How do you like it so far?

Welcome to another week, How Do You Like it So Far? fans! We have a very special episode in store for you all. This week, Henry is on the other side of the … well it’s not the microphone hm, the … recording booth, table … well you get the point. This week, Colin interviews Henry about his work surrounding civic imagination! They are joined by their esteemed colleague Dr. Sangita Shresthova, the Director of Research of the Civic Paths Group at USC and an integral part of the Annenberg Innovation Lab’s Civic Media Fellowship. They discuss their upcoming book Popular Culture in the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change. They dissect the components of civic imagination and how it can help us as people imagine a better world and a process of change. Their work surrounding civic imagination has led them to ask questions such as, “How do we change our civic spaces with the possibility of a future?” Listen in as Henry and Sangita discuss their work in starting with the visions of the future, could see possibilities between us and help solve problems. They even discuss what people envisioned in 2016 and how identifying those paradoxes and tensions in the field might be usable for activists and storytellers to incite change. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Erica Rand, professor of Art and Visual Culture and of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Bates College. She is author of: Barbie’s Queer Accessories, a study of the doll’s history and manufacture in relation to corporate and consumer meaning-making, The Ellis Island Snow Globe, a queer, anti-racist alternative tour of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, and Red Nails Black Skates, a collection of short essays grounded in participant-observation research in adult figure skating. Rand’s work spans the breadth of sexuality and material culture in today’s world. Rand has taken her work in many directions, including into the world of figure skating! Listen in as Rand reveals her decision to start figure skating in her 40’s and discusses the gender of skates and skating tights. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Here’s to another week and another episode How Do You Like it So Far? Fans! We have got a very special guest for you this week - Scott McCloud, the author of Understanding Comics, Making Comics, and Reinventing Comics. He met Henry at MIT ages ago and they have been friends ever since! Join Colin and Henry as they discuss comic book fundamentals with McCloud such as “what are comics?” and the difference between graphic novels and comic books. They also dive deep into the history of comics with McCloud (did you know that comics are hundreds of years old?!), the difference and confluence of American, Japanese and European comic styles, how the digital revolution is changing the comic book landscape. McCloud reveals how the American comic scene had roots in vaudeville. Artists such as Winsor McCay would incorporate a theatrical element and draw comic panels on stage where each panel was like a “theater box.” Listen in as McCloud explains how comics take advantage of the composition of memory and how contemporary comics are experimenting with diverse styles and increasingly welcome to women and artists of color. McCloud also predicts that soon female readership will reach critical point! Also, looking for comic book recommendations? Take a look in our show notes for some of the comics and cartoonists mentioned in this episode! ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Welcome to a new decade (we’re in the 20’s folks!) and another episode of How Do You Like it So Far?! This week we have Akilah Hughes, a founding Civic Media Fellow at the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, author of Obviously: Stories from My Timeline, and co-host of What a Day, Crooked Media’s first-ever daily news podcast that contextualizes the day’s news in a mere 15 to 20 minutes. Debuting in October, 2019, What a Day keeps in line with Crooked Media’s ethos and give listeners actionable insights about what can be done such as online resources, petitions, and fundraising opportunities. What a Day distills the distressing parts of the world through different comedic tactics. Listen in as Hughes talks about the influence other female comedians like Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling have had on her work and how she started with making YouTube video after YouTube video after YouTube video (after YouTube video) before going viral.

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With more than 50 episodes behind us, How Do You Like it So Far is ready for a new season of the new decade – Stay tuned for our weekly releases starting from next week! ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Happy 51st episode, How Do You Like it So Far? fans! We’ve got a great one in store for you for our last podcast of the season! (We know, but we’ll be back before you know it). This week we welcome Howard A. Rodman, Professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, screenwriter, novelist, labor organizer and author of The Great Eastern. In his new book, Rodman pits two of the greatest anti-heroes of 19th century literature, Captain Nemo and Captain Ahab, against each other in a thrilling and inventive story. Through his astounding novel, Rodman draws inspiration from classic literature of the 19th century from Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick to create a work of fiction that speaks to today’s culture. Looking for some good book recommendations for this holiday season? Take a look at our episode notes for books Rodman and Henry discuss. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Welcome to December How Do You Like it So Far? fans! We can’t believe it ourselves, but we only have two more episodes left for the season! This week Colin and Henry are joined by An Xiao Mina, a scholar, activist and author of the book Memes to Movements: How the World’s Most Viral Media is Changing Social Protest and Power. In her new book, Mina discusses how memes can be considered a form of “street art” of the web where they are a prominent part of the discourse in today’s society. Her book unveils the transformative power of memes and wonders where the memetic culture will take us next. Any cat fans out there? Mina goes into depth about how the Internet is made up of cat memes! What about goats? She argues that these animals are gaining visibility as new regions gain greater access and voice online. Listen in as Mina talks about how memes were not created from marketing meetings, but emerged from playfulness and experimentation. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Here we are again How Do You Like it So Far? fans! We continue with our two-part series from the 2019 Connected Learning Summit which took place at the University of California, Irvine from October 3-5. The second installment is a panel with Henry and two youth activists Justin Scott, a student and artist who has worked alongside grass roots organizations such as Students Deserve, United Black Student Unions of California, and Black Lives Matters, and Jessica Riestra, a Senior from Sacramento State and Co-Director of March for Our Lives California. Tune in as Scott and Riestra dissect the role of youth activists in today’s digital culture and call for the recognition of educators as the creators of spaces that explore the identities of young people and how their identities will interact with the world. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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We’ve got a treat in store for you this week, How Do You Like it So Far? fans! We begin a two-part series from the 2019 Connected Learning Summit which took place at the University of California, Irvine from October 3-5. This first installment is a panel with Henry, S.Craig Watkins, a Professor at the University of Texas, Austin, Mizuko Ito, the Director of the Connected Learning Lab, and Katie Salen, a Professor at the University of California, Irvine, for a discussion about digital youth in the talk, “Digital Diversity: How Social, Cultural and Real Life Circumstances Shape Youth Digital Media Practices.” Listen in as Watkins, Ito and Salen discuss topics concerning digital youth and how the digital learning space has evolved for the new generation.

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Here’s to another week How Do You Like it So Far? crew! Henry and Colin welcome Evelyn McDonnell, an Associate Professor of Journalism at Loyola Marymount University and former music editor at The Village Voice, Shana L. Redmond, a Professor of Global Jazz Studies Musicology at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and Alice Bag, an author, feminist and lead singer/co-founder of The Bags, a punk rock band that dates back to the initial wave of punk in Los Angeles. Their lively panel discusses “Women Who Rock: Bessie to Beyonce. Girl Groups to Riot Grrl,” edited by McDonnell with Redmond and Bag serving as contributing essayists. McDonnell, Redmond and Bag highlight the importance of this book with an examination of the gender disparities in the music industry and the legacy system that keeps those inequalities in place. Listen in as McDonell, Redmond and Bag dissect music as a strategy to incite action for change and call for more women in the music landscape. An added bonus: McDonnell is also a former student of Henry’s! ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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