Special Topics in Media
Special Topics in Media Studies is a lecture-based podcast that tackles media history one artifact at a time. Each season of the series we will investigate a different mass media theme, medium, or programming genre. While our focus is educational (it is an academic podcast after all), we tailor our conversations toward a broad audience of media enthusiasts.
Episodes
Welcome to the "Talking Mass Communication Perspectives" season of Special Topics in Media. This week Garret Castleberry and Season 13 guest cohost Annabeth Fehrle discuss Muted Group Theory and how it can be interpreted within the narrative framework of a trio of Disney-Pixar animated feature films: Brave (2012), WALL-E (2008) and The Incredibles (2004).
Reading Reference: Bruce W. Finklea & Sally Bennett Hardig. &q...
In this summer interlude, host Garret Castleberry looks back at the past year's programming themes, while setting the stage for ongoing programming to come.
Host: Garret Castleberry
Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)
Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.
"Li...
Welcome to the "Talking Mass Communication Perspectives" season of Special Topics in Media. This week host Garret Castleberry is joined by Annabeth Fehrle to discuss Fantasy Theme Analysis and how it applies to two politically oriented TV programs, ABC's Scandal (2013-2018) and NBC's Parks & Recreation (2009-2015).
Reading Reference: Fogle, Krystal. "Knope vs. Pope: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of Scandal v...
Welcome to the "Talking Mass Communication Perspectives" season on Special Topics in Media. This week we tackle Disney, Hegemony, and the role that Critical Theory plays in shaping our views of the world.
Reading Reference: Applequist, Janelle. ""Let it go, let it go"--Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony in Disney's Frozen". In Communication Theory and Millennial Popular Culture: Essays and Applica...
A New Season begins!
What is on deck? Who is covering it? And why should you listen!
Reading Reference: Roberts, Kathleen Glenister (Editor). Communication Theory and Millennial Popular Culture: Essays and Applications. New York: Peter Lang, 2016.
Host: Garret Castleberry, Annabeth Fehrle
Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)
Ways to Connect with us ...
Closing out our Internship Interview Series, host Garret Castleberry visits with graduating senior and MACU's Men's Baseball pitcher Jacob Mallozzi, a student athlete blurring the lines between reporter and player. Jacob talks about his Texas roots and how this background provided the basis for his journeyman shifts in degree focus and professional outlook.
This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college s...
Winding down this month's Internship Interview Series, host Garret Castleberry visits with junior Kaetlen Schier, a student athlete "thriving in the chaos" of work-life balance. Kaetlen talks about the value available when students seek internships that align with areas of passion and/or study;; in this instance interning with a men's semi-pro volleyball organization as the club's social media coordinator.
T...
Rounding the corner with May's Internship Interview Series, host Garret Castleberry connects with junior Brady Allen, a missions-minded media production specialist interning in areas that connect lighting, audio, and multimedia production in cooperation with a multi-campus ministry organization.
This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through participation in internship...
Continuing May's Internship Interview Series, host Garret Castleberry connects with sophomore Jared Hinkle, a burgeoning videographer and social media coordinator affiliated with Major League Fishing who travels the country by day while casting lines that deepen his social media imprint by night.
This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through participation in internshi...
Diving deeper into May's Internship Interview Series, host Garret Castleberry sits down with graduating senior, MACU Women's Volleyball player, and recipient of the 2024-25 Media Production Award, Annabeth Fehrle. Annabeth discusses her passion for public speaking and how it translates into and out of the classroom.
This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through pa...
Kicking off May's Internship Interview Series, host Garret Castleberry sits down with graduating senior, MACU Men's Baseball Pitcher, and recipient of the 2024-25 Communication Award Jordan Smith to discuss his transition from collegiate student athlete to junior varsity assistant coach.
This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize college students demonstrating excellence through participation in internship par...
This May, Special Topics in Media is proud to recognize students demonstrating excellence through participating in internship partnership this year. Throughout the month we will spotlight one-on-one sit-downs with current and graduating students in the Media Production and Communication program at MACU.
Host: Garret Castleberry
Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Aust...
Celebrating independent bookstore week, Special Topics in Media host Garret Castleberry sits down with indie book store aficionado, universal book lover, and nonfiction author J Hall to discuss the release of his newest book College Unpacked: A Practical Guide to Choosing, Preparing For, and Excelling in College. The book provides a user-friendly guide to the increasingly complex process of applying to colleges and universities.
Thi...
Vinylthon month is here! Which raises a fun question: How does vinyl intersect with other mass mediums?
To connect the dots between vinyl and film history, Scott McMurry joins Special Topics in Media for a discussion about films that capitalize on the music craze.
Celebrate "Vinylthon" by tuning in to the nonprofit event this April, or consider supporting vinyl radio through a subscription to the annual Vinylthon Zine, wh...
Vinylthon month is here! Which raises an important question: What exactly IS Vinyl?
To deepen listener appreciation for Vinylthon month, Scott McMurry joins Special Topics in Media for a discussion about what distinguishes vinyl from other forms of physically reproduced media.
Celebrate "Vinylthon" by tuning in to the nonprofit event this April, or consider supporting vinyl radio through a subscription to the annual Vinylth...
Vinylthon month is here! Which raises an important question...What IS Vinylthon?
Joining us to discuss "Vinylthon" and more, Dr. Tim Craig (Warner University) joins Special Topics in Media for a discussion about the origins of Vinylthon, grassroots growth of this musical movement, and the ways in which it continues to diversify its programming strategies.
Host: Garret Castleberry
Producers: Garret Castleberry...
The time has come. In this "Recalibration Preview", Special Topics in Media examines the data sets that feed into the tabulation process defining the "Film Listology" methodology. Cohost Scott McMurry provides listeners with the clearest explanation yet for how the math works to determine placement in the Super Index ranking for culturally significant films.
The "Recalibration Preview" sets the stage f...
The time has come. In this "Recalibration Preview", Special Topics in Media examines the data sets that feed into the tabulation process defining the "Film Listology" methodology. Cohost Scott McMurry provides listeners with the clearest explanation yet for how the math works to determine placement in the Super Index ranking for culturally significant films.
The "Recalibration Preview" sets the stage f...
In the "Film Listology" entry to Special Topics in Media, hosts Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry evaluate the legacy of Elia Kazan's adaptation of the Tennessee Williams literary stageplay of the same name, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Boasting a pair of explosive performances by Vivian Leigh (Gone With the Wind) and Marlon Brando (The Godfather, On the Waterfront), Kazan infuses this Southern Gothic characte...
This week in our "Film Listology" season of Special Topics in Media, Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry explore the innovation and influence of Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction silent film Metropolis. Can silent cinema maintain high cultural significance in an age of immersive media and high definition spectacle? The dialogic duo wrestle with the film to determine its value in the pantheon of film history.
Hosts: ...
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