Mike Clarke

“Money is taking the field as an organized power. Which shall rule—wealth or man; which shall lead—money or intellect; who shall fill public stations—educated and patriotic free men, or the feudal serfs of corporate capital?”

cinema is a performing art.

This isn’t just a nostalgic or romantic idea. It’s an argument for understanding cinema not as a static object, but as an event—something that happens, something experienced, something that lives in time and space. Cinema is not merely a file, a product, or a commodity to be consumed; it’s an encounter occurring in a... See more

Yet the cultural dominance of the iPhone — and the transformation of the open internet into “walled gardens” and apps focused on simplifying the user experience — has taken the “triumph of seamless usability” to a new level. This “tyranny of convenience,” to borrow Tim Wu’s phrase , should sensitize us to what may be lost when democratization

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Eggers, a longtime San Franciscan, said: “When I read Boots’s script, I’d just published ‘The Circle’ ” — a 2013 dystopian novel set in Silicon Valley — “and it struck me that we were both picking up on changes we’ve seen in the Bay Area. There’s this strangely sinister cast to life here sometimes, where it’s still idyllic and free and open but... See more

Why on earth are there no merch tables at film screenings?

People are increasingly fleeing to siloed, private group chats to talk to each other, leaving large absences in the digital public sphere.

But a healthy public sphere is essential to functioning democratic societies. It is a way for individuals and groups to interact with a variety of peoples, lived experiences, and ideas outside of our respective... See more

As in politics, the real beneficiaries are not the communities they claim to represent, but larger forces that profit from local dynamics. Similarly, in cinema, the primary stakeholders—filmmakers and audiences—are often an afterthought, while the center of the equation is dominated by what is called the film industry. There is an urgent need to... See more

I think that tools achieve a lot, but they can't manufacture something out of nothing. At best, they probably reflect and amplify what's already there. It’s like crypto – in one version of the story – is unlocking a decentralized, collectively-owned universe. I think zero events of the past X years have in any way said that's true.

What has crypto... See more

Resonance over scale. Be like Rastafarians. Numerically small. Enormous in cultural influence.