This e-Special Issue of Theory, Culture & Society focuses on the German media theorist Friedrich Kittler's (1943–2011) impact across the field of humanities. By including Kittler's own texts and other scholars’ articles that continue or comment on Kittler's work, the editors have sought to address the core aspects of Kittler's provocative insights into how media technologies underpin our cultural formations. The editorial introduction sets out key sections on technology, aesthetics, ontology and epistemology, identified as the significant axes where Kittler opens up traditional notions of art and humanities. The sections also develop a common theme having to do with a media material understanding of aesthetics and philosophical determinations of the concept of media from Ancient Greeks to computational culture.