This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Henry Snow can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/12/work-together-eat-bread-together-stardew-valley-and-the-dream-of-the-commons/. About the post: “The Farm” is a saccharine settler colonialist homestead fantasy that legitimizes an industrial production process as dystopian as any. Perhaps the American gamer wants this too.

This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by PRATYUSHA KIRAN can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/11/underneath-it-all-unveiling-the-toxic-reality-of-fast-fashion-underwear-and-the-social-dimension-of-health/. About the post: The health concerns related to fast fashion primarily stem from chemicals in synthetic dyes and other low-quality raw materials used by manufacturers to keep the prices low. Exposure to these chemicals can be through the wastewater generated during manufacturing, and from direct contact with clothing itself.

This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Ashley Thuthao Keng Dam and Maythe Han can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/11/dining-with-dogs-more-than-human-relations-in-food-media/. About the post: Human and nonhuman lives may have first become closely entangled with the rise of agriculture as we raised animals to eat, and other animals that could help us manage the animals we raised to eat. However, the relationality between humans and animals expanded beyond that based on function and survival since the advent of agriculture. Today, we share our homes with them, and, as we will discuss in this post, our food and eating practices with them as valued members of more-than-human families, co-participating and co-producing our complex and ever-evolving cultures surrounding food.

This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Aikaterini Mitselou and Isabell Hedke can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/11/green-lady-cambodia-a-small-initiative-for-a-big-change-on-menstrual-health-and-hygiene-education/. About the post: Achieving menstrual health is crucial for attaining good health and well-being, ensuring quality education and promoting gender equality. (This episode is available in additional languages on Platypus, The CASTAC Blog.)

This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Guillermo Echauri can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/11/the-evolution-of-the-digital-divide-new-dimensions-of-digital-inequality/. About the post: From the emergence of the Web, through milestones such as the rise of mobile phones and social media, and up to the current hype around AI, the development, access, and use of digital technologies have not been exempted from the impact of prevailing global inequalities, especially socio-economic ones. As these disparities emerge between regions, nations, societies and communities, digital inequalities continue to arise through various means and ways. (This episode is available in additional languages on Platypus, The CASTAC Blog.)

This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Savannah Mandel can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/10/trade-versus-academic-press-part-2-of-publishing-in-academia/. About the post: The decision between the two publishers was not simple. It was financial. It was personal. It was intellectual. It was also ideological.

This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Clarissa Reche can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/10/how-to-create-figurations-and-inhabit-feminist-sts-research-a-diy-manual/. About the post: This is a DIY manual for working with figurations to inhabit feminist STS research. The methodological proposal of figuration, as described by Haraway, places us once again at the center of a basic procedure of technoscience, making us stay with the trouble. (This episode is available in additional languages on Platypus, The CASTAC Blog.)

This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Savannah Mandel can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/10/do-academics-need-agents-part-1-of-publishing-in-academia/. About the post: If you hope to someday publish with a trade press such as Penguin, Harper Collins, or Simon & Schuster, or are interested in having stronger public representation for your work or developing your research in a more commercial style, you’ll need to acquire an agent.

This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Matt Artz can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2024/10/brush-strokes-to-bytes-anthropological-praxis-in-business/. About the post: My research revealed how these digital platforms, despite their initial promise of democratizing the art world, often reinforced and even amplified the existing hierarchies and inequalities I later witnessed in physical spaces like Art Basel. This digital entrenchment of inequality emerged as a key challenge that demanded innovative solutions. This is because the algorithms powering these platforms tend to favor artists or gallerists who already have name recognition, a significant following, press, positive reviews, or a history of sales. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle where popular art market participants become more visible, leading to more sales and recognition, boosting their visibility even further.

A podcast about making a podcast which is really just a conversation among two friends who used to be close friends, a long time ago.

Transcript available at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y8dOEXz7FEqWQEMPHHsH3EU0NFIlpTVx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108539968411457483057&rtpof=true&sd=true Transcript available at https://blog.castac.org/2024/10/worrying-over-speaking-and-the-pretentiousness-of-podcasts/