The Rise of Consumer Culture and Media Evolution

We explore today's seismic changes in media and society, by tracing historical parallels between James Joyce’s The Dead (1907) and today’s digital age. Joyce’s observations on in The Dead about generational divides, the rise of newspapers, and societal shifts echo loudly in 2025, as new gatekeepers like Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos wield unprecedented influence over the flow of information. How did media transform from a tool of advertisement to the battleground for ideas? What can we learn from Joyce’s depiction of societal upheaval in 1907 as we navigate the tribalism and cultural revolutions of today? Join us from a snowy Ireland - as it was in The Dead - while we unpack history’s lessons, from the industrial age’s middle-class explosion to the rise of modernism and today’s chaotic digital landscape. Are we witnessing a similar hinge moment, and what does it mean for the future?

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