Check out the latest Revival Letter, where we look at the economic realities of moviemaking and whether the financing of art necessarily results in its capture. www.therevivallab.org/the-hollywoo...

The Hollywood Investigators: Directing Anger and Rejecting Media Oligarchies

By Eesha Ramanujam A few weeks before his film I Love Boosters made its way to wide release this spring, writer-director Boots Riley got involved in a back-and-forth with people on X (formerly Twitte...

therevivallab.org

Come check out the forthcoming documentary (work in progress) on the remarkable story of how Puerto Rican activists created the first Latino bilingual public-affairs show on TV (PBS). I am the film's exe producer & will join its director (Christina DiPasquale) & producer for a discussion afterwards.

It's important to find joy, even in the hardest days. On the anniversary of her passing, we remembered Revival Lab founder Brandi Collins-Dexter with a hype mix of her work on sports, culture, populism, patriotism, and more. Rest in power, Brandi. www.therevivallab.org/the-power-of...

The Power of Hype: Celebrating Brandi Collins-Dexter

By David Dexter This special issue of The Revival Letter is dedicated to founder Brandi Collins-Dexter, marking six months since the launch of The Revival Lab, her project and vision. As people acros...

therevivallab.org

There's a national uprising happening as everyday people stand up against Big Tech and destructive AI data centers. Hannah from @peoplestechproject.bsky.social penned this week's Revival Letter to shares some pleasant surprises from this growing movement. www.therevivallab.org/three-joyful...

Three (Joyful) Surprises About the Fight Against Data Centers

By Hannah Jane Sassaman If you’re reading this, you’re likely someone who has been a part of a struggle against the ways in which Big Tech and consolidated media have changed our lives and our democr...

therevivallab.org

"The Overseer Class" by @thrasherxy.bsky.social is officially one of the top selling books out right now. Check out our sweeping interview with him on what inspired this critical dive into power and privilege in our workplaces and beyond. www.therevivallab.org/the-overseer...

The Overseer Class: A Conversation with Dr. Steven Thrasher

By Eesha Ramanujam For this week's issue, we had the chance to speak to Dr. Steven Thrasher — activist, professor, self-described "itinerant preacher," and best-selling author of The Viral Underclass...

therevivallab.org

“Anti-technology extremists” 🤔 The Trump regime is now using the federal intelligence apparatus against the growing opposition to AI and data centers, publicly referring to “anti-technology extremism” as a counterterrorism priority according to @wired.com. @ruddock.bsky.social explains:

As we near the end of Mental Health Awareness Month, the brilliant Kelechi Ubozoh looks at how the commodification of mental health narrows our concept of it, and how we can best take care of ourselves by taking care of each other. www.therevivallab.org/beyond-menta...

Beyond Mental Health Month: We Are Not Solo Projects

By Kelechi Ubozoh Don’t forget to drink water! You really should be walking 10,000 steps a day. Are you eating fruits and vegetables? Don’t eat too much red meat.  How is your mental health? *Recor...

therevivallab.org

The Overseer Class: A Manifesto is out today! We spoke with @thrasherxy.bsky.social about the genesis of the book and the nature of power and privilege in policing, the military, academia, and more. www.therevivallab.org/the-overseer...

The Overseer Class: A Conversation with Dr. Steven Thrasher

By Eesha Ramanujam For this week's issue, we had the chance to speak to Dr. Steven Thrasher — activist, professor, self-described

therevivallab.org

Part 2 of our conversation with @thrasherxy.bsky.social is out now. It's an unpacking of the power dynamics on campus and beyond. At the end Dr. Thrasher helps us kick off a new section memorializing Revival Lab founder Brandi Collins-Dexter and her work. www.therevivallab.org/part-2-the-o...

[Part 2] The Overseer Class: A Conversation with Dr. Steven Thrasher

By Eesha Ramanujam This is the second part of our conversation with Dr. Steven Thrasher — activist, professor, self-described "itinerant preacher," and best-selling author of The Viral Underclass: Th...

therevivallab.org

"a lot of the people who are put in these “diverse” positions are not meant to expand imagination. They are meant to rein in our imagination, and they're meant to set the boundaries of what we are allowed to think about and do." Whew.

The Revival Lab@revivallab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"I often say that people who have been groomed to be overseers have power. To me that's part of what differentiates them from a token. They are in positions of power, and they could just say no." @thrasherxy.bsky.social . The Overseer Class is out Tuesday. www.therevivallab.org/the-overseer...

"I often say that people who have been groomed to be overseers have power. To me that's part of what differentiates them from a token. They are in positions of power, and they could just say no." @thrasherxy.bsky.social . The Overseer Class is out Tuesday. www.therevivallab.org/the-overseer...

The Overseer Class: A Conversation with Dr. Steven Thrasher

By Eesha Ramanujam For this week's issue, we had the chance to speak to Dr. Steven Thrasher — activist, professor, self-described "itinerant preacher," and best-selling author of The Viral Underclass...

therevivallab.org

We sat down with @thrasherxy.bsky.social to discuss his upcoming book The Overseer Class (out 5/19). It's a deep conversation about power, identity, privilege, and how the legacy of slavery is felt in workplaces today. www.therevivallab.org/the-overseer...

