11th May 2018
From Digital Content Next -“Wayne’s World for Radio.” ‘That’s one of the ways in which Steve Jobs described podcasting in 2005. This was the same year that Apple put podcasts on iTunes and The New Oxford American Dictionary named “podcast” its word of the year. Thirteen years ago, there may have been an element of hyperbole in that assertion, but it’s certainly true now. The success of Serial in 2014, from the creators of This American Life, has sparked new levels of interest in the genre, and is often seen as the catalyst for a new golden age of podcasting. PS – if you haven’t yet, definitely worth listening to West Cork.
At 50 million views and counting, This Is America from Childish Gambino has struck a chord with audiences all over the world. In Creative Review, Rob Turner (Lecturer in 20th and 21st-Century Literature at the University of Exeter) examines the many political and cultural layers that lie within the video. ‘As a short film, This Is America is sharp as hell, and it holds its own alongside a spate of violent fantasies imagining life after Obama.’
This should get tongues wagging. ‘My contention is that any media company or indeed agency (whether media agency or creative agency or any other flavour of agency) should be obsessing about the ‘how’ much more than the ‘why’. Tracey Follows on why Simon Sinek was wrong.
From Tim Harford, @undercovereconomist. ‘A new book by the late Hans Rosling and his family, Factfulness , advocates the merits of understanding the world both through data and through personal experience — not of news stories or tourist traps, but of the everyday lives being lived all over the world. Numbers will never tell the full story of what life on Earth is all about.’
From The Drum – music to a copywriter’s ears… ‘If I ask you to think of any one of the most talked-about streaming series in recent years, chances are you will immediately conjure in your mind the show’s headline title with its often-iconic typeface. Much has already been said of these now-famous title sequences, but less often discussed is how typography and orthographic design has recently found a new starring role, thanks to the meteoric rise of streaming services.
Why typography has won a starring role in the streaming TV age.
From Digiday. ‘It’s a breath of fresh air for an industry where multiple players have come in, hoping to create a platform for premium short-form programming, only to find no audience interest in such a product. Now, video makers ranging from digital studios to publishers see an opportunity to sell and create short-form shows for the big streaming giants.This is why Netflix and Amazon are experimenting with short-form programming.
Do we need our memories when we can document virtually every aspect of our lives?
From MIT. ‘The reaction to Google’s Duplex has been, well, mixed. Here is how to know if the “person” on the other end of the phone line is a robot. Perhaps robots should be required to identify themselves when you begin a conversation?‘
From Aeon. ‘The young Russian stunt performer Kirill Vselensky has amassed a large internet following thanks to his death-defying exploits, which include snapping astounding, vertigo-inducing selfies from atop some of the world’s tallest, most iconic buildings. Short film, The Hanging, follows Vselensky just as he was rising to internet fame.. Dive in at 13.14 to see a nerve jangling climb.
A Pilot boards his ship, Hopping aboard it while it passes by. Wait for it…