In this episode Barry and Mike wrestle with the idea of updating Benjamin's article "The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility." Of the many questions that they attempt to address, perhaps the central one is: Can we update Bejmanin's theory and still maintain its philosophical integrity? Or has the digitization of virtually all media created an environment where his terms remain useful as a starting point, but ultimately anachronistic?
Spoiler alert - They do not reach a definitive conclusion. However, as with most of the episodes, they do wander into new questions and attempt to draw useful conclusions. This one was fun, but a bit messy.
Critical Media Studies