5 days agoMember-onlyNarcissus ShruggedLess self-love. — The clock is ticking loudly. The plant is fake. A print of a Monet hangs to the man’s left; That footbridge one. A woman gazes at him; her expression is a mixture of care and professional distance. “What’s going on this week?” she says, gathering herself around her notepad. The…3 min read3 min read
Nov 27Member-onlyWriters: mind plumbersWriters fix the inner pipes. — I went to a Halloween party in LA. One girl dressed as the blue Care Bear. “I have a God complex,” she told me with a midwest earnestness that bordered on miraculous. “…either that or I hate myself.” What a creative way to accidentally admit you’re a narcissist. It’s not…Writing2 min readWriting2 min read
Nov 13Member-onlyRunning down antelopeThe uniqueness of human persistence — A human can chase down an antelope, which can run 60 mph. In a town of 2000 people somewhere deep in Louisiana, I’m listening to people tell stories for a radio show called This American Life. I toss a trash bag in a dumpster behind my family’s convenience store. …Persistence4 min readPersistence4 min read
Nov 8Member-onlyInvite death into your homeWhy your happiness depends on a close relationship with death. — September 11th, 2001, in New York City, a man is taking his stack of cassettes and transferring them to his PC. The precious cassettes are almost 30 years old, and the glue that holds the magnetic tape will degrade soon. He can hear pocks and distortions in the audio, but…Music3 min readMusic3 min read
Oct 31Member-onlyPsychedelic sci-fi is predicting the futureHow our collective imagination looks forward. — When I was thirteen, my older brother breathlessly explained the famous opening scene of A Brave New World. He was reading it in school and was gripped by it. “In the future, everybody will grow in test tubes! Bureaucrats will determine your social status before your birth!” I couldn’t tell…Science Fiction4 min readScience Fiction4 min read
Published in The Startup·Oct 24Member-onlyThe storyteller’s paradoxWho tells the storyteller stories? We need stories like we need food, and Dan Harmon, the creator of Rick and Morty, has figured out how to make Cheetos. But what happens when you make a factory farm out of the mystic art of storytelling? If you use storytelling for only…Storytelling5 min readStorytelling5 min read
Published in The Startup·Oct 18Member-onlySeizures for DostoyevskyWhat a Russian writer’s epilepsy teaches us about storytelling. — I’ve been camping all weekend, and I’m exhausted. I finally get home, back to my bedroom, decorated with posters of stars and dinosaurs. I’m twelve; it’s time to “adult” up my room before my friends start making fun of me. I collapse in my bed. It’s only 5 pm, but…Storytelling6 min readStorytelling6 min read
Published in Curious·Oct 15Member-onlyMyths will save the worldLet’s talk about the elephant in our collective unconscious. — I’m sitting in the auditorium of my high school. Only 35 kids are in my sophomore class. The building was once a Civil War hospital. The room is 200 years old; the windows have had enough time to “melt” slightly. They distort the magnolia trees outside. In small-town Louisiana, a…Mythology6 min readMythology6 min read
Published in The Startup·Oct 11Member-onlyStories exist because of a bizarre mathematical conceptNo story is complete enough to end all stories. — Imagine stories are your car. You and I are driving around in our parent’s car. It’s not a bad metaphor (trust me) since stories are how we get around. Human beings can’t even see without a story guiding our perceptions. Most stories are ancient. …Storytelling7 min readStorytelling7 min read
Published in The Startup·Oct 4Member-onlyThe slow, stupid death of storytellingThere is a secret war to keep us from creating. — When I was a boy, I used to run around in the woods of Louisiana with my nephew, making up stories about how God had been broken into pieces by the devil, and we had to find the parts. It was really fun for both of us, and it’s an…Storytelling6 min readStorytelling6 min read
