Podcast · 79 episodes
The Culture Journalist
by The Culture Journalist · English
A podcast about the future of culture, with Emilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick. theculturejournalist.substack.com
Latest episodes
AI and the LeftWhy AI panic is happening now; whether “AI takeover” is inevitable; what regulation should mean; and how the left should respond to AI amid labor, inequality, and cybersecurity risks.18 Sep 2026 · 56 min
Midwestern Death Trip: Dropping out with Meaghan GarveyMeaghan Garvey’s memoir/road book Midwestern Death Trip, mixing personal reflection, Midwest history, and bar-based dispatches to argue that the region’s “boring” surface hides wonder, lore, and…4 Sep 2026 · 1 h 10 min
CUJO presents: California GothicCalifornia Gothic is a Cujo episode built from six speculative audio pieces created for a Los Angeles multimedia installation, California Gothic, imagining what beloved LA places would sound like…21 Aug 2026 · 57 min
All episodes
AI and the LeftWhy AI panic is happening now; whether “AI takeover” is inevitable; what regulation should mean; and how the left should respond to AI amid labor, inequality, and cybersecurity risks.18 Sep 2026 · 56 min · 25 chapters
Midwestern Death Trip: Dropping out with Meaghan GarveyMeaghan Garvey’s memoir/road book Midwestern Death Trip, mixing personal reflection, Midwest history, and bar-based dispatches to argue that the region’s “boring” surface hides wonder, lore, and…4 Sep 2026 · 1 h 10 min · 25 chapters
CUJO presents: California GothicCalifornia Gothic is a Cujo episode built from six speculative audio pieces created for a Los Angeles multimedia installation, California Gothic, imagining what beloved LA places would sound like…21 Aug 2026 · 57 min · 18 chapters
‘Our Hero, Balthazar’ and the cinema of growing up onlineOur Hero, Balthazar (Oscar Voison and Ricky Camilleri) uses a satirical, coming-of-age story to examine how social media attention shapes identity, sincerity, and masculinity—framing it through the…7 Aug 2026 · 1 h 11 min · 27 chapters
Mapping "The Online Marketplace of Ideas"The podcast examines “The Online Marketplace of Ideas,” a physical exhibition mapping how Web2 platforms, merch, and protocols blur politics and media.24 Jul 2026 · 1 h 24 min · 33 chapters
Welcome to the tasteslop eraThe episode argues that Silicon Valley’s “taste” obsession is a competitive, class-coded response to commoditized culture and AI-driven “slop,” culminating in startups like Taste AI claiming to give…10 Jul 2026 · 1 h 13 min · 32 chapters
Your music taste is being manipulated: A historyTranche crossover episode “Free Clout for Sale” argues that music taste is repeatedly manipulated through “payola”-like tactics, evolving from Tin Pan Alley and radio to streaming-era chart/algorithm…19 Jun 2026 · 37 min · 14 chapters
Chronicling NYC subculture, with Matthew GasdaMatthew Gasda discusses his third Dime Square trilogy play, The Last Days of Downtown, which chronicles New York’s post-pandemic lower Manhattan DIY creative scene through a single Chinatown…5 Jun 2026 · 54 min · 18 chapters
The story of vaporwaveThe episode explains vaporwave’s origins and meaning, focusing on how it uses slowed-down samples of 80s/90s media plus a distinctive visual collage (pastels, classical busts/columns, retro corporate…21 May 2026 · 1 h 33 min · 34 chapters
The slow cancellation of the future: A Mark Fisher primerA “Mark Fisher primer” built around the filmmakers’ experimental documentary We Are Making a Film About Mark Fisher, using Fisher’s ideas—capitalist realism, hyperstition, hauntology, communicative…8 May 2026 · 1 h 35 min · 31 chapters
Coachella trend report 2026: Let's watch YouTube togetherCoachella 2026 “trend report” using the festival as a forecast for 2026 culture industries, focusing on how YouTube live streaming is reshaping booking, performance design, and audience discourse.24 Apr 2026 · 1 h 16 min · 29 chapters
The experience economy arms race and the end of the recording artistThe podcast argues that music’s “recording artist” model is fading as the industry enters an experience-economy arms race centered on touring, surveillance, and audiovisual spectacle—pushing artists…10 Apr 2026 · 1 h 24 min · 31 chapters
The return of the outsider stanceThe episode frames the “return of the outsider stance” as a cultural shift toward presence, collaboration, and DIY action, sparked by major antitrust fights over platform-era consolidation.3 Apr 2026 · 8 min · 3 chapters
Opinionated software: AI and the arts, revisitedEmilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick20 Mar 2026 · 1 h 38 min · 31 chapters
Brooklyn's lost indie decadeEmilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick6 Mar 2026 · 1 h 18 min · 35 chapters
Welcome to the reality exchangeThe episode “Welcome to the reality exchange” (Cujo) argues that prediction markets are rapidly going mainstream by combining “market truth” ideology with the everyday appeal of gambling.13 Feb 2026 · 1 h 36 min · 41 chapters
The network state momentEmilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick29 Jan 2026 · 1 h 27 min · 39 chapters
36 predictions about culture in 2026Emilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick16 Jan 2026 · 1 h 4 min · 33 chapters
The agony and the ecstasy of the modern job huntThe Agony and the Ecstasy of the Modern Job Hunt23 Dec 2025 · 1 h 12 min
Revisiting Hauntology, or the sound of lost futuresRevisiting Hauntology, or the Sound of Lost Futures4 Dec 2025 · 1 h 18 min
Culture enters its plot twist eraCulture Enters Its Plot Twist Era28 Nov 2025 · 12 min
Mayor Mamdani and the new image politicsIn this episode of The Culture Journalist, hosts Emilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick discuss the historic election of Zohran Kwame Mamdani as mayor of New York City, marking a pivotal moment for…14 Nov 2025 · 1 h 16 min
How 21st century culture lost its way, with W. David MarxEmilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick23 Oct 2025 · 1 h 14 min
How the job market got so broken*"The Culture Journalist"* is a podcast hosted by Emilie Friedlander and Andrea Domanick that delves into cultural trends and shifts before they become mainstream.10 Oct 2025 · 1 h 13 min