“New media companies look remarkably like the old ones they aspire to replace: male, pale, and privileged.” LooksCompanyMediaMalesPaleAspirePrivilegedNew Media Author:Astra Taylor
“Basically political economy - that you have to look at how funding structures shape the media landscape. You have to look at commercial interests, consolidation - the economy structures are experience.” LooksPoliticalInterestEconomyMediaShapesStructureLandscapeFundingPolitical EconomyConsolidation Author:Astra Taylor
“I mean look at all these acquisitions and mergers - WhatsApp and Oculus and et cetera. There's no way that you can envision these tech companies as the underdog anymore. They're always presented as though they were these little guys who you should be championing - Facebook will overthrow the cable television complex, blah blah - but it's more likely they will merge with them.” WayShouldLooksMeanLittlesGuyCompanyTelevisionComplexesCablesAcquisitionUnderdogBlahMergersWhatsapp Author:Astra Taylor
“I'm interested in the way the whole cultural landscape can shift over time. Okay, this will seem like a silly example, but look at the whole discourse around "selling out," a concept people say is irrelevant because there's no more distinction between mainstream and underground, inside and outside (which I don't really believe, but that's another issue).” PeopleWayBelieveLooksWholeSeemsIssuesExampleConceptsOkaySillySellingLandscapeDistinctionMainstreamDiscourseIrrelevantSelling OutInside And Outside Author:Astra Taylor
“Are we on the tail-end of a generation that is enamored with the novelty of these devices and will younger people coming of age be more blasé about them in a healthy way? You look back at the history of any medium and the people who were there when it was developing, whether it was the telegraph or cable television or radio, thought, This is amazing, it's going change everything, or, The human community will finally be able to recognize each other and speak and be one - I mean, some people thought the telegraph or television would usher in world peace.” PeopleWorldWayHumansLooksMeanEndsAgeAbleSpeakCommunityGenerationsTelevisionHealthyRadioMediumsDevelopingDevicesComing Of AgeTailsNoveltyCablesEnamoredTelegraph Author:Astra Taylor
“I work for free all the time, as a writer but also as an activist. The decisions we have to make as individuals are really fraught but also can be really wonderful and we're all navigating this reality to the best of our abilities. But, again, I wanted to take a step back and look at the broader context.” LooksRealityWantedIndividualAbilityDecisionStepsWonderfulActivist Author:Astra Taylor
“I think somebody who is more self-reflective should ask why they personally aren't going on that path. If amateurism is so great, why didn't you stay one? You have to look at the larger economy, a backdrop of unemployment; it's shitty out there.” IfsThinkingShouldLooksSelfAsksEconomyPathUnemploymentBackdrop Author:Astra Taylor
“Look back on the utopian dreams of the previous century, or even the century before that, where people thought machines would ultimately give us a quality of life where our needs would be taken care of so we could all basically be artists together in the evening, after we had fished, hunted, raised cattle - or whatever it was Marx imagined for us.” PeopleNeedsGivingLooksDreamWould BeCareTogetherArtistQualityTakenCenturyMachinesRaisedEveningQuality Of LifeCattleUtopianHunted Author:Astra Taylor
“I try to look at the evolution of these utopian claims. In the late '60s there was an assumption that the wealth generated by industry would be taxed and then put into social programs and it would provide a baseline of stability that would allow people to have the time for self-expression; and that social contract has eroded over the last four decades and now it's every person for themselves.” PeopleTryingLooksPersonsSelfWould BeLastsSocialWealthFourExpressionIndustryEvolutionLateProgramClaimsDecadesAssumptionContractsStabilitySelf ExpressionUtopianSocial ContractSocial Programs Author:Astra Taylor
“One thing that's important to point out is that this kind of populism has a long and mixed history. It's part of this tradition of problematic anti-elitism where the elites are always the liberal class - the intellectuals, the professors, the artists - and not the economic elites. Why are we so mad and aggrieved at newspaper editors but not at corporate executives? I think we need to look more at the latter, at economic elites.” ThinkingNeedsLooksKindLongImportantArtistClassOne ThingEconomicTraditionMadNewspapersCorporateLatterExecutivesEditorsProfessorsElitesElitismPopulismNewspaper Editors Author:Astra Taylor
