Other Life

Other Life episodes:

• 03.04.2024

  Don't Be a Slave: Nietzsche on Philosophy and Slavery

  For references, see Nietzsche on the Pride of the Philosopher in Contrast to the Slave ✦ Subscribe to the coolest newsletter in the world https://OtherLife.co ✦ If you're working on independent creative work, join the next cohort of https://IndieThinkers.org

  
• 02.17.2024

  We're Back: On how I fixed the company (a big lesson for independent scholars)

  A personal reflection and update on my 5-year journey to design a new kind of scholarly life for the internet era. In a previous podcast, I shared how the Other Life company hit some hard times. Here I explain what...

  
• 11.30.2023

  we almost just died (and it was great, I think?)

  On muddling through, faith, and the absurdity of pursuing a singular creative vision on the open market... A story about the past few months of Other Life (and the next few). ✦ If you’re in the Los Angeles area, come...

  
• 09.14.2023

  The Rigor of Angels: Kant, Borges, & Heisenberg with William Egginton

  I'm joined by author William Egginton to discuss his new book The Rigor of Angels. We talk Borges, Kant, and Heisenberg—and the big idea(s) they had in common. We discuss the antimonies of knowledge and the possibility that art is...

  
• 08.01.2023

  Ezra Pound: The Solitary Volcano

  We dissect the complex life of Ezra Pound, one of the most interesting and controversial poetic geniuses of the 20th century. You'll gain insight into: Why Pound was so influential, his extraordinary talent-spotting skills, and his knack for turning vibrant...

  
• 07.12.2023

  Literary Outlaw: The Life of William S. Burroughs

  A deep dive into the life of William S. Burroughs based on a close reading of Ted Morgan's 1988 biography, Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs. Burroughs is one of the most independent creative spirits of...

  
• 06.21.2023

  John Kennedy Toole and A Confederacy of Dunces With Dan Baltic

  We discuss the life and times of John Kennedy Toole (1937-1969), the influential author behind the classic novel, A Confederacy of Dunces. We're joined by independent writer Dan Baltic, who teaches us some of the lessons he has learned from...

  
• 06.13.2023

  AI for Writers: Striking a Balance Between Automation and Humanity

  Can artificial intelligence ever truly replace the human mind? In this thought-provoking episode, we explore the delicate balance between embracing AI's power for mechanical tasks, such as summarizing and translating, while preserving the uniquely human elements that make great works...

  
• 06.09.2023

  Ezra Pound: The Curse of Genius

  Why do some incredibly talented individuals never reach their full potential? In today's episode, we dive into the fascinating life of Ezra Pound, a true genius in the realm of language and literature, yet somehow failing to make the lasting...

  
• 06.02.2023

  Write for Yourself and Yourself Alone

  In this episode, we explore the principle of writing for oneself and how many of history's greatest writers have operated on this principle. We discuss the importance of writing in a way that pleases only oneself and how sacrificing even...

  
• 05.15.2023

  Vanishing Virility: Understanding the Modern Testosterone Crisis

  Why do 22-year-olds today have the testosterone levels of 67-year-old men from the year 2000? Could it be because high testosterone activities and behaviors are increasingly being criminalized? I dive into the theory that the modern world is contributing to...

  
• 05.10.2023

  Dr. Samuel Johnson: Hustler, Savage, Grifter, Great

  Today we're looking at the life of Dr. Samuel Johnson, an eighteenth-century English critic who embodied the true spirit of self-reliance and perseverance. Despite facing various hardships in his life, Dr. Johnson managed to defy the odds and become one...

  
• 05.02.2023

  Plato Uncovered: Building Influence in the Ancient and Modern World

  What can the ancient philosopher Plato teach us about building a network and thriving in today's intellectual economy? I talk with Alex Petkas, a Princeton PhD in classics, who shares insights on Plato's rise and his brand-building strategies within the...

  
• 03.02.2023

  Oscar Wilde and J.R.R. Tolkien with Paul Fortunato

  Oscar Wilde and J.R.R. Tolkien used consumer culture to create works of art. In this podcast, we try to draw some lessons from their lives. I'm joined by Paul Fortunato, an English professor at the University of Houston Downtown. Paul...

