How can one media be seen to influence another? This week, I'm looking at this issue for our Teachers' Strategy Guide for the unit "Adaptations and Translations." This unit focuses particularly on the transmedia properties of both Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick, and a modern theatrical remix of this story, "Moby Dick: Then and Now" created by the Mixed Magic Theatre in Pawtucket, RI. In general, the NML skills (as discussed in our NML whitepaper) we are focusing on in this unit are appropriation and transmedia navigation.

Though I'm a passive fan, at best, of the British alterna-band Radiohead, I've recently been following their creative efforts with great interest. I was intrigued by their decision last year to offer up their most recent album, In Rainbows, through a "pay-what-you-want" system--meaning fans could download the album and decide how much to pay for it. (According to media reports, the majority of fans chose to pay nothing; the average payment from the remainder came in far below the typical royalty payment of $12-$15 per album.)