[artinfo] radio nettime: 8 Sept 2019 12:00-13:00

[nettime's mod squad]

=> SAVE THE DATE

     WHAT: nettime call-in radio
     WHEN: 8 Sept 2019 12:00-13:00
     HOW: web, IRC, skyoe
           to LISTEN: browser > http://fro.at
              click: top yellow banner 'POP-UP PLAYER" > "play"
        to COMMENT:
           server: irc.stwst.at / channel #stwst48x5
              via the web: https://kiwiirc.com/nextclient/
        to contribute:
           skype (detailed info to come)

# CONTEXT

On 7 June Felix Stalder and I (Ted Byfield), a/k/a nettime's "mod
squad," sent a message to the list under the subject "Nettime is in bad
shape. Let's see if we can change it."[1] It was the most recent of
several efforts we've made over as many years to stem the list's slow
decline into an occasional watering hole for, as Keith Hart put it, 90s
internet activists - mostly men - feeling like they're past they're
sell-by date.[2] Four years ago we half-jokingly announced the end of
the list,[3] which led to a sack of fan mail protesting that the list
remained a rare resource of intelligent, long-form debate. Even
overcoming the list's ur-trauma by switching back to an open,
non-moderated status about two years ago, barely registered as a blip
- surely a sign that the list is, if not dead, at least sleeping very
deeply. At a certain point, it might make sense to draw a curtain on the
whole thing. The questions are when, maybe why, and maybe even how. Or
not.

     [1] 7 June 2019, nettime mod squad
     https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1906/msg00009.html

     [2] 1 Apr 2015, Keith Hart, "nottime: the end of nettime"
     https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1504/msg00007.html

     [3] 1 Apr 2015, nettime mod squad, "nottime: the end of nettime"
     https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1504/threads.html

# MORE SPECIFICALLY

Felix and I took over as the core of nettime's mod squad in 1998(!), at
a time when the list was consumed by the so-called "moderation wars."
Since then, we've tried to follow a few basic ~ethical guidelines:

     - avoid "speaking for" netttime as representatives or heads
     - keep our roles as subscribers and moderators distinct
     - maintain a fairly low profile

Overall, we think this has worked pretty well for the last two decades,
but those guidelines have limited what we can say and how. But since the
list is teetering on the edge of oblivion, we figured we'd take a break
and speak more openly about what we've learned and why it might matter.

We haven't lost our faith in nettime as a protean project, but the list
has become a creature of habit. Should we just kill it? Or what, if
anything might be next? A new list / channel / platform / whatever? An
archive? A conference? A funeral? A party?

# WELL, AS A MATTER OF FACT...

Our "bad shape" message prompted Shu Lea Cheang, Tanja Brandmayr, and
Franz Xaver to organize a radio program, "STAY UNFINISHED,"[4] for Ars
Electronica, which will air on Friday 6 Sept 6th, 18:00 through Sun 8
Sept 18:00. The program has a series of slots dedicated to a ~family of
mailing lists - nettime, crumb, faces, -empyre-, and spectre. The
general theme is pitch-perfect: STAY UNFINISHED.

     [4] Shu Lea Cheang, "STWST48x5 - STAY UNFINISHED"
     https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1908/msg00005.html
     a bit more/earlier background info:
     https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1908/msg00035.html

So:

     - If you have any thoughts / proposals on nettime's future (or lack
thereof), send them to the list

     - If you want to listen to Felix and Ted talk, tune in
     - If you want to comment on their talk, get on IRC
     - If you want to be on the radio, skype in [moderated, of course
?

This discussion is about the BIG-PICTURE FUTURE OF NETTIME, if it has
one. It's not about the same old litany of which geeky software platform
you think is best or about complaining about social media or Brexit or
whatever.

# RADIO PROGRAM SCHEDULE

     12:00-17:00 (CET), September 8, 2019

     12:00-13:00 - Nettime (since 1995)
        moderated by Ted Byfield and Felix Stalder
     13:00-14:00 - crumb new_media_curating (since 2000)
        moderated by Beryl Graham and Sarah Cook
     14:00-15:00 - Faces (since 1997),
        moderated by Valie Djordjeviç, Kathy Rae Huffman,
        Diana McCarty, Ushi Reiter
        RADIO moderation: Elena Robles Mateo
     15:00-16:00 - empyre- (since 2002)
        moderated by Renate Ferro and Tim Murray
     16:00-17:00 - Spectre (since 2001)
        moderated by Inke Arns and Andreas Broeckmann.
        RADIO moderation: Geert Lovink