Neil and Carol’s trusty producer Stephen Hurley shares his philosophy about the differences between broadcast radio and podcasting, and why we love to listen.
Notes from The Media Education Project: Carol and Neil embark on a journey to discover the best iteration of media curriculum now, as guest Belinha De Abreu explains her research and concerns about AI.
Neil and Carol once again enlist the help of Paul Levinson to understand how the most bizarre conspiracies flourish online and in the minds of Believers.
Notes from The Age of Disinformation, Part One: How people make meaning from deviant news narratives
Neil and Carol chat with Paul Levinson about the difference between disinformation and misinformation, and how and why “truth” requires our permission.
Neil and Carol learn a lot about digital estate planning from two brilliant law students, Alisha and Sabrina, including the uncomfortable truth that it might be better to borrow an audio book from the library than “buy” it online.
Dynamic educators Aimee and Michilin continue to tell it like it is, offering new gems of wisdom for pandemic pedagogy conversations.
Two Secondary teachers from the trenches tell Neil and Carol about the struggle to create and cultivate online pedagogy in a pandemic.
Wellness expert Glenys Vivian returns to help Neil and Carol understand how to support those around us, and ways we all might go forward together – post COVID.
Our guest Jesse Hirsh blasts traditional journalism as we try to untangle the issues: Why might the newspaper industry be the biggest culprit of all, and how can we disrupt the system through media literacy?
The people in charge of education talk a lot about children, but not so much with them. Neil and Carol chat with Sophie, an Ontario Secondary school student, to help them understand the role of technology in the social and learning experiences of…
Neil and Carol chat with Ethan and Glenys, experts in learning, parenting, and mental health, in an effort to understand why we’re feeling like hamsters on a wheel. Surprisingly, we discover that 2020 taught us lessons that the “before times” never could.
Neil and Carol ask a thoughtful parent about the struggle to raise future digital citizens. How do we manage the balance between screentime and other experiences such as exploring and appreciating nature?
Neil, Paul, and Carol examine how this ceremony embodied the American metanarrative, and agree to disagree on what makes a perfect musical media experience these days.
Children & Screens?! What’s a parent to do? Wouldn’t it be great to have reliable, informed advice? Listen in as Neil and Carol chat with Sonia Livingstone, world expert on how families negotiate digital environments & how they can make effective choices.
Neil, Carol, and guest Paul Levinson deconstruct the bizarre intersections of social media, popular culture, and politics on Capitol Hill during the week of January 4.
Neil and Carol welcome back Julie Smith to discuss effective privacy strategies for parents and students, acknowledging that true critical media literacy is never negative, but instead develops confidence, enjoyment, and agency.
Neil, Carol, and special guest Julie Nilsson Smith ask, ‘How is our privacy at risk?’ ‘How might WE be part of the problem?’ ‘What should we know?’ And ‘what might our media literacy do about it?’
Might Joe Biden be a new character in the JFK/Camelot meta-narrative? Or is the national story Man of la Mancha? Join Paul Levinson, Carol Arcus and Neil Anderson in this episode of Mediacy as they explore the new twists in the American national saga.
In his inimitable droll style, Bill Smart (with Neil and Carol) explores dog films – the good, the ugly, and the excellent – and asks whether a dog feature film can ever reach the heights of film artistry.
Neil and Carol – with the help of Paul Levinson – attempt to understand the Trump/Biden personas and the Pro-Trump rallies of the last week through the lens of McLuhan’s “hot” and “cool” media.
Neil, Carol, and Paul Levinson explore how metanarratives have shaped politics in America, and speculate on whether Joe Biden can stem the Tide of Trumpism.
On this night before the US Election, Neil and Carol welcome Paul Levinson back to dissect the American metanarrative. Will ‘Reality TV’ triumph? Or Biden’s ‘hero against all odds’?
“Neil and Carol continue their conversation with three smart educators – Diana Maliszewski, Chelsea Attwell, and June Lee – about negotiating virtual and face-to-face learning spaces through media literacy education.”
Diana Maliszewski, Chelsea Attwell, and June Lee chat with Neil and Carol about the stress of the ‘new normal’, and how media literacy might help us cope.
Carol and Neil welcome special guest Laurie Townshend to help understand how different audiences negotiated the debating skills of Black, South Asian female vice-presidential candidate, Kamala Harris.
Carol Arcus and Neil Anderson take a look at the recent US Presidential Debate and, in particular, how the media has handled the event. A look ahead to the Vice-Presidential debates.
