The Computer Room

André Brock, professor and author of Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures, popped by the show to talk about the origins of Black Twitter, the importance of writing about digital subcultures as they’re developing, digital whiteflight, and the first Black social networking site, BlackPlanet.com.

Find André’s work here and on Twitter here.

Articles referenced:
How Black people use Twitter, Farhad Manjoo
You Can Tweet Like This, Or You Can Tweet Like That, Or You Can Tweet Like Us, Post Bourgie
What Were Black People Talking About on Twitter Last Night?, Choire Sicha
Micah’s “Black people on Twitter” theory, Nick Douglas
From the Blackhand Side: Twitter as a Cultural Conversation, André Brock
…and the research on Black Twitter conducted by Deen Freelon, Meredith Clark, and Charleton McIlwain

Overworked, overpaid, and probably undertaxed: today, we dive into the world of /r/overemployed.

Overworked, overpaid, and probably undertaxed: today, we dive into the world of /r/overemployed.

Happy New Year! Steff and Katherine the wonderful world of Internet fad diets: keto, paleo, carnivore, frugivore, Bulletproof Diet, Ana Boot Camp, Ray Peatism, Raw Egg Nationalism, and Whole30.

Correction: At some point, Katherine incorrectly states Susun Weed was pro-raw veganism! Susun Weed merely debated raw vegans. Stuff gets fuzzy that far back.

Link:Salo Forum Archive

Theme: Computer Love by Kraftwerk, covered by Envelope Generator (This is the final, static theme. I promise.)

While Kat is in Colombia having a mental health episode, Steff interviews Alex Perez, "the Iowa Pariah," whose controversial interview with editor and writer Elizabeth Ellen inspired the entire staff of Hobart Magazine to resign. 

Read the interview here. 

Outro: "Guantanamera" by The Sandpipers 

While Kat is in Colombia having a mental health episode, Steff interviews Alex Perez, "the Iowa Pariah," whose controversial interview with editor and writer Elizabeth Ellen inspired the entire staff of Hobart Magazine to resign. 

Read the interview here. 

Outro: "Guantanamera" by The Sandpipers 

Default Friend is joined by a new cohost, Poetry Grifter, to talk about two digitally native pieces of literature, Finally, Some Good News and Bronze Age Mindset.

Default Friend is joined by a new cohost, Poetry Grifter, to talk about two digitally native pieces of literature, Finally, Some Good News and Bronze Age Mindset.

The Rise and Fall of the Alt Right:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n887xDKppmE&ab_channel=BlitheringGenius

Finally, Some Good News:

https://www.amazon.com/Finally-Some-Good-Delicious-Tacos/dp/1790356229

Bronze Age Mindset:

https://www.amazon.com/Bronze-Age-Mindset-Pervert-ebook/dp/B07DJQ89TD

Joshua Citarella is an artist and researcher whose work focuses on the fringe political groups developing in cyberspace. I love his work, partially because it’s a reminder to me that there’s more to Internet politics than the Dissident Right. In fact, talking to Joshua was good reminder in general of the vastness of cyberspace. For me, I always think of it through the lenses of Twitter, Tumblr, and TikTok. Certain podcasts. Journalists.

But there’s a whole other ecosystem on YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram.

It got me thinking about two things: Fans don’t always mean influence, and influence doesn’t always mean fans. Influence and fans don’t always mean you’ll be familiar with either group.

We talked about a lot, more than just the terrain of online life. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much I did.

Theme: The Robots by Kraftwork
Produced by Will Kraus