The Campfire Project

The goal of this podcast has always been to explore the intersection of technology and storytelling. Sometimes that means looking at media, or products, or even entire companies as they maneuver to blend narratives into the things they create and let go into the world. On this week’s show, we’re going to focus on one company that, through its incredibly innovative yet restrained use of technology, has mastered the art of digital storytelling. Today, we’re talking about everyone’s favorite film studio, Pixar.

What is music? I mean, really – what is it? Is it culture? Is it our history? Entertainment? Is music art, beautiful and perfect, or is it like water – always expected to be readily available wherever we are? Different people will give different answers, and that’s precisely the problem. Now that everyone has a connected music player and artists’ bits flow all around us, it’s become increasingly difficult to define what music’s role is, because it’s everywhere! And that makes it difficult to assign value to music, even though it’s something we all cherish. So today, on Episode 58 of The Campfire Project, music talk: from wax cylinders to streaming services.

This week marked the return of the E3 game convention in Los Angeles, with big studios and publishers announcing some gorgeous, exciting titles that will soon be available to audiences everywhere. More than that though, this year’s convention seemed to have another big feature: a marked change in tone. Many are saying that this year was the best E3 in recent memory, thanks in no small part to great games, but also the industry itself, one that seems to be advancing the story of gaming beyond its current realm and toward new audiences, genres and frontiers. So this week, on episode 57 of The Campfire Project, a look at E3, and the state of gaming.

It’s that time of year again. Every June, thousands of developers, journalists, and enthusiasts flock to California for Apple’s biggest event of the year, WorldWide Developers Conference. It’s a chance for the company to show off its newest and biggest upcoming releases of iOS, OS 10 and any number of new products. While WWDC predictions are an annual tradition, this year we’re going to do something a little different. Rather than guess at what will be announced, we’ll take a look at how Apple might announce it. What stories will Tim Cook and company weave into their latest products to make people the world over lust after what’s new.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about wearable technology is its relationship to the wearer. The devices are meant to be with you, on you, a part of you. To understand who and where you are, and offer insights throughout the day that previously you had no knowledge of. No surprise then that one of the first big features of wearable computers focus on health. Sleep, movement and, with a little work, even food. They can tell you calories consumed and calories burned, in the name of making better choices. Today on Episode 55 of The Campfire Project: a look at how and why these bands, bracelets and watches are pushing to tell the story of your body, down to the step.

For a while now, we’ve often discussed Facebook and the way the social giant seems to insert itself into our lives, whether its people sneakily using the network at the dinner table, or those times the network used us for more data. It’s made moves into messaging, commerce, and now, with the release of its new Instant Articles program, Facebook seems poised to become a pretty excellent publisher too, working with top brands like The New York Times, National Geographic, and Buzzfeed – and that has a lot of people worried about the future of publishing. So today, on Episode 54 of The Campfire Project, we finally have the great Facebook debate. Is Zuckerberg’s company on the path to swallowing the whole world, or is there room for content to live outside of Facebook’s walled garden and still thrive?

A few days ago, a paper published by members of Facebook’s Data Science team revealed something that many users of the network had probably already felt – that the social network’s algorithms, by altering what content users see, can insulate them from opposing views. In this case, researchers were studying the right/left divide in American politics and - surprise - people identifying with one camp saw less content from the other. However, the differences were not as drastic as one may thing. And the results do come with a caveat: While machines may filter out some politically unsavoury content, it’s still the user who’s primarily to blame for staying inside the bubble. This week, on episode 53 on The Campfire Project: how do we get better stories to bubble up in front of us, and avoid insulating ourselves from the outside world.

We’ve covered a lot of topics and a lot of stories in our year of doing this show, from the movies to the Super Bowl, and lately, even mechanical watches. And every time, our focus has always been the same: what is the story being told, and how is technology – the platform, the environment, the ways of communicating – pushing it?

Summer is almost upon us, and with it, movie studios are bracing us for the coming flood of tentpole features – films with epic scale that are sure to break box office records. But before opening day are trailers, which themselves function as mini-movies, compartmentalizing a two hour story into two minutes, packed with action and drama in ways designed to make audiences salivate.

By now, we have talked endlessly, and breathlessly, about Apple Watch — as have countless other. Earlier this week, a deluge of reviews hit the web, and Apple's own pre-sale and try on experience opened up, finally giving average people a glimpse of the new product. One thing is clear, Apple Watch, and its wearable cousins in Android, represent a future that we aren't really sure of yet. Today, on our 50th episode, we'll talk about that that future - the one where alerts, messages, and stories live on your wrist.