Building A New America With Jonathan Arias.

The internet and social media have restructured the traditional media landscape by allowing anyone to bypass the traditional gatekeepers with a smartphone and an internet connection.  In the past, you had to be chosen by media executives; now you can choose yourself and bring your creations directly to your consumers.  While this has created unprecedented levels of collaboration and creativity, it has also resulted in intense competition for the attention of people - more people means saturated markets.  Though the traditional gatekeepers may have lost power, new gatekeepers have taken their thrones: social media platforms.  After all, notwithstanding the new perceived levels of creative potential, all creators must still go through a few platforms.   In this sense, the new gatekeepers are now algorithms, determining who sees your work.  Technology companies, already powerful and concentrated, have the potential for becoming even greater behemoths.   In this episode, we sit down with University of Minnesota e