Critical Media Studies
Episodes
#108: Alberto Romero - AI Video Should Be Illegal
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss Alberto Romero’s Substack article on AI video. While Romero argues that perhaps we should seek legal remedies to th...
Alberto Romero - The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century,” Alberto Romero’s polemical defense of boredom in the medi...
#106: Bernard Steigler - Elements of Pharmacology, pt. 2
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
#105: Bernard Steigler - Elements of Pharmacology
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Critical Media Studies, Barry and Michael discuss Bernard Stiegler's "Elements of Pharmacology," a transcription of an interview with the...
#104: Juan Fontcuberta and the “paper-hankie picture”
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 im...
#103: Fontcuberta - Pandora's Camera
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Juan Fontcuberta’s “Pandora’s Camera” (2014). They discuss his take on Barthes and Kracauer’s t...
Andre Bazin - Ontology of the Photographic Image
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the “Ontology of the Photographic Image,” Andre Bazin makes the provocative claim that the invention of photography is "clearly the most import...
#101: Heidegger - The Thing, pt. 2
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is the second of two discussions of Martin Heideger’s essay “The Thing.” Please see episode #100 for the first installment, which set...
#100: Heidegger - The Thing, pt. 1
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike begin their two-part discussion of Martin Heidegger’s 1949 lecture, “The Thing.” They focus on his concept o...
#99: On Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Artificial Intimacy
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the idea of “frictionless” relationships in the age of artificial intimacy. ErikaHayasaki – “...
#98: The Re-enchanted World - Karl Knausgaard
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Karl Ove Knausgaard’s article, “The Reenchanted World: On Finding Mystery in the Digital Age.” They...
#97: AI in Art. A follow up to the Rob Horning discussion.
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 c...
#96: Rob Horning - No One's Version
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
#95: Jenny Odell - How To Do Nothing, pt. 2
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
#94: Jenny Odell - How to Do Nothing
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first of two episodes on Jenny Odell’s book (and talk) “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.” Barry and M...
#93: Daisy Alioto - The Taste Economy
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion onthe “Taste Economy” and the evolution of the internet from 2.0 to 3.0. https://ww...
#92: Kyle Chayka - How to Cultivate Taste in the Age of Algorithms/The New Generation of Online Culture Curators.
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 i...
#91: The Episode That is Not on Heidegger or His Letter on Humanism (but sort of is).
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
#90: Heidegger - The Question Concerning Technology
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike take a different approach to Heidegger's The Question Concerning Technology. Rather than a traditional "what does all ...
#89: Harold Innis - Minerva’s Owl
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode focuses on Harold Innis’ 1947 presidentialaddress to the Royal Society of Canada, “Minerva’s Owl” and his appendix to theaddress....
#88: Revisiting Deleuze's "Postscript on the Society of Control"
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike revisit Gilles Deleuze’s essay “Postscript on the Society of Control.” They attempt to reframe the central ...
#87: Alan Turing - Computer Machinery and Intelligence
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Alan Turing’s 1950 essay, “Computer Machinery and Intelligence” and discuss whether or not Turing’s con...
#86: Freddie deBoer - The Indoor Plumbing Test
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Derek Thompson’s Atlantic essay, “The Anti-Social Century.” They discuss how the evolution of media...
#84: Wai Chee Dimock – AI and the Humanities
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
#83: Matteo Wong - The GPT Era Is Already Ending
27 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 alg...
#82: Benjamin Labatut - The Gods of Logic: Before and After Artificial Intelligence
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Benjamin Labatut’s essay, “The Gods of Logic: Before and After Artificial Intelligence. In tracing his hist...
#81: Jodi Dean - Blog Theory
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Jodi Dean’s book, “Blog Theory.” They focus on her notion of “communicative capitalism,” treating the...
#80: Bolter and Grusin, pt. 2
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin’s introduction to their 1999 Media Studies book, Remediation. In pa...
#78: Kember and Zylinska pt.2
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
#77: Kember and Zylinska - Mediation and the Vitality of Media pt. 1
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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:&nb...
