NSL Blog

Henry Jenkins interview No Straight Lines

January 30, 2013

I got to know Henry Jenkins when I first read his book Convergence Culture, that tipped me into wanting to understand participatory media and communication. And what was driving this explosion of socially orientated cultural production.

Consequently Henry asked me to come speak at MIT, and we stayed in touch. Below are a series of links to a long interview Henry conducted with me in exploring some of the themes and ideas in No Straight Lines. Henry writes in the opening of the interview:

In early 2007, I featured an interview on my blog with Alan Moore, then the CEO of SMLXL, the Cambridge based “engagement marketing” firm, and the co-author of Communities Dominate Brands: Business and Marketing Challenges for the 21st Century. At the time he explained, “Engagement marketing is a very broad term, and purposefully so. At its heart, is the insight that human beings are highly social animals, and have an innate need to communicate and interact. Therefore, any engagement marketing initiative must allow for two-way flows of information and communication. We believe, people embrace what they create.”

Through the years, we have remained in touch. Moore remains one of the most thoughtful people I have met — someone who reads broadly, who asks challenging questions, who is willing to explore alternative perspectives, and who is trying to construct his own theoretical model for the changes that are impacting our contemporary society.

Rethinking the Industrial Mindset: An Interview with No Straight Lines’

Interview Part [1]

Interview Part [2]

Interview Part [3]