Author: Chris Aldrich

I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, IndieWeb, theoretical mathematics, and big history. I'm also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.

📺 “The Americans” The Committee on Human Rights | Amazon Prime

Watched "The Americans" The Committee on Human Rights from Amazon Prime
Directed by Matthew Rhys. With Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Brandon J. Dirden, Costa Ronin. As Paige becomes even more enmeshed in her parents' world, tensions with Matthew Beeman come to a head, Philip and Elizabeth's honeytraps take surprising turns, and Stan faces the consequences of overplaying his hand at the FBI.

👓 What the Dormouse Said | Wikipedia

Read What the Dormouse Said (Wikipedia)

What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry, is a 2005 non-fiction book by John Markoff. The book details the history of the personal computer, closely tying the ideologies of the collaboration-driven, World War II-era defense research community to the embryonic cooperatives and psychedelics use of the American counterculture of the 1960s.

The book follows the history chronologically, beginning with Vannevar Bush's description of his inspirational memex machine in his 1945 article "As We May Think". Markoff describes many of the people and organizations who helped develop the ideology and technology of the computer as we know it today, including Doug Engelbart, Xerox PARC, Apple Computer and Microsoft Windows.

Markoff argues for a direct connection between the counterculture of the late 1950s and 1960s (using examples such as Kepler's Books in Menlo Park California) and the development of the computer industry. The book also discusses the early split between the idea of commercial and free-supply computing.

The main part of the title, "What the Dormouse Said," is a reference to a line at the end of the 1967 Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit": "Remember what the dormousesaid: feed your head."[1] which is itself a reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Listened to No Notoriety from On the Media | WNYC Studios

After another mass shooting grips the media, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she will never say the shooter's name.

The details are different but the story is the same. A mass shooting, scores of people dead, another nation traumatized. Although in the aftermath of the events in New Zealand last week there is a wrinkle. In her first speech to parliament since the attacks, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared that she will never speak the killer's name and she asked the press and others to follow suit.

Ardern said the shooter would not get notoriety, perhaps a nod to the group “No Notoriety” started by Tom Teves and his wife Caren. The Teves lost their son in the 2012 shooting rampage in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater and later formed the group to beseech news outlets not to turn mass killers into media icons. Bob spoke to Tom back in 2015 as jury selection was beginning for the trial of his son’s killer.

🎧 Tucker Was Tucker All Along | On the Media | WNYC Studios

Listened to Tucker Was Tucker All Along from On the Media | WNYC Studios

Will Fox News darling Tucker Carlson have to pay a price for newly unearthed despicable comments from his past? Eh, probably not.

To suggest that Tucker Carlson has a tendency to hint at deeply discriminatory tropes would be cliché — but also dead-on. Just this week, thanks to newly unearthed audio released by Media Matters, the Fox News darling ditches his signature dog whistle in exchange for unmistakable and unapologetic hate speech.

Who is Tucker Carlson, really? In this week's pod extra, Bob delves into the origins of the now-notorious commentator with Lyz Lenz, a writer for Columbia Journalism Review who profiled Carlson in September.

📺 “The Americans” Crossbreed | Amazon Prime

Watched "The Americans" Crossbreed from Amazon Prime
Directed by Roxann Dawson. With Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Brandon J. Dirden, Costa Ronin. Phillip and Elizabeth are stunned by Gabriel with a sudden announcement and a crushing revelation about Philip's past; Stan and Aderholt lure a suspect into their web; Oleg and Ruslan lead their first target into an ambush.

📺 “The Americans” Lotus 1-2-3 | Amazon Prime

Watched "The Americans" Lotus 1-2-3 from Amazon Prime
Directed by Noah Emmerich. With Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Brandon J. Dirden, Costa Ronin. Philip and Elizabeth receive surprising news about Henry -- and shattering news about a past operation. Stan might be falling in love, but Philip wonders if something darker is going on.

🎧 Crossing the Line | On the Media | WNYC Studios

Listened to Crossing the Line from On the Media | WNYC Studios

A secret government database of immigration reporters, new questions about the Obama Presidential Center, and the history of Plessy v. Ferguson

Mexican officials and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are using a secret database to target journalists and advocates at the southern border. This week, On the Media speaks with a reporter on the list who was detained for questioning by Mexican authorities. Plus, what the Obama Library’s unique arrangement with the National Archives means for the future of presidential history. And, the grotesque origins of segregation. 

1. Mari Payton [@MariNBCSD], reporter at NBC 7 in San Diego, and Kitra Cahana, freelance photojournalist, on the secret government database of immigration reporters and advocates. Listen.

2. Tim Naftali [@TimNaftali], historian at New York University and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, and Louise Bernard, director of the museum at the Obama Presidential Center, on the Obama Foundation's decision to curate its own presidential museum. Listen.

3. Steve Luxenberg [@SLuxenberg], author of Separate, on the history of Plessy v. Ferguson. Listen.