#76: Bruno Latour - "On Actor-Network Theory: A few clarifications"
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
#75: Distant Early Warning: a reflection on media environments and art after McLuhan
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion of William Burroughs’ cut-up method. They introduce Alex Kitnick’s arguments about ...
#74: Burroughs - The Cut-Up
23 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss William Burroughs’ 1963 manifesto “The Cut-Up Method.” We worry over some contradictions and tensio...
#73: Evgeny Morozov - Can AI Break Out of Panglossian Neoliberalism?
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
#73 In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “Panglossian Neoliberalism,”a term that Evgeny Morozov uses to describe the place of generative AI in t...
#72: Simone Weil -- Attention
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a look back at our 3/3/23 episode on Simone Weil.
#71: Bernard Steigler - What Makes Life Worth Living, pt. 2
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike return to Bernard Steigler’s What Makes Life Worth Living: On Pharmakology. They tease out Steigler’s terms p...
#70: Bernard Steigler - What Makes Life Worth Living
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Bernard Steigler’s 2010 book, What Makes Life Worth Living: On Pharmacology. They reconsider their unde...
#69: On Life’s Terrifying Vacuity: Chayka, Han, and Benjamin.
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Barry and Mike finish their discussion of Chayka on Han and Benjamin’s essay, “The Storyteller.” In teasing out Han and B...
#68: Benjamin - The Storyteller
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Barry and Mike focus exclusively on the distinction between the storyteller and the novelist as explained in Walter Benjamin’s 1936...
#67: Kyle Chayka - "The Internet's New Favorite Philosopher - Byung-Chul Han
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Kyle Chayka’s assessment of the “Internet’s New Favorite Philosopher,” Byung-Chul Han. For those ...
#66 Sonny Bunch - The Future of Media is Passive
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
#65: Andrew Milne - Tourists In Our Own Reality: Susan Sontag's Photography at 50
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
#64: Jonathan Crary - Scorched Earth, pt. 2
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss chapter 2 of of Jonathan Crary’s “Scorched Earth.” They focus on social media as a pharmacolo...
#63: Jonathan Crary - Scorched Earth
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
#61: Yanis Varoufakis - Technofeudalism
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Barry and Mike discuss Yanis Varoufakis' book, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, and the challenge it presents to Marxist theories about global...
Evgeny Morozov - Only Disconnect
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike relate Evgeny Morozov’s 2013 New Yorker essay, “Only Disconnect” to their previous discussion of A. Romero’s me...
Alberto Romero - The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss “The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century,” Alberto Romero’s polemical defense of boredom in the medi...
Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike return to the earlier discussion of Sherry Turkle’s “Alone Together” and question her conclusion regarding ...
Sherry Turkle - Alone Together
05 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Sherry Turkle’s “Alone Together” and her thesis, that though technology opens new possibilities for commu...
Kazuo Ishiguro - Klara and the Sun pt. 2
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike resume their discussion of Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Klara and the Sun.” They discuss how differences in class and ...
Kazuo Ishiguro - Klara and the Sun pt. 1
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 technologica...
Marshall McLuhan - The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects pt. 2
24 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Marshall McLuhan - The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Marshal McLuhan’s seminal text, The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. They discuss ...
John Law - Monsters, Machines, and Sociotechnical Relations
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Denise Lu - Want to Enjoy Music More? Stop Streaming it.
13 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 re...
The 50th episode- a look back.
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On the occasions of their 50th episode, Barry and Mike get reflective. The discuss the purpose or intent of the show, their favorite episodes, w...
John Law – Notes on the Theory of the Actor Network: Ordering, Strategy, and Heterogeneity.
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discussion John Law’s 1992 essay, “Notes on the Theory of the Actor Network: Ordering, Strategy, and Heterogeneity”...
Bruno Latour - On Actor-Network Theory: A few clarifications
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Jacques Attali - Noise
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss a chapter from Jacques Attali, book, Noise: The Political Economy of Music. Following on their discussion from...
Glenn Gould - The Prospects of Recording
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike talk about Glenn Gould’s essay “The Prospects of Recording.” They focus on two central arguments f...
Andre Bazin's New Media
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Andre Bazin’s collection of essays on new media and how the evolution of television and technological develop...
