WTF do you have to say?

In this episode, I catch up with one of my oldest friends—someone who has never joined social media. No Facebook. No Instagram. Just a few digital breadcrumbs from AIM to Livejournal, and trailing off at MySpace.

We talk about what it means to reject the feed entirely, especially when the world feels like it’s cracking open. Topics include:

• spiritual death and mental decay
• her refusal to “log on” and lurk scroll
• the psychic toll of being hyper-online during socio-economic freefall
• the fatigue of constant social listening
• and the existential crises we curate like content

She stayed off. I stayed in. And now we’re here, trying to make sense of the ruins.

None of us is leaving here alive. But maybe we can laugh about it before we go.

Books

1. Wintering by Katherine May
   • A meditation on fallow seasons in life and spiritual death/rebirth cycles.
   • Link to book
2. Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander
   • A satirical cultural commentary mentioned during the Facebook vs. MySpace discussion.
   • Link to book
3. We Will Not Cancel Us by adrienne maree brown
   • A short book about radical compassion and transformative justice, tied to pleasure activism.
   • Link to book
4. Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown
   • Mentioned indirectly as the book that expands on pleasure activism.
   • Link to book

Podcasts

1. Horror Queers
   • A podcast that analyzes horror films through a queer lens.
   • Link to podcast
2. How Did This Get Made?
   • A podcast that hilariously dissects bizarre or bad movies.
   • Link to podcast

Websites & Platforms

1. Letterboxd
   • Social platform for film lovers to review and share film ratings and critiques.
2. Goodreads
   • A social cataloging site for book tracking, reviews, and recommendations.
3. Yoga With Adriene
   • YouTube yoga channel that became popular during the pandemic.

Media Mentions

• The Doors – Referenced as a formative musical influence.
• Led Zeppelin – Mentioned in relation to an IMAX documentary experience.
• The Office (TV Show) – Used as a mental palate cleanser.
• The Godfather – Referenced multiple times (“go to the mattresses” and “leave the gun, take the cannoli”).

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