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MIT Media Lab’s Mitchel Resnick speaks with us about the development of his Lifelong Kindergarten research group and their efforts to affect the educational landscape through creative technological activities. Throughout the conversation, we describe the shifts in academic environments, starting from the free-form, highly imaginative kindergarten rooms to the stricter halls of higher learning. Mit...

USC professor of English, gender & sexuality studies, and American studies & ethnicity, and chair of the Department of Gender & Sexuality Studies Karen Tongson and NYU Assistant Professor of History Adrian De Leon join us to talk about their adoration of baseball and reality TV. Using their piece “ Both Sides Now: On the 2025 World Series ,” we discuss the affective and cultural dialogues sports m...

University of Chicago Assistant Professor in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies, AE Stevenson and Rutgers University–New Brunswick, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Brooklyne Gipson join us to talk about digital Black feminism online. We start our discussion with America’s relations with the platform TikTok , and how it is a large social media site for Black creators. We...

Showing her love of movies, Izzy from Be Kind Rewind chats with us about her process of creating video essays and connection to researching actresses in the Hollywood system. We discuss how her fannish love of TCM films turned into a passion for making videos and navigating complex topics often overlooked or simplified into gossip. Diving deeper into this, Izzy speaks about her recent video on act...

Professor of Journalism at USC Annenberg, Robert Kozinets , and Henry Jenkins speak with us about their ongoing book series Frames of Fandom . Both authors explore how they met, their ever-evolving work in fan studies, and what inspired them to create a 16-book series. Both scholars discuss the complexity of fandom as it intersects with consumer culture and subcultures. They even ask if fandom its...

In this episode, Bertha Chin — Senior lecturer and the Director of the National University of Singapore’s Communications And New Media program— and Swapnil Rai —Associate Professor Film, Television and Media Associate Professor Communication and Media at the University of Michigan—join us to speak about the global streaming media landscape. From Bollywood to Hollywood, Rai and Chin dissect the com...

In this episode, we chat with Ethan Zuckerman — a Public Policy, Communication and Information professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst— about his views on the present political climate and major movements occurring in reaction to the Trump administration. From the anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis to memes on the internet to the Boston Massacre, we discuss the various forms of resis...

In this episode, Mathew Klickstein , the host of Comic-Con Begins , and Emily Schindler , Senior Director of Learning and Engagement at the Comic-Con Museum, educate us on the history of and learning opportunities at San Diego Comic-Con. Mathew discusses how Comic-Con formed and why he documents that history in his podcast and his book, See You At San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, a...

In this episode, we welcome Melanie Kohnen , an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Media Studies for Lewis & Clark College, and Billy Austin Tringali , an Instruction Librarian at the Indiana University Indianapolis and the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the J ournal of Anime and Manga Studies (JAMS), to discuss the culture and function of pop-culture conventions (“cons”). Melanie shares her rese...

In this episode, Professor Brian Hu from SDSU helps us tackle the world of Asian and Asian American cinema as they travel throughout various locales. Hu’s position as a film scholar and Artistic Director of the San Diego Asian Film Festival leads us through conversations about how people connect with and discover Asian culture. We touch on how regionality and heritage influence people’s interactio...

In this episode, we chat with Diana Leon-Boys — Assistant Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Communication Arts—about her lifelong work examining the navigation of girlhood through a Latinx lens. Her book Elena, Princesa of the Periphery: Disney’s Flexible Latina Girl extends conversations about minority representation and the complex rel...

Neta Kligler-Vilenchik — Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem— and Ioana Literat — Associate Professor of Communication, Media, and Learning Technologies Design at Columbia University— discuss their book, Not Your Parents' Politics: Understanding Young People's Political Expression on Social Media . They create a dialogue around the ways young p...

In this episode, we welcome Abigail De Kosnik, an Associate Professor and Director of the Berkeley Center for New Media and the founder of Fan Link , and Jinyi Li, the technology chief of Fan Link , to discuss their groundbreaking platform connecting fandoms with education and activism. Abigail shares how Fan Link fosters media, racial, and gender literacy through creative fan-driven projects and...

In this episode, Jon Taplin — director Emeritus of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California—joins us to discuss his early years working with Bob Dylan, to his recent research on tech billionaires' growth in legislative influence. Taplin historicizes the changes in media’s ties to politics between the McCarthy era to the 2024 election cycle.    The discussion delves int...

In this episode, Elizabeth Losh , Professor of English and American Studies at William and Mary, joins us to explore the transformative role of digital technology in politics, from past presidents' strategies to the present-day campaigns shaping our future. We dive into Kamala Harris’s first presidential run, examining her use of Instagram Live and how her social media presence has evolved since t...

In this episode, Professor and chair of the Communication Studies division at American University’s School of Communication, Aram Sinnreich, and Jesse Gilbert, an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of visual art, sound and software design, join us to explore the presence of data in our life and the future of data. The conversation starts with personal experiences at rallies and t...

In this episode, David Wolinsky , author of The Hivemind Swarmed: Conversations on Gamergate, the Aftermath, and the Quest for a Safer Internet , and Sam Close , Assistant Professor at DePaul University College of Communication, join us to unpack systemic challenges in the video game industry. From gender and racial discrimination to toxic workplace culture, they highlight the need for moral coura...

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...

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 characte...

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 coo...

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 o...

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 aro...

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 ho...

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 imp...

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...