Global Media in a Digital Age

Veteran stand-up comedian Dave Chapelle recently performed a show for a Netflix Special called The Closer .  For decades, Chapelle has been known for his edgy and dark humor, which includes making jokes aimed at certain marginalized groups.  He isn't afraid to make an audience laugh at the expense of those groups.  Chapelle constantly uses the N-word in many contexts ranging from casual conversation to deliberate racism (in other words, he sometimes brings out the "hard R") and is known to say 'bitch' in just about every sentence.  So clearly, he doesn't have much of a filter and in turn, he can say some gutsy jokes.  He also starred in some movies, such as Half Baked and Blue Streak to name a couple. In The Closer , Chapelle includes stories and punchlines about various groups, such as the LGBTQ community.  Chapelle's main talking point in the special is how LGBTQ rights have advanced far quicker than racial justice.  He constantly compares the stru...

I was raised in a household of video games.  Having two older brothers, I was exposed to most gaming consoles that existed anywhere from the 80s to the current consoles.  My oldest brother is 31, so he has been around for most of the development of video games ever since the first 1 v 1, 2 dimensional tennis game was created.  My other brother, who is now 25, was exposed to those games just as I was, except he really enjoyed them.  He enjoyed them more than the next guy.  So not only did I grow up with a brother old enough to experience most of the old game consoles, I grew up with a brother who was infatuated by them.  Therefore, I have played a wide variety of games and used a wide variety of gaming consoles in my life.  So, I will list my favorite video game for each system I have used in my life, from oldest to newest. The oldest system I have used is an Atari 2600 .  This device is just a box that plugs into a TV via RCA cables (the red, whit...

When I was younger, I would watch cable television just about everyday.  I would flip from Nickelodeon to Comedy Central to Comcast Sports Net to Animal Planet.  Every now and then, I would use my cable provider's "On-Demand" option to choose certain shows to watch, but the selection to choose from was very limited.  Now, through media convergence, all media forms are available however we want and whenever we want.  A few taps on a smartphone screen can bring us to a news article, a video game, or a tv streaming service.  People no longer need to flip through channels and wait for their desired show to come on; they can find their favorite shows on various streaming services. I have noticed lately that I don't use cable television unless it is for watching a sporting event (Marquee Network made it more difficult to watch Cubs games, but luckily they partnered with Xfinity last-minute).  Even then, North Central doesn't offer cable television anymore, so I h...

A podcast is a digital audio file made available on the internet.  Podcasts are like tv shows in that there are episodes and seasons, but there are no visual items attached to the file.  They are only for the ears.  They can cover just about any topic that one desires, from movies to music to life advice to politics.  Anybody has the liberty to start a podcast of their own, but only a handful of podcasts turn out to be successful and continuous.  Podcasts, while simple in nature, are more work than they seem.  I know this from experience. During the COVID-19 lockdown period, my friend and I started our very own podcast.  We were bored being stuck in our rooms all day everyday, so we needed some sort of outlet for our huge comedic personalities.  We were recommended by a peer to start this podcast because they knew our abilities to create good content was unmatched.  So, we promptly began planning out our episodes.  As outlined in the Nor...