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Download episode (1 hr 14 min, 51.4 MB, mp3)
Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan studies how new media can both upend and consolidate power structures around the world. Most recently, he has investigated the ways offline and online social networks ignited revolutionary movements such as the Arab Spring, the London Riots, and the Occupy movement. Unlike many of the pundits who opine on social media’s effects from afar, Ramesh has done extensive field research, and spent two months in Egypt last summer interviewing a diverse array of Egyptians about Mubarak’s ouster. On this episode of Radio Free Ruin, he shares some of his conclusions from his research, and explores the nuances and complexities in the relationships between new media, class, power structures, and social movements.
During Breaking News, Paul does a roundup of the week’s Occupy news, including the brutal crackdown on Occupy Oakland and the ensuing solidarity marches, Occupy Foreclosures, the NYPD’s treatment of transgender detainees, and courts that are theatening Twitter and WordPress with jail time for Occupy-related activities on their networks. We also look at the arrest of documentary filmmaker Josh Fox at a congressional hearing about fracking, the semiotics of Rick Santorum’s sweater vest, Snoop Dogg’s support of Ron Paul, and Newt’s moon colony.
