Randy Nichols

UDC 2025 Conference Graphic

Union for Democratic Communications

This is just a reminder that the deadline to submit for the June Union for Democratic Communications is fast approaching, and I'm hoping to see you all there!

www.democraticcomm.org

Want to do something about Trump’s anti-immigrant executive orders?

Download a community defense playbook at defendandrecruit.org, sign up for a training, and check out this op-ed in Teen Vogue today.

Union for Democratic Communications

The deadline to submit to UDC 2025 is fast approaching.

Hope to see some of you this June!
www.democraticcomm.org

Vanishing Culture cover featuring media types dissolving.

Preservation is at the heart of what we do. This year, we released the Vanishing Culture report— detailing instances of cultural loss and emphasizing the role that libraries and archives play in preserving materials.

Help us in saving these resources:https://archive.org/donate/?origin=blsky-eoy2024

In the shadows of Arizona’s data center boom, thousands live without power As data centers drain America’s power grids, a fierce battle is being waged for electricity. On Navajo Nation land, many are on the losing end.

As data centers cause America to run out of power, Arizona is emblematic of the sacrifices ordinary people face to fuel the boom.

We probably need to start combining some ideas: it's really something like a plutocratickleptokakistocracy.

Good book recs - thanks and kee'em coming in that thread.

Today's best-of's is the best recipe you've tried in '24.

I did! Now I'll have to sign up and binge when it comes out.

They don't need to have come out in 2024 - now especially, I just care about what good my folks found this year :)

I need to catch up on Murderbot.

One of my favorite personal holiday traditions is to ask friends for their best-of's from the previous year. Each day I'll post a new category for friends to respond to. I'm also doing this on Facebook for those who follow me there.

Today's category: favorite reads from 2024.

Mainstream Media's Coverage of Luigi Mangione's Games Connection Is Embarrassing Accused healthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione plays games, and the mainstream media has no idea how to report on that.

The mainstream media almost always embarrasses itself when it covers games, and it’s been no different with Luigi Mangione. www.pastemagazine.com/games/among-...

Union for Democratic Communications

Check out the Union for Democratic Communications CfP - hope to see you here in Tacoma this June!

www.democraticcomm.org

Democratic Communiqué (special issue) Call for Submissions: Freedom of Expression, Campus Politics, Academic Freedom, and the War on Gaza
Info at: www.democraticcomm.org/journal

Porsha Ngumezi, a 35-year-old mother of two living in Houston, Texas, was 11 weeks pregnant when she died last year after doctors did not give her a D&C, or ... Porsha Ngumezi Died After Not Getting a D&C in a Texas Hospital

📽️ WATCH: Porsha Ngumezi is the fifth case ProPublica has reported on in which a woman died after not receiving a D&C or its second-trimester equivalent in time, or at all: https://propub.li/49gkSv3

Video: @carissaqmb.bsky.social

A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban. Doctors Are Avoiding D&Cs and Reaching for Riskier Miscarriage Treatments. Thirty-five-year-old Porsha Ngumezi’s case raises questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid standard care even in straightforward miscarriages.

Some experts said Porsha Ngumezi’s death raises serious questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid the standard of care and reach for less-effective options that could expose their patients to more risks.

Read the full investigation below ⬇️

Brown butter cheesecake with bourbon blueberry compote.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, I wish I could too. Any cheesecake you make is *chef's kiss*. I tried my hand at a brown butter cheesecake. We'll see how it goes...

Step By Step, We Built a Movement to Transform Our Local Government Another city is possible: Members of Our Revolution in Medford, MA united residents to end conservative minority rule, elect a progressive majority, and build the community each of us deserves.

How residents of Medford, MA, united to end conservative minority rule, elect a progressive majority, and build the community each of us deserves | By Jessica Farrell and
Zac Bears @convergencemag.bsky.social ky.social

convergencemag.com/articles/ste...

1/IMPORTANT thread about Bluesky funding and origins. Many folks know that it was seeded by Jack Dorsey around a libertarian vision of a magical network that wouldn’t need moderation because it would be decentralized and baked into a protocol (somehow).

When I post, it'll likely be about those things- media industries, policies, video games, economics. Or maybe pop culture or music. Or just sharing things that I think are worth thinking about and hoping someone will talk to me off social media about.

So thanks for reading and welcome aboard!

From there, I've used a bunch of book chapters and the occasional article to flesh out things like relations to other industries and institutions, issues about global supply chains, the impact of digital distribution, perspectives gamification, and more.

Nintendo: Playing with Power Originally founded in 1889 as a manufacturer of playing cards, this book examines the history and political economic status of the multinational consumer electronics and video game giant Nintendo. Thi...

and 2024's NIntendo: Playing with Power.

www.routledge.com/Nintendo-Pla...

Political Economy of Media Industries: Global Transformations and Challenges This book provides a critical political economic examination of the impact of increasingly concentrated global media industries. It addresses different media and communication industries from around t...

2020 - Political Economy of Media Industries: Global Transformations and Challenges,
www.routledge.com/Political-Ec...

Inside the Video Game Industry: Game Developers Talk About the Business of Play Inside the Video Game Industry offers a provocative look into one of today's most dynamic and creative businesses. Through in-depth structured interviews, industry professionals discuss their roles, p...

2016 - Inside the Video Game Industry: Game Developers Talk About the Business of Play,
www.routledge.com/Inside-the-V...

The Video Game Business A dominant international cultural force, the video game industry is diverse and increasingly influential. In this illuminating study, Randy Nichols examines the…

I see them as a canary in the coal mine for a range of other industrial, institutional, social, and economic trends.

The backbone of my work starts with my books:

2014 - The Video Game Business, www.bloomsbury.com/us/video-gam...

...I've joined with a mind towards amplifying some important voices and topics on occasion.

I'm a Communication/Media scholar, focused on the critical political economy of media, particularly video games...

So, a bit of context is probably in order.

First, I hated Twitter long before most of you - before Elon wrecked it, before anyone was talking about algorithmic bubbles, I'd figured out Twitter wasn't for me.

I don't expect I'll enjoy this much more, but...