Over the past decade, I’ve followed a handful of podcasters and public thinkers whose work genuinely shaped me...

* They sharpened my thinking.

* They introduced tools I implemented.

* They accelerated my personal growth.

But something has changed. I’ll see a new episode drop. I’ll click. I’ll listen. And by the end, nothing new; just remixing, repackaging, and reiteration.

* Ideas I’ve already metabolized.

* Tactics I’ve already implemented.

* Wisdom that has already been digested.

I’m tremendously tempted to start internet drama by calling out a few of them, but I’m genuinely grateful to them, so instead I’ll try to surmise why this is happening...

Cognitive decline is real

Here’s the uncomfortable possibility: As creators push into their fifth and sixth decades, creativity and synthesis decline. The first thing cognitive aging robs us of isn’t memory. It’s novelty. It’s the ability to synthesize new frameworks. To generate fresh angles. To connect distant ideas.

And as I push into my 40s, this is something I am absolutely determined NOT to let happen to me…

What I’m doing about it

* Smart drugs - The real potent ones, like the racetams, which blunt the early edges of decline.

* Nicotine - It has some potential downsides, but for me, it’s the ultimate creativity drug.

* Memory training - The SuperMemo app is the best tool I’ve found to keep those neural bridges sturdy between disparate ideas.

* ​Dual n-back training - Is still one of the most scientifically supported ways to maintain working memory, the RAM of the mind. Working memory is upstream of synthesis. Upstream of creativity. Upstream of intellectual danger. If RAM declines, originality follows.

* Interviewing - This year, I’m devoting a lot more time to interviews than solosodes; conversations with interesting people doing innovative work in the fields of personal growth, biohacking, and anti-aging. Check out this growing playlist of Limitless podcast interviews.

But it’s not just biology...

There’s another culprit: streaming. Livestreaming creates audience capture. Superchats. Real-time feedback loops. Endless “Personal Growth 101” questions. Creators slowly drift toward talking about what their audience already understands because that’s what gets engagement. And over time? Novelty dies.

That’s one reason I don’t livestream. And don’t plan to. I’d rather deliver crafted novelty than reactive commentary.

NOT knowing when to retire

Elite athletes sometimes retire after their greatest victories. They don’t stick around long enough to become mediocre versions of themselves. Online thinkers might learn something from that. There is dignity in exiting at your peak.

What should you do when your favorite podcaster becomes unoriginal?

Unsubscribe.

Seriously.

Why cling to someone who is remixing yesterday’s ideas just because they once delivered something valuable? There are thousands of creators out there doing genuinely original work right now. The internet is not suffering from a scarcity of voices. It is suffering from an abundance of repetition.

If your old favorite suddenly produces something truly original again, trust me: you’ll hear about it. Original work makes a splash. It gets clipped, quoted, and shared. It pierces the noise.

But returning again and again to an unoriginal source simply because of history? That’s nostalgia bias. That’s sunk cost fallacy. That’s pattern addiction.

Originality is calling to you constantly online. It’s sometimes uncomfortable. It’s unfamiliar. It might be on a platform you haven’t joined because you default to using the apps pre-installed on your smartphone - like Odysee.com (some mind-blowing uncensored creativity can be found there!) It doesn’t come wrapped in the comforting voice you’ve listened to for years.

Answer the call anyway. Your mind deserves novelty. Your growth depends on it.

My commitment to you

I will continue doing my damnedest to deliver novelty. New thinking. New tools. New reporting on self-experiments. Revamping and refining my older content. New insights from the wild journey of fatherhood that I’m now 7 months into. I’ve got interviews coming that I’m genuinely excited about; conversations that break new ground.

And the most creative work I’ve done recently?

​Hourglass - +700 pages about a Biohacking cybercriminal who must master lust to save civilization from the same comet that destroyed Atlantis 12,800 years ago. That book pushed me far outside my comfort zone. That’s where novelty lives. The sequel drops on my birthday this year, May 10. If you want safe repetition, there are endless podcasts for that. If you want dangerous originality?

Stay subscribed. Read Hourglass or listen to the “Odyssey of the Mind” style audiobook (instead of yet another podcast about psychedelics or the keto diet)...

Dire in my desire to deliver novelty,

Jonathan Roseland

Support me on Substack? For $7/monthly?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jonathanroseland.substack.com/subscribe