Author Archives: Jonathan Sterne

New Rules: TV Edition (Spoilers)

1. (24) If you have a TV series where a character plays the president, you cannot have two different vice presidents conduct 25th amendment proceedings to usurp two different presidents in two different seasons. 2. (Ugly Betty) If you have a gay character in a TV series who is coming out to his mother, does …

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The Week of “I Can’t Believe I Get to Work Here”

That was the week inbetween my trip to Chicago and my trip to New York. John Durham Peters was in residence was in residence here and I had much fun with him. Georgina Born came and gave a talk on a Thursday afternoon. I had a great time with my grad students. My undergrad class …

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Belated Baudrillard Anecdote to Serve as an Obit

Fall 1995 was the first time I ever got to teach in my area of substantive expertise — it was an intro to communication studies course. I’d cleverly begun with McLuhan (yes, I know I know) and the “Medium is the Message” essay. The course ended with Baudrillard’s “Requiem for the Media” which is essentially …

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So Very Academic Jet-Set

Last night, Carrie and I arrived in the airport on different flights 10 minutes apart and shared a cab home. It’s been that kind of month. In fact, the only reason I’m writing this morning is because the Quebec election has meant that classes today are cancelled. So much as been going on this month …

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