The Future is Local: What I'm Reading / Watching / Listening to Right Now

Some "prosocial" media recommendations for Fall / Winter 2023

For the past couple of years on this newsletter, I’ve spilled quite a bit of e-ink discussing the folly of treating social media as a “town square,” instead of a “third place.”

In case you missed it, here’s the gist of it:

Think of your last conference call that involved more than a few people, with no agreed upon format or agenda, and with at least one obnoxious, attention-seeking individual on the call. Think of how annoying and counterproductive it was.

Now, imagine a conference call where everyone in the world is speaking to everyone else in the world, all at once.  Raise the amount of obnoxious attention-seekers by a few orders of magnitude — and just for fun, introduce an additional population of bots (or humans behaving like bots) that parrot nonstop, cult-like declarations of fealty to various political groups during the call.

This is — to use social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt’s apt description — the uniquely stupid version of social media discourse that has been guiding society for the past decade. I spent the better part of 2022 detailing this stupidity (here’s one on comment culture, one on politicians, and one on the media).

Today’s letter, however, is an optimistic one about the future of social media (*cue either the “record scratch” sound effect or the “blinking guy” GIF, depending on your generation*).

Here in 2023, cozy “third place” alternatives to the increasingly combative “town square” models of social media are not only widely available, but thriving. Platforms like Substack are attracting talented writers by offering platforms that de-emphasize reach and re-emphasize depth. Online community platforms like Discord are attracting hobbyists and fandoms that wish to share niche interests without interruption from spammers and trolls. Even the major social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are now adapting to this new paradigm, offering enhanced privacy and moderation tools and the ability to limit sharing with a curated group of close friends. 

As more individuals migrate from the Big Tech panopticon to smaller, niche communities, social media is starting to become…well, social again.

We’re not out of the woods yet — especially with TikTok’s algorithm-on-steroids now delivering propaganda to young minds — but the seeds for a better, more sane approach to the medium are being planted.

Town square? Who cares. The Future is Local.

To mark this inflection point, I want to use this post to highlight a few individuals that are doing excellent work in various niches; work that is adding real value to the world and exemplifying the kind of life-enriching content that is possible when the poor incentive structures of “town hall” social media is removed from the equation. 

Following these podcasts, writers, and content curators has made my inbox so much more enjoyable and thought-provoking, and I know that many of you will similarly appreciate their contributions. . .

My Fall / Winter 2023 Picks: 

Founders Podcast - for the best book reports you will ever hear:

Of all the podcasts I send my friends, this podcast hosted by David Senra is the most-liked one, by a wide margin. It’s also the most no-frills of podcasts: there are no guests, no music, no discussion of current events. In fact, each episode is essentially a book report (remember those from high school?).

The magic is in the execution. Senra has an unparalleled passion for studying history’s greatest entrepreneurs, and this passion comes through in such a palpable way that you can’t help but feel energized after listening. It is an obvious recommendation for anyone with even a passing interest in starting a business, but I’m certain that the outlandish tales and larger-than-life personalities behind each famous success story will make this a fun listen for even the least business-minded of us. All of the episodes are worth your time, but here’s a particularly inspiring one on James Dyson that I listened to multiple times.

In the spirit of the founders he studies, Senra himself has found a niche market and has gone on to become the absolute best in the world at what he does.

Epsilon Theory - for a refuge from the Narrative Wars.

Ben Hunt is a financial writer with the soul of an artist, and his publication / online community, Epsilon Theory is one of the best examples of what I like to call prosocial media: it is a true online “Third Place,” brimming with ideas on how we might navigate this time of polarization and tech-driven accelerationism. Perhaps most telling, it also features an extraordinarily civil comment section. If you ever find yourself fed up with being told (or, more commonly, “nudged”) how to think about things, ET will help you regain your autonomy of mind.

Ben's own writing career ostensibly began with the goal of examining our modern, narrative-driven markets through a multi-layered lens of game theory, history, and pop culture references — but as it turns out, turning this powerful lens on anything — news, politics, AI — yields some spectacular results. His style of writing is extraordinarily unique, even creating his own lexicon of terms to describe modern phenomena — e.g. “widening gyre” to describe today’s ruinous political polarization and “fiat news” to describe the similarly awful trend of opinion masquerading as fact in major publications. Here’s one of my favorite evergreen pieces he has written, “Clever Hans”.

Kyla Scanlon - for one of the most thoughtful young voices of today.

The simple pitch here is that Kyla Scanlon is helping her fellow members of Gen Z understand economics by utilizing the platforms that they frequent most. The more interesting pitch is that Kyla Scanlon is simultaneously helping older adults understand Gen Z.

Kyla is an extraordinarily gifted and prolific 26 year-old, and she’s just beginning to come into her own as an inspired-yet-measured voice for the younger generation. For starters, I recommend her Substack, which seamlessly blends personal reflections with discussions of economic theory, internet culture, literature, and more. If you find yourself bewildered by Gen Z’s standards and norms (and realistically, who isn’t?), there is no better path to understanding their unprecedented challenges in the world today than to read Kyla’s work. Here’s one example: “Gen Z and Financial Nihilism.”

