Media and technology represent humanity's latest efforts in a long history of striving for connection—a journey that began with the physical expression of body language and evolved through spoken language, the written word, sign language, and now digital media. Each innovation reflects our fundamental need to connect. Authentic connection fulfills our cravings for dopamine, oxytocin, and the reassuring chemicals that validate our pursuit. Conversely, disrupted connection triggers our fight-or-flight response and fosters distrust. This episode of Knowing explores the history of our connection efforts, the biochemistry behind them, and how our current digital media landscape for global connection is influenced by economic structures and political decisions that both support and hinder our quest.

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Doug Rushkoff was declared the sixth most influential thinker in the world by MIT Technology Review. He’s an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, and documentarian. He was influential in the early cyberpunk culture and is an advocate for open-source solutions to social problems. He’s known for coining phrases such as viral media, digital native, and social currency. He has written ten books on media, technology and culture, and has been a writer for cyberculture, The New York Times Syndicate, The Guardian of London, Arthur, Discover, Daily Beast, and TheFeature. Rushkoff is currently Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at the City University of New York, Queens College, and has lectured at The New School University in Manhattan[5] and the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he created the Narrative Lab.

His popular book ⁠Program or Be Programmed ⁠is having a 15th anniversary edition release on October 4 from OR/books.

⁠Rushkoff Substack⁠

⁠Team Human - podcast⁠

⁠Website⁠

Brandon Krazen Maddox is a founder of Up Until Now Collective which develops and produces new interdisciplinary work that explores empathy, intimacy, and connection, and seeks to challenge the status quo by building new structures for artistic creation. Their projects include the pioneering SOUL(SIGNS), a series of American Sign Language music videos featuring songs by iconic Black female artists including Nina Simone, Tina Turner and Gladys Knight. SOUL(SIGNS) was profiled by The New York Times and ABC World News.

⁠Up Until Now⁠

⁠Brandon Krazen Maddox⁠

Mina Lebitz is an educator and published author with two Advanced Placement test preparation books under her belt – biology and chemistry, both now in their 4th editions.