  
• 02.24.2023

  YouTube Radicalization is a Myth with Mark Ledwich

  It's widely believed the YouTube algorithm radicalizes viewers but Mark's research puts this theory to rest. Researcher and longtime member of the Other Life community, Mark Ledwich, has been studying the YouTube algorithm independently for several years. His research has...

  
• 02.04.2023

  Virtue and Excellence: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics with Colin Redemer

  Colin Redemer is a professor at Saint Mary's College of California and VP of the Davenant Institute. This podcast is all about Virtue Ethics and the Aristotelian ethical tradition. Is Virtue Ethics superior to utilitarianism and effective altruism? What is...

  
• 01.22.2023

  The Violent Focus of Francis Bacon

  Some lessons from the life of painter Francis Bacon. I think the unique force and violence of Bacon’s paintings derive partially from the ascetic Lebenswelt he cultivated. Into his small but chaotic atelier, Bacon allowed almost nothing other than painting...

  
• 01.12.2023

  Writing in the Age of Machine Intelligence

  I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about AI this week. I’m especially interested in the implications it will have for writers and the so-called creator economy. Obviously things will change if it becomes nearly free to generate...

  
• 01.06.2023

  Young Balzac: Disordered Knowledge, Strange Student

  I'd like to share with you some biographies of great writers, artists, maybe some inventors—people who represent the other life ethos—people who have produced great work from the fringes, or in weird niches they carved out for themselves in life....

  
• 12.09.2022

  From PhD to LandChad: Digital Sovereignty, Christianity, and IRLmaxxing with Luke Smith (Live at Mansion #3)

  Luke Smith was a PhD student in linguistics before he grew his Youtube channel to 168,000 subscribers—with his unique perspectives on digital, financial, and mental sovereignty. This is the first time he's told his story at length. I invited Luke...

  
• 11.25.2022

  "360 Degree Conviction:" 10 Years of Counterculture with Asher Penn of Sex Magazine

  Asher Penn is the founder and editor of Sex Magazine, now in its 10th year. We talk about the magazine business, how to persist on countercultural projects for the long haul, what's cool and what's not, how to spot underground...

  
• 11.15.2022

  Bad CEX: On FTX and SBF (with The Network Age podcast)

  Subscribe to The Network Age podcast wherever you get your podcasts https://rss.com/podcasts/thenetworkage ~timluc-miptev: https://twitter.com/basileSportif ~nilrun-mardux: https://twitter.com/alephdao ~bichul-ritsen: https://twitter.com/bichulr Recommended reading mentioned https://bichulritsen.substack.com/p/how-to-explain-ftx-to-your-mother https://www.thediff.co/p/money-credit-trust-ftx Other Life ✦ Subscribe to the coolest newsletter in the world https://OtherLife.co ✦ Get a free Urbit ship at https://imperceptible.computer

  
• 11.04.2022

  Alex Lee Moyer's War with Filmmaker Alex Lee Moyer

  Alex Lee Moyer is the director of TFW NO GF and most recently Alex's War. We discuss Alex's perspective on filmmaking, Hollywood, independent vs. institutional pathways, and why it's worthwhile to produce politically difficult work. This was recorded at Urbit...

  
• 10.29.2022

  Ye the Holy Fool; Nick Land Dead?; Sam Kriss on the Internet

  Don't Obey the Algorithms; Ye is the GOAT; my review of Sam Kriss on "The Internet is Already Over", and Nick Land Dead or Alive. Other Life ✦ Subscribe to the coolest newsletter in the world https://OtherLife.co ✦ Get a...

  
• 10.10.2022

  Deregulation and the State Arms-Race Into Cyberspace

  Every sentence from Nick Land's Meltdown, one at a time. https://nicklandcourse.com Other Life ✦ Subscribe to the coolest newsletter in the world OtherLife.co ✦ Get a free Urbit ship at imperceptible.computer ✦ We're building a new country at imperceptible.country IndieThinkers.org...

  
• 09.30.2022

  How the "Intellectual Dark Web" Ended with David Fuller

  Now that we're past Peak Wokeness, has "heterodoxy" exhausted itself? That's the argument of David Fuller, co-founder of Rebel Wisdom, a popular but now retired media brand. We discuss the problem of audience capture, whether Eric Weinstein and Jordan Peterson...

