A Culture Made of Algorithms
by Omar Alleyne
A Podcast that dives into our media consumption and the cultures it produces. Incorporating Media Theory, Cultural Theory and Sociology, 'A Culture Made of Algorithms' engages in dialogues and debates at the heart of our tech-reliant world.
Episodes
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The Hamilton Commission Exposes F1's belief in the Great White Myth
Formula One has more than one race problem. Music by Amine Maxwell: Lovely Shared under Creative Commons 3.0 licencing agreement.
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Disney+'s NEXT Questions our AI Anxieties
The show has an AI groom a young child into taking a gun to school. It's wild, but it's not new from the Sci-fi fear space. Music by Amine Maxwell: Lovely Shared under Creative Commons 3.0 licencing agreement.
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Is it Ethical to use Deepfakes in Education? [Live]
This week I closed out my internship at Coventry University's Centre for Postdigital Cultures' Virtual Reality Archive Learning (ViRAL) Project. Centred around Virtual and Augmented Reality, I make a case that Deepfakes could be used to improve educational material in a live event. Music by Amine...
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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
I've been working with the Virtual Reality Archive Learning Project (ViRAL) at Coventry University's Centre for PostDigital Cultures and I'm inviting you to the closing presentation! Get your tickets here:...
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The War on Dads in Popular Culture
Reactionaries would have you believe that the latest culture war is against dads in Television and Film. The evidence disagrees. Music by Amine Maxwell: Lovely Shared under Creative Commons 3.0 licencing agreement.
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The Many Meanings of Football
Football has transformed from a grassroots game people played in the streets with a pig bladder, to an international, multi-billion-dollar game operating under a multi-national organisation. It's slick, it's corporate, but it's also grassroots and gritty. In the many meanings of the game, some of...
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Media as Political Expression, Education and Community Activism - Interview with Marquise Richards
Marquise Richards (also known as @MarquiseDavon) is an Activist, Educator and Multi-Media Practitioner and in this episode, we talk through his creative reasoning, why he does what he does and how he pairs his work with his political activism. Find Marquise on Instagram, DearRDG, Rational Anger...
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Reviewing the UK Government's Race and Ethnic Disparities Report
On March 31st, 2021, the UK government published a report which claimed institutional racism no longer existed in British Society. Interested by this bold conclusion, I reviewed the report, uncovering a bubbling disdain for academic rigour, qualitative data and the people who the report…
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Neoliberalism in Fallout 4's Post-Apocalyptic World Shows How We Treat Money Like it Is Magic
Neoliberalism is a socio-economic model that exists everywhere, but what happens when it exists inside a media text that is set in a world that has been destroyed by nuclear war? Well, I go to town explaining what that's a thing and how it's a problem because lets be honest, we treat money like...
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Hegemonic Masculinity, Oppositional Readings, Working Moms and Maternal Horrors.
THE ESSAY THAT STARTED THIS PODCAST: R.W. Connell's* theory of Hegemonic Masculinity argues that men exert their power in society through the expression of patriarchy to control the people through ideology. I take this argument, support it with Stuart Hall's Decoding principal and argue that it's...
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DISCOURSE #5: Kettles, Kevin Hart and Clubhouse: My Clubhouse Stories So Far
Clubhouse is a new, invite and audio-only social media platform that was popularised by celebrities and media professionals who flocked to the platform as it went into a beta-release. Featuring on Twitter daily for the shenanigans people get themselves into this episode talks about my findings…
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THE GODDARD LINKUP: @EedsMckenzie on TikTok, Surveillance, Racism in Tech and Ruha Benjamin.
Going through the archive this week, I've come good on a promise to share with you a previously unreleased, juicy portion of content by Eeds Mckenzie, Co-Host of Don't Alert the Stans Podcast and Host of AndWithTech, UX/UI Designer and overall tech fanatic. We talk about Tiktok, social media and...
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DISCOURSE #4: Spotify Unwrapped, Don't Click the Porn-Bot & PSA.
Thank you to everyone who's listened over the past eight months. This episode reacts to the Spotify Unwrapped News, Warns you about Porn Bots and tells you what episodes are to come throughout December and January. Music by Amine Maxwell: Lovely Shared under Creative Commons 3.0 licencing agreement.
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DISCOURSE #3: Getting Scammed on Habbo Hotel
On Wednesday I was inspired by a wave of overflowing nostalgia felt by a Twitter thread talking about the social media that got us into social media. For myself and many others, Habbo Hotel was the platform who deserved that title and in response I've made this episode, reminiscing on the…
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DISCOURSE #2: Power, Fear and Factions in Fallout 4 - Who's misery are you aiding in?
DISCOURSE is the show that looks at media texts and talks about them but without all the media theory. This week, I crack open a small conversation into Fallout 4's Factions: The Institue, The Brotherhood of Steel, The Railroad and The Minutemen to ask; what do they have in common, what sets them...
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DISCOURSE #1: Not a Review of Netflix's Snowpiercer
DISCOURSE is the media show that talks about media. It's low budget, rambly and all about talking about talking. This episode is all about Netflix's Snowpiercer; a socio-political commentary that looks at the world through a dystopian class struggle, but undoes all of the important socialist...
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S2 EP10: Questions, Answers, Polls and Conversations [Season 2 Finale]
Thank you so much to everyone who took part in the weekly polls, who used this podcast in your own discussions and for tuning in! This episode will be the last before a short break, so make sure to keep an eye on me on Twitter, Vero and Youtube for the latest updates and releases! Twitter:...
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S2 EP9: You, Me, Us and Them: Representation Finale
*Re-UPLOADED* Women, Queer and Ethnic Minority voices are frequently touted to be ignored in media representation. But what are the gripes these groups have? In this episode, I outline these arguments and which demographic they are drawing the biggest comparison to, their main arguments and skirt...
