A shortlist of online cultural content for the week of May 18, 2020
Read
"Stokes understood that the raw material of news was shaped by those who produced it, and she wanted to preserve examples for others to study. She intuited the future direction of television news, forecasting the operation of ever more sophisticated psychological mechanisms to sow partisanship and distort the truth. Her work refuted Dr. Martin Luther King’s optimistic belief that the spread of television news, and the horrifying images of human suffering it could bring into every home, would help end racism and division. Whilst the celebrated media theorists of her day produced books and papers hypothesizing the potential effects of television on the individual and society, Stokes went about gathering hard evidence from her Philadelphia apartment."
Dan Fox reviews Matt Wolf’s new film, Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project in Frieze Magazine.
Make
"I have news for you: you’re already a storyteller. With fun writing exercises, we’ll find inspiration for weird and strange stories in familiar homes, rooms, books and songs. This workshop will help you shake off creative blocks, spark new ideas for stories and set them blazing on the page. Bring lots of paper. You’re going to fill it up with your creative brilliance."
Roohi Choudhry leads an online writing workshop for Brooklyn Public Library on Monday, May 18, 2020 at 4 p.m. EDT. Free, but registration required.
Watch: Live
"Mahogany L. Browne’s "Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice," published by Roaring Brook Press, is an outstanding collection of poetry that inspires young activists to raise their voices! Bestselling writer Jason Reynolds, who wrote the foreword to "Woke," will speak to Mahogany about poetry as an impetus for collective action and why she believes young people are the key to a future built on strength, compassion, and community."
The Center for Fiction hosts a dialog between writers Mahogany L. Browne and Jason Reynolds on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 4 p.m. EDT. Free, but registration required.
Watch: Any Time
"Focacciatown takes place in a future in which the United States is no longer a country but a collection of monarchical nation-states organized by food and beverage brands. At this fast-casual-bakery-chain-cum-military-base, nestled in the grain fields of midwest North America, the days of steel and glass architecture have long since passed, and people have reverted back to concrete fortresses, dungeons, and medieval structures of social power. Yet telecommunications and advanced strategies for consumer marketing still exist. This is a regressive future of tyranny and brand omnipotence—a Mediaocracy. Only in this time would a Black man be shot for carrying a bag of potato chips."
Listen
"Radio Garden allows you to listen to thousands of live radio stations world wide by rotating the globe. Every green dot represents a city or town. Tap on it to tune into the radio stations broadcasting from that city."
Click here to visit Radio Garden online.
