Shannon Cuthrell

A few reviews and essays I’ve written:

On my Substack and Medium, I write essays sharing my personal views and observations about tech, culture and the future. (Launched in June 2023 as a side project.)

• AI Tags In, Humans Tap Out — I profile the strange limbo we’re living in as AI exits geek circles to sweep the public consciousness and private marketplace of everyday normies. Ethics concerns and doomsday scenarios aside, do these things have staying power?
• The Illusion of Consumer Choice: Buying a Smart TV — How the data economy influences the smart TV market.
• Entertainment’s Nostalgia Addiction — The last few years have seen an uptick in film and TV adaptations, remakes/reboots, and years-too-late sequels appealing to millennials’ childhood memories. Are we witnessing a drought of fresh ideas?
• Immortal Data — Growing old in the modern world means accumulating massive volumes of data over decades. Each file saved and stored joins an ever-growing graveyard of digital assets with nowhere to go when we die.
• The Next Generation’s Problem — In our rush to integrate Gen Z into the digital world, we forgot to teach them legacy tech skills. Is this an oversight or a gift in disguise?
• (Counter)Productivity Apps — With excessive record-keeping and needless subtasks, productivity apps offer a convenient path for distraction, simultaneously draining our time and executive planning skills. Are they worth it?
• Starving for The Feed — Stalker-like social media algorithms will do anything to keep us engaged. Why does everything have to be relevant?
• The People v. The U.S. Dollar — From maxed-out credit cards to reckless government spending, indefinite debt leaves America’s economic future in doubt. 
• Silver Linings in America’s Institutional Collapse — As the American public loses faith in institutions, the case for alternatives has never been stronger. They aren’t worth our trust.
• War in POV — A new era of televised warfare captures the global population. 

Earlier essays and reviews from my college years include:

• ‘The First Bad Man’ By Miranda July Review: Thrilling, Thoughtful And Unexpected — The independent filmmaker, multimedia artist, writer and curly-haired icon, has written a fantastic first novel, The First Bad Man, which defied contemporary literary conventions and set the 2015 publishing year on a splendid course.
• ‘Yes Please’ Review: Amy Poehler’s Book Is Both True And Hilarious — Amy Poehler‘s beautifully designed hardcover Yes Please reads like an elderly woman’s scrapbook – an elderly woman who is reminiscing on her life and reveling in her past carelessness and stupidity. The work simultaneously reads like eloquently written poetry.
• Blankets by Craig Thompson — The graphic masterpiece standard for a coming-of-age story.
• Comedy Central’s Broad City — Prominent female comedian and actress Amy Poehler produced the critically acclaimed Broad City, a Comedy Central installment that takes the viewer on an excursion through the frenzied lives of two strange, yet relatable female twenty-somethings in New York City.