It’s not like me to leave new episodes of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant languishing on my DVR, especially the first two episodes of a new season. What can I say? April is the cruelest month.
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Current Events
Parenting Teenage Style
The Beastie Boys’ Full Court Media Press
The Beastie Boys’ new short film “Fight for Your Right Revisited” shows an embracing of virality and a consolidation of the artists' power as producers and directors of music videos.
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Great Barbeque, Gigabits, and Google
After sifting though around 1,100 applications and high profile pleas, Google recently picked a site for its 1 Gbps fiber network. And according to Google, Kansas City Kansas beats. . . well, everywhere. Why KCK? And what does this mean for the rest of us?
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The Mad-ness of Precarious Programming?
It is no longer impossible to imagine that AMC might move on, leaving its signature show behind.
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April Fools’ Day and the Ghosts of Media Past
On April 1, 2011, several websites joked around with media history.
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Through the Lens: The Wisconsin Protests in Photos
As we enter the second week of protests, it seems a good time to look back and gain some perspective on the people, places and moments which have placed Wisconsin in the national and international spotlight.
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“We are Wisconsin”: Building Collective Identity in the Wisconsin Protests
As I have joined in the vibrant, energetic, and peaceful demonstrations against the Budget Repair Bill at the Wisconsin State Capitol, I have been struck by how those demonstrating have constituted a collective identity for themselves as Wisconsinites.
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Public Protest and Public Screens
I’m reminded of an argument made by rhetoric scholars Kevin DeLuca and Jennifer Peeples that we need to rethink the notion of the public sphere because so much of our democratic enactments happen not in a sphere, but on what they call the “public screen.”
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Embodied Voices and the Protests in Madison
The protests in Madison have demonstrated forcefully the power of an alternative to the opinion poll, an embodied voice of the people.
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Protests in Wisconsin
As you may’ve heard, something is going on in the state of Wisconsin.
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Egyptian State TV and the Challenge Posed by Reality
Trying to watch itself, Egyptian state TV has lost its collective mind. They have slid into a self-comforting psychosis. They don’t reject reality as much as they simply create a whole new one.
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From Veronica Mars to Pretty Little Liars
This post explores social power and millennial television. Where have we come from Veronica Mars’ Lily to Pretty Little Liars’ Alison? What do we make of this fascinatingly repeated trope of the dead, sexually-promiscuous girl who haunts the narrative in potent flashback?
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Harry Potter Takes Fans from Apathy to Activism
Ulaby’s story of how Harry Potter fans were becoming activists demonstrates how surprising it is for most people that fans are not loners, hiding away from the world, but rather are productive and rational- and can create real political change.
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MTV Gets Some Skin in the Game
MTV’s adaptation of the British TV teen Drama Skins just may be one of those rare shows where what happens on screen is second in precedence to the responses surrounding the show.
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Steve Wiebe: Donkey Kong Master, Rock Star
On the spectacle of watching King of Kong hero Steve Wiebe play Donkey Kong at Logan's Hardware, January 15, 2011.
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