Doomberg - for reality-based discussions on energy, economics, and how stuff gets made.

The pseudonymous writer (writers?) of this popular Substack has a Richard Feynman-like gift for summing up complex scientific and economic issues in plain speak, and their dictum “Energy is life” similarly sums up this excellent publication pretty well.

The world is entering a perilous transitional time: we must reduce our dependency on finite fossil fuels, while simultaneously coming up with truly viable alternatives to provide baseload power to a global population of 8 billion people. As a challenge with extraordinary consequences, this topic demands serious, reality-based analysis—and not just the platitudes and magical thinking that is so often doled to us by politicians and influencers. Here’s hoping Doomberg can help tip the scales towards reality. For starters: Where Stuff Comes From.

Daily Stoic - for some extra resilience to help you face the day.

Whiz kid author Ryan Holiday gives readers a daily dose of perspective in these free emails highlighting the timeless wisdom of Stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus. Like David Senra’s Founders, Holiday’s passion for the subject is unmatched; he is credited with popularizing the ancient philosophy that emphasizes acceptance of the inevitable ups and downs of life among Silicon Valley elite during the 2010s, and now interviews notable guests about their application of Stoic principles on his podcast.

The emails are brief, yet brimming with wisdom gleaned from historical anecdotes, and serve equally well as food for meditation or as a palette cleanser in the midst of a stressful day.

Cultish Creative - for the ultimate “rabbit hole” tour guide:

It took me years to learn that my friend Matt has been writing an excellent daily note on a wide array of topics as part of a personal archiving project, and I’m glad to see that he is finally putting it out there for others to follow. If your goal is to be the most interesting and well-rounded conversationalist at this year’s holiday party, there is no surer path to victory than to subscribe to Cultish Creative.

Matt’s writing is perennially upbeat and inspiring, and his curation is guaranteed to lead you down some fascinating rabbit holes. The range of topics is impressively vast; he covers everything from music to business to literature to overlooked Gen X cultural touchstones. Here’s one example.

Live from Emmet’s Place - for the ultimate jazz living room concert series

NYC jazz pianist Emmet Cohen isn’t just a critically-acclaimed recording artist and bandleader; he’s also responsible for building a platform that is bringing the jazz community into the digital age by continuing a tradition from jazz’s past.

In 1920s Harlem, stride pianists shared their musical innovations and engaged in a bit of friendly competition at lively “rent parties” — informal social gatherings thrown to raise money for tenants to pay their rent. In 2020s Harlem, Emmet Cohen revived this tradition by hosting livestream jazz concerts out of his apartment, as a way to help his fellow musicians replace their lost work during the pandemic. Since then, Live From Emmet’s Place has hosted everyone from rising-star Grammy Award winners to bonafide jazz legends, while attracting a worldwide community of fans that tune into every broadcast. It’s both a return to the roots of jazz innovation, and a bridge into the future.

. . . . . .

*As a bonus, here’s one documentary pick (because I love a good documentary!):

The Century Of The Self - for Mad Men meets Brave New World, in documentary form.

I’m embarrassed that it took me this long to discover the work of British filmmaker, Adam Curtis. However, that embarrassment is tempered by the excitement of learning that he has over a dozen films that I have still to watch, having completed this excellent docuseries. The Century Of The Self details how the novel ideas of Sigmund Freud and his nephew, Edward Bernays gave birth to the modern advertising and public relations industries — and were later co-opted by governments around the world to influence and control their citizenry. Curtis’ distinctive filmmaking style features a collage of historical footage punctuated by placid interviews, set to a “space age” soundtrack by Raymond Scott that lends a complementary air of happy automaton to the proceedings. It is thought-provoking and impeccably done, and the entire film is available to watch here.

Lastly, I’ll indulge in a bit of shameless self-promotion for an in-person Fall pick that was designed with this same spirit of community in mind: our Postmodern Jukebox Fall Tour, which is currently in the southwest United State and heading east. 

My goal with each and every Postmodern Jukebox tour is to deliver a show that unites and inspires audiences of every generation, through a pairing of the classic music styles of the past with the phenomenal talent of today. There’s no cynicism, no corporate pandering, and no “rock star” egos; only an amazingly talented troupe of singers, dancers and instrumentalists singing the song of mythology by creating a beautiful world of goodwill and appreciation to share with our audiences for the night. If this is an experience that interests you, check out our complete list of tour dates here. Be sure to let me know what you think of the show afterwards!

For those unable to attend: don’t worry, we are also building a virtual library of videos to bring the PMJ experience to a screen (or a nice pair of headphones) near you! Here’s our latest retro remake, starring Memphis-born Kyndle Wylde:

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!

-Scott