What's Really Good with Nathan Allebach: Recent Episodes
Nathan Allebach
Covering culture wars, content creators, social media advertising, philosophy, art, and all things really good.
Econoboi is a political YouTuber who focuses on economic content from a social democratic and progressive perspective. He also debates and discusses with figures on both the left and right. In our conversation we get into various critiques of capitalism from a leftist perspective, and of social democracy in particular. We spent the first half digging into the nuances of language and identity between leftists and capitalists, like how we define differences between socialists and social democrats, then got into various critiques of socialism, as well as critiques and defenses of social democracy. Enjoy!
Follow Econoboi's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/Econoboi
Follow Econoboi on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Econoboi
Contribute to Econoboi's Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/Econoboi
Oliver Traldi is a graduate student working toward his PhD in philosophy at Notre Dame, a writing fellow at Heterodox Academy, and a columnist at Arc Digital. He’s written about cancel culture, social justice, the intellectual dark web, the new left, and he emphasizes the philosophy of language in his work. Our conversation revolved around navigating relationships, language, rhetoric, and optics in the culture war discourse online. Enjoy!
Follow Oliver on twitter:
https://twitter.com/olivertraldi
Read his past work:
https://olivertraldi.weebly.com/
Elizabeth Nolan Brown is a senior editor at Reason magazine and co-founder of Feminists for Liberty. She regularly covers the sex worker industry and trafficking misinformation. Throughout our conversation we covered the convoluted history of anti-trafficking in America, the differences between decriminalizing and legalizing sex work, common myths on the subject, and ways to frame conversations around trafficking to be more accurate and helpful.
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter:
twitter.com/ENBrown
Follow her work at Reason:
https://reason.com/people/elizabeth-nolan-brown/
Read my piece on sex trafficking misinformation for primary sources on their origins:
https://medium.com/discourse/the-moral-panic-and-myths-of-human-trafficking-31f1864470f7
Daryl Davis is a blues musician and race relations expert most knowing for convincing over 200 KKK members to give up their robes. He’s been featured on Joe Rogan’s podcast, in The Guardian, The Atlantic, and beyond. He has his own podcast called "Changing Minds with Daryl Davis" which you can find on all platforms. In this conversation we discussed the state of white supremacy in America, how to navigate different strategies of deradicalization, the nuances of identity, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Daryl’s work:
https://www.daryldavis.com/
Listen to Darly’s story:
https://www.ted.com/talks/daryl_davis_why_i_as_a_black_man_attend_kkk_rallies?language=en
Find Daryl on Minds:
https://www.minds.com/
Meet the icon being Washington Post's TikTok!
Follow Dave on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/davejorgenson
Follow Washington Post on TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost
Matt is a sports commentator and streamer.
Follow him on Twitch:
twitch.tv/pacopaco
Follow him on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AllaireMatt
Ben Burgis is a science fiction writer, philosophy professor, and author of the book "Give Them An Argument: Logic For The Left," available through Zero Books. He also does a segment called "The Debunk" every week on The Michael Brooks Show. In this conversation we talked about how he got into philosophy and leftism, some common arguments against leftism, how heritage, culture, and identity play into these arguments, current cultural and political movements, how to productively converse across the aisle, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Search his name on YouTube to find his appearances with Michael Brooks and Zero Books
Kevin Cox is a math teacher at the Frankford Friends School, songwriter, and longtime friend. In this conversation we talked about our local Philly music scene, growing older as songwriters and having to make adult decisions, Kevin losing his best friend Brad who was killed by a drunk driver, death, hope, life as a teacher, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinZCox
Follow him on Instagram: @KevinZCox
Listen to his music on Bandcamp: kevinzcox.bandcamp.com/album/friendship
Listen to his music on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/5aOnRacdV…0tRcihP_dFxmI10A
Noerdy is the Managing Director of Meme Insider and a moderator of several high profile subreddit communities, including Wholesome Memes, Meme Economy, Political Humor, Westworld, and South Park. We talked about how he got into Reddit, moderating, the landscape of meme culture, how Meme Insider got started, and more. Enjoy!