Following on the previous episode – Unmasking the Mask – Neil and Carol welcome special guest teacher Irene Faiz from Toronto District School Board to share creative classroom ideas for building media literacy and art skills through masks. She offers…
Jesse Stommel and Sean Michael Morris are passionate in their work around critical digital pedagogies. Together, they wrote “An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy. Tonight on Mediacy, Jesse and Sean join Carol Arcus and Neil…
Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen are joined by McLuhan scholar (Fordham University), Paul Levinson, to explore the media under our skin. How do video, street painting, dashcams, bodycams, flash grenades narrate our experience?
Carol and Neil are joined by Fordham University media scholar Paul Levinson to discuss how mourners and news are Constructing an Epic, how the George Floyd narrative has evolved into police reform, and how the protests have become international.
Neil Andersen, Carol Arcus and Paul Levinson take a deeper look at interwoven narratives during this powerful time in social and political life. In this epsiode, the team explores memes, iconography, the giddy Bible, taking a knee, the NFL pivot, and…
In this episode, Paul Levinson, Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen explore ways in which the George Floyd murder protests and the Covid-19 pandemic twist and turn around one another. This conversation will continue in the next episode.
Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen welcome back Marshall McLuhan scholar Paul Levinson to the show to talk about the narratives that are being woven during this time of pandemic. A fascinating and very rich conversation
Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen take a look at the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of the storyteller. What stories are being told? What narratives are being woven? Who is the audience? Who are the characters? The plot?
Visit the Association for…
How is the pandemic centering us in the media environment? Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen continue their exploration of how the media is covering and portraying the current COVID-19 crisis from a McLuhan perspective.
Tonight Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen welcome back author, singer-songwriter and professor of communications and media studies, Paul Levinson. Paul rejoins the team to continue an in-depth examination of the current COVID-19 pandemic through a media…
Tonight Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen welcome author, singer-songwriter and professor of communications and media studies, Paul Levinson. Paul joins the team to continue an in-depth examination of the current COVID-19 pandemic through a media literacy…
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus are, once again, joined by guest expert, Glenys Vivian. Another great conversation about how to stay attuned to the needs of our children this time of global uncertainty. Ideas for talking to and engaging with our children.
In this time of global concern, if not crisis, we are reminded that our children need our care and attention. Tonight on Mediacy, Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus are, once again, by Glenys Vivian, an education and school-based wellness lead with the…
In this time of global concern, if not crisis, we are reminded that our children need our care and attention. Tonight on Mediacy, Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus are joined by Glenys Vivian, an education and school-based wellness lead with the York…
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus continue their look at the COVID-19 story and narrative through a media literacy lens
Neil and Carol take a first look at the media being produced around COVID-19. It’s been declared a global pandemic related to the virus, but is there also a growing pandemic of fear. A media literacy “first dive” into COVID-19.
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus welcome educators Chelsea Attwell and Ethan Andersen about mentorship——in education and, more specifically, in the area of media literacy!
How might we understand the uses of dogs in media experiences? What’s the best advertising dog? Join media teacher (and dog lover) Bill Smart, Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen for a fun discussion of dogs in media.
Recently, Carol Arcus took her granddaughter to a local edition of The Medieval Times Banquet and Tournament. Not surprisingly, Carol couldn’t resist bringing her media literacy lenses to the experience. She joins Neil Andersen to talk about what she…
King Cosmos is a Calypso artist. His song Payback Time—a course in Black History and music—demands reparation for the centuries of slavery that built the American economy.
King Cosmos is a Calypso artist. His song Payback Time—a course in Black History and music—demands reparation for the centuries of slavery that built the American economy.
King Cosmos is a Calypso artist. His song Payback Time—a course in Black History and music—demands reparation for the centuries of slavery that built the American economy.
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus continue their conversation that connects what current brain research is telling us about our response to our mediated world and the way that approach teaching about media literacy. In this episode, Neil and Carol talk…
In this first episode of 2020, Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus gather to begin a conversation that connects what current brain research is telling us about our response to our mediated world and the way that approach teaching about media literacy.
Neil Andersen rejoined by two middle school students, Jade and Rowan, who enlighten us with their perspective, habits and ideas around the use of screen time by young people.
Neil and Carol are joined by two middle school students, Jade and Rowan, who enlighten us with their perspective, habits and ideas around the use of screen time by young people.
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus bring Marshall McLuhan and his thinking on media to their continued conversation about podcasts and podcasting. Are podcasts a form of New Media, or a retooling of one that has existed for some time now?
