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In the final episode of the season, new hosts Chelsea Sanchez and Eish Sumra speak with CCT Professor Leticia Bode and CCT students Ted Harrison and Shana Inofuentes on what to expect of the upcoming months and how to adjust to our new normal.

Who among us hasn’t picked up a product because it labels itself as “natural wellness,” “clean beauty,” or “contains ashwagandha”? In our February episode, Kim and Kevin unpack the history of wellness (while unpacking their skincare routines), and examine how a cultural shift from humanism to dataism has fundamentally changed the way we consume beauty products.

We’ve all heard the discourse around content moderation- that it doesn’t work, or that it doesn’t help foster supportive communities on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But what about smaller online communities on platforms like Discord, where servers and channels can be customized for specific interests? In our most recent episode of About Me, Kim and Kevin learn how Discord servers are moderated, and how smaller online communities can affect positive change in their communities through empathy and discussion.

Instagram users—particularly Instagram users who are members of a marginalized community—have begun to notice that their content isn’t being delivered as they would expect it to be. On the inaugural episode of About Me, Kim and Kevin square up with the Instagram Bogeyman that is the shadowban. With a personal narrative about the effects of shadowbanning from Johanna Toruño (@johannareign, @theunapologeticallybrownseries) kicking off the discussion, Kim and Kevin endeavor to lift the lid off of what we know as “shadowbanning” online to show it for what it really is: codified algorithmic expression.

About Me is a podcast exploring the strange and complicated stories in which we find our own identities morphing through technology. Each episode will explore how our online selves both shape and mirror our identities through deep dives on topics ranging from content moderation and radicalization to dating profiles and DIY lifestyles.