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The Attention Economy Navigator, May 2026 w/ Dr. Shan (Pop Smart Media)

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Block & Build
Block & Build
The Attention Economy Navigator, May 2026 w/ Dr. Shan (Pop Smart Media)
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This week we are building April’s Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month’s Attention Economy Navigator in real time are cultural studies professor, writer, and founder of Pop Smart Media, Dr. Shannon Mancus (AKA Dr. Shan). She also co-hosts Fool Me Once, a weekly livestream with Under the Desk News‘ V. Spehar, Mondays at 10:00 AM ET.

We are also joined this week by Convergence’s Managing Editor, Akin Olla.

You can also read the article version on the Convergence website, or watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube.

Stories Referenced in This Episode:

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Episode Guests

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Shannon Mancus

Dr. Shannon Mancus (Dr. Shan) is a cultural studies professor, writer, and founder of Pop Smart Media. She studies the relationship between popular culture and politics, translating film, television, and cultural theory into tools people can use to understand power, resist despair, and imagine better futures. She co-hosts Fool Me Once with V Spehar of Under the Desk News, and has built an audience of more than 100,000 followers across social media. Her work is guided by the belief that stories can save us.

About the Host

Cayden Mak
Cayden Mak

Cayden Mak is the publisher at Convergence Magazine and the host of Block & Build: Roadmaps for the Left.

Prior to Convergence, Cayden spent nearly a decade in various roles at 18 Million Rising, including five years as Executive Director and two as Chief Technology Officer, developing the organization inside and out into the digital-first anchor of national progressive Asian American organizing. His other movement work has included organizing for community-designed affordable housing with the Save E. 12th Coalition, co-founding Youngist, a youth media collective, organizing graduate research assistants for a labor union, and helping coordinate tracks and network gatherings at the Allied Media Conference. He serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Kairos Fellowship.