Audio, TV, and Talks

“NPR’s All Things Considered,” December 2021.

I went on All Things Considered with David Folkenflik to talk about NFTs, authenticity and representation in art, and the future of crypto and digital collecting.

“BBC World Service: Business Report,” August 2021.

I went on the radio to talk about the black market for prepublication galleys and advance reader copies of forthcoming books, especially Sally Rooney’s.

“Small Moments of Delight: Culturally Determined,” August 2021.

I went on Aryeh Cohen-Wade’s podcast to talk about collecting, lost pet signs, Irish exists, and other strange moments of weirdness and delight.

“The Browser: Shocking Art vs. Shocking Subjects,” December 2020.

I chatted with the editors of The Browser about some bad art about Trump, art-as-protest, and the role of shock in visual arts.

“Do Museums Have a Docent Problem?” NPR/Philbrook Museum’s podcast, Museum Confidential, November 2020.

I went on this NPR podcast to talk about Slate story I wrote on the museum world’s heavy reliance on volunteer labor, and how that’s stymying attempts to educate the public on issues of race, gender, and sexuality.

“Aesthetics in Crisis” Panel at the Arts In Conference, University of Cambrigde, July 2020

I gave a talk at Cambridge on visual art in the age of Trump, and why I think so much Trump-related art is actually so bad.

An Emoji For Everything, PBS SciTech Now, December 2019

I talked with Hari Sreenivasan on PBS about an article I wrote for The New Yorker about emoji. We chatted about how new emoji are chosen, the fraught politics of flag emoji, and why there will probably never be a white wine emoji.

The Surprising Resurgence of Old-School Technology in an Age of the Digital, KPCC, December 2019

I went on the radio in Los Angeles to talk about the resurgence of vintage technologies, like casette tapes, flip phones, DVDs, and CDs.

The Future of Muzak, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, July 2019

I went on Australian radio to talk about an article I wrote about the booming business of background music. We talked about the history of Muzak, and the present ubiquitous forms of mood management via music.

The Seductiveness of Insta-Nostalgia, Cheddar, February 2019

I went on TV to talk about my New Yorker article on how social media platforms are co-opting nostalgia by constantly feeding us back content about our own lives, and what this does to memory.