Hi! My name is Mike Rugnetta. I’m a writer, host and producer of digital series (videos, podcasts, &c). I’m also a sound designer and audio engineer. As of 2024, I work primarily as a freelance producer of podcasts for technology and media companies. I also consult as an audience, development and digital marketing strategist; I run qualitative, creator- and media-focused research studies; I work on a few of my own shows, listed briefly below, and covered in more detail elsewhere on this site.
My personal interests are in the arts, media, technology, contemporary politics and the distribution of power reflected in, and resulting from, those things. I’m fascinated by audiences, and pop culture as a site of political negotiation. I’m a longtime tabletop role player. By training I’m a composer of music, and programmer of computers. My first career was as a sound designer for theater and A\V systems designer for performance art.
If you’d like to drop me a line, here is my email address. I’d love to hear from you (yes, you can hire me, and yes, I’d love to be on your podcast, speak to your students, etc).
Currently, I work on the following series:
- Never Post (ongoing)
- Fun City (ongoing)
- Reasonably Sound (occasional)
- Think Twice (occasional)
- RIP Corp (ongoing)
You can also see me in:
- Crash Course: World Mythology (limited)
- Crash Course: Theater (limited)
- Idea Channel (concluded)
Expand for a (partial) list of things I’ve done…
I have performed or given talks at:
- 3rd Ward: Brooklyn, New York
- 20 Greene: New York
- Bennington College: Bennington, VT
- BYU, Media and Theater Department: Provo, UT
- The Center for Performance Research: New York
- The Chocolate Factory Theater: New York
- Caveat NYC
- Columbia University: New York
- Cybera 2013: Banff, AB
- Dance New Amsterdam: New York
- Danspace at St. Mark’s Church: New York
- FIT (The Open Video Conference): New York
- Gaite Lyrique: Paris, France
- Gene Frankel Theatre: New York
- Governor’s Island Building 110, LMCC: New York
- HERE Arts Center: New York
- Hackers on Planet Earth, 9 : New York
- International Center for Photography: New York
- IgniteNYC X (Web 2.0 Conference): New York
- Judson Memorial Church: New York
- The Kitchen: New York
- Lincoln Center: New York
- Mass MoCA: North Adams, MA
- MIT (ROFLCon II): Cambridge, MA
- Mt. Tremper Arts: Mt. Tremper, NY
- New York University: New York
- NXNEi 2014: Toronto, ON
- Social Media Week Sao Paulo: Sao Paulo, Brazil
- TEDx Vienna
- The Walker Center for the Arts: Minneapolis, MN
- The Wexner Art Center: Columbus, OH
- Wild Project Theater: New York
- Weiden+Kennedy (ROFLCon Summit): Portland, OR
- WOMAD: Adelaide, Australia
- XOXO 2013, 2016: Portland, OR
- Yale University: New Haven, CT
Consulting and Production clients have included:
- Adobe
- American Public Media / MPR
- Atlas Obscura
- BBC America
- Cycling ’74
- Duolingo
- The Future of Storytelling
- IBM
- Longreads / Automattic
- Morningstar Inc.
- PBS Digital Studios
- PBS National
- Vine / Twitter
- YouTube
I’ve been on panels for:
- MIT (ROFLCon II): Cambridge, MA
- Phoenix Comicon 2014 – 2015: Pheonix, AZ
- Playlist LIVE! 2013: Orlando, FL
- VidCon 2012 – 2016: Anaheim, California
- Web 2.0 Expo 2011: San Francisco
- Weiden+Kennedy (ROFLCon Summit): Portland, OR
- and others
and guest lectured at:
- College of Staten Island
- Hunter College
- New York University
- SUNY Purchase
I have made things for shows at:
- The Ailey-Citigroup Theater: New York
- The Baryshnikov Art Center: New York
- CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art: San Francisco, CA
- The Chocolate Factory Theatre: Queens, NY
- Dance New Amsterdam: New York
- Danspace at St. Mark’s Church: New York
- HERE Arts Cetner: New York
- Mass MoCA: North Adams, MA
- Old New England Gallery, Oakland CA
and live mix engineered at:
- Areté Brooklyn
- The Bowery Ballroom
- The Chocolate Factory
- HERE Art Center
- Le Poisson Rouge
- Mass MoCA
- Mercury Lounge
- Public Assembly (formerly Galapagos)
- The warehouse @ studio 153, Redhook
- Wild Project
- The Workshop Theatre
I have received grants / residencies from:
- 3rd Ward
- Bennington College Student Endowment for the Arts
- Bennington College Theater Department
- John Hendricks Memorial Composition Fund, Bennington College
- The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
- Mass MoCA
- Mt. Tremper Arts
I have taught MaxMSP and/or Digital Arts at:
- 3rd Ward
- Bennington College
- New York University (Steinhardt)
- The Stephens Institute of Technology
I’ve been on:
- Radio
- As it Happens, Thursday, March 25, 2010
- On the Media, Friday, Nov. 6, 2010
- Ask Me Another, Friday, April. 12th, 2013
- The Kojo Show, Tuesday, Jan 27, 2015