Shira Chess (she/her)
@shirachess.bsky.social
Associate Prof. of Media Studies @ UGA
Current projects:
1. The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse (MIT press, 2026)💫
2. Freaks in the Machine: Mondo 2000 in Late 20th century digital culture (Strange Attractor with RU Sirius)
Current projects:
1. The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse (MIT press, 2026)💫
2. Freaks in the Machine: Mondo 2000 in Late 20th century digital culture (Strange Attractor with RU Sirius)
My new book, THE UNSEEN INTERNET (about the intersections between magical thinking and tech innovation) is officially available for pre-order via @mitpress.bsky.social!
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255388...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255388...
The Unseen Internet
Our contemporary digital landscape often reflects a strange logic: Elon Musk believes there’s a one-in-a-billion chance that we are not living in a com...
mitpress.mit.edu
October 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
My new book, THE UNSEEN INTERNET (about the intersections between magical thinking and tech innovation) is officially available for pre-order via @mitpress.bsky.social!
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255388...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255388...
From here on out, all of my author photos will be cosplaying as Todd Rundgren. Photo by Bart Nagel.
May 16, 2025 at 3:46 PM
From here on out, all of my author photos will be cosplaying as Todd Rundgren. Photo by Bart Nagel.
A Tale of two editors.
Me interviewing two iconic 80s/90s magazine editors from opposite ends of the publishing spectrum: Kevin Kelly (Whole Earth, Wired) and V Vale (RE/Search).
Me interviewing two iconic 80s/90s magazine editors from opposite ends of the publishing spectrum: Kevin Kelly (Whole Earth, Wired) and V Vale (RE/Search).
May 13, 2025 at 9:31 PM
A Tale of two editors.
Me interviewing two iconic 80s/90s magazine editors from opposite ends of the publishing spectrum: Kevin Kelly (Whole Earth, Wired) and V Vale (RE/Search).
Me interviewing two iconic 80s/90s magazine editors from opposite ends of the publishing spectrum: Kevin Kelly (Whole Earth, Wired) and V Vale (RE/Search).
ARE YOU TURNED OFF BY YOUR COMPUTER? (Yup!) Ad from High Frontiers Issue 1 (1984).
February 15, 2025 at 7:59 PM
ARE YOU TURNED OFF BY YOUR COMPUTER? (Yup!) Ad from High Frontiers Issue 1 (1984).
Reposted by Shira Chess (she/her)
Exactly 10 months from today, my first monograph will be published. 📚 ✨️
I can't wait for you all to see her. I have been working on this book for 6 years. 😤 I'm so excited! 😊
It's going to be a Detty December 💃🏿 🇬🇭
Let the countdown begin...⏳️
I can't wait for you all to see her. I have been working on this book for 6 years. 😤 I'm so excited! 😊
It's going to be a Detty December 💃🏿 🇬🇭
Let the countdown begin...⏳️
February 9, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Exactly 10 months from today, my first monograph will be published. 📚 ✨️
I can't wait for you all to see her. I have been working on this book for 6 years. 😤 I'm so excited! 😊
It's going to be a Detty December 💃🏿 🇬🇭
Let the countdown begin...⏳️
I can't wait for you all to see her. I have been working on this book for 6 years. 😤 I'm so excited! 😊
It's going to be a Detty December 💃🏿 🇬🇭
Let the countdown begin...⏳️
Oh hey, this Marvin Minsky cover pull quote from Electric Word (Jane & Louis’ pre-WIRED magazine) did not age very well….
December 11, 2024 at 3:25 PM
Oh hey, this Marvin Minsky cover pull quote from Electric Word (Jane & Louis’ pre-WIRED magazine) did not age very well….
Reposted by Shira Chess (she/her)
@shirachess.bsky.social has announced the completion of her new book and it's fantastic! It's "The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse" (MIT Press, 2026) and it's extremely fantastic. Here's the TOC
December 5, 2024 at 9:13 PM
@shirachess.bsky.social has announced the completion of her new book and it's fantastic! It's "The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse" (MIT Press, 2026) and it's extremely fantastic. Here's the TOC
Reposted by Shira Chess (she/her)
Dr. Chess is both an insightful researcher and an engaging writer. I think a lot of y’all will find this up your alley when it happens!
My new book is called The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse (MIT Press, 2026). [2/7]
December 5, 2024 at 2:37 PM
Dr. Chess is both an insightful researcher and an engaging writer. I think a lot of y’all will find this up your alley when it happens!
Reposted by Shira Chess (she/her)
So excited for this one! And so is pretty much everyone I discuss it with
My new book is called The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse (MIT Press, 2026). [2/7]
December 5, 2024 at 2:04 PM
So excited for this one! And so is pretty much everyone I discuss it with
Many of you know that I have moved away from game studies in recent years, for reasons too personal (and too boring) to disclose. For 3 years I’ve been working on a book; the most fun I’ve ever had doing research. I’ve completed my final draft and I’m finally ready to tell people about it… [1/7]
December 4, 2024 at 11:43 AM
Many of you know that I have moved away from game studies in recent years, for reasons too personal (and too boring) to disclose. For 3 years I’ve been working on a book; the most fun I’ve ever had doing research. I’ve completed my final draft and I’m finally ready to tell people about it… [1/7]
Historians: what software/app do you like for building complex timelines?
December 3, 2024 at 12:37 AM
Historians: what software/app do you like for building complex timelines?
Internet research friends: I have a grad student who wants to do qual analysis involving internet forums, specifically looking at comments on Reddit and streaming platforms.
