How do YouTube influencers neg their audiences into taking lifestyle advice? Internet culture writer Steffi Cao joins Jamie to discuss how influencers undermine audiences with video titles that are not what they seem. The two discuss authenticity on social media platforms, why clickbait titles still reign supreme, and if there’s anything positive t…

What is the true potential of AI text-to-video generation? Director of Curiouser Institute and award-winning AI games designer Reed Berkowitz discusses OpenAI's Sora, an AI text-to-image model that will soon be made available to the public. As Hollywood rolls back studio investments and executives project up to 90% loss in animation jobs, how can w…

How will creators and tech companies grapple with the decline of journalism? On this week's episode, Jamie and Josh discuss the relationship between creators, platforms, and journalists, the ongoing shift from legacy news sources to platforms like TikTok and YouTube for news consumption, and how venture-backed outlets built on the promise of digita…

How can we separate hype from hallucination in AI games? Award-winning games designer and Director of Curiouser Institute Reed Berkowitz discusses why it's so difficult for mid-to-large studios to create AI NPCs, the brand safety risks associated with AI in games, and why AI games might require more writers rather than fewer. 🕹️ You can play Grilli…

Where can creators turn after they’ve been cancelled? Internet culture writer Steffi Cao discusses why cancelled creators turn to right-wing values to grow their businesses, the difficulty audiences have determining authenticity, and why it all matters – from economics to real-world action. 📖 Read Influencers are pandering to conservatives to salva…

How did Palantir develop a meme-obsessed fanbase of retail traders — and what does it mean? Business Insider senior correspondent Katie Notopoulos discusses the livestreaming, meme-making community behind Palantir's stock and the company's CEO Alex Karp. 📖 Read How Palantir stock developed a weird, passionate, meme-crazy fan base on Fast Company. A…

How can we explore visions for a better internet as it undergoes a monumental evolution? Media literacy influencer Kelsey Russell, award-winning journalist Kat Tenbarge, digital culture journalist Steffi Cao, and moderator Rachel E. Greenspan explore the role of surveillance and the rise of panopticontent, the importance of trust and safety on heal…

How do reboots and IP fueled universes prevent us from ever feeling nostalgia? Author of Foreverism Grafton Tanner discusses how the practice of keeping things alive prevents us from ever feeling nostalgia. 📚 You can order Foreverism by Grafton Tanner now! About Grafton Tanner: Grafton Tanner is the author of Foreverism, The Hours Have Lost Their C…

How does creative misuse of social media platforms inform the future of social media at large? Director of Curiouser Institute Reed Berkowitz highlights five popular ways people are engaging, interacting, and using social platforms - ranging from Life360 to Roblox - and what it means for how we imagine and create a social media future that enhances…

Washington Post tech columnist and author of Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet Taylor Lorenz explores the social history of the internet. How did Mommy Bloggers shape the creator economy? What is Vine's influence on today's social media ecosystem – and how can its demise be a lesson for creators and pl…

Cores are everywhere. From the film-inspired Barbiecore to Cottagecore – but how does a new core threaten to surveil everyday people? On today’s episode, Jamie provides us with a dispatch about the differences between Cores and aesthetics, the ways Cores present themselves online and offline, and why #humancore should be viewed with a critical eye.…

How did an early YouTube vlog style return to popularity after a generation of TikTok and YouTube creators including Emma Chamberlain and Charli D'amelio went mainstream? On today's episode, Jamie and Josh discuss how early YouTube creators like Tyler Oakley pivoted from creating content for family and friends to developing a public personality tha…

How will AI, algorithms, creators, and data transparency shape the future of Hollywood? On today's episode, Jamie and Josh dive into the key issues behind the SAG-AFTRA strike. How do major studios plan to use AI – and how can they come to an agreement with unions to ensure actors and writers are fairly compensated? How does a lack of data transpar…

How did Barbie and Oppenheimer become a highly anticipated double feature audiences have named Barbenheimer? This week, Josh and Jamie explore the history behind one of the summer's most anticipated box office weekends. How did a falling out between Christopher Nolan and WBD lead to this weekend's double feature? How have studios done an effective …

Meta’s primary Twitter competitor Threads earned more than 100 million downloads in its first five days - but what are the three key components required for the platform’s long-term success? On today’s episode, Jamie and Josh discuss the factors that led to the platform’s successful launch, how trust and safety protocols gave it an edge, and if Thr…

How can we be critical of fear-based AI hype cycles? OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently made headlines when he issued a 22-word statement warning of extinction due to the threats posed by AI - but what is Altman referring to, and what did he omit from his argument? This week, Jamie and Josh offer a critical discourse about the current AI hype cycle, th…

What does it mean to be a rebel in a digital age? PEN Award-winning author Mitch Horowitz provides us with three strategies to move forward. Recorded live at Digital Void's Meme in the Moment Festival in New York City on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. 🎟️ You can see Mitch and an incredible lineup of speakers including Shannon Liao, Allegra Frank, Dou…

