- UNC Business Professor Mark McNeilly

What is it like to write a song for George Straight? Or for Luke Bryan? Or for Carrie Underwood? You’ll hear that story in next week’s podcast episode. Subscribe to the channel here to see it as soon as it’s released. But first…

Mark McNeilly is Professor of the Practice of Marketing at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, the co-chair of the UNC Generative AI Committee, a fellow at Jonathan Haidt’s Heterodox Academy, and cares deeply about academic freedom.

He also bans all devices in his classroom. (I do too.)

So I was thrilled when he agreed to come on the podcast for an episode.

​

I was first introduced to Mark through his posts on X. His emphasis on freedom of speech and academic freedom grabbed my attention. Since then, Mark’s leadership position as co-chair of the UNC Generative AI Committee also puts him in regular conversations about the role of AI in education.

As someone in the trenches in higher education, I was eager to hear what insight he could offer into what I believe is one of the most potentially catastrophic changes to education in human history.

I also wanted to get Mark’s take on how marketing and branding has changed with technology over the past decade or so. I never took a business or marketing class, and yet as someone who merely wants to extend my teaching to the broader public, I find myself in this strange (to me) world of so-called “creators” who focus intensely on follower count, sales funnels, click-to-open ratios, lead magnets, and a seemingly infinite stack of digital tools (pun intended). The reality is that you, dear reader, are bombarded 24/7 by millions who merely seek to increase the number in their attention bank account in this attention economy. Any genuine desire to engage in broader, public education puts those efforts, like it or not, in competition with digital snake oil salesmen armed with big budgets and mind-hacking tactics. But that's a post for another time.

So I’m grateful to Mark for sharing his expertise, and I hope you enjoy learning from him, too.

Until next time.

Jared

Missed a week?

You can access all previous newsletters on my Creator Profile here.

I am an affiliate of Kit, the newsletter service I use to send this out weekly. If you are interested in creating your own newsletter, I couldn't recommend it more highly. Click here to get started using my affiliate link!

If you like listening to just audio in the car, on a run, or while you're supposed to be working, subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode:

If you like watching the conversation, subscribe, and the latest episode will show up in your feed. (Extra credit: like whatever videos you watch if you genuinely like what you're hearing.)

Take a sec to follow me on your favorite social platform:​

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246

This email contains affiliate links, which means I’ll earn commission on any purchases made through my link. This supports me to keep making content for you!​
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​