Global Media Cultures Podcast

In this week’s episode, guest Jason Farman discusses his article “Mapping the Digital Empire: Google Earth and the Process of Postmodern Cartography” which analyzes how the political and social implications of cartography take on new significance in the digital age, with the proliferation of interactive maps and geographic information systems (GIS). Farman argues that, by incorporating a social network that engages users as embodied interactors rather than disembodied voyeurs, Google Earth is able to present user-generated content spatially within the very object that such content critiques.

In this short episode, I recount the origins of the series and explain what I hope listeners take away from these conversations over the next three months.

This is a public humanities project in that it aims to connect scholars of global media studies, particularly those early in their careers, to an audience beyond the academy. The podcast series is intended as a teaching resource for those in higher education and as an introduction to these topics for anyone interested in how media shapes our understanding of the world.

Episode Transcript (opens as PDF)

Show Notes

00:50 The article on luxury movie theaters in India: “A Global Cinematic Experience: Cinépolis, Film Exhibition, and Luxury Branding”

00:53 The article on digital technologies used at airports: “The Datalogical Drug Mule”

00:57 The article on Netflix original series in Mexico: “Luis Miguel: La serie, Class-Based Collective Memory, and Streaming Television in Mexico”