How did one of Broadway’s newest shows become a cringeworthy TikTok trend that earned tens of millions of views? Rolling Stone internet culture reporter CT Jones discusses how Bad Cinderella became an ironic trend for audiences. How did the show’s development and debut on London’s West End hurt the Andrew Lloyd Weber production? What does cringe me…

How can creators avoid being creatively trapped by the audiences they worked to build? Where is there space for creators to take risks? Zine writer Matt Klein discusses his first-ever printed edition: Audience Capture. Klein explains the social theory behind the phenomenon, what happens to creators and audiences when audience capture is taken to it…

How has a Type 2 diabetes drug become a go-to for celebrities and influencers looking to lose weight — and what are the damaging effects of its popularity? This week, we invited Buzzfeed reporter Kelsey Weekman to discusses her article, The Oscars Were a Nightmare For Fat People at Every Turn,. Weekman discusses how this year’s Academy Awards highl…

Show Summary: Why do black TikTok creators struggle to earn credit for their original work? This week, TIME staff writer Moises Mendez II explains how TikTok creator Jordyn Williams is fighting for credit after her #NoLove dance went viral. How is Williams’ struggle symptomatic of the struggles black creators encounter on the platform? Further, Men…

How can we learn more about AI's design and development to better understand its emergence? Director of Curiouser Institute and AI games designer Reed Berkowitz explains what really happened when New York Times columnist Kevin Roose talked to Bing's Syndey chatbot – and how mainstream media outlets can consider different ways of discussing AI. Furt…

How does an activist Instagram account help bring attention - and change - to New Orleans’ streets? On this week’s episode, we welcome Digital Void collaborator, PhD student, and researcher Alex Turvy to discuss Look at This Fuckin’ Street: an Instagram account that highlights hazardous roads, potholes, and crumbling infrastructure to put pressure …

How will Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter reshape the landscape of social media? Creator and host of the award-winning podcast There Are No Girls on the Internet Bridget Todd explains where people can go to find alternatives to mainstream social media platforms, her vision for a more equitable social media future, and how Musk's Twitter purchase sta…

On this week's episode, Jamie takes a deep dive into why civil rights groups are pushing back against Amazon’s new television show, Ring Nation. You can read a written version of this week's episode, Why Civil Rights Groups Are Pushing Back Against Amazon's New Show, on Medium. Show notes and resources: Letter Calling on MGM to Cancel Ring Nation H…

This week, we're joined by author of Rabbits, CEO of Minnow Beats Whale, and co-creator of The Black Tapes, Terry Miles. Miles explains the origins of The Black Tapes, the playful interactivity fictional podcasts afford creators and audiences, and the worldbuilding required for people to become fully immersed in a story. How do people respond to a …

On this week's episode, Jamie and Josh discuss the history and context behind Dark Brandon memes. How did Joe Biden become featured in memes with laser eyes and dark aesthetics? How we can make sense of the trend's influence on culture and media narratives? What is its true influence? Show Notes and Resources: Laser Eyes Stage One Memes: lolspeak S…

What can the history of virtual reality development teach us about its path forward? On this week's episode, Jamie and Josh look back 30 years to the first attempt to mainstream commercial virtual reality. Why didn't haptics and headsets earn mass adoption? Further, they discuss the other uses for the metaverse and virtual reality. What do corporat…

How can memes encoded with aesthetics, nuance, and meta text become accessible to everyone? This week, Jamie and Josh discuss memes, algospeak, and access: How can meme creators and platforms utilize alt-text to help the vision impaired? Why is alt-text essential to help everyone access and understand the rapidly evolving memetic moment? Show notes…

Show Summary: How can humans determine if an Artificial Intelligence is sentient when sentience is what AI is designed to imitate? This week, we’re joined by Artificial Intelligence games designer Reed Berkowitz. Berkowitz discusses former Google Responsible AI team member Blake Lemoine’s claim that Google’s AI chatbot LaMDA is sentient. What made …

How can nostalgia inspire memes that motivate and mobilize communities? Last week, Jamie and Josh discussed how the term “meme culture” is in jeopardy of being co-opted by extremists. This week, they welcome back Grafton Tanner to take a deeper dive into the topic. What is vaporwave, and what characteristics of its aesthetic that afford itself to b…

We need to talk about meme culture. How are the aesthetics and vibes of memes turning into an action language? Jamie and Josh explore the ways memes inspire action: From #Gentleminions to extremist movements. Further, they explore how people outside of in-group communities can understand intent when nothing is explicitly being said. Is the term mem…

The Digital Void Podcast is a weekly exploration of digital culture, media, technology, and memes, featuring critical conversations with experts at the forefront of our digital transformation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do Silicon Valley’s promises about the future of transportation never seem to work out? Paris Marx, author of The Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Future of Transportation and Host of Tech Won’t Save Us dives into the reality underpinning the promises made by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs like Elon Musk. Why can’t electr…

