Bridging Benjamin Volume 68: A Philosophy of Technology, Place, and Education (Electronic Mediations)

Walter Benjamin reimagined through the forgotten power of radioPhilosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) has long been recognized for his influence on the fields of literature, film, media studies, critical legal theory, and philosophy.Bringing fresh attention to an often-overlooked aspect of his oeuvre, Bridging Benjamin examines the dozens of radio broadcasts he produced, primarily for children, between 1927 and 1933.Delivered after the academic rejection of his notoriously complex Trauerspiel, these shows became a testing ground for Benjamin's developing ideas and experimental pedagogy.Though they were cast off as inconsequential by both Benjamin and his contemporaries, Dominic Smith reveals the broadcasts to be a fruitful site for a novel, "derailed" interpretation of Benjamin's larger body of work. Reading Benjamin's radio production as a dynamic site of philosophical experimentation, Smith uses it as a channel and amplifier for three integral but underappreciate