Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Political Science

Advisor

Jack Jacobs

Subject Categories

Political Science | Political Theory

Keywords

radio, podcast, culture industry, free time, algorithm, political potential

Abstract

The podcast, an extremely potent fermentation of the radio which was so central to many of the Frankfurt School thinkers, is an important political subject to consider in light of rekindled social discussions concerning a society straddling the line between fascism and socialism. Especially the political podcast, which has become a pulse of intellectual discussion and historical analysis, promises itself simultaneously as a medium of entertainment, pedagogy, and translation into real-world organizing for a different world, true for both the left and the right. The truth, I propose, is a sinister other experience, one which maintains the status quo while promoting radical shadows onto the wall of a colonized mind, a panopticon of data, so-called leisure, and control.

My work is less interested in an analysis of the omnipresence of technology and much more so the way that political potential is expertly, blindly bait-and-switched by the capitalist system in an increasingly fraught time. We hit the ‘next episode’ button with our serotonin receptors maxed out; we infect ourselves with information, but the only pandemic that spreads is of disunity and apathy, or rather, alienation and indignant resignation. How do analysts of this phenomenon throughout history apply to our accelerated moment? How can we confront history and our accelerated moment to perhaps craft a theory towards reversing these sinister trends and realizing a Benjaminian potential of art, politics, and technology? Or is his end fated to be ours as well – a keen interest in the power of radio and an ugly, early demise? Only by throwing ourselves into these complicated intersections can we hope for anything otherwise.

Download

Share

COinS