This week on Tasteland we're joined by writer and editor, Daniel Spielberger. Daniel is also the executive editor of Study Hall and the host of the Study Hall Podcast. Read the Farmer's Almanac article we discuss here.

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Daniel Spielberger

• Study Hall Podcast
• Daniel Docs
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Instagram

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Timestamps

00:00 $45 well spent, $5 poorly spent

07:36 Surprise proposal and tweets going viral

11:09 Influencer culture in media

17:50 We need storytellers

24:39 Daniel Docs

28:09 Study Hall

33:08 Too much media about media

44:32 Olivia Nuzzi did it all for nothing

53:43 Grown men shouldn't have birthday parties

58:29 Worst movie of 2025

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Jamie Wilkinson, co-founder of Know Your Meme, VHX, and most recently, Glif.

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Jamie Wilkinson

• Glif
• Website
• GitHub
• Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Coke and Wall St

03:26 Memes are a business of their own

11:30 The evolution of memes

17:03 Relationships with social media by generation

26:45 Software sub-cultures of consuming and creating

34:37 The intention of creation

38:45 Creating for yourself

45:02 The state of vibecoding

50:40 The art and value of software creation

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Ochuko Akpovbovbo, creator and writer of the culture and marketing newsletter as seen on.

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Ochuko Akpovbovbo

• as seen on
• LinkedIn

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Timestamps

00:00 Naturist, not nudist

05:38 Resident of nowhere

10:07 Books of 2025

14:20 Nuremberg is boring

17:00 Writer vs. Substacker

27:22 An aversion to defining

34:30 Avoiding the parasocial

42:21 For business reasons, I need to be perceived

52:32 Influencers shaping brand narratives

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we're joined by technologist and artist, Zane Kind. Zane is the co-founder and CEO of Silk, a blogging platform for creative research,moodboarding, and subculture.

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Zane Kind

• Silk
• Twitter/X
• LinkedIn
• Website
• Zane's FWB Fest talk

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Timestamps

00:00 Notebook vandalism and clone hype

08:57 Building the zoomer Facebook

17:06 The slow scale business model

19:28 Defining taste

23:38 Scaling without killing subculture

30:07 Where are the Silkers?

36:51 Celebrity is changing

47:09 Creation starts with consumption

49:02 Rapid-fire hot-potatoes

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Ethan Sawyer, a field producer at CBC and curator of the newsletter Human Pursuits, a newsletter for navigating modern existence with help from need-to-know names in media and culture.

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Ethan Sawyer

• Human Pursuits
• Twitter/X
• LinkedIn

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Timestamps

00:00 beats to write/edit to

04:08 Writer's block is not real

07:57 Nights in the Gardens of Brooklyn

11:46 An analysis of social climbers

18:40 Olivia Nuzzi did it all for love

24:23 The art of guest selection

32:15 Francis tells a bad joke

32:57 Music for work and focus

37:46 Music is so good

43:16 Defining slop

54:46 Introducing the "content economy"

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

No guest this week on Tasteland so Daisy and Francis discuss whether Frankenstein should've shown hog, the introduction to the polycene and quote tweeting the Pope.

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Daisy

• Dirt
• Twitter/X
• LinkedIn

Francis

• Creator Spotlight
• Twitter/X
• LinkedIn

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Timestamps

00:00 The hog of Frankenstein

09:55 It was all yellow

16:29 Welcome to the polycene

27:15 Gambler's wives

30:24 Don't die, take mushrooms

34:00 Marc Andreessen vs. the Pope

39:29 Vibe shifts are vibe shifts

44:00 Affordability vs abundance in politics

46:50 But I'm not a rapper, I'm mayor

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we’re joined by novelist Adam Voith. Adam is the editor and publisher of Little Engines magazine.

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Adam Voith

• Substack
• Instagram
• Little Engines

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Timestamps

00:00 Did Zohran win?

03:14 Dirt’s new podcasts

08:01 Relationship between art and commerce

13:29 Submission culture in publishing

20:29 Conservatism in publishing

26:35 Culture reflected in literature

33:32 Monetizing early support in creative industries

43:29 The rise of freelancing and founding

48:00 Writers are small business owners

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Nick Susi, a strategy executive and entrepreneurial builder for 13+ years, exploring the technological, societal and psychological forces that shape our identity, perception and culture.

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Nick Susi

• Website
• Substack
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Creators are consumers of the self

07:51 Posts are the cheetle of your identity

15:19 Presence in marketing

17:11 Start a war, create a monoculture

29:16 Building trust vs capturing attention

36:59 How myths shape modern media and technology

45:25 Separating the technology for the myth

51:45 Ice Cube got it right

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by startup founder, developer, and runner, Cole Townsend. Cole has been a product designer for over a decade and is the head of tech and co-founder of Sole Retriever.

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Cole

• Website
• Sole Retriever
• LinkedIn
• X/Twitter

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Timestamps

00:00 Jury duty

06:54 Post Tokyo crash

17:20 Every app is a marketplace or dating app

24:49 Running is becoming lifestyle

29:53 Crewing an ultramarathon

34:12 Performance culture

37:17 Founding Sole Retriever

43:36 Never had a New Balance

50:20 Moth tech

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland, Daisy and Francis are joined by NYC based journalist, Claire Landsbaum. Claire is the Deputy Editor at HighSnobiety and has formerly held positions at The Cut, Vanity Fair, and Business Insider.

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Claire

• Website
• HighSnobiety
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• X/Twitter

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Timestamps

00:00 Show and tell

09:02 The bowling alley is the new afterparty

11:27 Writing for magazines

15:06 Finding journalistic honesty

19:03 Fake adult in Berlin

26:53 Are Veronika and Kyle for real?

32:40 I saw this tweet

37:08 Can The Daily Beast be saved?

48:35 Revenue and editorial integrity

54:29 Tattoos and steaks

57:53 The dream profile

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.