Do any of you have recs for software that can scrape comments for this kind of work that I can pass along?
Do any of you have recs for software that can scrape comments for this kind of work that I can pass along?
November 17, 2024 at 4:10 PM
Internet research friends: I have a grad student who wants to do qual analysis involving internet forums, specifically looking at comments on Reddit and streaming platforms.
Do any of you have recs for software that can scrape comments for this kind of work that I can pass along?
Do any of you have recs for software that can scrape comments for this kind of work that I can pass along?
Overheard Gen Alphas last night:
Tween 1: do you want to play poker?
Tween 2: are you betting for money?
Tween 1: No. we are betting for emotions.
Tween 1: do you want to play poker?
Tween 2: are you betting for money?
Tween 1: No. we are betting for emotions.
November 16, 2024 at 1:36 PM
Overheard Gen Alphas last night:
Tween 1: do you want to play poker?
Tween 2: are you betting for money?
Tween 1: No. we are betting for emotions.
Tween 1: do you want to play poker?
Tween 2: are you betting for money?
Tween 1: No. we are betting for emotions.
* not actually all of my small army of Nintendo DSs.
November 14, 2024 at 3:10 AM
* not actually all of my small army of Nintendo DSs.
As we try to make sense of recent events, I’d like to recommend @adriennemassanari.bsky.social new book about how gaming logic fueled (& continues to fuel) the alt-right.
Bonus: her first Amazon review. if you are a white liberal woman it doubles as masturbation fodder! A solid endorsement…
Bonus: her first Amazon review. if you are a white liberal woman it doubles as masturbation fodder! A solid endorsement…
November 11, 2024 at 12:22 PM
As we try to make sense of recent events, I’d like to recommend @adriennemassanari.bsky.social new book about how gaming logic fueled (& continues to fuel) the alt-right.
Bonus: her first Amazon review. if you are a white liberal woman it doubles as masturbation fodder! A solid endorsement…
Bonus: her first Amazon review. if you are a white liberal woman it doubles as masturbation fodder! A solid endorsement…
How did I just realize that Joey Ramone in the Pet Semetary video looks like Andy Sandberg in an SNL wig?
November 10, 2024 at 12:49 AM
How did I just realize that Joey Ramone in the Pet Semetary video looks like Andy Sandberg in an SNL wig?
“Now that you can control virtual reality, take control over how your body feels.”
September 28, 2024 at 4:54 PM
“Now that you can control virtual reality, take control over how your body feels.”
In the unlikeliest of all collabs, I am co-authoring a history of the famously weird (and weirdly famous) counterculture/tech magazine Mondo 2000, with former editor-in-chief R.U. Sirius for Strange Attractor Press.
More soon…
More soon…
R.U. Sirius & Shira Chess are pleased (and a little frightened) to announce that we have contracted with Strange Attractor Press to publish Freaks in the Machine: Mondo 2000 in Late 20th Century Tech Culture. With a forward by Grant Morrison
R.U. Sirius & Shira Chess are pleased (and a little frightened) to announce that we have contracted…
Before the entire world was online, before it was divided into social media enclaves and corporate-sanctioned “likes,” before even WIRED…
medium.com
September 23, 2024 at 4:35 PM
In the unlikeliest of all collabs, I am co-authoring a history of the famously weird (and weirdly famous) counterculture/tech magazine Mondo 2000, with former editor-in-chief R.U. Sirius for Strange Attractor Press.
More soon…
More soon…
Reposted by Shira Chess (she/her)
There's a super cool game studies bundle right now, all books from @mitpress.bsky.social — like @patguy.bsky.social & @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social's Zones of Control, @shirachess.bsky.social's Play Like a Feminist, & @kcisbister.bsky.social's How Games Move Us
www.humblebundle.com/books/all-ab...
www.humblebundle.com/books/all-ab...
Humble Book Bundle: All About Gaming by MIT Press
From D&D to Call of Duty, this bundle from MIT Press explores the histories, cultures & theories driving games of all types! Your purchase helps Girls Who Code.
www.humblebundle.com
July 22, 2024 at 3:04 PM
There's a super cool game studies bundle right now, all books from @mitpress.bsky.social — like @patguy.bsky.social & @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social's Zones of Control, @shirachess.bsky.social's Play Like a Feminist, & @kcisbister.bsky.social's How Games Move Us
www.humblebundle.com/books/all-ab...
www.humblebundle.com/books/all-ab...
For folks @ #AoIR2023 I have new researches! Presenting Friday @ 3:30 on 💫Memes & Magic 💫
Stuff I may reference:
Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth Vampires Aleister Crowley Skeletor The 5 Fingered Hand of Eris The necromemicon Blondie
I don’t know if it’s good but it’s going to be a ride…
Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth Vampires Aleister Crowley Skeletor The 5 Fingered Hand of Eris The necromemicon Blondie
I don’t know if it’s good but it’s going to be a ride…
October 19, 2023 at 2:26 PM
For folks @ #AoIR2023 I have new researches! Presenting Friday @ 3:30 on 💫Memes & Magic 💫
Stuff I may reference:
Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth Vampires Aleister Crowley Skeletor The 5 Fingered Hand of Eris The necromemicon Blondie
I don’t know if it’s good but it’s going to be a ride…
Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth Vampires Aleister Crowley Skeletor The 5 Fingered Hand of Eris The necromemicon Blondie
I don’t know if it’s good but it’s going to be a ride…
This post is exactly the level of commitment I’m willing to make to this app until we see how it plays out…
October 10, 2023 at 12:42 PM
This post is exactly the level of commitment I’m willing to make to this app until we see how it plays out…