Podcast: Control Shift

Cohosted by Joan Donovan & Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

Debuting in spring 2025, CISI’s Control Shift podcast will see hosts Olúfẹ́mi and Joan explore four futures for journalism that bravely mobilize local knowledge networks: News unions, nonprofit news, new indie media, and next-wave democratized journalistic practices. As the practice and sustainability of journalism degrades, what can DIY subcultures like punk teach us about democratizing participation in the media?

Control Shift connects listeners with frontline experts working to equip communities with TALK (Timely Accurate Local Knowledge) in maverick ways.


Control Shift equips listeners with the knowledge and know-how to bring about social and cultural change.

Season 1
The future of journalism is unwritten

The first season of Control Shift, The Future of Journalism is Unwritten, explores how participatory media is reshaping journalism, making everyone a “journal-ish.” It examines four key futures for journalism—unionization, nonprofit news, indie media, and the democratization of journalistic practices—to build new infrastructures for real TALK (Timely Accurate Local Knowledge).

Co-host Dr. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is author of Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else).


Joan Donovan

Joan Donovan is an assistant professor of journalism and emerging media studies at Boston University. Dr. Donovan's research analyzes internet and technology studies, online extremism, media manipulation, and disinformation campaigns. She is the coauthor of Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America with Emily Dreyfuss and Brian Friedberg.

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of California Los Angeles. He has published in academic journals ranging from Public Affairs QuarterlyOne EarthPhilosophical Papers, and the American Philosophical Association newsletter Philosophy and the Black Experience.

Táíwò’s theoretical work draws liberally from the Black radical tradition, anti-colonial thought, German transcendental philosophy, contemporary philosophy of language, contemporary social science, and histories of activism and activist thinkers.

His public philosophy, including articles exploring intersections of climate justice and colonialism, has been featured in The New YorkerThe NationBoston ReviewDissentThe AppealSlateAl JazeeraThe New RepublicAeon, and Foreign Policy. He is the author of Elite Capture and Reconsidering Reparations.