Derrida - Signature, Event, Context
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Derrida's 1972 talk turned essay, "Signature, Event, Context." The episode engages his critique of Plato and A...
Adorno - Opera and the Long-Playing Record
23 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
At Mike's insistence, the guys return for a second consecutive Adorno episode. "Opera and the Long-Playing Record" sees Adorno pivot, celebrating the...
Adorno - The Form of the Phonographic Record
09 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike work through Adorno's "The Form of the Phonographic Record", extrapolating his arguments against technology and the pho...
Dina Litovsky - The Problem of AI Photography is Not the Medium, It's the Message
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 p...
Baudrillard - The Precession of Simulacra
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Mike and Barry take the Baudrillardian grand tour: we visit Disneyland, Los Angeles, Viet Nam, and pause to consider the philosophical...
Andre Bazin - Ontology of the Photographic Image
28 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the “Ontology of the Photographic Image,” Andre Bazin makes the provocative claim that the invention of photography is "clearly the most import...
Susan Sontag - In Plato's Cave
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Jonathan Crary- 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Guy Debord - The Society of the Spectacle
17 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Simone Weil - Attention
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Byung Chul Han - Boredom and Multitasking
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Raymond Williams - Television, pt. 2
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Barry and Mike pick up their discussion on Raymond Williams’ monograph, Television: Technology and Cultural From. In their previous episode they co...
Raymond Williams - Television, pt. 1
20 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Barry and Mike begin their discussion of Raymond Williams’ 1974 book, Television. Their discussion revolves around the question of the place a...
Adorno and Horkheimer - Antisemitism and takeaways
06 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Barry and Mike wrap up their discussion on The Dialectic of Enlightenment by taking on the final section on antisemitism and then offering their takea...
Horkheimer and Adorno - The Culture Industry
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What do Taylor Swift, Beethoven, and Raidohead have in common?In the fourth part of their series on Horkheimer and Adorno’s“Dialectic of Enlighten...
Horkheimer and Adorno - Juliette or Enlightenment and Morality
09 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Horkheimer and Adorno – Juliette or Enlightenment and MoralityIn this episode, Barry and Mike discuss "Excursis two: Juliette or Enlightenment ...
Horkheimer and Adorno - Odysseus or Myth and Enlightenment
25 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Barry and Mike take on Odysseus or Myth and Enlightenment, the second chapter of Horkheimer and Adorno’s “Dialectic of Enlightenment,” focusing ...
Horkheimer and Adorno - The Concept of Enlightenment
11 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The people have spoken! One of our listeners, Jessica, asked if we would do an episode on the Frankfurt school, preferably Horkheimer and Adorno. An...
Walter Benjamin - The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducability
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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."...
Stuart Hall - Encoding and Decoding
14 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 wh...
Wendy Chun - Updating to Remain the Same
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Barry and Mike discuss Wendy Chun's book, "Updating to Remain the Same" and discuss the political and social implications of her arguments. They begi...
Michael Miller- Platforms of Control: Social Media and the Limits of Theroretical Pluralism
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 u...
Burroughs - The Limits of Control
02 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Deleuze - Postcript on the Limits of Control
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Techno-Fatalism and the Moral Alternatives (?)
05 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 Atl...
Baudrillard - The Implosion of the Social in the Media
22 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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-provokin...
On Advertising - Barthes in the Modern Media Ecology
08 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Marshall McLuhan's Culture is Our Business: A Discussion of Media Environments
24 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 exactl...
The Top 10 Albums of All Time! Why it doesn’t matter.
10 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 iss...
Heidegger - The Question Concerning Technology: The Digital Age
27 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Barry and Mike take a different approach to Heidegger's The Question Concerning Technology. Rather than a traditional "what does all ...
Heidegger -- The Question Concerning Technology: History and Context
27 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Barry and Mike look at Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology." They attempt to provide a little context on the work with the aim identifyin...
On Fake news and Ross Douthat
13 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
What have we learned about Zoom?
15 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Don't Look Up
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 Steigle...
Jaques Ellul and Bob Lefsetz - Technique in the Age of Digital Streaming
18 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...