Did Cassettes Help Bring Down the Iron Curtain?
Computer programmer Fuxoft explains his role in 'Sneakernet,' which saw pirated material of all types smuggled into 1980s Czechoslovakia and shared at 'copy parties' on cassettes, creating a kind of...
View ArticleThe Tapes That Sparked the Iranian Revolution
Cassette tapes recorded in the French countryside in the late 1970s had an unfathomable impact when they were heard in Iran. (At the peak some 90,000 mosques were duplicating and distributing the...
View ArticleHow the Cassette Tape Helped Create the Internet
In 1983, Simon Goodwin had a strange thought. Would it be possible to broadcast computer software over the radio? If so, could listeners record it off the air and onto a cassette tape? This experiment,...
View Article“We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” and a Short History of Movies about the...
The Internet can be a scary place in real life, and far more so in Jane Schoenbrun’s film “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” which premièred at the Sundance Film Festival last year and is being...
View Article“We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” and a Short History of Movies about the...
The Internet can be a scary place in real life, and far more so in Jane Schoenbrun’s film “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” which premièred at the Sundance Film Festival last year and is being...
View ArticleThe Modern Day Shame Machine
Shame is a powerful emotion we all experience that can make us act in ways we may regret. And especially today, with the increased pressure of the internet and social media, shame is increasingly built...
View ArticleHow Urban Planning Could Help Build Better Online Spaces
Elon Musk's bid to purchase Twitter set off a familiar debate on what a healthier social media world could look like. One source of inspiration can be found in our physical world, according to Eli...
View ArticleHow Social Media Has Changed The War In Ukraine
Aric Toler, director of training & research at Bellingcat, discusses how social media and other publicly available internet tools have helped journalists and researchers uncover, verify and...
View ArticleThe Rise of Megan Stalter
Before the pandemic, Megan Stalter was an unknown comedian, trying to catch a lucky break at clubs in New York City. But with the arrival of COVID-19, social media became her only outlet, and she...
View ArticleThe Comedian Megan Stalter on Finding Inspiration in American Absurdity
Before the pandemic, Megan Stalter was an unknown comedian, trying to catch a lucky break at clubs in New York City. But with the arrival of COVID-19, social media became her only outlet, and she...
View ArticleThe Writer Dmitry Bykov on Putin’s Russia, the Land of “Most Free Slaves”
Dmitry Bykov was a force in Russian cultural life; now he’s effectively in exile, probably for as long as Putin remains in power. Bykov speaks with David Remnick about the state of Russia—and...
View ArticleHow the Nerdwriter Conquered the Internet
Evan Puschak, known on YouTube as the Nerdwriter, posts videos dissecting topics from Shakespeare and Tarkovsky to Superman; from Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump. The videos...
View ArticleThe Nerdwriter Conquers the Internet, Plus Kelefa Sanneh on Country Radio
Evan Puschak, known on YouTube as the Nerdwriter, posts videos dissecting topics from Shakespeare and Tarkovsky to Superman; from Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump. The videos...
View ArticleThe Creator Behind Internet Mini-Musicals
Brandon Ethridge is a classically trained pianist, music director and composer who has worked on Broadway and touring with a Queen cover band. During the pandemic, he took up a new hobby, writing what...
View ArticleEscape from Tarkov (Part 1)
This week, On the Media reporter Micah Loewinger brings us the story of a Twitch streamer named Pavel, who is known to his viewers as "Bobi." He was live-streaming from a military base in eastern...
View Article"Library With A Turret On Top"
This week saw the conclusion of the campaign to shut down one of the internet’s most toxic forums, Kiwi Farms.Twitch streamer Clara Sorrenti aka “Keffals” led the charge against the site after she was...
View ArticleA Short History of YouTube
YouTube is one of the biggest media companies in the world. In 2020, we uploaded 500 hours of footage to the site every minute. And on averagewe watched over 5 billion videos every day. It’s a...
View ArticleThe Worst Place on the Internet?
This month saw the conclusion of the campaign to shut down one of the internet’s most toxic forums, Kiwi Farms. Twitch streamer Clara Sorrenti aka “Keffals” led the charge against the site after she...
View ArticleSo Sue Me
This week, two cases headed to the Supreme Court that could change the internet as we know it. On this week’s On the Media, a look at the legal gray areas of how news gets shared online. Plus, how one...
View ArticleAlex Jones Doesn't Care About You
Among those testifying in the case against Alex Jones in the last few weeks was Josh Owens, a former Infowars staffer who worked for Jones from 2013 to 2017. In an essay published on CNN.com, Owens...
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