Digital Void Podcast Digital Void

How will Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter reshape the landscape of social media?
Creator and host of the award-winning podcast There Are No Girls on the Internet Bridget Todd explains where people can go to find alternatives to mainstream social media platforms, her vision for a more equitable social media future, and how Musk's Twitter purchase stands to reshape the way we communicate on the platform. How can we best align our values with our digital platforms?
This conversation was recorded on October 5, 2022.
About Bridget Todd:
Bridget Todd is the Director of Communications at UltraViolet, the creator and host of the award-winning podcast There Are No Girls On The Internet, and co-host of City Cast DC. Todd got her start teaching courses on writing and social change at Howard University. Since then, she's trained human rights activists in Australia, coordinated digital strategy for organizations like Planned Parenthood, the Women's March, and MSNBC. She’s the founder and CEO of Unbossed Creative, a mission driven creative studio that makes podcasts and other digital content to push the needle on social change and public good.

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On this week's episode, Jamie takes a deep dive into why civil rights groups are pushing back against Amazon’s new television show, Ring Nation.
You can read a written version of this week's episode, Why Civil Rights Groups Are Pushing Back Against Amazon's New Show, on Medium.
Show notes and resources:
Letter Calling on MGM to Cancel Ring Nation

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This week, we're joined by author of Rabbits, CEO 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 it mirror audience's first interactions with Orson Welles' 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast?
Then, Miles discusses Rabbits: Why do alternate reality games feel appropriate for our digital moment? When experience and time flatten, why can the world feel like an ARG, itself?
About Terry Miles:
Terry Miles is an award-winning Writer/Director/Producer who was born among the wheat fields in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, raised in the plains beneath the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and forged by rain in the deep emerald gloom of the Pacific Northwest. He’s a novelist, filmmaker, podcaster and the CEO and founder of Minnow Beats Whale. 
As Writer/Director/Producer, Terry's had three feature films premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and has been nominated for ten Leo Awards (Producing, Writing, Directing, Editing, and Cinematography). Terry created his first few podcasts in 2006, but soon movies took over. Just about a decade later, he founded The Public Radio Alliance which features the hit podcasts: TANIS, RABBITS, and The Last Movie. He also co-created The Black Tapes Podcast and directed a western starring Donald Sutherland and Christian Slater, an action movie starring Steve Austin, Danny Trejo and Serinda Swan, and more. He's also written and directed numerous award-winning short films, web series, and alternate reality games.
Show Notes and Resources:
The Black Tapes
Tanis
Rabbits
War of the Worlds - Orson Welles (1938)
Strand Institute
Cicada 3301
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Game
The New Hollywood

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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: Breakdown of Structure
Stage Four Memes: Deep Fried Era
Vince McMahon meme
Galaxy Brain Meme
Dark MAGA
Based memes
Biden calls Trump’s philosophy Semi-Fascism
Umberto Eco’s 14 guidelines of fascism
Biden and Trump Covid meme
Biden Neutralized meme
Brandon Eyepatch Meme
Joe Biden Speech Photo (Sept. 1)
Biden IRS Meme
Biden Star Wars Meme
Trump calls democrats fascists

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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 the risks associated with a centralized VR ecosystem?
Show Notes and Resources:
Nick Bostrom
Differential
VRChat
Jaron Lanier
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Englebart Mouse Device
Sensorama
Sword of Damocles VR (video)
Videoplace
SENSE8
Palmer Luckey
Road to Nowhere - Paris Marx
Palantir
Virtual Reality Is Missing Its Moment...Again - Jamie Cohen
Moore’s Law
Ready Player One
Microsoft HoloLens
Google Glass


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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 CBC Spark
Algospeak
TikTok Moderators Are Being Trained Using Graphic Images of Child Sexual Abuse
The Secret Lives on Facebook moderators in America
Say My Meme Podcast

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