Amanda Lotz
@drtvlotz.bsky.social
Reimaginer of media industries and society in digital age | Prof@QUT | Strategy consultant | US expat | Fan of swimming, baked goods & nature | drtvlotz@gmail | amandalotz.com | Mostly writing on LinkedIn, glimmers of also being a human here
Pinned
Amanda Lotz
@drtvlotz.bsky.social
· Aug 5
Media 2025 Explainer
Announcing Media 2025 – an experiment in digital-era publishing that is a cross-between a limited newsletter and a short book. It's 11 posts (10 paywalled – nearly 20,000 words) that provide state-of-...
www.amandalotz.com
Just dropped Media 2025, a mini book/limited newsletter publishing experiment hosted on my relaunched site. Media 2025 offers 11 posts (nearly 20,000 words) with state-of-the-moment thinking (behind a one-time charge paywall). I welcome conversation about its ideas! www.amandalotz.com/media-2025-2/
Yep, that’s my 2025. Very grateful (so, so grateful) to the voices/minds behind thes pods; I’ve learned so much and they get me through the torturous gym sessions required to keep this body moving. 🙏 @edzitron.com @hcrichardson.bsky.social @eshap.bsky.social @pkafka.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Yep, that’s my 2025. Very grateful (so, so grateful) to the voices/minds behind thes pods; I’ve learned so much and they get me through the torturous gym sessions required to keep this body moving. 🙏 @edzitron.com @hcrichardson.bsky.social @eshap.bsky.social @pkafka.bsky.social
Shows that stay with me is probably my favorite category, and yes, Hal and Harper leads that list this year. A good read
I put together a list of the TV shows that stuck with me in 2025 — not the “best,” just the ones I couldn’t shake. For better and for worse.
📧 Read and subscribe:
📧 Read and subscribe:
The TV Shows That Stuck With Me in 2025
This isn’t a 'best of' list — it’s a personal look at the new and old TV shows that truly stuck with me in 2025, from The Bear and Severance to Hal & Harper.
ryanschwartz.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Shows that stay with me is probably my favorite category, and yes, Hal and Harper leads that list this year. A good read
An extraordinary loss of a generous and bold thinker
It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Emeritus Professor Graeme Turner AO FAHA FQA — one of Australia’s most influential humanities scholars and a towering figure in the Academy’s history. humanities.org.au/our-communit...
November 26, 2025 at 8:02 AM
An extraordinary loss of a generous and bold thinker
A great conversation! open.spotify.com/episode/6aGq...
Cory Doctorow and Ed Zitron on Enshittification and the Rot Economy
open.spotify.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:10 AM
A great conversation! open.spotify.com/episode/6aGq...
Reposted by Amanda Lotz
And if you've never watched Lina Khan, I'd encourage you to check out @hcrichardson.bsky.social's interview with her last week. She's refreshing, whip-smart, and everything we need more of as a party: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydxk...
A Conversation with Lina Khan, Former Commissioner of the FTC
YouTube video by Heather Cox Richardson
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:36 AM
And if you've never watched Lina Khan, I'd encourage you to check out @hcrichardson.bsky.social's interview with her last week. She's refreshing, whip-smart, and everything we need more of as a party: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydxk...
Reposted by Amanda Lotz
Lina Khan in conversation with @hcrichardson.bsky.social about the history of antitrust and the future of the Democrats. Watch! 📺
substack.com/@linamkhan/n...
substack.com/@linamkhan/n...
Live with Heather Cox Richardson
A recording from Lina Khan and Heather Cox Richardson's live video
substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Lina Khan in conversation with @hcrichardson.bsky.social about the history of antitrust and the future of the Democrats. Watch! 📺
substack.com/@linamkhan/n...
substack.com/@linamkhan/n...
This new article brings the current dynamics of the ‘creator economy’ (hosted distribution) into conversation with decades of explaining how creative autonomy is constrained in commercial mediamaking. This lets us explore how the ‘creator’ sector encompasses journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
On hosted media, simple-professional cultural production, and micro media logics in anglophone video - Amanda D. Lotz, 2025
The media sector has expanded in the 21st century to encompass a ‘hosted model’ of circulation and ‘simple-professional’ dynamic of cultural production that coe...
journals.sagepub.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:23 AM
This new article brings the current dynamics of the ‘creator economy’ (hosted distribution) into conversation with decades of explaining how creative autonomy is constrained in commercial mediamaking. This lets us explore how the ‘creator’ sector encompasses journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
This too at the core media crisis where major services (YouTube) take share of revenue that prevents wider sustainability or options for makers beyond chasing brand deals. Can't wait for the book, eager to read more about precedent for limiting rent taking.
