Mason’s cultural studies program recently launched a new podcast that interviews experts from a variety of fields on some of today’s most pressing issues. The first podcast series, Capitalism, Climate, and Culture, examines the cultural and political-economic dimensions of the ongoing climate crisis. Each episode sheds light on how the crisis started, the severity of the damage, and steps necessary to reverse it. Guests include participants from cultural studies’ 2018-2019 colloquium series, a biweekly event held to highlight research on current issues. Episodes are hosted by current doctoral students within the cultural studies program.
“As I put together the speaker series for this year, it occurred to me that we had a unique opportunity,” said cultural studies Professor Roger Lancaster. “I was programming it as a mini-course, Capitalism, Climate, and Culture, mostly from a cultural studies perspective. Why not try to preserve this material? To literally provide a free online mini-course for anyone who might want to listen?”
The first five episodes of this podcast series are now available. You can listen by visiting the cultural studies website, or by downloading the episodes from iTunes or Google Play.
The Cultural Studies Colloquium is presented by the Cultural Studies Program at Mason, bringing scholars of diverse methodological, theoretical, and topical expertise to share new and cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. If you are interested in attending, you can find the latest schedule of series lectures here.
The cultural studies program at George Mason University is a center for interdisciplinary research and doctoral training. It links the social sciences and humanities to explore the production, distribution, and consumption of cultural objects in their social contexts. With particular focus on theory and method, the work of graduate students and faculty addresses contemporary issues of nationality, class, race, and gender across all forms of culture, past and present.
Special thanks to Todd Stafford, Amy Zhang, Tauheeda Yasin, and Pavithra Suresh for interviews; Adam Proctor for audio engineering and production; and Todd for editing and post-production.
March 25, 2019