 min•Season 8Ep. 34
In a world where science fiction breeds serious introspection... In this episode, host Garret Castleberry connects with science fiction film and media scholar Michael Harris to discuss his book Come With Me If You Want to Live: The Future as Foretold in Classic Sci-Fi Films (Roman & Littlefield). Commemorating the book's one-year anniversary release, the author discusses how fictional artifacts relate to real-world challenges, which science fiction texts fuel his critical writing, and how th...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Season 3Ep. 20
In a world where science fiction breeds serious discussion... In this episode, host Garret Castleberry connects with science fiction film and media scholar Keith M. Johnston to discuss his book Science Fiction Film: A Critical Introduction (Bloomsbury Press). Commemorating the book's ten-...to fifteen-year anniversary, the author discusses his research process, why science fiction warrants serious discussion among readers and audiences, and how the genre both predicts and anticipates (and possib...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 3Ep. 19
In a world where free speech converges with film studies, one group of students fight the pandemic and enter the "forbidden zone" whereby their thoughts on Future Shock Cinema enter the public sphere. In "Part 2" of our student roundtable, we sit down with the second group of classmates to discuss their reaction to the future shock course, our film selections, and how classes like this challenge us to view media differently. Following the accelerated film class Special Topics in Media Studies , ...
Jan 01, 2025•39 min•Season 3Ep. 18
In a world where free speech converges with film studies, one group of students fight the pandemic and enter the "forbidden zone" whereby their thoughts on Future Shock Cinema enter the public sphere. We sit down with students from the class immediately following our final course screening to discuss their reaction to the future shock course, our film selections, and how classes like this challenge us to view media differently. Following the accelerated film class Special Topics in Media Studies...
Dec 17, 2024•58 min•Season 3Ep. 17
In a world where language gains new meaning, Special Topics looks back at a film that imagines forward to a point in which "first contact" with extraterrestrial life posits the unexpected arrival of the future. In this entrant to our "Future Shock" season, we examine 2016's Arrival . Twenty-first century sci-fi auteur Denis Villeneuve directs this adaptation of writer Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life". Amy Adams stars as Louise Banks, an academic linguist recruited by the U.S. Government to deco...
Dec 11, 2024•45 min•Season 3Ep. 16