  
• 09.21.2022

  The World's Best Crypto Investor Invested in Urbit with Joey Krug of Pantera Capital

  Joey Krug is Co-Chief Investment Officer at Pantera Capital, the biggest crypto hedge fund in the world. Joey's AngelList syndicate is also one of the most successful ever. We talk about Urbit as an investment and how to identify underpriced...

  
• 09.14.2022

  Insanely Bullish on Urbit With Uqbar Founder ~timluc-miptev

  Timluc is a top Urbit engineer and founder of Uqbar, a zero-knowledge ETH Layer 2 built on Urbit. Timluc is one of the highest-conviction Urbit bulls in the world. We talked about why he has so much confidence in Urbit,...

  
• 09.08.2022

  The ESG Scam: Bitcoin, Indie Media, and Natural Gas with Marty Bent

  Marty Bent is the founder of TFTC.io, a media company focused on Bitcoin and freedom in the digital age. We discuss the "ESG" movement, how Marty built his media company, and how he's now building a natural gas company with...

  
• 08.26.2022

  The Harvard Finance Bro Building an Urbit Network State in El Salvador

  ~Nilrun-mardux is co-host of The Network Age podcast and founder of AlephDAO, an early network state project on Urbit via El Salvador. ~Nilrun-mardux ✦ Nilrun is on Twitter at @alephdao ✦ Subscribe to The Network Age podcast (formerly Web0) on...

  
• 08.19.2022

  Charles Taylor and Paperclip Maximizers with Ellie Haine and Joe Edelman

  Ellie Hain and Joe Edelman are itinerant thinkers designing a new kind of social movement. We discuss what they've learned from Charles Taylor and Amartya Sen, why Effective Altruism can be so cringe, Joe's role building Couchsurfing.com, and much more....

  
• 08.18.2022

  Logistically Accelerating Techno-Economic Interactivity Crumbles Social Order

  Logistical acceleration refers to the logistic function, otherwise known as an S-shaped growth curve. Techno-economic interactivity is a key postulate of Land's ideas. Elsewhere, he will frequently use the adjective techonomic. Other Life ✦ Subscribe to the coolest newsletter in the...

  
• 08.11.2022

  How Chris Williamson Grew Modern Wisdom From Zero to 450k Subscribers

  Chris Williamson runs the Modern Wisdom podcast and YouTube channel. We discuss how Chris went from zero subscribers to nearly half a million; how to get big guests; and how to think about wisdom in the internet era. Modern Wisdom...

  
• 08.02.2022

  Curtis Yarvin on Crypto: Bitcoin, DAOs, Inflation, and Government Crackdowns

  Curtis Yarvin is the author of the Gray Mirror newsletter. Other Life ✦ Subscribe to the coolest newsletter in the world ✦ Get a free Urbit ship ✦ We're building a new country

  
• 07.29.2022

  Flannery O'Connor and the Mysterious Secrets of Writing

  otherlife.co/mysterious Other Life ✦ Get a free Urbit planet at imperceptible.computer ✦ We're building a new country at imperceptible.country

  
• 07.19.2022

  "The story goes like this: Earth is captured by a technocapital singularity..."

  In the most underrated work of social theory from the 1990s, Nick Land presents a sweeping theory of modernity. With about 3,500 words and only 4 citations, Meltdown seems to comprehend—and arguably foretell—a range of momentous historical developments that will...

  
• 07.13.2022

  The Hyperreal Plague: How Girard & Baudrillard Explain the Pandemic with Geoffrey Shullenberger

  Geoffrey Shullenberger (@daily_barbarian) is a lecturer at NYU and runs the newsletter and podcast. Geoffrey teaches the Other Life course on René Girard. The Girard Course ✦ Download our free 18-page syllabus to get started reading Girard Other Life ✦...

  
• 07.06.2022

  Zero-Knowledge Crypto-Anarchy with Rachel-Rose O'Leary from DarkFi

  Rachel-Rose O'Leary was an artist before getting into crypto through Nick Land and Julian Assange. She's now a programmer working with Amir Taaki to build a crypto-anarchist DeFi ecosystem called DarkFi. ✦ DarkFi ✦ Rachel-Rose on Twitter Other Life ✦...

