person
also known as Hoffman
The Yippie activist and author. Bob tells a single anecdote about him: writing his own media book around 1968, Hoffman phoned McLuhan for advice and got only the repeated line "the medium is the message." New to it — start with dialogue 27.
Across the dialogues
27
Enters through a single anecdote — the 1968 phone call in which McLuhan stonewalls the counterculture activist with nothing but "the medium is the message"
Bob frames Hoffman as a counterculture peer reaching for McLuhan's authority while composing his own media book — the setup for McLuhan's non-answer.
"He calls up McLuhan to get some advice as he was writing his media book."Bob Dobbs, The Resonant Interval, Dialogue 27 (24 Jun 2021), 1:38:28
McLuhan's stonewalling of Hoffman — answering every question with "the medium is the message" — is read by Bob as deliberate rudeness that enacts the maxim rather than explaining it.
"He just kept repeating the medium is a message to Hoffman all through the phone call."Bob Dobbs, The Resonant Interval, Dialogue 27 (24 Jun 2021), 1:38:38
Connections
sought advice fromMarshall McLuhan
Around 1968, writing his media book, Hoffman phoned McLuhan, who answered only by repeating "the medium is the message."