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S2 EP8: Why the Police Force Cares about Their Media Representation
In the second of a three part mini-series on representation, we look at the police as a state body and why media representation matters to them and by extension, other state bodies as a part of a hegemonic cultural and pollical power in a culture made of algorithms, a podcast that takes a look at...
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S2 EP7: Why Care About [Semiotic] Media Representation?
Salutations Listener. Sorry I kept saying 'As such' and apologises to Kay and Skittles for calling you Key and Skittle. Everyone else whos name I got wrong, you get a smaller sorry. So this week we move into the final mini-series of the season, opening a dialogue around representation and why...
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S2 EP6: Shock Algorithms
Shock Algorithms are loosely defined as pieces of code which show users of a platform distressing content. This is based on a belief that distressing content forces an emotional response from a user and thus, keeps them engaging with the platform longer. And as user engagement is vital to a...
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S2 EP5: You've Got The [Consumer] Power
In the relationship between producers and their audiences, the role of the consumer is regularly undermined. So in this episode, I address four different ways we as consumers have, can and continue to exercise our consumer power. This episode uses the work of Dan Laughey, Abraham Maslow, Elihu...
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S2 EP4: Service Me So I Won't Own it - Ownership and Software
Is owning so 1700's? Well with the 'as a service' industries growing into the transport, retail, real estate, gaming and entertainment spaces, the question might be yes. However, not everyone will take this trend of having corporations eroding their stake on the products they buy without a fight....
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S2 EP3: Music Taste, Festivals and the Technological Future with DATSPod and AndWithTech's @EedsMckenzie
Music is something personal to us but is also a way of getting us to connect with other people. However, the methods in which we create, engage with and enjoy music are changing. In part, this is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but more importantly, it is due to the growing technologies market and...
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S2 EP2: Music Consumption and its Reflective Connection to Human Societies
Music History is more than just a history of its composition, structure and artistry. Additionally, it is an indicator of technological progress and a way to track the mutation, adaptation and growth of a society. This week, I use a brief history of music consumption to track the societal change…
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S2Ep1: Streaming, Netflix and the new Cinema
In April 2020, amidst the global shutdown due to COVID 19, Universal Pictures CEO announced that Universal Pictures films will be releasing on streaming platforms to rent simultaneously alongside cinema releases. Since then, questions have arisen about the future of cinemas as a business, an...
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Reflecting on Season One [SEASON ONE FINALE]
WE'VE MADE IT! In celebration of surviving the first season, this week's episode takes a look at your poll responses for the past 9 episodes, responds to your responses, gives free clout to the people who replied and celebrates your listenership with some gems from the past season. Follow the...
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30 under 30's Jay Richards and Women of Tomorrow Finalist, Cat Agostinho on Gen Z
Gen Z (or Gen Z, depending on who you ask) is a marketing conundrum. With an age gap of 18 years and the power of the internet at their disposal; entire market segments have grown, evolved and been created using their economic and cultural power. As such, I've invited the marketing insight…
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Saving Your Mental Health When Online with Time To Talk's Alex Reads
Alex Reads, mental health advocate, writer and public speaker opens the guest series with a fantastic discussion on social media, its impact on our mental health and the duty of care platforms have to their users. We discuss things like boundaries, using our autonomy more wisely as we dive into…
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Finding Love In A Hopeless Place: Online Dating's Role in Modern Relationships
Online Dating has become a $3bn market in the USA, with users creating cultures that media critics, users and observers can't help but comment on, online dating has evolved from being just a 90's fad. But how has Online Dating changed our culture? Are there any impacts we should know about and…
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Love and Romance are Incompatible
THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SEXUAL REFERENCES, REFERENCES TO SEX AND MENTIONS SUICIDE This episode chats the horrible timeline of love and romance; looking at relationships from Mesopotamia, through to the Edwardians and Victorians through the Romance Era, up into the 21st century, looking at how Media...
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Homosocial Love Lives
This week, I challenge the idea of the homoerotic, but completely, utterly and totally straight theory by George Louis Tin: The homosocial world. I also analyse what it means, how it applies and what it's connection is to feudalism in the 21st Century. Follow the podcast on twitter where each…
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That celebrity Is NOT your friend, you parasite.
Being online is all fine and dandy until you upset the stans and now they're saying your baby is ugly and your job is going nowhere. But why are people like this? In this episode, I explore the nature of Parasocial relationships; from what they are, to why people get involved with them. Follow me...
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Your Attraction to Anti-Technology Conspiracy Theories
Being scared of new and emerging technologies is a fear as old as the invention of writing. However, 2020 saw a new conspiracy saw it's believers take to the streets. What makes these so attractive and why do people keep falling for them? I take a look at Flat Earth Theory to find out. Music:...
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'Be Kind' When Shouting Into Online LetterBoxes - Audiences and Online Participation
Inspired by the tweets of the @YoungVulgarian recently, Omar wades through the murky and contested waters that are the etiquette around behaving online. Is being online anything like the normal lives we live? Should we treat online experiences like offline ones and how many weird analogies can…
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What is 'A Culture Made of Algorithms'?
Salutations listener, I’m Omar Alleyne and you’re listening to A Culture Made of Algorithms, a Podcast that takes a look at our Media consumption, the cultures they produce and the societies left behind. This tiny corner of the podcast space is all about bringing to life the theories we see, hear...
About this show
A Podcast that dives into our media consumption and the cultures it produces. Incorporating Media Theory, Cultural Theory and Sociology, 'A Culture Made of Algorithms' engages in dialogues and debates at the heart of our tech-reliant world.
Hosted by
Omar Alleyne
Categories