October 27, 2025 at 10:42 PM
This too at the core media crisis where major services (YouTube) take share of revenue that prevents wider sustainability or options for makers beyond chasing brand deals. Can't wait for the book, eager to read more about precedent for limiting rent taking.
The doco lineup on Dis+ is well curated for some needed 90s nostalgia. The Lilith Fair doc is fantastic and In Vogue surprisingly enthralling (not so much a fashionista). Bio docs on Brooke Shields and Barbara Walters also compelling and complicated. variety.com/2025/streami...
How to Watch ‘Lilith Fair: Making a Mystery’ Online
Stream "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery" documentary on Hulu. Ally Pankiw's doc the story of the all-female music festival created by Sarah Mclachlan.
variety.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:46 PM
The doco lineup on Dis+ is well curated for some needed 90s nostalgia. The Lilith Fair doc is fantastic and In Vogue surprisingly enthralling (not so much a fashionista). Bio docs on Brooke Shields and Barbara Walters also compelling and complicated. variety.com/2025/streami...
Reposted by Amanda Lotz
Since President Trump resurfaced talk of a "100% tariff" on foreign made movies - once again, without details on stuff like who would pay - I'm resurfacing what I wrote in May when he first posted about it. Media must curb hyping his vague announcements: https://loom.ly/_nTJx-E
Trump, movie tariffs and the news media: Why do we keep falling for this?
Journalists should resist rampant speculation when it's not attached to a tangible policy
ericdeggans.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Since President Trump resurfaced talk of a "100% tariff" on foreign made movies - once again, without details on stuff like who would pay - I'm resurfacing what I wrote in May when he first posted about it. Media must curb hyping his vague announcements: https://loom.ly/_nTJx-E
Deeply fascinating exploration of how Angel is doing the business of movie and series making in radically different ways. themediaodyssey.transistor.fm/episodes/how...
The Media Odyssey | HOW ANGEL IS REVOLUTIONIZING ENTERTAINMENT
After raising $55M in commitments in just 18 days, Angel is ringing the bell on Wall Street and the three founding brothers come on this special episode of The Media Odyssey Podcast for the first t...
themediaodyssey.transistor.fm
September 18, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Deeply fascinating exploration of how Angel is doing the business of movie and series making in radically different ways. themediaodyssey.transistor.fm/episodes/how...
LOL--my kind of quiz!
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Who said it: Lachlan Murdoch or Succession's Kendall Roy?
As Lachlan Murdoch's ascension to the head of the family business is cemented, can you tell his quotes apart from Succession's self-proclaimed "eldest boy", Kendall Roy?
www.abc.net.au
September 12, 2025 at 7:20 AM
LOL--my kind of quiz!
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Enjoyed talking with Gareth King for his podcast series digging into the internet's role in how we live now. Love the podcast form for being able to talk through things that don't have easy answers. Has the internet ruined Broadcast Television? www.ruinedbytheinternet.com/has-the-inte...
Has the internet ruined Broadcast Television? - Amanda Lotz
Has the internet ruined Broadcast Television? By replacing linear, scheduled programming with huge libraries of on-demand content, have the business models and powe…
www.ruinedbytheinternet.com
September 11, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Enjoyed talking with Gareth King for his podcast series digging into the internet's role in how we live now. Love the podcast form for being able to talk through things that don't have easy answers. Has the internet ruined Broadcast Television? www.ruinedbytheinternet.com/has-the-inte...
I can't overstate how important this article was to my academic start. It will continue to stand as a crucial part of the foundation of television studies and feminist media studies. Go with our great gratitude Lauren www.jstor.org/stable/1225298
September 10, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I can't overstate how important this article was to my academic start. It will continue to stand as a crucial part of the foundation of television studies and feminist media studies. Go with our great gratitude Lauren www.jstor.org/stable/1225298
Reposted by Amanda Lotz
It's amazing that you never read a profile of America's most powerful + influential TV journalist [by viewership] or his TV show.
