The Digital Void Podcast

This week, we're joined by author of Rabbits, C EO of Minnow Beats Whale, and co-creator of The Black Tapes, Terry Miles. Miles explains the origins of The Black Tapes, the playful interactivity fictional podcasts afford creators and audiences, and the worldbuilding required for people to become fully immersed in a story. How do people respond to a paranormal version of Serial ? In what ways does...

On this week's episode, Jamie and Josh discuss the history and context behind Dark Brandon memes. How did Joe Biden become featured in memes with laser eyes and dark aesthetics? How we can make sense of the trend's influence on culture and media narratives? What is its true influence? Show Notes and Resources: Laser Eyes Stage One Memes: lolspeak Stage Two Memes: LOLcats  Stage Three Memes: B...

What can the history of virtual reality development teach us about its path forward? On this week's episode, Jamie and Josh look back 30 years to the first attempt to mainstream commercial virtual reality. Why didn't haptics and headsets earn mass adoption? Further, they discuss the other uses for the metaverse and virtual reality. What do corporations stand to gain if VR goes mainstream? What are...

How can memes encoded with aesthetics, nuance, and meta text become accessible to everyone? This week, Jamie and Josh discuss memes, algospeak, and access: How can meme creators and platforms utilize alt-text to help the vision impaired? Why is alt-text essential to help everyone access and understand the rapidly evolving memetic moment? Show notes & resources : Digital Dualism Jamie Cohen on...

Show Summary: How can humans determine if an Artificial Intelligence is sentient when sentience is what AI is designed to imitate? This week, we’re joined by Artificial Intelligence games designer Reed Berkowitz. Berkowitz discusses former Google Responsible AI team member Blake Lemoine’s claim that Google’s AI chatbot LaMDA is sentient. What made Lemoine believe this? How can we come to understan...

How can nostalgia inspire memes that motivate and mobilize communities? Last week, Jamie and Josh discussed how the term “meme culture” is in jeopardy of being co-opted by extremists. This week, they welcome back Grafton Tanner to take a deeper dive into the topic. What is vaporwave, and what characteristics of its aesthetic that afford itself to be used by these communities? How do aesthetics and...

We need to talk about meme culture. How are the aesthetics and vibes of memes turning into an action language? Jamie and Josh explore the ways memes inspire action: From #Gentleminions to extremist movements. Further, they explore how people outside of in-group communities can understand intent when nothing is explicitly being said. Is the term meme culture in jeopardy of being entirely co-opted?...

The Digital Void Podcast is a weekly exploration of digital culture, media, technology, and memes, featuring critical conversations with experts at the forefront of our digital transformation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do Silicon Valley’s promises about the future of transportation never seem to work out? Paris Marx, author of The Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Future of Transportation and Host of Tech Won’t Save Us dives into the reality underpinning the promises made by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs like Elon Musk. Why can’t electric vehicles address the problems created by the au...

Jamie and Josh dive into a brief history of how war and conflict play out in cyberspace, ranging from 9/11 and Syria to how Ukraine is using Twitter in its fight against Russia. We're coming to Washington DC! Join us for Our Connected Future on Wednesday, March 23, at Union Stage. Join Jamie in conversation with DC Bureau Chief Ryan Grim, a live taping of Bridget Todd's award-winning podcast There...

Jamie Cohen dives into the debate Wikipedia editors are having about how artworks are categorized on the website — and what it means for NFTs. 📰 You can read Jamie's monologue, Wikipedia Doesn't Consider NFTs Art, and Crypto Investors Are Worried , on Medium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daily Beast reporter and author of Off The Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything Kelly Weill explores how we arrived at our polarized and conspiratorial moment, ranging from the origins of flat earth theory to the tragic effects of contemporary believers. 📕 Kelly's book, Off The Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything i...