The Overseer Class: A Conversation with Dr. Steven Thrasher

By Eesha Ramanujam For this week's issue, we had the chance to speak to Dr. Steven Thrasher — activist, professor, self-described "itinerant preacher," and best-selling author of The Viral Underclass...

therevivallab.org

Trump wants $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon because, “We have to take care of one thing: military protection.” Not housing, not healthcare, not food benefits. He’s made it clear – now what are we going to do? Join us for a discussion on “Care, Not Warfare” on May 7: bit.ly/carenotwarfare

Care, Not Warfare

Join us for a webinar on May 7 at 7:30pm et to learn more about how to shift our economy from warfare to care! More details on speakers forthcoming.

bit.ly

Introducing Courts of Contempt—Hell Gate @hellgatenyc.com and Type Investigations' new interactive investigation into the machinations of New York's broken judicial system. www.typeinvestigations.org/investigatio...

Courts of Contempt

typeinvestigations.org

This is terrible. Why should readers or philanthropy ever support an outlet that treats its workers like this?

Incoming Post-Gazette ownership slashes staff, purges former strikers | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWA

newsguild.org

In this week's Revival Letter, take a trip to the Prelinger Library in San Francisco and learn how its novel approach to record-keeping is important at a time when cultural institutions are under attack. www.therevivallab.org/the-inconven...

The Inconvenient, the Useful, and the Ephemeral: A Visit to the Prelinger Library

By Eesha Ramanujam A few weeks ago, I was on a research trip to the Bay Area when I realized that the Prelinger Library, which I’d recently learned about in my classes, was close by and available for...

therevivallab.org

NEW: More Perfect Union is opening up our newsroom, connecting with students everywhere, and equipping them with the tools needed to unrig our broken economic system. Join! actionnetwork.org/forms/mpuniv...

Disgusting, but not surprising. Amazon routinely pushes people til their bodies give out, then denies that its productivity quotas play any role in the fact that its warehouse injury rates are DOUBLE the industry average.

Ryan Haas@ryanjhaas.bsky.social · 4mo ago

For more than a week, Amazon has managed to keep a death at its Troutdale, Oregon, facility out of public view. Workers I spoke to are pissed.

For more than a week, Amazon has managed to keep a death at its Troutdale, Oregon, facility out of public view. Workers I spoke to are pissed.

‘Everyone is Replaceable’: Death Rattles Oregon Amazon Facility

A worker died at Amazon’s Troutdale warehouse last week. Employees were told to look away.

thewesternedge.media

More than 1,000 entertainment industry leaders from Don Cheadle to Kristen Stewart released an open letter opposing the merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers — and we're grateful to them for speaking out. blockthemerger.com/openletter A 🧵...

Open Letter: 1,000+ Industry Leaders Oppose the Paramount–WBD Merger

Glenn Close, Ben Stiller, Jane Fonda, Mark Ruffalo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and more than 1,000 filmmakers and industry professionals call on regulators to block the deal.

blockthemerger.com

You never know how much subscriptions dominate your life until you need to cancel a dozen at once. Read about how in life's hardest moments, chatbots are no substitute for a human helping you. www.therevivallab.org/on-balloons-...

On Balloons and Bots

By David Dexter My most vivid early memory is of an orange balloon.  It was June, 1986. I was three years old. My parents had taken me and my baby sister to the grand opening of the DC Metro’s East ...

therevivallab.org

The widespread use of AI chatbots, combined with "subscription traps," can make the hardest moments of our lives even harder. Sometimes, all we need is a human to help us. The newest Revival Letter is out today. www.therevivallab.org/on-balloons-...

On Balloons and Bots

By David Dexter My most vivid early memory is of an orange balloon.  It was June, 1986. I was three years old. My parents had taken me and my baby sister to the grand opening of the DC Metro’s East ...

therevivallab.org

We’re on strike today! Support our fight for a fair contract by NOT visiting the @propublica.org website or engaging with ProPublica stories today. Tell ProPublica’s management you won’t cross the picket line: actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...

AI hype is everywhere. Today’s guests on the Tech Policy Press podcast are studying this phenomenon from a variety of perspectives, building out a line of inquiry they call "Hype Studies." They want to understand the social and political dimensions of tech hype, and what it portends.

How to Study the Phenomenon of Tech Hype

A group of researchers and journalists is developing a line of inquiry they call "Hype Studies" to look at the social and political impact of tech hype.

buff.ly

Featured story: "It didn’t take long before Tammy Fogle, the leader of our local Moms for Liberty group, issued 27 book challenges. She had no children attending our schools, but SB 13 had opened the door for her."

How a High School Librarian in Abilene Fought Back Against Moms for Liberty

I entered this profession just as the storm clouds of the current book-banning push were starting to gather; now I’m in the middle of it.

texasobserver.org

The Western Environmental Reporting Collaborative ramps up in July.

How HCN is helping fill a growing need for local news - High Country News

The Western Environmental Reporting Collaborative ramps up in July.

hcn.org

The dangers of militarized AI are no longer theoretical—they’re already here. To effectively resist the harms and contain the technology’s human cost, we must look beyond Anthropic’s immediate dispute with the DoD and enforce clear humanitarian obligations, argues Tech Justice Law’s Madeline Batt.

The Problem with AI in War is Much Bigger Than Anthropic’s Fight with the DoD

Madeline Batt argues militarized AI is enabling mass target approval without meaningful review and risking violations of international humanitarian law.

buff.ly