Book Salon at McLuhan Centre Coach House in Toronto about McLuhan in an Age of Social Media

I had a wonderful time this past Wednesday evening at the McLuhan Centre Coach House at the University of Toronto.  It was great talking to former students and old friends Ira Nayman and Hugh Spencer center stage, and Marc Belanger,  Paolo Granata (thanks for inviting me), Paul Kelly, Alex Kuskis, Bob Logan, and Dominque Scheffel-Dunand before, during, and after the salon.  And it was a real pleasure meeting Gisela McKay, David Nostbakken,  Joel Alleyne, and Donald Gillies, not to mention  many others whose names I didn't catch.  (And Rob Sawyer and Caroline Clink at the airport.)

Photos of the event follow below.  And you might enjoy this little smorgasbord of Tweets about the discussion, compiled by Leora Kornfeld (Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University).


Hugh Spencer, Paul Levinson, Ira Nayman



Hugh Spencer, Paul Levinson, Paolo Granata, Ira Nayman



Paolo Granata, 3 people, Dominique Scheffel-Dunand, Bob Logan,
Marshall McLuhan, Alexander Kuskis



Hugh Spencer, Paul Levinson, Ira Nayman, 2 people, doorway,
more people, Paolo Granata, 2 people, Dominique Scheffel-Dunand,
Bob Logan, Alexander Kuskis, and over some heads, Marshall McLuhan

Levinson re: McLuhan 2011

I've been having a blast bopping around the world and talking on the radio about Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) on the hundredth anniversary of his birth this year.  My talks and interviews mainly have been about McLuhan's relevance to today's world - how his notion of the global village and related ideas explain the impact of social media on the resurgence of direct democracy that we see in the streets all around the world today - sprinkled with reminiscences of the few years I had the pleasure of working with McLuhan at the end of the 1970s.  I've listed the major talks and interviews below, with links to videos and podcasts where available ...

Keynote Addresses, Lectures, and Panels

• Keynote Address, "McLuhan, North Africa, and Social Media," McLuhan at 100, Saint Francis College, Brooklyn, NY  February 25, 2011 see video
• Keynote Address, "The Global Village Fulfilled: How McLuhan's Vision of a World Information Environment Has Come True in Facebook, Skype, and Smartphones," Cybergarden, Media Institute of Katowice, Poland, May 21, 2011 (via Skype)
• Keynote Address, “Understanding Social Media: How McLuhan’s Probes Help Us Make Sense of Today’s Media," Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Spain, May 24, 2011 see video clip; see interview given before Keynote
• Lecture, "Digital McLuhan," McLuhan at the Center, Fordham University, Lincoln Center, NYC, September 17, 2011
• Lecture, "The Global Village, Direct Democracy, and Occupy Wall Street," after screening of Connected movie by Tiffany Shlain at The Angelika Theater, NYC, October 19, 2011
• Keynote Address, "McLuhan's Glosses as Facebook Statuses and Tweets:  How the Sage of Aquarius Continues to be a Guide to our Digital Age," McLuhan's Philosophy of Media – Centennial Conference, Brussels, Belgium, October 27, 2011
• Keynote Address, "McLuhan, the Arab Spring, and the Resurgence of Direct Democracy in the World," The Legacy of Marshall McLuhan - Revisiting the Message, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, October 31, 2011
• Panelist, "Media Ecology, Medium Theory, and McLuhan," McLuhan 100 Conference, University of Toronto, November 8, 2011
   

Radio interviews, July 21, 2011

• on Brian Lehrer's show on WNYC Radio, listen to podcast
• on Wisconsin Public Radio's To the Best of our Knowledge (re-broadcast on WNYC and nationally), interviewed by Jim Fleming, listen to podcast
• on eight CBC (Canadian Broadcast Co) broadcasts
• on two ABC (Australian National Radio) broadcasts

Podcasts

• "Voice Mail from Marshall McLuhan, 1978"  Light On Light Through podcast, November 7, 2011
• Conversation with Bob Dobbs, hosted by Andrew Chrystall, McLuhan on Maui 2011 MoMday night Seminar 32 podcast, November 19, 2011
  

 And here's a link to my 1999 book, Digital McLuhan

See also Alex Kuskis' McLuhan Galaxy and Laureano Ralon's Figure/Ground for comprehensive listings of all scholarly events McLuhan in 2011.

Added in 2017:  McLuhan in an Age of Social Media - in effect a new chapter of Digital McLuhan