Lauren Tokos

On Friday, Nov 20, join us for a student-organized symposium titled Continuum of Crisis: Media, Race and Capital. Participants will consider how different media technologies are molded by capitalist institutions and systems of racialized power. Agenda: buff.ly/oitI1ju Register: buff.ly/EfjJK0R

This is abominable.

Lots to say about the new “licensing assembly line…” Put simply: The FCC created a regulatory boon for vertically integrated companies like SpaceX, hidden beneath the guise of innovation and global leadership in space communication— all to the detriment of the market and consumers.

The #UDC2026 abstract deadline has been extended to July 19! This year's theme — "Media, Press Freedom, and Cultural Production in an Authoritarian Age" — is as urgent as ever. We want to hear what you're working on. 400–700 word abstracts welcome. Submission/Info here: www.democraticcomm.org

Orbital data centers might sound like a flashy innovation, but they hint at destructive regulatory failures in space communication. You can read all my thoughts in the following @brookings.edu piece: www.brookings.edu/articles/orb...

Proud Oregonian moment. And very proud to be the child of an OJD employee/ advocate. www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/n...

Went to an incredible exhibit yesterday at the Palazzo Diedo in Venice that touched on AI and the future of humanism. Amazing to see critical ideologies/ perspectives on AI latent in the construction and experience of art.

A caricature of state propaganda.

Keeping the numbers secret bc Starlink accounts for the majority of its revenue. And god forbid Musk reveal a competitive disadvantage before SpaceX goes public.

While not necessarily a research interest of mine, I find the trad wife phenomenon fascinating and deeply political. As always, More Perfect Union did an excellent job with this video. A must watch IMHO. youtu.be/dZ-Hsh1B2TA?...

Genuinely curious what people think of this. Seen a lot of press around Anthropic recently and still haven’t formed an opinion. Not exactly what I expected from Sanders, either… youtu.be/h3AtWdeu_G0?...

Pretty sure this is the opposite of what regulators envisioned when they enacted public interest provisions for American broadcasting. Beyond disheartening to see this phrase being weaponized by Carr. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/w...

I read Habermas’ public sphere theory my sophomore year of undergrad in an introductory media studies course. I ended up using his theory for my final paper that term. I had never felt more inspired. His work helped convince me of our field’s importance. I will forever be indebted to his influence.

The president and his administration have simultaneously relied on and weaponized the law itself to legitimize their violence and their violations. https://bit.ly/3MUSdVV

This guy gets it.

I find the circumstances surrounding Talarico’s appearance more interesting than him as a senatorial candidate. But if this is what it takes to “flip Texas,” I guess it’s a start … ? youtu.be/oiTJ7Pz_59A?...

To use Chomsky and Herman’s propaganda model, “slopagandists” are creating a “common enemy”— in this case the mainstream media— to mobilize viewers against and “gain their consent” (views).

The parents of Alex Pretti have retained a former federal prosecutor who helped Minnesota's attorney general convict the police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's neck of murder. https://to.pbs.org/3ZA2HfU

A post-by-post dissection of the Nazi and neo-Nazi tropes used in U.S. government social media accounts. By @alibreland.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com.

Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old US citizen, was arrested and detained by ICE. She was held for TWO DAYS. ICE agents handcuffed her, called her a racial slur, and she was knocked to the ground so hard she got a concussion. This cannot continue happening. ICE needs to leave.

🚨ICE violently dragged a U.S. veteran out of her car near Minneapolis ICE: Get out of the f*cking car! Vet: You know I'm a Marine Corps veteran? ICE: I don't care what you are! [ICE drags her from car & then points taser at passenger] ICE: "F*cking move I'll f*cking taze you!"

🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional! ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.

Sickening.

@azmatzahra.bsky.social on what happens when a hedge fund buys the only source for satellite imagery of a conflict zone, with Anya Schiffrin and Journalism 2050 hosts @emilybell.bsky.social and Heather Chaplin. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Librarians are the pillars of society, change my mind

Sunbathing while mommy works on finals. No thoughts, just sun and sprawl

Working hard or hardly working?

The uprisings in Portland are truly terrifying.

A gross example of executive overstep.

I can only dream of commanding an audience as well as Morgan Spector does. Abolish the billionaire class, once city at a time🙏

Devastating blow to public interest media. CPB was created to help protect citizens from undue business influence— civil society will suffer greatly without access to independent information. Not to mention folks in rural areas who rely on public media for any kind of news. cpb.org/pressroom/Co...

Yet another example of the global corporatization of “public interest” media. It’s time to take a hint from history and undo the growing dependencies between public interest media and transitory tech.

A new federal report concludes federal prison officials violated their own rules, shackling prisoners to beds and chairs for hours or even days. The report comes after an investigative series by The Marshall Project and NPR exposed similar abuses.