Media critics love to write about Fox News, CNN, anything but the show most American TV news consumers are watching.
That's odd, when you think about it.
Media critics love to write about Fox News, CNN, anything but the show most American TV news consumers are watching.
That's odd, when you think about it.
For 16 consecutive weeks [all summer], David Muir's "World News Tonight" has been by far the most-watched show on *all* U.S. TV. (~8 million viewers).
More than any primetime entertainment, more than any sports broadcast, much more than anything on cable.
www.adweek.com/tvnewser/wee...
More than any primetime entertainment, more than any sports broadcast, much more than anything on cable.
www.adweek.com/tvnewser/wee...
Week of August 25 Evening News Ratings: ABC News and CBS News See Gains Before Holiday Weekend
CBS Evening News experienced double-digit growth of over 20% in the demo.
www.adweek.com
September 6, 2025 at 12:09 AM
It's amazing that you never read a profile of America's most powerful + influential TV journalist [by viewership] or his TV show.
Media critics love to write about Fox News, CNN, anything but the show most American TV news consumers are watching.
That's odd, when you think about it.
Media critics love to write about Fox News, CNN, anything but the show most American TV news consumers are watching.
That's odd, when you think about it.
Reposted by Amanda Lotz
When you're working on a solo project and you lose so much momentum that everything grinds to a screeching halt, what you are suffering from is a lack-of-feedback loop. It's time to show what you have to someone who is not you.
Is what I'm doing worth it? Is it good? Entertaining? GO FIND OUT!
Is what I'm doing worth it? Is it good? Entertaining? GO FIND OUT!
September 1, 2025 at 3:59 PM
When you're working on a solo project and you lose so much momentum that everything grinds to a screeching halt, what you are suffering from is a lack-of-feedback loop. It's time to show what you have to someone who is not you.
Is what I'm doing worth it? Is it good? Entertaining? GO FIND OUT!
Is what I'm doing worth it? Is it good? Entertaining? GO FIND OUT!
Well, that's a cost
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
A quarter of your water. Could this be the true cost of AI?
Australia is being flagged as a hub for data centres but there are concerns the nation is not ready to deal with the amount of water they need to function.
www.abc.net.au
August 27, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Well, that's a cost
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
Pleased to have a collaboration with Jonathan Gray and Catherine Johnson now in print. A conceptual article drawn from conversations since 2020ish as we each investigated television/video (defined broadly) in US, UK, and Australia respectively.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Rethinking watching: A viewer-centred approach to understanding the changing audience experience - Amanda D. Lotz, Catherine Johnson, Jonathan Gray, 2025
Audience research is widely regarded as a crucial area of media scholarship and needed to understand the role of media in society. Significant changes in how an...
journals.sagepub.com
August 27, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Pleased to have a collaboration with Jonathan Gray and Catherine Johnson now in print. A conceptual article drawn from conversations since 2020ish as we each investigated television/video (defined broadly) in US, UK, and Australia respectively.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
@hcrichardson.bsky.social offers a masterclass here; 100+ yrs of US history to explain the current moment in 13 min. Her daily missives have become core to my media diet. A gift to sanity and the fight for democracy. Strongly recommend! open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
August 20, 2025
A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.
open.substack.com
August 22, 2025 at 10:05 PM
@hcrichardson.bsky.social offers a masterclass here; 100+ yrs of US history to explain the current moment in 13 min. Her daily missives have become core to my media diet. A gift to sanity and the fight for democracy. Strongly recommend! open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
US TV friends-I think Hal and Harper may only be on Mubi for you, but it offers some of the most beautiful & haunting character study. Risky choices and rewarding; strongly recommend finding. (Great no matter where you are, just unusual I find a US show before my US feed) #tv #streaming
Weird, sad and funny dramedy starring Mark Ruffalo may stay with you forever: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-27/hal-and-harper-mark-ruffalo-what-to-watch-this-weekend-raygun/105454566
Weird, sad and funny dramedy starring Mark Ruffalo may stay with you forever
Five shows to watch this weekend, starting with a sad dramedy that looks at what happens when children are parentified and takes a page from the Nathan Fielder playbook.
