Side Projects Podcast

We dive into Greg Ip’s article in the Wall Street Journal talking about how people aged 65 and older are healthier, wealthier, and, essentially, propping up the entire American economy. We also discuss if brands are going to shift their attention towards the “silver economy,” stretched adolescence, rotisserie chicken, books as cultural signals, and the death/end of the mass-market paperback. 

Recommended this week:

• The Faltering by Tristan Taylor
• Ronin (dir. John Frankenheimer)
• Canada - John Beltran and Placid Angels

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Michna is the founder of Jenkem Magazine. We talk with him about bringing an outside perspective to skateboarding, being a good beginner, why a combination of fear and shame keeps skateboarding alive, cold plunges with “Andy” Huberman, how Jenkem works with brands as a boutique agency, and why most things that turned out well also could’ve been terrible.

Recommended this week:

• Be a beginner
• Go to Amoeba and shop for records based on their album art

Where to find Ian:

• @ian.michna
• @jenkemmag 
• jenkemmag.com
• youtube.com/@jenkemmag 

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We begin with a very brief Super Bowl recap, where Eli was one lazy holding call away from a handful of benjamins. Then, we put some respect on some of the American athletes sweeping, skating, and skiing in Milano Cortina. Nothing cooler than being extremely good at one specific thing. And finally, Clara and Trey dive into a lively debate centered around Joshua Rothman’s latest piece in The New Yorker, “Is Good Taste a Trap?” Yes. 

Recommended this week: 

• It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley (dir. Amy Berg)
• 3 Women (dir. Robert Altman)
• The Culture Journalist

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahead of the Super Bowl, we caught up with Adweek’s Senior Media Reporter Mark Stenberg to help us contextualize the trends we’re seeing in this year’s crop of commercials and identify what you should look out for as you watch on Sunday. 

We cover the rise of the multi-week attention ecosystem, why we’ll see more health-focused ads, and more. Plus, we get Mark’s thoughts on the integration of prediction markets into media platforms and whether he buys that people trust journalists less than funeral home directors. 

Recommended this week: 

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Where to find Mark:

• @markstenberg3
• On Background 
• Adweek

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick writes The Trend Report™️ on Substack and co-hosts the HIP REPLACEMENT podcast alongside friend of the pod, Ben Dietz. We talk about Kyle’s early trend reports while at Nickelodeon, working in broadcast news, why America isn’t so bad actually, Barcelona internet vs. American internet, why advertisers often don’t talk to real people, how people are pouring themselves into “brand lore” instead of fighting for healthcare, “letting people just enjoy things,” and more.

Recommended this week: 

• “GALA” – XG 
• “Tati Quebra Barraco” – Montagem Guerreira
• Jeff Mills Live At The Liquid Room - Tokyo 1996

Where to find Kyle:

• @1234kyle5678
• Trend Report™️
• HIP REPLACEMENT

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about Alex Honnold’s Taipei 101 climb on Netflix, the return of David Blaine-style spectacle, greasy poles, construction YouTube, and more. 

Recommended this week: 

• The B1M
• Prehistoric Planet, Season 3
• Wigwam socks

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Lindsay is the author of internet culture substack, “Embedded,” and host of Slate’s ICYMI podcast. She joins us to unpack social media’s cause of death in 2026, analog bags, how we got too addicted to stay addicted, brain rot as political resistance, and what happens when social platforms become places of entertainment instead of places to connect. Plus, stay tuned until the end for the reveal of Kate’s family secret. 

Recommended this week: 

• Ancestry.com 

Where to find Kate:

• @kathrynfiona
• Embedded
• ICYMI podcast

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back! To kick off the year, we’re talking about a new exposé in the Financial Times, which found that OnlyFans creators and influencers are now increasingly dominating requests for O-1B visas, a speciality visa reserved for “exceptional” creatives with “extraordinary ability or achievement.” 

Recommended this week: 

• "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know" - E.D. Hirsch Jr.
• https://nytv.live/ 
• Persimmons

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Tum Town. Long time listeners will know that we often center our distaste for marketing slop and feral commercialism around a few brands, namely Crumbl, Blank Street, and MrBeast. So in our final episode of the year, we decided to actually try the stuff for ourselves and review it live. Stay until the end for a small crumb of analysis on brands trying to “tap into culture.”

Here’s what we got: 

• Crumbl (6 pack): The Cookie That Stole Christmas, Chocolate Crumb Cookie ft. OREO®, Holiday Red Velvet Sandwich Cookie, Candy Cane Brownie Cookie, Peanut Butter Cup Cookie ft. REESE'S, Confetti Cake Cookie 
• Blank Street: Iced Strawberry Shortcake Matcha, Iced Blueberry Matcha
• MrBeast: Feastables Bar
• Prime: Ice Pop, Mystery flavor

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about how Saudi Arabia has renewed Dakota Johnson’s faith in film and Clara eavesdropping on Gen Alpha sleepover semantics. We also dive into the broader implications of younger consumers’ preference for Buy Now, Pay Later, Gary Vee evangelizing livestream shopping, and how frictionless access to credit has allowed the creator economy and the trend ecosystem to rise at scale. 

IG: @sideprojects__

YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast

Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.