Jamie and Josh dive into a brief history of how war and conflict play out in cyberspace, ranging from 9/11 and Syria to how Ukraine is using Twitter in its fight against Russia. We're coming to Washington DC! Join us for Our Connected Future on Wednesday, March 23, at Union Stage. Join Jamie in conversation with DC Bureau Chief Ryan Grim, a live ta…

Jamie Cohen dives into the debate Wikipedia editors are having about how artworks are categorized on the website — and what it means for NFTs. 📰 You can read Jamie's monologue, Wikipedia Doesn't Consider NFTs Art, and Crypto Investors Are Worried, on Medium Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Daily Beast reporter and author of Off The Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything Kelly Weill explores how we arrived at our polarized and conspiratorial moment, ranging from the origins of flat earth theory to the tragic effects of contemporary believers. 📕 Kelly's book, Off The Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspirac…

Resident Fellow at Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Research Lab and host of SH!TPOST Jared Holt explains the ways domestic extremists adapted and evolved after the January 6 attack, shares how we can avoid being bystanders in the face of fascism, and explores the real-world effects of posting and media martyrdom. 📰 Read Holt's report: After th…

Author of The Palmer Hotel Rick Paulas shares how his book became a meme through his reply guy tweets, how his Twitter ban created a Barbara Streisand effect for his book, and why Twitter should be entirely eradicated if humans stand a chance for a better future. Paulas will be signing copies of the Palmer Hotel at Digital Void's Meme in the Moment…

Insider digital culture editor and writer Rachel E. Greenspan explores her career path to the disinformation beat, how the insurrection showed us that it's too dangerous to ignore what happens online, and right-wing media's continued attacks on Taylor Lorenz and other journalists. Greenspan will be a speaker at Digital Void's Meme in the Moment Fes…

⏳ Author of The Hours Have Lost Their Clock Grafton Tanner explains how nostalgia is the emotion of our time. Tanner explores nostalgia from its roots as an illness that was once considered a cause of death to how nostalgia is affected by climate change and species extinction. From endless sequels and franchises to early-pandemic nostalgia, Tanner …

Freelance culture writer Moises Mendez II discusses the path he took to become a journalist, controversies surrounding queerbaiting in mainstream culture, the importance of TikTok Star Tally Dilbert's influence on young Afro-Latinos, and the connection between Gabby Petito and Couch Guy. Plus, Mendez reveals his favorite meme of all-time. Mendez wi…

2017 College Jeopardy winner, author of How to Survive a Public Faming: “Understanding “The Spiciest Memelord” via the Temporal Dynamics of Involuntary Celebrification and graduate student at MIT Lilly Chin shares the story of how she became "The Spiciest Memelord", the structural issues and lack of institutional support associated with overnight f…

Founder of the Meme Studies Research Network (MSRN) and doctoral researcher in sociology Idil Galip explains how she started an international and interdisciplinary research network for scholars who study memes to collaborate and organize. Further, she explains how Turkey’s Gezi Park Protests inspired her memetic research, explores how memes are gen…

Author of TikTok Boom and journalist Chris Stokel-Walker explores the strategy behind TikTok’s explosive rise in the west, the differences between Silicon Valley and Chinese technology, and how the features of TikTok are designed to mirror people’s performances back onto themselves, allowing them to feel like they are part of a community. Follow Di…

Writer for Uprising: A Guide from Portland and Bellingcat and a researcher for Behind the Bastards and Worst Year Ever, Garrison Davis explains the evolution of “White Boy Summer” from Chet Hanks music video to white supremacist meme. Davis shares the story of how “White Boy Summer” was discussed amongst 4Chan message board users and far-right Tele…

PhD Candidate in Cultural Analysis & Theory, artist, educator, and founder of Vital Thought, Emily Gillcrist, shows us how the 2008 recession led to universities devaluing the humanities — and how Vital Thought is working to make the critical humanities accessible to everyone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In the second of a special three-part series, Jamie and Josh explore how the rise of citizen journalism combined with toxic troll culture gave rise to reaction reactionaries: The people who profit most from reacting to other people’s reactions. Rooted in digital technology’s infrastructure and libertarian ideology, they explore how identity, langua…

Host of the Tech Won't Save Us Podcast and writer Paris Marx joins us to critically examine Silicon Valley’s approach to the gig economy and labor, what California’s Prop 22 could mean for the future of work, the outsourced, exploited, and hidden labor behind new robots and surveillance technologies, and approaches to worker solidarity. Hosted on A…

In the first of a special three-part series, Jamie and Josh explore how "mainstream media" became a pejorative term through the convergence of the narrative structure of reality television, early-YouTube web series, Gamergate, professional wrestling, and the false victimhood narratives created by influencers with millions of followers. Hosted on Ac…