Author of The Palmer Hotel Rick Paulas shares how his book became a meme through his reply guy tweets, how his Twitter ban created a Barbara Streisand effect for his book, and why Twitter should be entirely eradicated if humans stand a chance for a better future. Paulas will be signing copies of the Palmer Hotel at Digital Void's Meme in the Moment Festival: Make it Spoopy . Live from Caveat NYC o...

Insider digital culture editor and writer Rachel E. Greenspan explores her career path to the disinformation beat, how the insurrection showed us that it's too dangerous to ignore what happens online, and right-wing media's continued attacks on Taylor Lorenz and other journalists. Greenspan will be a speaker at Digital Void's Meme in the Moment Festival: Make it Spoopy . Live from Caveat NYC on We...

⏳ Author of The Hours Have Lost Their Clock Grafton Tanner explains how nostalgia is the emotion of our time. Tanner explores nostalgia from its roots as an illness that was once considered a cause of death to how nostalgia is affected by climate change and species extinction. From endless sequels and franchises to early-pandemic nostalgia, Tanner provides a detailed overview of nostalgia — and s...

Freelance culture writer Moises Mendez II  discusses the path he took to become a journalist, controversies surrounding queerbaiting in mainstream culture, the importance of TikTok Star Tally Dilbert's influence on young Afro-Latinos, and the connection between Gabby Petito and Couch Guy. Plus, Mendez reveals his favorite meme of all-time. Mendez will be a speaker at Digital Void's Meme in th...

2017 College Jeopardy winner, author of How to Survive a Public Faming: “Understanding “The Spiciest Memelord” via the Temporal Dynamics of Involuntary Celebrification and graduate student at MIT Lilly Chin shares the story of how she became "The Spiciest Memelord", the structural issues and lack of institutional support associated with overnight fame, and strategies to properly respond to online...

Founder of the Meme Studies Research Network (MSRN) and doctoral researcher in sociology Idil Galip explains how she started an international and interdisciplinary research network for scholars who study memes to collaborate and organize. Further, she explains how Turkey’s Gezi Park Protests inspired her memetic research, explores how memes are generation artifacts, and the dangers of assumin...

Author of TikTok Boom and journalist Chris Stokel-Walker explores the strategy behind TikTok’s explosive rise in the west, the differences between Silicon Valley and Chinese technology, and how the features of TikTok are designed to mirror people’s performances back onto themselves, allowing them to feel like they are part of a community. Follow Digital Void Twitter:  https://twitter.com/digi...

Writer for Uprising: A Guide from Portland and Bellingcat and a researcher for Behind the Bastards and Worst Year Ever , Garrison Davis explains the evolution of “White Boy Summer” from Chet Hanks music video to white supremacist meme. Davis shares the story of how “White Boy Summer” was discussed amongst 4Chan message board users and far-right Telegram channels and, ultimately, how the meme ended...

PhD Candidate in Cultural Analysis & Theory, artist, educator, and founder of Vital Thought , Emily Gillcrist, shows us how the 2008 recession led to universities devaluing the humanities — and how Vital Thought is working to make the critical humanities accessible to everyone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host of the Tech Won't Save Us Podcast and writer Paris Marx joins us to critically examine Silicon Valley’s approach to the gig economy and labor, what California’s Prop 22 could mean for the future of work, the outsourced, exploited, and hidden labor behind new robots and surveillance technologies, and approaches to worker solidarity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feels Good Man filmmakers Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini discuss how they told the story of Pepe The Frog from Boys Club to misappropriation by the far-right after the 2016 election, what it meant for Pepe the Frog to enter the U.S. Capitol building, and why we need to broaden the scope of our conversations around NFTs and digital art. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...

Tom Syverson , author of Reality Squared: On Reality TV and Left Politics , explores how reality television shapes our social and political lives, and explains how we can confront today’s postmodern condition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie and Josh explore Tucker Carlson's targeted harassment campaign against Taylor Lorenz and his cycle of creating mainstream boogeymen, a brief history of digital culture journalism and why it's essential, and leveling power so we can all negotiate meaning, together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.