The "algorithm" is not a new concept, nor is the moral panic of automation and technology out of control. However, in recent years, a critical research tradition has emerged, highlighting the social and political dimensions of algorithms. This tradition argues that contemporary use of automated (algorithm-based) systems to produce, consume, store, mediate and organize social life, engenders essential shifts in the concept of culture and in political thought. This seminar will explore these arguments through the growing body of research on algorithmic culture and critical algorithms studies, focusing on examples from everyday life and the media. We shall focus on perceptions, discourses and images of algorithms to explore their place in contemporary culture from the point of view of coders, publics, and "the powers that be".