Seeing Through the Eyes of a Semiologist: A Tribute to Umberto Eco
Many of Eco’s observations read true in our hyperkinetic era of the Internet, the experience economy, the Disneyfication of entertainment, the mega-blockbuster.
Josh Gryniewicz
Josh Gryniewicz is a writer, essayist, storyteller, and the Founder/ Chief Narrative Strategist of Odd Duck, a boutique social change communication firm. Josh is currently working on a documentary film how ideas clash in the public narrative, often over the meaning of history itself. He can be reached at jgryn5@gmail.com
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Coronavirus and the Culture Wars
Infodemics, conspiracies, culture wars – the fault lines beneath the Fractured States of America tremble in this time of Coronavirus global pandemic.
Wriggling Down the Rabbit Hole Again With ‘The Esquire’, the Follow-up to ‘The Institute’
Arye Michael Bender reprises his role as defrocked '70s guru Octavio Coleman in the upcoming part spin-off, part sequel, part prequel and completely mind-bending film, The Esquire.
What Happened to Truth When Indiana Jones Became an Adjective
Indiana Jones was created to be a cult object. What does that mean nearly four decades since Spielberg and Lucas’ first film, when prestigious institutions have embraced this artifice?
Contemplations on the Nature of Truth: True Crime and Dark Empathy
How well can one digest murdertainment's darkest elements?
‘The Dark Net’ Peers Beyond the Headlines About the Hidden Web
Part investigative journalism, pop-anthropology, and travel diary, The Dark Net finds a bizarre world; a funhouse refraction of our surface interests, intents, motivations, and mores.
Contemplations on the Nature of Truth: True Crime, ‘True Detective’, and ‘Serial’ Obsessions
True Detective and Serial mark our society’s preoccupation with all things illegal, especially when they end in murder.
‘Scarcity’ Suffers From Trying to Cram Too Much Into One Box
Although the interesting model of Scarcity makes it worth a read, like too many behavioral economics texts, it tries to cram too many global phenomena under its framework.
Fear, Inc.: Beyond the Shadows of the American Haunt Industry
Haunted houses. Extreme haunts. Big scares. Big money. Maybe even big health benefits (when used with caution, of course). Step inside, if you dare.
Neither Here Nor There: ‘The Institute’, the Game, and the Thread to Elsewhere
The trend in alternate reality gaming fits a traditional definition of hyperreality; the condition where fiction and the real become indistinguishably blended together.