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus are joined by Stephen Hurley as they take a deep dive into the podcasting phenomenon.
Educator/parents Chelsea Attwell and Rebecca Leslie are back to discuss anxieties and ideas about establishing a healthy relationship between our children and their technology.
Carol Arcus welcomes educator/parents Chelsea Attwell and Rebecca Leslie to talk about the challenges and opportunities of parenting in a digital age.
Neil and Carol continue their unique look at Canadian humour from a media literacy lens. How can we apply McLuhan’s idea of the Figure and Ground to reflect on the development of the Canadian humour scene.
Carol and Neil dive into the world of Canadian humour, including sketch comedy, from a media literacy lens. How is Canadian humour different than that expressed in other countries and cultures? What makes the Canadian brand of humour unique?
Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen unpack the 2019 Federal election campaign, including Carol’s theory that the CBC television coverage of the election returns mirrored the elements of traditional Greek Theatre.
In this special, pre-election edition of Mediacy, Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen talk about the media’s role in election campaigns, the role of social media and how campaign messages are constructed.
Jesse Currell is dedicated to empowering educators, youth, teams, and nations with the skills to thrive in the digital world. She is the CEO at Hands On Media an organization that provide production-based workshops, Hands on Media offers educators and…
Jesse Currell is dedicated to empowering educators, youth, teams, and nations with the skills to thrive in the digital world. She is the CEO at Hands On Media an organization that provide production-based workshops, Hands on Media offers educators and…
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus use the controversy over recently-released photos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wearing “brown face” at a 2011 costume party as a backdrop for a conversation about Marshall McLuhan’s concept of “figure” and “ground”….
In this week’s episode, Neil Anderson and Carol Arcus explore the case studies of Lil Nas X and Bianca Andreescu and discuss their public popularity, how it came to be and what might become of it in the weeks and months to come.
The second of a two-part series of conversations about the popular song, Old Town Road.
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus are joined by special guest, Steven Webbe, as they set out to explore some of the nuances of the popular song, Old Town Road
Neil Andersen returns in this episode to pick up some of the threads introduced in the past two episodes. A deeper dive into some of what has emerged in terms of the gamer identity, our dispositions (and pre-dispositions) towards various types of…
Diana Maliszewski and Denise Colby return for another week to explore more on the gaming dynamic, the identities and even the personalities associated with “gamers”.
Guest hosts Diana Maliszewski and Denise Colby bring their passion for games and gaming to this episode of Mediacy. Tonight, what games do you play? How do you play? Why do you play? Bringing a media literacy lens to the experience of the game!
From songs that expresses value, gathers us around particular events and rituals to songs that evoke particular feelings of emotion, there is no doubt just how important music has always been in popular culture.
Tonight on Mediacy, Carol Arcus and…
Fake news is old news, but has become fashionable now. It is a consequence of electronic media and the web, where there are many more news sources.
In this episode, Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen begin to explore the emergence of fake news, how to…
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus return to a discussion of Pop Culture and, in particular, the degree to which youth fashion in the 21st century is (or is not) a medium of resistance.
Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen are joined by Futurist, researcher and powerful public speaker, Jesse Hirsh, to discuss the lack of and, in fact, need for a public service media in a democratic Canada. What is public service media? What purpose could it…
Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen embark on the first of several conversations about “Popular”. What does it mean to say that something is “popular”? Who decides what is popular? Does popular culture represent our deepest hopes and aspirations or is it…
Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen continue their conversation on Identity, Social Media and Violence with a special focus this week on practical ways that we can engage educators and parents in the conversation. What do we need to be aware of in terms of…
Using recent violence in New Zealand as a backdrop, Neil and Carol explore the points of intersection between violence, media and identity, with a special focus on the role of social media in helping to weave new and more public narratives.
What role does/do Social Media play in the enactment of world events? Have social media users, in a sense, become a form of media? What role does social media play in the erosion of empathy among citizens of the global village? What new conversations…
In this episode, Neil and Carol dig deeper into what it means to live in a culture of ubiquitous screen time and screen presence. From selfies that help identify and place us in the world, to questions of when and where selfie images are appropriate,…
Neil Andersen and Carol Arcus join Stephen Hurley to talk about how might we discover and respond to the effects of ubiquitous cameras and screens in our society.
In this opening episode of the Mediacy Podcast, Carol Arcus and Neil Andersen draw the circle wide around the media literacy landscape, underline the importance of seeing all aspects of our life as mediated, and provide us with three important…