www.abc.net.au
August 19, 2025 at 5:29 AM
US TV friends-I think Hal and Harper may only be on Mubi for you, but it offers some of the most beautiful & haunting character study. Risky choices and rewarding; strongly recommend finding. (Great no matter where you are, just unusual I find a US show before my US feed) #tv #streaming
Have just devoured Jill Lepore's If Then – an amazing book and so well suited to the current moment. So many easter eggs for media/comm folks and an era of the academy now truly unimaginable. So envious of the bookcraft! Thanks @adrishaw.bsky.social for recommending wwnorton.com/books/978163...
If Then
From the best-selling author of <em>These Truths</em>, an “exhilarating” (<em>New York Times Book Review</em>) account of the Cold War origins of our data-mad era., If Then, How the Simulm...
wwnorton.com
August 18, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Have just devoured Jill Lepore's If Then – an amazing book and so well suited to the current moment. So many easter eggs for media/comm folks and an era of the academy now truly unimaginable. So envious of the bookcraft! Thanks @adrishaw.bsky.social for recommending wwnorton.com/books/978163...
The 1st section of Media 2025 highlights 4 developments that most adjusted media’s cultural role and industrial operation. They introduced exceptionally more choice and control that eradicated SCARCITY - the unacknowledged foundation of predigital media strategy. www.amandalotz.com/media-2025-2/
Media 2025 Explainer
Announcing Media 2025 – an experiment in digital-era publishing that is a cross-between a limited newsletter and a short book. It's 11 posts (10 paywalled – nearly 20,000 words) that provide state-of-...
www.amandalotz.com
August 13, 2025 at 9:16 PM
The 1st section of Media 2025 highlights 4 developments that most adjusted media’s cultural role and industrial operation. They introduced exceptionally more choice and control that eradicated SCARCITY - the unacknowledged foundation of predigital media strategy. www.amandalotz.com/media-2025-2/
Just dropped Media 2025, a mini book/limited newsletter publishing experiment hosted on my relaunched site. Media 2025 offers 11 posts (nearly 20,000 words) with state-of-the-moment thinking (behind a one-time charge paywall). I welcome conversation about its ideas! www.amandalotz.com/media-2025-2/
Media 2025 Explainer
Announcing Media 2025 – an experiment in digital-era publishing that is a cross-between a limited newsletter and a short book. It's 11 posts (10 paywalled – nearly 20,000 words) that provide state-of-...
www.amandalotz.com
August 5, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Just dropped Media 2025, a mini book/limited newsletter publishing experiment hosted on my relaunched site. Media 2025 offers 11 posts (nearly 20,000 words) with state-of-the-moment thinking (behind a one-time charge paywall). I welcome conversation about its ideas! www.amandalotz.com/media-2025-2/
The Spotify gods smiled on me and offered up a song I haven't heard in a decade that instantly made me 17 again. Such visceral joy for a few minutes. Music can be amazing.
August 1, 2025 at 5:11 AM
The Spotify gods smiled on me and offered up a song I haven't heard in a decade that instantly made me 17 again. Such visceral joy for a few minutes. Music can be amazing.
Fascinating if horrifying research and analysis of the ideas behind the tech $B's challenge to American ideals. Also reminded of the value my #DePauw education continues to deliver and unexpected relevance of PoliSci101. So grateful to have learned much I never expected would be so relevant.
Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship — & why most of Silicon Valley will quietly watch democracy burn.
My talk with @jonfortt.bsky.social (my DePauw classmate) about the dangerous coalition between the far right & the tech right. On @theverge.com's Decoder
www.theverge.com/decoder-podc...
My talk with @jonfortt.bsky.social (my DePauw classmate) about the dangerous coalition between the far right & the tech right. On @theverge.com's Decoder
www.theverge.com/decoder-podc...
Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship
Guest host Jon Fortt and The Nerd Reich author Gil Duran on the rise of tech authoritarianism.
www.theverge.com
July 24, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Fascinating if horrifying research and analysis of the ideas behind the tech $B's challenge to American ideals. Also reminded of the value my #DePauw education continues to deliver and unexpected relevance of PoliSci101. So grateful to have learned much I never expected would be so relevant.