After a couple of years of hard work on the part of its editor and authors, Belt Publishing today opened pre-sales for its new Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook, due to hit shelves this fall. Based on the success of its “idiosyncratic” guidebook series for Cleveland and Detroit, the Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook aims to explore community history… Continue reading new essay forthcoming in “the chicago neighborhood guidebook” from belt publishing
Category: news
the ethics of digital face-swapping
I’ve published a new essay for the Center for Digital Ethics & Policy on the ethics of digital face-swapping, or the technology used to supplant different faces on different bodies and put them in digital spaces where they don’t belong. As suggested by the pied ethical reportage of digital face-swapping, deepfakes lack the charm of… Continue reading the ethics of digital face-swapping
how to market in the manufacturing industry
Last week I spoke about marketing trends in the manufacturing industry with Hubstaff, a time-tracking and productivity platform (and digital innovator that has emerged from the nascent Rust Belt innovation space). Manufacturing is a complicated industry in the U.S., with its human capital increasingly threatened by automation. That’s why it’s important for manufacturers to tell… Continue reading how to market in the manufacturing industry
everything your new year’s resolutions will do to your brain and body: spending less and saving more
The good folks at MEL Magazine reached out to me at the beginning of this year to follow up some other conversations I’ve had with them the past few years about saving money and spending less. According to the writer, I’m a bona fide “super saver.” When asked about how my habits and health started… Continue reading everything your new year’s resolutions will do to your brain and body: spending less and saving more
powerviolence, or how to play punk with a hammer
A few years ago I wrote an essay about the history of powerviolence, an obscure sub-subgenre of punk rock that originated on the West Coast but has since spread to all corners of the world. It’s part of “The Punk Reader: Research Transmissions from the Local and the Global,” an edited collection published in November… Continue reading powerviolence, or how to play punk with a hammer
Outside Art: Alok Vaid-Menon in Chicago (Quiet Lunch)
My newest “Outside Art” column is up @ Quiet Lunch, looking at Alok Vaid-Menon’s recent performance in Chicago.
New article for the Center for Digital Ethics & Policy
I’ve got a new article posted at the Center for Digital Ethics & Policy: “Facebook is a media company, but what’s a media company?” When Facebook says that it’s a tech company and not a media company, a silent shudder echoes across the internet. It’s like the reaction that, say, Morton Salt would get if… Continue reading New article for the Center for Digital Ethics & Policy
Cult Cinema Bibliography
When I completed grad school in 2015, I was awarded a Media Studies Award from Oxford Bibliographies (Oxford University Press) for my work in cult cinema. After nearly three years (because academic publishing moves at a glacial pace), Oxford finally posted my bibliography for cult cinema. Here’s the intro: Though relatively young in the world… Continue reading Cult Cinema Bibliography
New Column for Quiet Lunch
I have a new column for Quiet Lunch, “Outside Art.” My first entry is on Chicago’s Intuit Museum of Outsider Art. Compared to the usual culture-media pipeline, I’m not writing this series from New York City or L.A., but from my home city of Chicago. With this series on outside art, I’ll continue exploring the… Continue reading New Column for Quiet Lunch
Chicago, voiced by Bill Kurtis
Hey! Check out this promotional video I scripted for World Business Chicago. Voiceover by Bill Kurtis.