PBS Idea Channel (2012)
Here's an idea: a PBS show that examines the connections between pop culture, technology and art.
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PBS Idea Channel
2012Seasons & Episode
Here's an idea: Game Of Thrones owes its success to piracy. If you're like us, you LOVE Game of Thrones. But if you're also like us, you may not, technically, have... cable. So how are we seeing this amazing show on HBO, which is stuck behind a pay wall? A huge amount of viewers (not us of course, no no no) are downloading the show illegally.
If you play video games, you've shot a gun. And those guns are REALISTIC. So real that many are actually LICENSED by IRL arms dealers. Which means that when you buy a video game, you're also putting money in the pockets of those gun manufacturers. That's fine and dandy if you're a fan of guns, but if you are someone who considers themselves anti-gun, this creates quite the moral quandary.
Here's an idea: a tagged Instagram is more than just a photo. Sure, Instagram is pretty awesome, but it's even more #INTERESTING than you think! The hashtag, so simple and ubiquitous, raises the image from mere photo to a new complex entity. An extension of the social media aspect of the Instagram app, the hashtag enhances searchability and allows connection to a variety of communities.
If you're even the slightest bit familiar with pop culture from the past 50 years, you know that we've been anxiously awaiting robots to become a part of our daily lives. From R2-D2 to the Jetsons, our future robot companions promise to be helpful and handy! But many people have their concerns: will the development of artificial intelligence end up REPLACING humans in the work force, pushing already high unemployment through the roof?!?! These new laborers will likely do not just undesirable jobs (janitorial, coal mining, etc), but also the high paying premium jobs, like surgeons and lawyers.
Math is invisible. Unlike physics, chemistry, and biology we can't see it, smell it, or even directly observe it in the universe. And so that has made a lot of really smart people ask, does it actually even EXIST?!?! Similar to the tree falling in the forest, there are people who believe that if no person existed to count, math wouldn't be around . .at ALL!!!! But is this true? Do we live in a mathless universe? Or if math is a real entity that exists, are there formulas and mathematical concepts out there in the universe that are undiscovered? Or is it all fiction? Whew!! So many questions, so many theories...
As our South Korean friends can confirm, video games can most definitely be a spectator sport. But will they ever catch on in a huge way in the good ol' U.S. of A? Well, pro leagues already exist, but to know if they'll ever reach the levels of March Madness and Superbowl Sunday, we need to take a closer look at traditional sports spectatorship to figure out the REAL reason we watch. It's more than just winning and losing: there are characters, rivalries, histories, and a host of other background information that coalesce into an AMAZING story, and we're dying to know the ending.
Global warming exists! But how do we know that? It may seem like a simple process of just looking at the temperature from year to year, but it is SO MUCH MORE than that! Our understanding of the global climate comes from a compendium of data including measured and tracked temperature, humidity, wind speed, and barometric pressure, spanning over 100 years of observation!! To study this massive amount of information and be able to surmise that the increasingly extreme and bizarre weather patterns are a result of human influence... it's truly an incredible accomplishment. So everyone who says during a blizzard "so much for global warming"... shut up. You're wrong.
Like us, you may not have initially realized the significance of Animal Crossing. Sure it's a simple game for kids, with cute animals and bright colors. But could it be true that it inspires otaku citizenship?! Otaku, if you don't know, means obsessive interest and collection, usually associated with Japanese culture, but it can apply to ANYTHING. In Animal Crossing, as mayor of your town, success is defined by maintaining friendships with your townspeople and collecting natural resources to cultivate the perfect town.
Yes he's a video game system, but she is so much more than that!! BMO from the fantastic show Adventure Time identifies as both male and female, and because of that expresses the ideals of Third Wave Feminism!! Third Wave Feminism questions if gender is actually binary, tied to our biological sex. Is our understanding of masculinity and femininity fair, or even ACCURATE? Of course, BMO has no biological gender, so there's no cultural expectations that anchors her (him?) down. But it all seems a non-issue in the Adventure Time world.
We all love broken things. WAIT WHAT?! Yes, you read that correctly. You may have noticed this thing called "glitch", where people purposely push machines to malfunction, creating fascinating "mistakes".
They spared no expense!! It doesn't matter if it was intended or not, the film Jurassic Park (and book it's based on) accurately illustrate investment and risk, money as motivation, negligent management of capital, and profit as the ultimate end goal. But can anything in our culture avoid this metaphor of capitalism? By stepping back and looking at all media in our culture, we can see echoes of the capitalism theme everywhere.
Hideaki Anno says Neon Genesis Evangelion is meaningless. For #GeekWeek we ask if we should listen to him. Neon Genesis Evangelion may be the MOST ultimate work of anime ever! More than just Mecha, NGE is dark and emotional, taking on serious topics such as depression, free will and a host of other intense stuff. But the creator, Hideaki Anno, says that we're all reading way too much into it.
We can all agree that the Internet has an intense, borderline obsessive, appreciation for cats. With felines as its spirit animal, the internet can even seem cat-like in personality. Where does all this kitteh love come from? Humans made the internet, and humans have had an affinity for cats for centuries.
"Google it" seems to be the quick and easy answer for every question we could possibly ask, but is finding facts the same thing as KNOWING? Having billions of facts at the tips of your typing fingertips may not necessarily be making us any smarter. Some people even think it's making us more stupid and lazy.
Unless you're new to the internet, you probably know that Tesla was an incredibly popular scientist and inventor who was WAY ahead of his time. But was he really the valiant underdog against the Goliath of Edison that we've come to know and understand? Despite what you may think, there are actually TWO Teslas - the meat and bones Tesla, who was born in 1856 and died in 1943, and then there's the culturally created Tesla.
The titans, from the anime series Attack on Titan, are most definitely the bad guys. But can we call them EVIL? If you're unfamiliar, the titans are huge beings that devour humans, but their motivation is a little unclear. Is it just hunger? Do they hate humans? Are they just dumb? And with all this doubt, what's the use in the label of EVIL anyway? Nietzsche, Kant, and Jung all weigh in.
Night Vale's masterful balance of mystery, humor, and horror has made it the #1 podcast in America. Night Vale employs the techniques of H.P. Lovecraft, specifically his masterful manipulation of THE UNKNOWN, but the medium chosen makes it literally impossible to visually depict its universe. And it is questionable, in our hyper visual culture, whether we are truly able to cope with the mysteries of Night Vale.
Here's an idea: a PBS show that examines the connections between pop culture, technology and art.
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