Author: Justin Pot

Mark Zuckerberg Is A Digital Narcotics Dealer

In a recent newsletter I referred to Mark Zuckerberg as a digital narcotics dealer, which readers seemed to enjoy. I briefly wondered if I was overstating the matter until I read about how schools are worried students will skip meals in order to use their phones.  Some context: Oregon, like many states, is prohibiting students […]

The Tom Bombadil theory of media literacy

One of the most profound lessons you can learn about media literacy is that it isn’t enough to talk about the content—you need to talk about the medium. People far smarter than me have written books and dissertations about this, but let’s start with an example that’s easy to grasp: the differences between the Lord […]

 YouTube and the end of “internet culture”

Last week YouTube officially announced that the trending page is going away, to be replaced with separate trending pages just for music, podcasts, and movie trailers. It’s the end of “internet culture”.  Let’s back up. In the early days of YouTube—two decades ago—the homepage had a “Featured Videos” box that was curated by YouTube staff. […]

Do it anyway.

I hate running. I used to believe that, over time, this would change. I thought, over time, that I would grow to love running out of sheer repetition. This has not happened.  I used to think that if I could write for a living I’d never have to work—my hobby would be my job. This also […]