Despite its essential role in our lives and agency as citizens, many of us consume journalistic works minimally or inefficiently. In particular, study after study in the past decade have shown that 40 to 80 percent of would-be readers only actually consider headlines before sharing posts or moving on. This week, we consider the effects of doing so and the danger posed by "headline culture". How do consumers influence the headlines that journalists will craft and consequently inform consumer perspectives? Where does the attribute of being "well-read" come into play? How can we more deeply and meaningfully consume carefully-crafted and well-researched journalism?
Episode 183: Calling Out, Preserved
As podcasts have demonstrated for years now, sound and the human voice have a deep and intimate capacity to affect and inspire listeners. Audio continues to inform, entertain and challenge people around the world. What about a precursor of sorts, the voicemail? Though many roll their eyes at the concept, it maintains a certain charm. This week, Tim Robinson joins us to explore the experience of leaving, receiving and considering voicemails as gifts. How do they allow us to share precious tone, information and connection with others? Why don't we more readily embrace them as a form of communication? What can we learn from the awkward and vulnerable feelings that voicemail stirs for some people?
Episode 182: The Salty, The Savage
Words and the languages they uphold are among humanity's greatest creations. They allow communication, experimentation and profound self-expression. But how do we adapt to terms whose meaning shifts with different cultures and eras? This week, we look at "salty" and "savage" as prominent words in the online rhetoric/lexicon. How do their 21st century versions reflect their original linguistic roots? What do they reveal about contemporary culture and how we think?
Episode 181: Gratitude in 2017
For countless individuals, 2017 was a year characterized by stress, confusion, trauma and exhaustion. Political tensions persist and expand as pop culture also attempts to cope with considerable changes and disparate ideas about our society and how it should function. In such a difficult year, it's worth exploring gratitude as a personal topic. How can gratitude help transform hardships into opportunities for learning and growth? Is it audacious to pursue gratitude when so many continue to struggle and suffer?
Episode 180: Ecosystems of Information
“This president, like President Obama, will be out of office some day...But this information ecosystem, this is going to be around for the rest of our lives. And I find that more alarming than any particular policy or politician or anything that’s happening right now.”
With an increasingly connected and technologically-developed world, we might expect humanity to share and spread information similarly. But we do not all receive, express or process the same information as our peers. What's more, many of us disregard information that does not agree with our previously held standards and beliefs. This week, we explore a concept described by Ira Glass at Third Coast 2017 as "information ecosystems". How does an ecosystem as an analogy help us to conceptualize the flow of information and ideas? How can we expand and intermingle ecosystems which operate independently of one another? How can we move beyond our own information ecosystems to experience more nuanced perspectives?