Thinking Is Cool

There’s no such thing as a city with livability, hype, affordable apartments, proximity to talent and money, and good food and people watching. But that’s never stopped us from attempting to find it. 

The last year especially, we’ve been on the hunt for a new hub city here in the US as the post-Covid world opens up. In that search, long-held systems (both economic and social) have been uprooted—people who swore they’d never leave the Bay Area flocked to Miami like it was nothing. New Yorkers whose entire personality was being a New Yorker jumped on the first flight to Austin.

Moving patterns have been undoubtedly accelerated in the last 12 or so months. I don’t need to tell you that (Twitter probably already has). But what do those moves mean for economies, local and national, and the ways they’re built? Today, we’re finding out by examining four of this country’s potential hubs: Austin, Miami, New York City, and San Francisco. 

Pack your bags. We’re gonna have some fun.

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Probably not :( :( but it doesn’t mean you don’t have a part to play in mitigating the likelihood of climate disaster! 

This week on Thinking Is Cool, I’m exploring the ways we as individuals can engineer a world that’s both livable and worth living in for future generations. Because at our current rate of environmental degradation, that’s looking harder and harder.

So what can you—someone who’s neither Joe Biden nor Greta Thunberg—do to ensure the world doesn’t go up in flames by the time you retire to Naples in a few decades? I’ve got an idea or two. Listen to find out what they are.

Who you’ll hear from this episode:

• James Casey, my cool college environmental economics professor
• David Wallace-Wells, the cool climate writer Professor Casey turned me on to five years back

Listen if you’re looking for a little hope and a lot of insight. Remember, thinking is cool and so are you.

Season 1 of Thinking Is Cool is brought to you by HMBradley, our exclusive launch sponsor. Deposit accounts are provided by Hatch Bank, Member FDIC. Credit cards are issued by Hatch Bank under a license with Mastercard. This is a paid endorsement.

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What might Barstool Sports—a company thoroughly emblematic of the feverish nature of our modern, digital world—teach us about ethics? More than you might expect.

Here’s what you can expect in this episode of Thinking Is Cool:

• A nuanced conversation about ethics, morals, and the ways late-stage capitalism has encouraged us to apply them to corporate entities
• Lots of dunking on Barstool’s idiot in chief Dave Portnoy...plus some shoutouts to the people working at Barstool who are actually not dumb or bad or dangerous
• Commentary on the inherent privilege of casting moral judgement against a potential employer
• A look at what really goes down in my DMs

There’s a lot to unpack with this one, and I don’t think the conversation around good vs. bad, ethical vs. unethical, or moral vs. immoral will ever really be over. So do me a favor. Go have a conversation with someone about Barstool and the role of ethics in the corporate world. You won’t regret it.

This week’s guests are some of my most trusted friends, Twitter mutuals, and highly intelligent peers. 

• Dan Attia. Dan is the head of research for noted internet guy Scott Galloway. If you’ve ever heard Scott speak, you’ve likely heard at least a few thoughts and ideas that started in Dan’s mind.
• Josh Ogundu. Josh works in product at TikTok and has some of the best insights on modern work I’ve ever seen on Twitter.
• Alayna Treene. Alayna is a Congressional reporter for Axios and co-author of the Axios Sneak Peek newsletter. We also interned together at Bloomberg in the summer of 2016.

Season 1 of Thinking Is Cool is brought to you by HMBradley, our exclusive launch sponsor. Deposit accounts are provided by Hatch Bank, Member FDIC. Credit cards are issued by Hatch Bank under a license with MasterCard. This is a paid endorsement.

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My name is Kinsey Grant and I want better porn. Well, more specifically, I want a more ethical, more enjoyable, and safer adult entertainment industry, one that works for everyone.

Because everyone likes to get off. How you get there, though, is up to you. You might be into seeking out adult content that’s made ethically, with both porn star and porn consumer in mind...or you might be into supporting mega-monopolies that systemically undercut creators and engender unsafe environments for all. Different strokes, right?

For me, it’s ethical and fair creation and consumption of adult entertainment that really revs my engine. This episode, we’re exploring how “ethical and fair” become the norm.

Who you’ll hear from this episode:

• Cindy Gallop, the Michael Bay of Business (she likes to blow shit up) and founder and CEO of Make Love Not Porn
• Dr. Heather Berg, a feminist studies scholar writing about labor, sexuality, and social struggle. Also a professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the book Porn Work
• Allie Knox, a porn performer and OnlyFans creator 
• Josh Kaplan...who’s my cofounder which is plenty big as far as claims to fame go.

Hit play. Listen. Learn. Think. And go have a conversation with someone.

Season 1 of Thinking Is Cool is brought to you by HMBradley, our exclusive launch sponsor. Deposit accounts are provided by Hatch Bank, Member FDIC. Credit cards are issued by Hatch Bank under a license with MasterCard. This a paid endorsement.

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What if we all stopped to think a little harder? To have conversations without getting combative? To be honest and give ourselves time and space for nuance? What might the world look like? I’m Kinsey Grant and together, we’re gonna find out.

Welcome to Thinking Is Cool.

My promise to you: Thinking Is Cool will make your next conversation better than your last. And that’s important—because conversations have the power to solve problems, connect people and generations, and root us in what really matters.

Smash that MF subscribe button to get in on the action—a killer new episode of Thinking Is Cool every Monday. And go to thinkingiscool.com to sign up for my newsletter and blog <3

Welcome to the party. Everything is on the table. Nothing is off limits. Take it anywhere. And remember, thinking is cool and so are you.