Currently in the Inkwell
A History of the Transgender Internet, December 5 – 18, 2023
Inkwell welcomes author and scholar Avery Dame-Griff. We’ll be discussing his book, _The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet_. Through extensive archival research and media archeology, Dame-Griff reconstructs the manifold digital networks of transgender activists, cross-dressing computer hobbyists, and others interested in gender nonconformity who incited the second revolution of the title: the ascendance of “transgender” as an umbrella identity in the mid-1990s.
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Recently in the Inkwell
The Fediverse and IndieWeb, November 7-21, 2023
Inkwell hosts a panel of experts explaining and discussing the Fediverse and the IndieWeb (independent web) movement. The two are related in that they both present decentralized alternatives to centralized corporate platforms such as Facebook, wherein a corporation takes ownership of user data and presentation.
As Cory Doctorow says, corporate platforms like Facebook and X have business models that are based on holding users hostage and leveraging their attention and their data for profit. IndieWeb and the Fediverse present an alternative that allows users and independent administrators independence: ownership of their own data and more control over how it’s shared. These approaches don’t exploit the value of user attention.
VISIT the archived conversation
Previously in the Inkwell …
Ben Shapiro – The Drum Also Waltzes, Oct 15 – Nov 4, 2023
Inkwell welcomes Ben Shapiro, a documentary maker working in film and television,radio and podcasts. He’s worked in radio for over 30 years, and has
worked as a documentary cinematographer, producer, and director. His films have screened at SXSW, Lincoln Center, MOMA, as a panelist at the Sundance Film Festival, and in international theatrical release and broadcast. He co-directed his latest film, “Max Roach – The Drum Also Waltzes,” with Sam Pollard.
VISIT the archived conversation
Tales From The Golden Road October 9 – 24, 2023
Inkwell welcomes Gary Lambert and David Gans, cohosts of TALES FROM THE GOLDEN ROAD (https://www.facebook.com/tftgr/), a weekly talk show on SiriusXM’s Grateful Dead Channel. Both are musicians and fans of the Grateful Dead who have made lives for themselves doing what they love most. Since 2008 they have served as cohosts of TALES FROM THE GOLDEN ROAD; and over the last three years they cohosted DEAD AIR, a series of interviews broadcast on nugs.net between sets of Dead & Company shows. They join Inkwell on the WELL to discuss their experiences as musicians who are megafans of the Grateful Dead experience.
VISIT the archived conversation.
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Welcome to a gathering that’s like no other.
When we talk about The WELL, we are usually talking about the conferences. The conferences are where the magic happens: where posts develop into conversations, and members become a community.
For more about why conversation is so treasured on The WELL, and why members of the community banded together to buy the site in 2012, check out the story of The WELL.
If you like what you see, join us!
Featured in The Inkwell
Unlike most conversations on The WELL, you don’t need a WELL member account to participate – this one is open to all!
Making A Metaverse That Matters
September 19 – October 2
Author W. James Au discusses his new book, _Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to A Virtual World Worth Fighting For_. In the book he writes with authority about the history of the metaverse concept and the reality vs the hype re: virtual worlds. He’s also written about digital culture, especially the metaverse, for many years. He’s been a freelance reporter, a metaverse consultant, a game developer, and a screenwriter. He was also a white-suited avatar named “Hamlet Au,” the first embedded journalist in a virtual world, Second Life, beginning in 2003.
Recently in the Inkwell
Deep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City, June 6 – 19, 2023
Geologist Andrew Alden discusses his book, _Deep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City_, in which he excavates the ancient story of Oakland’s geologic underbelly and reveals how its silt, soil, and subterranean sinews are intimately entwined with its human history—and future.
VISIT the archived Conversation