This from Jésabel DC at Config 2026 (this quote at the 1:08 mark):

“Technology wasn’t better in the early 2000s because designers were more ethical or more thoughtful. It was better because they hadn’t yet be handed the business model that rewarded trapping the user.”

She says “in the early 2000s the internet was a place you visited,” and then you went on with your day. I like to say that I just want to visit the internet, I don’t want to live there.

I was asked recently on a podcast interview what I’m running from in regards to social media, and I’m not sure I gave the best answer but I’m still thinking about it (which is why we appear on podcasts and face questions we’ve never been asked before in real time).

But I guess I’m running from one thing – the idea the social media is neutral, when it’s in fact user-hostile, designed and built by people with multiple vacation homes ensuring I spend hours everyday scrolling, engaging, and filling my head with every last drop of drama, turmoil, atrocity, and outrage.

That’s what I’m running from, I suppose. As Jésabel DC says, I am running from “the business model that (rewards) trapping the user.”

From Seth Godin, on how being a bad boss to ourselves can limit our potential.

When we have the world’s worst boss, it’s no surprise that our work isn’t filling us with anything. The talk inside our head — the story we’re telling ourselves — undermines all of it.

We can find a friend or a group, start a circle, to change the way our boss talks to us. Because if there was a boss like that in the real world, you would never work for them. And you shouldn’t work for yourself if you’re undermining yourself that way.

Echoing Priya Parker, of course, this leans towards group help, instead of “self help.”

You can read all the Seth Godin (or Mel Robins) books in the world, but the breakthroughs and the magic happen in a group, with like minded people, where you can be safe and vulnerable and care for one another.

It’s risky, which is why so many people scoff at the idea. But then again, that’s exactly what a horrible boss would tell you.

In our “WHY HAVEN’T YOU STARTED THE THING YET?” Escape Pod video call last week, a common thread is the question of “do I want to do this, or is it just thing I SHOULD do?”

“Should I start a newsletter?”
“Should I update my website?”

We need to ask better questions.

Who is this for? Who does it serve?

Asking “would the people who enjoy my work like to know about my art show next month?”
“Would the people who might hire me like to have current online portfolio to look at and a clear way to contact me?”

Start with clarity, then start.

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Join our next “WHY HAVEN’T YOU STARTED THE THING YET?” call, on Monday, July 13 from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT. Register here, pay what you want starting at $3.

Emma Gannon, in a piece titled “My honest thoughts about Substack,” wrote about being on a panel at SXSW London last year:

“I was asked a question about ‘growth’. I said I was more interested in maintaining what I have. The audience looked disappointed. They wanted me to say something about growth. They wanted hard growth statistics, a neat formula for selling to advertisers. I had no tips or hacks, apart from: I write a lot.”

Sure, you could be all, “that’s easy for Emma Gannon to say, she already has 80,000 subscribers!”

But she got there by paying attention to those first 10, 100, 1000. You aren’t gifted 80,000 subscribers without first feeling what it’s like writing to 8,000 people. There are mistakes you make and lessons you learn on your way to 10,000. I think she’s been at this for like 15 years, too. Come on, people. This takes time.

The allure is growth, of course. The rush of 100 new subscribers is real! It’s sexy! But maybe it’s a better use of your time to maintain what you have.

I dare you to write a personal email to one of your people. Not a marketing email, or an invite to an event, but a genuine note. A follow up from a conversation you had a month ago. Or kudos for a job well done.

Maintain what you have, or you might not have it for long.

I left NYC on July 31, 2010 on my single speed bike with my laptop and a few belongings in my messenger bag. On that day I rode from Brooklyn, up to the George Washington Bridge, then down to Rutherford, NJ, some 27 miles or so.

There was a time of planning, researching, and asking questions, but then my lease was ending and I had a job I could do remotely, so I just got rid of all my stuff and hit the road. I did this for about two years before heading home when my mom got sick.

(more…)

I use Luma to manage our weekly Escape Pod Zoom calls. Recently, me and some other people have had problems with some of the links in their reminder emails. We’d click, and the page would time out.

Turns out Luma recently switched their short links from o.lu.ma to luma.link, and my wireless router software (Plume) started blocking this new short link, and I didn’t even know!

After a few emails back and forth with Luma, they got me looking in the right direction and it’s fixed, so major high fives to them! I’ve been using Luma since I started hosting my own Zoom calls back in 2023, and I think they’re fantastic.

If appearing on camera freaks you out, take inspiration from this video “how we shoot brand photography for AG1” from FLOWERS.

Now, yes of course, making a video like this takes some work. The editing! The text! Not to mention the super amazing footage featured throughout. But, friends – that wasn’t their first time making a video.

We all start somewhere.

A friend wanted to know how I made coffee, so I shot some footage, edited it together (I use ScreenFlow), added some of my own background music and narration, and that’s it. I’m not uploading it to YouTube, or featuring it on my website, but I made a video. It did the job.

This wasn’t my first video. I’ve been making videos for many years, with various projects, but nothing consistent in recent years.

So try making a video for one person, as the stakes are much lower. You’ve got ideas, concepts, lessons to teach, and putting them out into the world as video will probably make the world a better place, or at least help a friend make a good cup of coffee.

Join our upcoming Zoom calls talking about this, titled “WHY HAVEN’T YOU STARTED THE THING YET?” We’ll talk about what’s holding us back, face the fears, and maybe come away with a new found determination to finally start the thing you’ve been talking about starting.

Thursday, July 9 from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT – REGISTER → https://luma.com/eyar9u7n
Monday, July 13 from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT- REGISTER → https://luma.com/c1166375

A question came my way via Substack Notes (sorry, I lost the link):

I love the idea of working “personal.” From a songwriting lens it’s always been a rule that too personal then others can’t relate. However, with so much content now and like Mr. Banhazl said “the democratization” makes content, whatever form, music being mine, makes it all seem so generic and muddied together? What’s your take?

Here’s my thoughts:

• Rules are meant to be broken
• Don’t make content
• Don’t make generic music (everyone else can do that)
• Every major artist that you know about started out with one fan, then three, then five… no shortcuts.
• Make the music that rings true for you.
• Don’t force yourself into tiny boxes.
• You can be at least one person’s favorite artist.

The allure is real, the possibility that you can post a song and “everyone” loves it. But this happens very rarely, so don’t stake your career on it. As Seth Godin says,

The goal of reaching the masses is rarely compatible with the math of the long tail. Someone is going to win that lottery, but it probably won’t be us.”

For some people, the mass produced, hyper targeted, synthetically created music is good enough. You’re probably not looking to be in that world, so create for the world you want to inhabit.