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Critical Media Studies

Critical Media Studies

Hosted by Michael Repici

Episodes

120

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN

About the show

The Critical Media Studies podcast discusses the interplay of technology and culture from an academic perspective. In each episode we consider the work of a prominent thinker in the field of critical media studies and discuss the implications of their work in relation to other thinkers and in light of current social contexts.

Listen to episodes

60 recent
June 12, 202648 min

#121: A repost of episode #99: On Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Artificial Intimacy

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the idea of “frictionless” relationships in the age of artificial intimacy. ErikaHayasaki – “What Would a Real Friendship With A.I. Look Like? Maybe Like Hers?The New York Times Magazine 7/20/2025TED Radio Hour -- How our relationships are changing in the age of “artificial intimacy"Friday, August2, 2024

May 29, 202654 min

#120: Mark Fisher - Exiting the Vampire's Castle, pt. 2

In this episode Barry and Mike resume their discussion of Mark Fishers’s 2013 blog post, “Exiting the Vampire’s Castle”. They discuss the five laws that govern the castle and wonder if it is possible to exit the castle, as Fisher hoped.

May 15, 202638 min

#119: Mark Fisher - Exiting the Vampire Castle

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss writer/music critic/cultural theorist Mark Fisher’s 2013 blog post, “Exiting the Vampire Castle”. They look at the essay, 13 years after its posting, and provide context as to what the Castle is, how it came to be, and how it functions. The next episode will focus on Fisher’s laws of the Vampire Castle.

May 1, 202651 min

#118: Althusser - Idelology and Ideological State Apparatuses

In this episode Barry and Mike conclude their discussion of Althusser’s seminal essay, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses”. They focus on Althusser’s concept of interpellation and discuss whether he believes it’s possible to get outside of ideology. The conclusion of the discussion asks how Simone Weil, who served as the genesis of this series, conceives of an outside to propaganda and politics.

April 17, 202651 min

#117: Althusser - Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses, pt. 1

This is the first of a two part discussion. In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Louis Althusser’s Essay “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” in relation to Simone Weil. Here, they discuss the state apparatuses and place them in dialogue with Weil’s discussion of party politics and attention. They close this episode by investigating the tension between the individual’s imagined and real relation to existence.

April 3, 202651 min

#116: Weil - On The Abolition of all Political Parties, pt, 2

In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion on Simone Weil’s essay, “On The Abolition of all Political Parties.” They discuss the opposition between the truth seeking individual and the party member, and then pivot to what this question looks like in the current day.

March 20, 202648 min

#115: Simone Weil - On The Abolition of All Political Parties

This is the first of two episodes on Simone Weil’s 1943 essay, “On the Abolition of all Political Parties. In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the distinction Weil draws between “truth” and “ideology”.

March 6, 202659 min

Guy Debord - The Society of the Spectacle

This is a repost of the Guy Debord episode that was originally posted on 3/15/23.In This episode of the Critical Media Studies podcast we discuss Guy Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle. As the book is aphoristic, rather than trying to address the work as a whole, Barry and Mike look at what Debord means by Spectacle and hone in on a few particular sections (24-28). The focus of this episode settles around the question of whether or not there is a continuity between Debord's mediated society and our own digital mediasphere.We hope you enjoy and welcome any feedback or suggestions.

February 20, 202657 min

#113: Merenda - Reading Arendt to Rethink Truth, Science, and Politics in the Era of Fake News

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Federica Merenda’s essay, “Reading Arendt to Rethink Truth, Science, and Politics in the Era of Fake News”. They discuss Arendt’s distinction between factual truths and rational truths and how they reveal of the interplay of truth and politics.

February 6, 202659 min

#112: Kracauer - Photography

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss the uncanny ways that Sigfreid Kracauer’s 1927 essay, Photography, anticipates the modern media landscape.

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