Follow him on Twitter: @TheNoerdy
Follow him on Reddit: www.reddit.com/user/noerdy Donate to Meme Insider on Patreon: www.patreon.com/memeinsider
Follow Meme Insider on YouTube: www.youtube.com/memeinsider
Follow Meme Insider on Instagram: www.instagram.com/memeinsider/
Check out MemeInsider.Co
Anjali is the social media editor at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a nonpartisan think tank based out of DC, and she’s also a photographer and designer. In this conversation we talked about being a public facing person while also being someone representing a brand, how tweets affect politics, growing up on the internet, how she got into marketing and working in the political sphere, how to balance nuanced takes online, privilege, free will, identity politics, and a lot of the tension and disconnects between demographic groups, and more. Enjoy!
Follow her on Twitter: @anjalibhatt
Follow her on Instagram: @anjali.jpg
Check out her work: www.anjalibhatt.com/
Follow the Peterson Institute on Twitter: @PIIE
Dale Beran is a writer, artist, and author of the new book “It Came From Something Awful: How A Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump Into Office.” In our conversation we talked about the early internet days and how various subcultures have evolved into the culture wars, the history of 4chan, Gamergate, the emergence of new leftism, incels, provocateurs, fascism, and more. Enjoy!
Follow him on Twitter: @DaleBeran
Follow his comics and essays on Tumblr: daleberan.tumblr.com/
Preston Williams is an actor, joke writer, and creator of the viral twitter account, Whale Fact. We talked about how he started the account, his creative process of coming up with jokes, inserting political humor into the feed, the loose community of Joke Twitter, a twitter conspiracy, riding the tension of being online, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Whale Fact on Twitter: @awhalefact
Follow Preston on Twitter: @PrestoVision
Follow Whale Fact on Instagram: www.instagram.com/awhalefact/
Fredrik Knudsen is an internet culture researcher, streamer, producer, and YouTuber most known for his "Down The Rabbit Hole" series where he takes deep dives into obscure online and offline corners of culture with subjects like Furries, Anime, Sonichu, Plague Doctors, TempleOS, Neopoets, and much more. In our conversation we talked about how he started his channel, his creative process, what it's like being a popular content creator, personal identity conflicts, responsible platforming, introspection, and more. Enjoy!
Subscribe to him on YouTube: youtube.com/fredrikknudsen
Join his Patreon community: www.patreon.com/fredrikknudsen
Follow him on Twitter: @FredInTheKnud
Chris Stokel-Walker is a journalist, writer, and author of the book "YouTubers: how YouTube shook up TV and created a new generation of stars." His work has also been published in the New York Times, BBC, Wired, and The Economist. In this conversation we talked about how the culture of YouTube has evolved over the years, how it's become more corporatized, politicized, at odds with its creators, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Chris on Twitter: @stokel
Amanda Brennan is a meme librarian (internet culture researcher), tumblr fandom and social expert, and blogger. In our conversation we talked about growing up on the internet in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, local music scenes, how she got into meme research and working at Know Your Meme, the ins and outs of Tumblr, fandoms, work-life balance, and more. Enjoy!
Follow her on Twitter: @continuants
Check out her blog: memelibrarian.com/
Follow her Tumblr work: fandom.tumblr.com
@s8n is a viral parody account on twitter that writes jokes about hell and all sorts of fun, wholesome, bizarre mischief. In our conversation we talked about how the account came into being, how @s8n was shadow banned on twitter for no reason, how he got trolled by pizza gate conspiracy theorists, and just living life as Satan online. Enjoy!
Follow Satan on Twitter and Instagram: @s8n
Buy his merch here: teespring.com/stores/s8n-store
Ralph Leonard is a writer, Secular Humanist, and “Conservative Marxist” who regularly commentates on politics, economics, and the culture wars online. In this conversation we talked about the differences in how leftists (marxists, socialists, etc.) view class struggle and identity politics versus progressive neoliberals (free market capitalists). We also covered how topics of class, race, gender, and nationality have to be addressed in more all-encompassing ways than solely class or identity, how reactionary grifters hijack these complex subjects to further social capital in the name of free speech, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Ralph on Twitter here: twitter.com/buffsoldier_96
Follow Ralph's writing here: medium.com/@buffsoldier_96
Hear him on the Michael Brooks Show here (patrons only): www.patreon.com/posts/71-p-clr-james-24438324
Jason Ager is a songwriter and college professor with a a PhD in German Literature. In this conversation we talked about the state of the education system in contrast to how people learn from the Internet, political identity, the future of technology, songwriting for a living, being a dad, and a bunch more. Enjoy!
