🎉 This Saturday: Douglas Rushkoff & Mitch Horowitz at Caveat; Meme in the Moment Festival returns 12/14!
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🔥 Join award-winning authors Douglas Rushkoff and Mitch Horowitz for a special live taping of Team Human this Saturday at Caveat in New York City!
We’re kicking off Halloween weekend with a special live taping of Douglas Rushkoff’s Team Human podcast! Join us in an intimate and magical setting featuring ambient soundscapes, socializing, free books, and author signings!
Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool. His book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.
Mitch Horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of today’s most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult. He illuminates outsider history, explains its relevance to contemporary life, and reveals the longstanding quest to bring empowerment and agency to the human condition. Horowitz is a writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library and the PEN Award-winning author of books including Occult America; One Simple Idea; The Miracle Club; Daydream Believer; Uncertain Places; and Modern Occultism.
Featuring live music by Steven Brent! Steven Brent has worked in a variety of media for several decades. He’s focused on vocal pop music, soundscapes and music for film / dance / meditation, and written work in the areas of metaphysics and perception.
Plus 60 attendees will receive free books! Copies of Horowitz’s new book, Modern Occultism, and Rushkoff’s Survival of the Richest will be available for free for 60 people. Attendees will have the opportunity to get their books signed immediately after the conclusion of the podcast taping.
🎉 The Meme in The Moment Festival returns on Thursday, December 14!
We’re thrilled to announce the return of our flagship show, The Meme in the Moment Festival, on Thursday, December 14, at Caveat in New York City!
We’re bringing together academics, creators, comics, journalists, podcasters, and strategists to explore visions of a better internet. Speakers, panels, and interactive games will explore themes ranging from the rise of AI and creep of surveillance technologies to the evolution of platforms and streaming.
We’re taking a bold new step in our vision to bring conversations and education about digital culture, media, and technology into physical space.
The Meme in the Moment Festival will feature Jamie Cohen, PhD and a full speaker lineup to be announced soon! Don’t miss out - tickets for this festival will go quick.
New to The Meme in the Moment Festival? Check out talks from Carlos Maza, Kat Tenbarge & Kalhan Rosenblatt, CT Jones, and Jordan Uhl.
👾 What We’ve Been Up To
👽 Josh Chapdelaine joined Perry Carpenter and Mason Amadeus on Digital Folklore to discuss the history of memes, audience and community empowerment, why brands shouldn’t try to duplicate this year’s most viral trends, and cringe. Listen and subscribe now!
💡Jamie Cohen, PhD talked to Rosa Sanchez of Harper’s Bazaar about the trouble with the rise of Roman Empire aesthetics and discussion:
“I think the market for men leans into the masculine and the strong dude mentality,” Cohen says. “There is absolutely no need for bourbon-scented body wash or brands like Viking or Naked Armor to convince men to wash themselves. Some of today’s media still leans into the perpetuation of the patriarchal society through uplifting far-right coded messages like trad-wives or Andrew Tate–style self-help into mainstream discourse.”
🎙️ The Digital Void Podcast returns this November! We’ve had a great year of conversations with guests including Taylor Lorenz, CT Jones, Matt Klein, Reed Berkowitz, Moises Mendez II, and Kelsey Weekman. Jamie and Josh have also taken deep dives on topics ranging from the launch of Threads to the influence of AI and algorithms on the SAG-AFTRA strike. Do you have a topic or guest suggestion? Feel free to reach out!