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Shira Chess

@shirachess

Associate Prof. of Media Studies @ UGA Books: 1. The Unseen Internet (MIT press, 2026)πŸ’« 2. Freaks in the Machine: Mondo 2000 in Late 20th century (Strange Attractor w RU Sirius) https://open.substack.com/pub/unseeninternet

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09.10.2023
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Latest posts by Shira Chess @shirachess

@ckunzelman.bsky.social I absolutely want to have this conversation with you!

04.03.2026 02:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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β€œI don’t think there’s a phrase that better characterizes the Internet we have now than, 'Nothing is true, everything is permitted.'" - @shirachess.bsky.social

Stream and subscribe:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWOp...

03.03.2026 00:44 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
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The Internet is an Occult Machine (w/ Shira Chess) | Team Human Ep. 358 Has the internet always been a magical space? Shira Chess , a Professor of Entertainment and Media Studies at the University of Georgia and a leading scholar of digital folklore, dive in...

@shirachess.bsky.social on Team Human. Huzzah!

02.03.2026 19:05 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This sounds very interesting indeed πŸ‘‡ πŸ‘‡ πŸ‘‡

02.03.2026 17:09 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
The Internet Is an Occult Machine (w/ Shira Chess)
The Internet Is an Occult Machine (w/ Shira Chess) YouTube video by Douglas Rushkoff

The counterculture spent the 90s trying to destroy consensus reality. It worked.

We just didn't have a plan for what came next.

Stream and subscribe my conversation with @shirachess.bsky.social:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWOp...

02.03.2026 16:51 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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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...

And book here!
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255388...

02.03.2026 16:52 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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The Internet is an Occult Machine (w/ Shira Chess) | Team Human Ep. 358 Has the internet always been a magical space? Shira Chess , a Professor of Entertainment and Media Studies at the University of Georgia and a leading scholar of digital folklore, dive in...

Episode here: www.teamhuman.fm/episodes/358...

02.03.2026 16:52 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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I recently chatted with @rushkoff.com on Team Human to discuss about my new @mitpress.bsky.social book, The Unseen Internet. We talked about the esoteric wallpaper of the internet, meme magic, AI, and a whole lot of technological woo...

02.03.2026 16:51 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
The Internet Is an Occult Machine (w/ Shira Chess)
The Internet Is an Occult Machine (w/ Shira Chess) YouTube video by Douglas Rushkoff

Great convo between @shirachess.bsky.social & @rushkoff.com :))) www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWOp...

02.03.2026 15:29 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

In one hour!

22.02.2026 17:00 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Conjuring the Algorithm: Magic, AI, and the Hidden Internet with Dr Shira Chess YouTube video by Angela's Symposium

This Sunday, 2/22 I'll be livestreaming with @drangelapuca.bsky.social about all things dark academia:
www.youtube.com/live/TFx1WDU...

20.02.2026 18:25 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Journal doodles of the death of publishing.

Journal doodles of the death of publishing.

Some thoughts on publishing into the abyss of 2026...
unseeninternet.substack.com/p/the-death-...

18.02.2026 13:42 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Journal doodles of the death of publishing.

Journal doodles of the death of publishing.

Some thoughts on publishing into the abyss of 2026...
unseeninternet.substack.com/p/the-death-...

18.02.2026 13:42 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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'The Unseen Internet' is a new book that seems interesting Earlier this month, MIT Press came out with The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse by Shira Chess,Β  and it seems lik...

'The Unseen Internet' is a new book that seems interesting @shirachess.bsky.social - www.rawillumination.net/2026/02/the-...

17.02.2026 17:28 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

What? Not yet published??? Don't Groundhog Day me!

16.02.2026 22:43 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Of Internets, seen and unseen Listen now | The OG Darkweb

Of Internets, seen and unseen
open.substack.com/pub/josephma...

Joseph Matheny writes about the new book The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse by my friend and coauthor (of a not yet published book) Shira Chess

@shirachess.bsky.social

16.02.2026 18:41 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Me holding a copy of my new book THE UNSEEN INTERNET.

Me holding a copy of my new book THE UNSEEN INTERNET.

Today my newest @mitpress.bsky.social, THE UNSEEN INTERNET, is officially out in the world.

Here’s the argument:
At the dawn of cyberculture a lot of people on online were intentionally doing magic. And now it feels like we’re all kind of doing magic.

10.02.2026 13:53 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3

Yay Fiorella!

14.02.2026 18:41 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

and an excerpt in case you missed it! thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-demon-in-a...

13.02.2026 18:06 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

It’s Friday the 13th! If you are looking for the uncanny today, I’ve got you covered (with @mitpress.bsky.social )

13.02.2026 17:07 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Our Winter Sale continues...

Including Death Lines: Walking London's Horror History by Lauren Jane Barnett. The first walking guide to London's role in the evolution of horror cinema

See what else is on offer πŸ”— strangeattractor.greedbag.com/dept/~winter...

12.02.2026 12:02 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A copy of "The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse" by Shira Chess on a plain background. The cover is blue-green with black text.

A copy of "The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse" by Shira Chess on a plain background. The cover is blue-green with black text.

@shirachess.bsky.social explores the tensions between the occult and digital spaces in the twenty-first century in "The Unseen Internet," an innovative account of internet culture: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255388...

10.02.2026 14:16 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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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...

It’s a wild ride of a book and I hope you join me for that ride.

mitpress.mit.edu/978026255388...

10.02.2026 13:54 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Me holding a copy of my new book THE UNSEEN INTERNET.

Me holding a copy of my new book THE UNSEEN INTERNET.

Today my newest @mitpress.bsky.social, THE UNSEEN INTERNET, is officially out in the world.

Here’s the argument:
At the dawn of cyberculture a lot of people on online were intentionally doing magic. And now it feels like we’re all kind of doing magic.

10.02.2026 13:53 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3

Aaaah … good point… synchronicities portend interesting things…

06.02.2026 00:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You, indeed, are a character in the book. I hope you enjoy it!

05.02.2026 22:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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My Casual Transformation into a Fictional Character On the Alchemy of Writing and Meat Spaces

@shirachess.bsky.social "I’m becoming rapidly entangled.. co-authoring a history of Mondo 2000 w. R.U. Sirius. As that story continues to unfold, I can’t help but feel like a character in that narrative too: a foreign interloper
unseeninternet.substack.com/p/my-casual-...
a good time was had by all

01.02.2026 19:07 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I wrote things about my β€œsolipsistic awe.”

29.01.2026 23:21 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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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...

The book will be out on Feb. 10th! mitpress.mit.edu/978026255388...

29.01.2026 18:19 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Is there a world-eating demon in our black boxes? In my forthcoming book The Unseen Internet I demonstrate the overlaps between the quest for AGI and spirit conjuring. Here's an adapted version of the chapter from @mitpress.bsky.social

29.01.2026 18:18 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0