  
• 06.29.2022

  Be Not Afraid with James Ellis from Hermitix

  James Ellis hosts the podcast Hermitix. His latest book is Be Not Afraid, a fictionalized account of his recent conversion to Christianity. We discuss James' actual conversion story, Saint Teresa Benedicta and CS Lewis among others, and James' journey as...

  
• 06.22.2022

  Software as Soulcraft and the Metaphysics of Engineering with Neal Davis

  Neal Davis is a professor of computer science and the director of Urbit's Hoon School. We discuss why solving nuclear fusion might be a disaster, why Urbit computers have souls, Shinto philosophy, why you should read old books, how to...

  
• 06.16.2022

  The Bull Case for Milady: Evaluating NFTs and Debunking the Miya FUD with Vers la Lune

  Vers la Lune is an NFT degen who hosts the podcast Version 4, which published the first interview with Miya the BPD God in 2020. As Crypto Twitter influencers try to cancel the Milady NFTs for association with Miya, this...

  
• 06.09.2022

  Launching the Mars Review of Books with Noah Kumin

  Noah Kumin is the founder and editor of the Mars Review of Books, a new magazine published from Urbit (in print and digital). Check out the Mars Review of Books at https://marsreview.org. Mars Review of Books ✦ Order Vol. 1 in...

  
• 05.29.2022

  The Metaphysical Desires of René Girard with Johnathan Bi

  Johnathan Bi is a founder and independent scholar working on René Girard. Johnathan just published a professionally-produced YouTube series on Girard, in collaboration with David Perell. We discuss the concept of metaphysical desire, how to engineer social environments for productive...

  
• 05.27.2022

  What's Going on With Milady Maker? How to Think About Decentralized and Controversial Art

  I'm joined by @lb_dobis, @yung_calibri, @SCHIZO_FREQ, @addytheyoung. Other Life ✦ Subscribe to the coolest newsletter in the world https://OtherLife.co ✦ Get a free Urbit planet at https://imperceptible.computer ✦ We're building a new country at https://imperceptible.country IndieThinkers.org ✦ If you're...

  
• 05.24.2022

  The Pathless Path with Indie Consultant Paul Millerd

  Paul Millerd was a McKinsey consultant before quitting for an independent life on the internet. He's the author of The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life. ✦ The Pathless Path ✦ Paul's newsletter ✦ Paul on...

  
• 05.19.2022

  Coffee With Hitler: Writing Poetry and Novels with Steff and Autumn

  Steff is a poet and Autumn is a novelist. We talk about the writing economy, grad school for poetry, canceling yourself, how Autumn almost won the Passage Prize for right-wing fiction, how to stay free inside the institutions, how Autumn...

  
• 05.13.2022

  10% More Psycho: On Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Christ with Mike Elias of IdeaMarket.io

  We discuss the enneagram personality model, my decision to become 10% more psycho, why Mike loves Gandhi, Christian anarchism, and markets for truth. ✦ Mike is the founder of IdeaMarket.io ✦ Mike on Twitter Other Life ✦ Subscribe to...

  
• 05.09.2022

  Building a Village DAO with Andrew Hitchcock of Montanoso

  Andrew Hitchock bought 21 acres outside Austin to build a village DAO. We talk about the new urbanism, his vision for his village DAO called Montanoso, what he's learned from similar projects such as CabinDAO, and how he plans to...

  
• 05.06.2022

  Only God Can Cancel Us: On Immanent Cyberculture with Endproject

  At the Other Life x Urbit meetup in Austin, a group of 8 people rocked up wearing black trenchcoats. Endproject is an art and music collective based in Houston. I didn't know a thing about any of them until this...

  
• 05.04.2022

  Personal Knowledge Management is Bull5h1† — Other Life

  Read the essay Upcoming events I mentioned Other Life ✦ Subscribe to the coolest newsletter in the world OtherLife.co ✦ Get a free Urbit planet at imperceptible.computer ✦ We're building a new country at imperceptible.country IndieThinkers.org ✦ If you're working on independent intellectual work, join...