Preserved by the very awesome Film & Media Archive in the very awesome @washulibraries.bsky.social.

Everyone should be following the digitization and posting of the Adam Jacobs Collection. A 10,000 live concert chronicle of rocknroll-live-in-Chicago between the mid-1980s and today. archive.org/details/aada...

I am not going to repost the vile and racist image that Trump posted last night of President & First Lady Obama because it is beyond disgusting. Trump is a vile racist as is every Republican that continues to support him. I don’t want to hear mumbling from Mike Johnson or stoic silence from Thune.

some exciting news: announcing CREATOR & INFLUENCER STUDIES, the first open-access peer reviewed journal dedicated to creator and influencer culture research. I'm honoured to be named as one of the journal's inaugural associate editors. submissions open Feb 12.

Great new piece by Shorenstein fellow Jax Deluca on possible next steps after the defunding of US public media.

Jeff Bezos’s wealth has increased an average of $70 million every day of 2026, meaning that he could have offset The Post’s losses with what he’s made since Monday.

“Gramsci used to say 'Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will'. What he meant is: understand how the bloody system works.” - Stuart Hall, born Feb. 3, 1932

Looking forward to giving my fourth invited talk at the University of Missouri tomorrow.

Big congrats to @akstuhl.bsky.social for winning the 2026 SCMS dissertation award. For “Unmaking a Medium: Automation and Art in American Radio, 1950–2010,” supervised by Jonathan Sterne (McGill).

It's near-white out conditions in Chicago as the snow comes down, and tonight's anti-ICE/CBP rally is wrapping up in front of city hall. But not before the crowd bounces and chants, "I believe that we will win!"

Every elevator at the Utah state capitol has a beehive for a panel, it’s utterly charming.

This morning’s view

My colleague @sristovska.bsky.social provides significant analysis regarding the laws and interpretation of video evidence, in the context of recent state violence, at Scientific American.

Anyone else watching the live press briefing with Bovino? He just announced that anyone who "interferes" with ICE, just by being present the scene, is fair game to be shot.

Every single thing that Trump is doing to help rig the election has been happening since before he even had his first term. Trying to steal elections is not a new concept for Black communities.

Not too late for Schumer and Jefferies to publicly state that murdering innocent people is a violation of rights and liberty.

I was interviewed about what’s next for public media after the closure of the CPB. This is a digestible 10-minute segment on the political and ideological winds that are currently confronting democratic voice. kgnu.org/what-does-th...

I gave a second interview with the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) about why the right is attempting to shut down NPR and PBS, and how rural station closures will affect democratic discourse. Thanks to the excellent Lucy Schiller.

The list of things no one can avoid has grown to death, taxes, and AI.

After the loss of federal funding, how can public media position itself for a successful 2026 amid ongoing uncertainty and change? Join us for our next webinar Thursday, Jan. 15 at 1 p.m. ET. Presented with Public Media Innovators. uwmadison.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

I love the random cool shit on the side of the art deco buildings in Manhattan. This was just on top of some door.

My article "The ratings panel from participation to personification: Nielsen and the big data reconfiguration of the audience" is out in Convergence I draw on years of research in the trade convention circuit to make sense of the way this legacy company is using AI across their product suite Link👇

This week’s hotel window view

I curate the history series at public media's trade journal Current. We're looking for pieces on the history of NPR, PBS and its affiliates, with some space to imagine public media's future. We accept academic articles repurposed for wide readership. Plus, we pay. Please circulate!

Rep. @AOC: I understand that Vance believes shooting a young mother of three in the face three times is an acceptable America that he wants to live in, and I do not. That is a fundamental difference between Vance and I. I do not believe that the American people should be assassinated in the street.

"NPR’s audience remains older and whiter than the country in general," writes @cchavez4.bsky.social. "Unless the network pivots, it will be further out of touch with the public it purports to serve." current.org/2026/01/opin...

What does Latina feminism sound like in pop culture? To Esther Díaz Martín, the answer is in the air waves. RADIOPHONIC FEMINISMS explores the ways that radio and podcasting can be spaces for resisting oppressive patriarchal structures. Tune in and grab your copy below 🩷🔗 utpress.utexas.edu/9...

Bill Siemering, founding program director of NPR, author of its mission statement, has asked me to inquire if any profs might be interested in a Zoom class visit? No honorarium necessary. Bill founded All Things Considered, Fresh Air, won a MacArthur, etc.

I was interviewed at CJR about the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Along with the excellent @rodneybenson.bsky.social.

Sorry but yes we should still read Adorno. No one has to be an Adornian, or follow any specific author as a single authority. But we must continue reading the critical tradition during this time of conservative restoration.

“When I look at Mamdani, I didn’t see some radical departure from the past. I see him as the heir to an old and venerable Jewish tradition – that of Yiddish socialism – which helped build New York.”

Happy Public Domain Day! Thanks to @publicdomainrev.bsky.social for creating this list. publicdomainreview.org/blog/2026/01...

Making beef bourguignon, an all-day affair. And I’m a terrible chef.

My New Year’s resolution is to drink more coffee.

Giving my yearly invited talk at the Library of Congress in January. Rescheduled from November. Twelfth consecutive year!

The lecturer in question is our colleague in children’s literature studies. She is a brilliant scholar and from all accounts a gifted teacher. This ruling is infuriating… at the end of the day, it is our students’ education that will suffer.

Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it

From what I can tell, this is the first document in US history to conceptualize and name ”public broadcasting,” in 1936. It would take another 31 years of advocacy for the idea to become a policy.

I’m not just saying this because they are my employer, but the SUNY system is one of the few university systems (shoutout Cal State) actually committed to educating Black and Brown students and getting them to the middle class. If you care about equality, that goal is moved through public schools.

Appreciation post for Ahmed al-Ahmed. Hero.

Winter Chicago

Back in Evanston, with my favorite view of the Chicago skyline.

New School has been one of the most important humanities and social science universities in the world for the past 70 years. The humanities are collapsing at all of the pillars, and it won't be long until less prestigious institutions feel validated to call open season upon a number of departments.

Perhaps apropos. In a 1939 internal note, NBC regretted *not* censoring announcer Walter Winchell after he called Hitler a "madman".

How are video and AI shaping the pursuit of justice? Check out Seeking Justice with Video and AI, our new speaker series. Featuring leading voices from academia, law, journalism, media forensics, and human rights practice, it will explore the promises and challenges of these technologies. 1/6

If universities would prioritize smaller classes and fewer bells and whistles like third-party technology contracts, a significantly bigger number of PhDs would find a position in higher education.

Elon Musk and the Trump administration gleefully shutting down USAID “has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children.” People throw around terms like genocide quite freely online but it’s hard to find other words to describe this level of man-made death.

Delighted to be presenting alongside international colleagues in the MeCCSA Policy Network "Future of Public Service Media" series. The event is apparently sold out.

Giant Ruth Asawa retrospective at the MoMA. Just fantastic.