Spectacle Season: Super Bowl, Olympics & AI Watching Itself

Spectacle Season: Super Bowl, Olympics & AI Watching Itself

Author: Sascha Funk February 11, 2026 Duration: 18:25

Every February, the world pretends it’s watching sports.


But what we’re really watching is spectacle.


From Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, to the Winter Olympics’ performance of neutrality, to Moltbook — a platform where AI agents talk to each other while humans watch — this episode looks at how visibility, legitimacy, and power are produced in 2026.


This isn’t a recap.

It’s a media analysis of why spectacle has replaced decision-making, why attention now equals authority, and why politics increasingly hides inside entertainment, aesthetics, and “neutral” platforms.


FUNK !T breaks down the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and AI theatre as one system — and asks a simple question:


If everything is a stage, who’s actually in control?


In a world saturated with constant notifications and algorithmic feeds, FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication offers a necessary pause. Hosted by Sascha Funk, who leads the media studies department at Thammasat University, this podcast is a deep and practical exploration of our daily interactions with technology and information. Each episode moves beyond surface-level tips to examine the underlying structures of our media environment, asking how we can engage with it more consciously. You’ll find conversations that dissect digital trends not just for their novelty, but for their real psychological and social impact. The discussions here are about building resilience and intention-whether that means refining how you communicate professionally, understanding the design of the platforms you use, or simply finding more agency in your personal scrolling habits. This isn't about rejecting technology, but about developing a sustainable and critical relationship with it. Sascha brings academic insight into accessible, actionable territory, making the complex dynamics of media feel relevant to your everyday life. For anyone feeling adrift in the digital noise or curious about the forces shaping our modern conversations, this podcast provides both a compass and a toolkit. It’s a space for learning how to be present and purposeful in a mediated world, one thoughtful discussion at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication
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