Props if you know that very Millennial reference! We’re here to talk about Gen-Z and what it’s like to be a teenager in this screwy world. And by “we”, I mean me and my very special guest: Mike. Like all pundits worth their salt, when I want people to know more about the plight of today’s youth, I ask the only youth I know well. Yes that’s right: today I’ve put on my Mr. Dad hat. Enjoy the interview!

(Note: if you think you hear knuckles cracking at one point, you are not imagining things! Sorry I wasn’t able to clean up in post… 😄)

We need better stories. The “Hero’s Journey” isn’t going to help us. No plucky band of rebels is going to land a blow and take the fascists out in one punch. The cycle of Republic vs Evil Empire will continue forever—unless we break that cycle. Our imaginations and our ideas must expand.

Deep thoughts as I watch through the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale and ruminate on the ever provocative words of Jessie Gender on the nature of modern storytelling.

As Fern, the protagonist of Nomadland (an incredible award-winning film), says: I’m not homeless, I’m houseless. There is a difference!

So, I said in the last episode of Fresh Fusion that I was getting ready to move, and also travel a lot. When I didn’t say was that my traveling a lot would be happening after moving out…and before moving in! 😅

Listen as I explain my four reasons why I’ve made this major lifestyle change to downsize, cram a bunch o’ things into storage, and hit the road.

I’m a ramblin’ guy, I’m ramblin’ ramblin’ ram…BLIN’!

Just like Steve Martin apparently, I’ll be ramblin’ around a lot this year, so it’s time to take my mobile workspace seriously and bid adeiu to being tethered to a desktop Mac (and, well, macOS in general). How will I get things done while I’m on the road? Who knows—I mean, yes, this episode will explain everything!

Update: the original published MP3 was missing chapter markers. Had to wrangle with Ferrite a bit more, but this version should be working now! 😅

(Note: I want to provide a Trigger Warning as this episode contains examples of hate speech targeted at LGBTQ+ people and women. Take care of yourselves, and proceed with understanding.)

It’s 2025 y’all, and everything’s going great so far! 😜 But seriously, I have some good news to report (really, I do!) even while expressing my supreme frustration that yet another commercial social media platform has proven itself to be absolutely terrible, the broligarchy is in full swing, and there are no good billionaires. Thankfully, we can exercise our freedom of association by refusing to entertain these clowns or have anything to do with their gross and unsafe platforms.

It’s that time of year again in the U.S. of A.—time to take stock of where we’ve been and find all of the silver linings. And it’s time for this podcaster to geek out over some very special blessings, from weird quirky indie horror films to weird quirky indie web browsers as well as weird quirky indie…OK, I think you get the idea. 😄 Also some thoughts on why there’s value in staying engaged in local politics even when national elections are a source of undying gloom. And guess what? Yearly intentions work! But enough about me. What are you thankful for this holiday season?

Why has the mood changed so suddenly on Threads? How has Meta dropped the ball at this pivotal moment for the nascent social network? Meanwhile, other social networks and the Fediverse as a whole are kicking some serious ass. It’s a real shift in a short amount of time from just earlier in the summer, and I’m here to talk all about it…and how much I just love Mastodon 4.3 + Tangerine UI 2.0. 😍

It’s the summer of our content, as we take time to enjoy the great outdoors and spend quality moments IRL with friends and family.

At least, that’s what I’ve been doing, as well as making structural changes in my day-to-day such as a studio move and an email newsletter move from ConvertKit to Buttondown. But even as the sun is shining and the birds are singing, what’s happening on social media right now is…weird. And I’m not sure how to feel about it.

Like, what IS going on with the Fediverse anyway? And should we all just hold our Meta-scarred noses and embrace Threads now? Hmm. Let’s talk about that.

Some people say that RIVEN: The Sequel to MYST is the greatest computer game of all time. (That’s me. I say that.)

Perhaps YMMV. But there’s no doubt that Riven is the G.O.A.T. of puzzle adventure games as pioneered in the 1990s, and this year we’re blessed with the tremendous opportunity to fall in love with Riven all over again, as Cyan has developed and published a modern remake in glorious real-time 3D. I am, quite simply, obsessed. Here’s why you should be too.

I’ve often found that most of the people out there who have genuine talent and real success are more than happy to pass their well-founded wisdom on to others. Unfortunately, those experts who have a proven track record, having made predictive claims grounded in reality over time, are often not the popular figures in our society. With alarming frequency, many “influencers” with high follower counts are fairly good at one thing: influencing…not the actual topics they claim to understand based on real-world expertise. Let’s discuss.