New Models

Feat. artist and social theorist JOSHUA CITARELLA who has been exploring how deep online spaces have evolved over the past few years, shaping popular politics in turn — especially among younger people. Last fall when we spoke to Joshua (ep. 6), he had just published a long-form piece on Politigram and the Post-Left. In this ep, we talk to him about his most recent essay, "Irony Politics & Gen Z" (published on New Models this spring), discussing the funnel of online radicalization and what tactics the left needs to consider for more effective off-ramping. For more: Joshua Citarella, "Irony Politics & Gen-Z" (April, 2019) https://newmodels.io/proprietary/irony-politics-gen-z-2019-citarella http://joshuacitarella.com/

Featuring artist and lecturer of Internet Art at Stanford University, JENNY ODELL who is the author of a new field book for the attention economy "How to Do Nothing" (Melville House, 2019). Odell speaks to NM about disorientation in the current online space, the value of physical context and community, and the practical tactics of refusal. Plus: bioregionalism, Silicon Valley Ayahuasca, the origins of the commodification of time, lucid dreaming -- and bird watching. For more: Jenny Odell, "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy" (Melville House, 2019) https://www.mhpbooks.com/books/how-to-do-nothing/ Jenny Odell, "A Business With No End" (New York Times, 2018) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/27/style/what-is-inside-this-internet-rabbit-hole.html

New Models speaks with Z, founder of the BLACK SOCIALISTS of AMERICA (BSA), an online channel turned IRL organization providing a forum and voice for black American leftists as well as education around the values of socialism (per Marx). In this episode, we discuss the inherent racism of the "American Dream" (i.e., capitalism), the promise of worker co-ops, identity politics' tactical deficiencies in big stack activism, and how to leverage online traction to effect real world political change. For more check: https://twitter.com/BlackSocialists & https://blacksocialists.us/

When Spotify was founded in 2006, it aimed to solve the problem of online music distribution, remunerating artists for plays. 13 years on, it is a massive data node that is having a profound effect on how artists and audiences connect. In this cast, New Models speaks with music journalist Liz Pelly, who has written extensively on Spotify, particularly its impact on independent music. She talks to us, here, about Spotify's structure, how it nudges artists to optimize their acts through metrics, and what it understands "music" (let alone "independent") culture to be. Liz also gives an update on community organizing in NYC's IRL music/nightlife sphere. For more, check: http://lizpelly.com/

The discussion was recorded December 15, 2018 at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin for the closing event of "PROOF of WORK," an exhibition curated by artist Simon Denny. https://bit.ly/2M42o4T The panel features three individuals working at the intersection of art & blockchain tech: scholar and creative producer Jaya-Klara BREKKE; artist and director of @furtherfield, Ruth CATLOW; and researcher and Gnosis strategist Kei KREUTLER. This recording has been made possible by the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, facilitated by Annina Herzer, Annika Kuhlmann, and Nina Pohl. It has been edited by New Models for the at-home pod-listener's ease. The panel was moderated by New Models' Caroline Busta.

CHRISTINE LARIVIERE works at the intersection of climate change and media. In this ep., she helps us render a massive map of the anthropocene (and humanity's fate therein)while exploring why the word "systems" belies the incomprehensibly vast matrix of networks our changing climate is set to effect. If you make it past the hour mark, stay locked for some hot local foraging tips. (with Busta, Keller, & @LILINTERNET). More from Christine here: https://twitter.com/cdlariviere

Berlin-based designer Cade, a specialist in weaponized design, discusses the collateral (human) damage platforms cause as they scale; questions big tech's G-rated ideation of the average subject; considers the functionality of personal mobile devices within precarious communities, and remarks on the actual inefficiency of the cloud. (With Busta, Keller, & @LILINTERNET) See more of Cade's work: https://shiba.computer/

Artist ED FORNIELES discusses diving headfirst into the toxic, hierarchal fantasy of masculinity, and the present difficulties of finding an alternative. His recent work "The Cell," which is featured in the 6th Athens Biennale, documents a LARP Fornieles staged earlier this year around the narrative of an all-male, alt-right gamer group. (With Busta, Keller, and @LILINTERNET) This podcast is part of New Models' series for the "ANTI-" Athens Biennale 6.

Cultural analyst TOBY SHORIN takes us into the Hellmouth of "authenticity" and "originality" production, discussing how the Cthulhu of platform capitalism and distributed networks is evacuating the value of creative work. See Shorin's essay: https://subpixel.space/entries/diminishing-marginal-aesthetic-value/

Teenagers rule memetic warfare, producing some of its most viral and also radical content. In this ep. New Models speaks with artist JOSHUA CITARELLA (prev. of thejogging.tumblr)who, after lurking the more radical political spaces of social media from 2012-18, is out with a new (soon to be) book, "Politigram & the Post-Left." http://joshuacitarella.com/ This podcast is part of New Models' series for the "ANTI-" Athens Biennale 6.