In the second part of their discussion of Ivan Illich’s “Silence is a Commons”, Barry and Mike focus on the encroachment of modern media technology on the commons.

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Ivan Illich’s 1982 talk “Silence is a Commons.” They focus on the ways the enclosure of the commons inaugurates a new “ecological order” in which the environment becomes a resource in the service of “progress.”

In this episode, Barry and Michael discuss Sheila Esposito’s 2008 essay, (Title). They discuss Esposito’s Luhmann-inspired take on the relation between memory and forgetting and the role of media technologies in creating the modern system of social memory.

In this episode Barry and Mike discuss Hans-Georg Moeller’s book, Luhmann Explained: From Souls To Systems.They explore the agents of change in communication systems as theorized by Luhmann.

In this episode Barry and Mike continue their discussion of Luhmann. They talk, specifically, about the “recursively stabilized functional mechanisms” of mass media and their relevance to our 2026 media ecology.