In Visible Archives: Queer and Feminist Visual Culture in the 1980s by Margaret Galvan
"Margaret Galvan’s book In Visible Archives considers how 1980s feminist and queer visual culture formed and sustained communities. The title introduces this: Parsed too quickly, it might read as “invisible,” pointing to how the value of feminist and queer material has not always been seen; the space forces readers to think for a second."
Reviewed by Malcolm Noble
The Smart Mission: NASA’s Lessons for Managing Knowledge, People, and Projects by Edward J. Hoffman, Matthew Kohut, and Laurence Prusak
"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) earned a reputation for excellence in science and engineering through projects such as Apollo, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Space Shuttle. Since Congress formed NASA in 1958, the civilian space agency’s vast portfolio of projects has led to the production of knowledge across many scientific and technical disciplines. What NASA is equally adept at yet less celebrated for is the management of its knowledge, people, and projects."
Reviewed by Brian Jirout
The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist by Brendan Keogh
"Discussing the “videogame industry” can be daunting for scholars, teachers, and practitioners alike. Yet as Brendan Keogh reminds us, the sheer size and value of digital games necessitate wading into the subject. The “industry” often has a personal impact. Pain from massive layoffs, successes in unionizing, and discussions about what game developers look like are constant themes in heartfelt social media posts."
Reviewed by Maxwell Foxman
Tactical Publishing: Using Senses, Software, and Archives in the Twenty-First Century by Alessandro Ludovico
"Publications such as books and newspapers are often considered trustworthy, informative texts, yet automated “bot” accounts on social media are rarely imbued with such trust. For Alessandro Ludovico, a more expansive interpretation of publishing is needed to understand how all of these media forms deliver information using varied senses and modalities."
Reviewed by Alexander O. Smith
Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life by Nathan Schneider
"Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life is a daring work that masterfully combines unexpected theoretical inspirations with experiments in conceiving governable spaces. Every chapter finishes by discussing proofs of concept and lessons learned with the Media Economies Design Lab, directed by author Nathan Schneider."
Reviewed by Nika Mahnic
Behind the Startup: How Venture Capital Shapes Work, Innovation, and Inequality by Benjamin Shestakovsky
"I have been waiting for a book like Benjamin Shestakovsky’s Behind the Startup for many years. It is a meticulous, immersive ethnographic study of a San Francisco startup pseudonymized as “AllDone,” a platform for matching buyers and sellers of local services such as home repair and dog-walking. Shestakovsky took an internship at AllDone, which soon led to holding a full-time managerial job."
Reviewed by Nathan Schneider