Hi {{first_name}},
75% of scientific study participants felt better after doing one thing with their smartphones for two weeks. That's significant!
Producing this episode changed how I watch what I watch. And that's just the beginning.
I dove into six decades of research on how media shapes us. Mentally, emotionally, physically. What I found is scary, mindblowing, and empowering.
I walk through 🔬 Mean World Syndrome, narrative transportation, prosocial media research, and cortisol studies. 🤯
Your brain doesn't know the difference between watching something happen and having it happen to you. The research on that alone might change what you reach for tonight.
You are what you watch. The research says so. And that’s not a warning. It’s an invitation.
I think you should turn this one on.
About the episode.
Episode 2 — "What Are You Turning On?" — is the research episode. I'm bringing the receipts. Now that we have begun to define conscious media, the question becomes what does the science actually say about how it affects us. I pulled from six decades of studies across psychology, neuroscience, and media theory. What's striking is that they're all pointing in the same direction. Your brain responds to stories the same way it responds to real life. The research shows media shapes how you see the world, what you feel, and even what your body does — and that's true whether you're choosing what you watch or not. This is the foundation for everything that comes next.
About the show.
Convos About Conscious Media With Kia is a guided expedition into the conscious media landscape — solo episodes on research, ideas, and what I'm learning, plus conversations with filmmakers, festival programmers, distributors, audience members, and the experts shaping this category from the inside. As the episode count grows, we will collectively discover what conscious media is. All of its facets and nuances. Not because anyone handed you a definition. Because we built it together.
To WATCH or LISTEN to Episode 2 now:
📰 Read + listen on Substack: https://consciousmediaconvos.substack.com
▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLteYY59Nqs
🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-are-you-turning-on-the-science-of-how-media-affects-us/id1895996762?i=1000776043719
Also on iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music — see all platforms at consciousmediaconvos.com
To Join the Community:
Follow on Instagram, Facebook & TikTok → @consciousmediaconvos
Follow on X → @cmediaconvos
Follow on LinkedIn → @consciousmedia-convos
About the company.
Many of you signed up for the Conscious Media Visionaries email list years ago — back in the late 2010s, when CMV was running events and panels and gathering the early version of this community. Then, around 2020, I went quiet. The world cracked open, and so did I. I took time to listen for what this company actually wanted to become, instead of forcing the version I'd been pushing.
Six years later — different vision, clearer purpose, much bigger plans. CMV is back, and it's evolving into something I think you're going to want to see. The full unveiling will come over the next few months. Convos is the first public step.
And one more thing — if you have a few minutes, there's a short founding audience survey waiting for you. It sounds like you might already be one of the people I'm building this for. I read every response personally. Come tell me who you are and what you care about. There is a little breadcrumb there you might enjoy… it is a wonderful life, isn't it?
→ Take the Founders Survey consciousmediaconvos.com
I'm so glad you're here for this!
— Kia Kiso-Brennan
P.S. You may have known me as Kia Kiso — same person, updated name (now Kia Kiso-Brennan). Thirty years of credits live under both.