An idea worth at least 40 nanoKardashians of your attention
In my class today, celebrated science journalist Alister Doyle shared an insight that crystalized for me a line of thinking I’ve been exploring about media attention, celebrity and charity. Doyle...
View Article“Long Flights”– a somewhat serious business idea
I’m considering starting a new business venture. It’s called “Long Flight” and it’s based on my experiences writing on airplanes. I’ve hit a point in my career where I organize my schedule to maximize...
View ArticleWhat to make of Ai Wei Wei’s “Gangnam Style”?
It’s a good time to be PSY. The Korean rapper has become an international celebrity with the unexpected success of Gangnam Style, the absurdly catchy song that’s introduced much of the world to K-Pop,...
View ArticleThe Globalization of Sumo – My talk at MSR SCS 2013
Microsoft’s Social Computing Symposium is one of my favorite conferences of the year. It’s small, invitation only, curated by some of the smartest people in my field, and attracts a wonderful...
View ArticleCorporate America and the Harlem Shake: Perfect Together
When we’re not doing more serious work like documenting geographic and gender biases in media, or helping provide information to domestic workers about their rights, we at the Center for Civic Media...
View ArticleLong tail audiobooks – a thought experiment
Because I have a long commute, I listen to a lot of audio: public radio, podcasts and audiobooks. Because I work in academe, I have a massive pile of books and papers I need to read: books by friends,...
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The biography I’m waiting for: Bambaataa and the parallel universe of hip hop
I wrote a book review, of sorts, last week about Walter Isaacson’s book on Steve Jobs and my concern that biographies, as a genre, celebrate a “great man” theory of history. While I remain convinced...
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Pixação, or why São Paulo looks like a death metal album cover
One of the first things I noticed about Sao Paulo was the graffiti. It’s everywhere, and it’s stylistically very striking – angular, highly stylized letters on walls, buildings, overpasses. It’s clear...
View ArticleLessons from Letterlocking: a serendipitous academic encounter
Here’s a quick experiment – I’ve been publishing stories on FOLD and replicating the text here on this blog. But FOLD now supports embedding – let’s see how well my blog supports it… Otherwise, please...
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Race, Fame and Ability: untangling media coverage of NFL QBs
Some research from our lab, the Center for Civic Media, because it’s fun and something I’m glad we produced. In the US, NFL football is more than a sport – it’s a stage on which broader national dramas...
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