Codepunk 048: The Subversiveness of Max Headroom

Many of you probably know who Max Headroom is. But do you really? Far from the pop culture character making a cameo in Pixels or selling New Coke, Max Headroom was an innovative and subversive character of the 80's counterculture, making waves at the intersection of computer technology, music, and a dystopian view of the geo-political outlook at the time.

In this episode, we discuss the origins of the Max Headroom character, and the plot of the UK television movie that introduced the character's backstory, while establishing a dystopian near future where media conglomerates ruled behind the scenes, and intentionally manipulated their audiences.

(Photo by Quinn Norton)

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