Is the Medium the Message? In this episode, my friend JR and I have a fun discussion/casual debate about this nearly half-a-century-old question. How do the mediums we use affect the messages we’re trying to convey? And, is the medium itself more important than the message itself? We do our best to cover the subject broadly, chatting about everything from Marshall McLuhan’s concept of *Narcissus narcosis* to the use of advertising to sell cereal sugar (and Red 40) to children.

This episode is cross-posted with JR’s podcast, “that’s interesting” a podcast to introduce ideas and spark curiosity.

FOLLOW JR / THAT’S INTERESTING

Podcast links: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Zc3pHddwBqKW25QN3Stak?si=7335456d03904806, https://soundcloud.com/bandwidthpodcast

Website: https://www.bandwidthpodcast.com/

KEEP UP WITH DR. AIDEN

Website: www.aidenhirshfield.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aidenhirshfield/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.aidenhirshfield/

Email: [email protected]

References:

Marshall McLuhan Interview from Playboy, 1969 https://web.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/spring07/mcluhan.pdf

https://nextnature.net/story/2009/the-playboy-interview-marshall-mcluhan

The Medium is the Massage with Marshall McLuhan Audio Recording (on Spotify)

https://open.spotify.com/album/68uoccswQmMV3mXIOoKPeW?si=BQBmP8JpQb6eqA6r6_dLcw

Weird Studies Episode 71: The Medium is the Message

https://www.weirdstudies.com/71?t=0

Disclaimer:

*The opinions expressed in this podcast are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of any parties named or unintentionally represented.*

How do we become critical consumers of media? How does media hijack or amplify critical thinking? What do heuristics and confirmation bias have to do with this? In this episode, I explore the conditions for great or bad critical thinking and how media users can be more analytical about the information we consume. I talk about how political divisiveness in the U.S. is engineered by media masterminds and how digital literacy skills can help.

KEEP UP WITH DR. AIDEN

Website: www.aidenhirshfield.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aidenhirshfield/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.aidenhirshfield/

Email: [email protected]

References:

How Political Language is Engineered with Drew Westen and Frank Luntz on Your Undivided Attention by the Center for Humane Technology

www.humanetech.com/podcast/53-how-political-language-is-engineered

Techno-psychology by Erin Carmody

www.linkedin.com/pulse/techno-psychology-erin-carmody/

UNESCO Digital Literacy Skills Framework

https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/ip51-global-framework-reference-digital-literacy-skills-2018-en.pdf

Seven Principles of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini

www.influenceatwork.com/7-principles-of-persuasion/

Cyber Civics

www.cybercivics.com

Center for Humane Technology

www.humanetech.com

All Tech is Human & Tech Stewardship https://alltechishuman.org/techstewardship

Reuters

www.reuters.com

Media Bias / Fact Check

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

Do you derive pleasure and fulfillment from media? Is it intentionally designed that way or does it fulfill your specific and unique needs? Do you ever make sacrifices for media? If you don’t think you do, think again. This episode is all about exploring the parallels between Sarah Jaffe’s book “Work Won’t Love You Back” and our relationships with media. I talk about our perceptions and judgments of media as good or bad, when it’s neither; Media drains and fills the cup, it’s the poison and the cure. This is a crash course in media psychology and a brief introduction to the types of content you can expect from Media Psyched.

KEEP UP WITH DR. AIDEN

Website: www.aidenhirshfield.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aidenhirshfield/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.aidenhirshfield/

Email: [email protected]

Transcripts will be made available at my website www.aidenhirshfield.com/podcast

References:

Sarah Jaffe https://sarahljaffe.com/

Center for Humane Technology www.humanetech.com

All Tech is Human & Tech Stewardship https://alltechishuman.org/techstewardship

Hosted by Dr. Aiden Hirshfield, Media Psychologist, Consultant, and Researcher. Media Psyched is all about our relationships with media, the cause and AH-ffect, and the incredible ways that we humans are using media to transform ourselves and the world around us.

I’ll talk about some of my favorite subjects like video games, virtual and augmented reality, digital art, User Experiences, the Psychology of persuasion, cognitive dissonance, Gestalt theory, and why it all matters. I am so passionate about media psychology because I know it has an impact on EVERYONE and EVERYTHING in our modern world, we can no longer ignore it’s power and influence. That’s been true for many years, yet many of us are just becoming media literate. That’s a whole can of worms we’ll definitely be opening up...quite frequently in fact.

What’s more, we’ll be hearing riveting and powerful stories about all sorts of mediums and technology from a diverse range of people from an infinite array of fields, backgrounds, and experiences (a lot of whom I am lucky enough to call friends).

And, as a trans and queer identified person, I am dedicated to cultivating an inclusive space that uplifts and shares the voices and experiences of marginalized people. I’ll talk about my work at the intersection of media and gender and sexuality and bring in influencers, experts, and interesting folks to talk about these nuanced areas.

I hope you’ll join me for Media Psyched, coming to your favorite streaming apps soon. Subscribe on Spotify or Apple, or follow us @mediapsychedpodcast on Instagram for updates!