@tupur
Asst Prof | Dept of Communication | Tulane University. Media Industries/Feminist Media Studies/Architecture + Design/Material Cultures. Book Review Editor, JCMS. Author: Projecting Desire https://tinyurl.com/mrx58k https://www.tupurchatterjee.com/
SCMS is excited to announce this year's award winners—congratulations to all! View the full list: cmstudies.org/page/2026_awards.
Thank you to our members who served on award committees—your dedication makes this recognition possible. We can’t wait to celebrate with everyone in Chicago! #SCMS26
![‘Undeveloped property’: Mad Men, crisis, and real estate
Martha Shearer
ABSTRACT
Mad Men is perhaps the preeminent example of nostalgia television of the last 20 years. And yet its version of the Sixties is relatively uninterested in what Fredric Jameson has characterised as that decade’s ‘shared feeling that everything is possible’. Instead, its primary concern is the feeling of being unmoored in history, encapsulated in the falling man of its title sequence, but also in its formal shifts between delay, deferral and slowness and the shock of historical and narrative events. As a number of scholars have observed, that slowness calls attention instead to the image and to space, and especially to production design. In this essay, I argue that the show increasingly calls attention to that space as real estate, with seasons punctuated with domestic and commercial real estate sales and acquisitions, real estate transactions as major plot points, and the introduction of real estate agent and property developer characters in its final season. I suggest that real estate, in both aesthetic and narrative terms, is critical to the show’s ambivalence about the future, caught between optimism regarding the expansion of global capitalism and knowledge of crises that follow, both in the 1970s and in 2008.
[now attentive and loving readers of my posts will know that there is a typo in there that they've told me is getting fixed, and if you, dear reader, notice it can I please assure you that I am not illiterate, cheers]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lb7qv32i2gf7egofrrumuk23/bafkreia74b3bhnoflnpnjsmghzl22p2tbc5l3hkqf7l7by7rvazdz3efe4)
‘Undeveloped property’: Mad Men, crisis, and real estate Martha Shearer ABSTRACT Mad Men is perhaps the preeminent example of nostalgia television of the last 20 years. And yet its version of the Sixties is relatively uninterested in what Fredric Jameson has characterised as that decade’s ‘shared feeling that everything is possible’. Instead, its primary concern is the feeling of being unmoored in history, encapsulated in the falling man of its title sequence, but also in its formal shifts between delay, deferral and slowness and the shock of historical and narrative events. As a number of scholars have observed, that slowness calls attention instead to the image and to space, and especially to production design. In this essay, I argue that the show increasingly calls attention to that space as real estate, with seasons punctuated with domestic and commercial real estate sales and acquisitions, real estate transactions as major plot points, and the introduction of real estate agent and property developer characters in its final season. I suggest that real estate, in both aesthetic and narrative terms, is critical to the show’s ambivalence about the future, caught between optimism regarding the expansion of global capitalism and knowledge of crises that follow, both in the 1970s and in 2008. [now attentive and loving readers of my posts will know that there is a typo in there that they've told me is getting fixed, and if you, dear reader, notice it can I please assure you that I am not illiterate, cheers]
here is my new article on mad men, real estate, the past, the future (open access!): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
this is part of an upcoming special issue of rethinking history on "memories of the future" edited by louis bayman and tim vermeulen
Very very excited to hold @tupur.bsky.social new book, Projecting Desire, in my hands!! Congratulations Tupur and can’t wait to read!
nyupress.org/978147982964...
Thank you so much Marc! I hope it’s an enjoyable read.
In memoriam photo of Jonathan Sterne (1970-2025)
It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of Jonathan Sterne, an extraordinary scholar whose groundbreaking work transformed the fields of sound studies, media theory, and the cultural study of technology.
We're wrapping up the week by spotlighting some fresh releases from NYUP!
Leading the lineup is "Projecting Desire: Media Architectures and Moviegoing in Urban India" by @tupur.bsky.social, highlighting how multiplex cinemas have reshaped the dynamics of theater space and culture in New Delhi.
I'm thrilled to announce that my first book, Projecting Desire: Media Architectures and Moviegoing in Urban India is now out! shorturl.at/viavY Use the code NYUAU30 for a 30% discount on the NYU website. @nyupress.bsky.social
Book Projecting Desire by Tupur Chatterjee
Book Fandom is Ugly by Mel Stanfill
Excited to receive the latest books from the Critical Cultural Communication series for @nyupress.bsky.social I edit alongside @aswinp.bsky.social and Jonathan Gray. Projecting Desire by @tupur.bsky.social and Fandom is Ugly by @melstanfill.bsky.social
✨CFP for the inaugural Hollywood Conference @ USC July 17-20, 2025 ! ✨ If you're working on Hollywood— past or present— consider applying to what's sure to be a fabulous conference. Submission deadline is January 12th!
www.thehollywoodconference.com?fbclid=IwY2x...
Aww thank you friend!
A very special package arrived this morning. Advance copies!
For all the feminist media scholars who just joined Bluesky...consider submitting a proposal to Console-ing Passions 2025! We're hosting it at Georgia State University and we're looking forward to lively conversations!
fmt.gsu.edu/console-ing-...
Hi Bilge, i'd love to be added, thank you!
Thanks Hannah, I remember the reading group and your helpful comments. Hope Edinburgh is treating you well!
I'd love to be added, thank you!
Can't wait to see @tupur.bsky.social's first book in print soon! Follow her, get your libraries to buy the book, and invite her for talks!
Please add me, thank you!
