The Campfire Project

Earlier this week, two big announcements shook the world of TV news. HuffPost Video announced it’d be going away in a major shake-up, and Al Jazeera America would be shutting down all cable TV and digital operations by the end of April. So much for being the smart person’s CNN. We keep hearing that video is the future. So what is the future of video? And in today’s world, where we demand every more information at the tap of an app, what is the future of video for news? This week we hope to find out.

We’re not even 2 weeks into 2016 and already some great stories have begun to emerge, showing new ways to tell stories using some pretty old ideas. So let’s jump right in. This week, we’re split: between the exciting possibilities of finally-almost-there Virtual Reality, and Twitter’s expanding beyond the classic 140 character count.

With 2015 winding down, we thought it would be a good time to look back at the year that was and pull out a few of our favorite moments. A lot happened in the last 12 months across the web and around the world – too many stories to recount in all. But, we have managed to narrow down this year just a little bit. So now, just before you turn over the calendar, have a listen to our Top 4 topics of 2015.

Another year, another holiday shopping season thrust upon us. It’s early December now, which means for many, the next few weeks will be full of trips to the mall, online ordering, and desperately hunting for last-minute gifts. But whether its Christmas Day or just another day, the retail industry is not-so-quietly undergoing a revolution thanks to a massive investment in new technologies, and that has profound effects on how you shop, and how you feel about it afterwards. So this week, a look at what the future of retail could be when the shopper, the shop, and the bank are all connected.

The last few years have seen superheroes thrust into the forefront of pop culture’s consciousness. And thanks in no small part to franchises by Marvel and DC, like Supergirl, Agents of SHIELD, and lately Jessica Jones, women in particular are finally claiming their time in the spotlight as formidable fighters who can stand on their own, aside from their male counterparts. But getting  to this point - where female superheroes are given the spotlight on their own - has been a long one. So today, on Episode 75 of The Campfire Project, a look at the women who kick ass, and where they’ve been this whole time.

In the wake of the terrorist attack in Paris, France that left 130 people dead and many more injured, countless stories began to flood out into the world. Briefings, eyewitness accounts, and calls for safety lit of the airwaves, crossed oceans, and dominated the internet. Everyone wanted to know what was happening, who was doing it, and where. And that once again lead to the latest instance of a fairly recent phenomenon that journalists, news outfits, and ordinary people now must contend with: trying to find up-to-the-minute truth, in real time, in a sea of falsehoods, a distorted reality.

Every generation has a story. And now, nearly 40 years since the original film and a decade after the last disappointment, Star Wars is set to return to theatres next month to captivate an entirely new audience. And it’s not just movies, but a worldwide marketing campaign, along with books, video games, theme park rides and more set to launch alongside a new trilogy of films. So this week, on episode 73 of The Campfire Project, a look at the meaning of Star Wars - both old and new.

As we move into the final weeks of 2015, talk of gifts and presents is beginning to dominate not just idle conversation, but a litany of advertising. Traditionally, electronics are the hot item to buy, and this year its wearable devices in particular that seem set to enjoy a successful holiday quarter. That’s why today, on episode 72 of The Campfire Project, we’re taking a look at the future of wearable devices of all kinds, and why these devices seem set to have an explosive start to 2016.

Millions of people across North America have been in a surreal state of mind for many months now, as they attempt to select new Heads of State. Here in Canada, many are celebrating not just the election of a new Prime Minister, but that the longest campaign cycle in history has drawn to a close. While in America, the contest for the Presidency continues to drag on with another year to go. It’s exhausting. It’s amazing. It’s uplifting. And it’s given us the chance to see how politics can not only shape the stories of the candidates, but of the countries they hope to govern. So today, on episode 71 of The Campfire Project – a look at the political power stories hold in election years, and how they can affect change.

We’ve talked on this show several times about publishing in general and Medium in particular, as a place on the web that seemed devoted not only to becoming a destination for compelling stories, but for telling them in a compelling way. So when Ev Williams and his team announced the release of Medium 2.0 earlier this week, with a slew of new features that touch every aspect of the publishing platform turned distribution network, it was time to take a fresh look at exactly how, and why, Medium wants to change the way you write on the web.