Introducing CUJOPLEX, a digital third space for Culture Journalist listeners
We’ve got a record store, an internet cafe, and even a “Hot Topic.”
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Hey pals. We’ve got a double announcement today. The first is that The Culture Journalist will be resuming its regular programming next week, starting with a fascinating conversation with Damon Krukowski of Galaxie 500 and Damon & Naomi about the broken economics of streaming — and a new bill introduced by Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman, in collaboration with the United Musicians and Allied Workers, offering an innovative solution for getting artists paid.
The second is that we’re finally ready to unveil a new project that we’ve been incubating for a couple of months now: an online, private hangout zone where folks who like talking about the evolving state of independent music, culture, and media can congregate, share links, and talk about the news of the day.
CUJOPLEX is a Discord server that plays on the theme of third spaces by modeling itself after a shopping mall from the 2000s, replete with a “record store,” a “movie theater,” a “food court,” a “generic sports bar,” and even a “Hot Topic” (for talking about the state of contemporary counterculture). We’ve spent the past few months inducting a small group of friends, artists, academics, and journalists into the galleria and digging into all sorts of juicy topics at the intersection of culture and platforms, from the “lostwave” phenomenon on Reddit, to Scarlett Johansson vs. OpenAI, to the aesthetics of gentrification in Upstate New York. To give you a preview of the vibe, here’s some of the articles, books, and videos we’ve shared and discussed:
The hipster economy: taste and authenticity in late modern capitalism by Alessandro Gerosa
“At the Cindy Lee show, making sense of the hype” by Ian Cohen
“Berlin was a beacon of artistic freedom. Gaza changed everything.” by Jason Farago
The age of insecurity: coming together as things fall apart by Astrid Taylor
“The man who killed Google search” by Edward Zitron
“Musi won over millions. Is the free streaming app too good to be true?” by Kate Knibbs
“The ‘hope labor’ economy” by Drew Millard
“The tech baron seeking to purge San Francisco of ‘Blues’” by Gil Duran
“we are in a cultural depression” by @goldenovaries
“America’s premier pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world” by Jenny Kleeman
Starting today, CUJOPLEX is open to anyone who signs up for a paid subscription, for the duration of their subscription. To sweeten the deal — and to celebrate the start of our new season — we’re offering 30 percent off on annual subscriptions between now and Thursday, June 13. Paid subscribers also get ungated access to 1-2 bonus episodes a month, which means that even when we periodically go on pause to cook up a new batch of free programming (like we just did), you’ll still get new episodes in your inbox.
Once you sign up, you’ll receive an email with directions for joining the ’cord. We’re looking forward to chatting with you.