Mashup Compilation from Eduard Minobis on Vimeo. When I think about mash-ups, I can’t help but think about Julia Kristeva and her notion of intertextuality. The term has been used in many, many different ways since she first coined it, but, quite generally, she was using it to talk about… More
I’m certainly not the first to point out the similarities between haute couture – rarefied apparel that no normal person would have an occasion to wear – and haute cuisine – exquisitely prepared food that costs a fortune and simply disappears by evening’s end. This last July, the French Ministry… More
After the tenth anniversary of 9/11, I wondered whether people would remain interested in the War on Terror, or whether we’d see some flagging interest register in the polls that, just last year, placed terrorism in the number three slot of national priorities, right after the economy and jobs. A… More
Would it surprise you if I told you that Primetime TV is not depicting the racial and religious stereotypes that we generally associate with the War on Terror and the War on Drugs? It sure surprised us. Our new report, The Primetime War on Drugs & Terror, offers a unique… More
There were several reasons I was happy to be invited to speak at theFashion140 event last month: first, it was in the brand spanking newAlice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center (wow!), and second, it gave me an opportunity to talk about two things that I think quite a lot about… More
I had the great pleasure of attending TED last week – not in Long Beach but in Palm Springs, where a very international crew of 600 fired-up TEDsters watched a simulcast of TED on monitors so large and numerous that I kept thinking I was going to bump into the… More
We’ve all heard about different “learning styles” – some people supposedly respond better to hands-on instruction, others are more visual, and some just want to read books. I always thought these models were terribly reductive, but they held sway among many who worked with me developing edutainment software in the… More
Last week, the Lear Center hosted an exhilarating event about changing the nature of the academy and how it does research. Sponsored by Randy Hall, the Vice President of Research at USC, the event brought together a breathtaking array of scholars from across the disciplinary spectrum – many of whom are… More
When it turns out that the guy sitting behind you at an event is an astronaut who just came back from outer space you get kind of pumped about the event. The gal beside me was a social worker who counsels soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The fellow in… More
Ask any reporter – earthquakes are great for the news business. Gut-wrenching visuals accompany heroic and tragic tales about survivors and victims alike, and the aftermath stories can go on for months. Earthquakes are inherently dramatic, demonstrating as they do the pent up power of a planet we ceaselessly… More