Follow his music here: www.jasonager.com/
Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/artist/5C7xdzlsSZYGGeghzxg0Cj
Follow Jason on Twitter: twitter.com/JasonAgerCOPO
Watch his MaTones Music video session here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONpVUT5TY_U
William H. Travis is a songwriter and teacher. We talked about him growing up in a small town and being raised culturally Catholic then how he’s eventually come back around to faith through meditation and seeing through a more modern framework, we spent some time critiquing the end of game of thrones, talked about how depressing politics can be, and got into a bunch of banter on songwriting.
Listen to his new song "Aloha:" williamhtravis.bandcamp.com/track/aloha
Watch his MaTones Shop Sessions: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9GH1Vs0lng
Follow him on Instagram: www.instagram.com/williamhtravis/
Jon Moyer is a TSS worker for Foundations Behavioral Health, an athlete, and longtime personal friend. In this conversation he shared what his childhood was like being adopted from Honduras and growing up in our majority white, religious, affluent community. He got into the tensions of identity and race he's dealt with over the years and how his perspectives have evolved on politics and religion. We also talked about mixed martial arts and culture, then Jon got into his struggle with alcoholism over the years to where he is now. Enjoy!
Kim Edwards is a musician and songwriter. In our conversation we talked about how she got into songwriting, how her writing has evolved over the years, balancing music with other aspects of life, different styles of musical branding, and some good banter on mixed martial arts as well as media representation.
Follow her work and find her music here: www.kimedwardsmusic.com/
"Homechef" Kenneth Worstall is a chef, hunter, mushroom forager, kombucha conctoctor, spiritual teacher, construction worker, and all around eccentric human being. In this conversation we talked about his upbringing and how he got into cooking, the power of food, the loss of his father, suicide, mental health issues, addiction, discovering spirituality, hunting, veganism, mushrooming, the problems with technology, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Kenneth on Instagram at @homechefkenneth
Eli Wenger is the ex owner of Steel City Coffee House, current manager of Martha's Choice Marketplace, and a lifelong musician. In our conversation we shared memories of Steel City Coffee House (Phoenixville, PA), which has been a unique hub for local artists, musicians, and people of all walks of life. We also talked about Eli's transition from owning it to stepping down and growing into new opportunities. We also got into how food and music bring people together, and politics entwine with everything we do. Enjoy!
Mighty Joe Castro is a collage artist, painter, designer, and musician who plays in Mighty Joe Castro And The Gravamen. In our conversation we talked about growing up in local music scenes, how he got into art, current social views surrounding art, how politics and culture weave into it, and just general banter on life. Enjoy!
Check out his work here: mightyjoecastro.com/
Follow him on Twitter or Instagram here: @mightyjoecastro
Check out the MaTones Music Session I shot for him: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ips2wbsDUl8
Billy Mays III is a musician, producer, and son of the late Billy Mays. In our conversation we talked about what it’s been like being his son, how that’s woven into his identity as a person and artist, and how his death changed his life. We talked about Billy's music projects Infinite Choir and Mouth Council, as well as other projects he's working on now. Enjoy!
Follow Billy on Twitter: twitter.com/infinitethird
Check out Infinite Third: infinitethird.com
Check out Mouth Council: mouthcouncil.com
Stay updated with the Billy Mays Museum and other projects: BillyMays.org
Donate To Billy's Patreon here: www.patreon.com/infinitethird
Drew “Toothpaste” Fairweather is a webcomic creator, artist, musician, and all around Internet culture personality. He's the creator of Toothpaste for Dinner, Married To The Sea, Kompressor, Crudbump, Fuck The Future podcast, The Worst Things For Sale, and Drew Reviews. In our conversation we talked about the early stages of Internet culture, harassment, free speech, moderation, Twitter, Reddit, brands on social media, the blurry lines between brands and people, twitter politics, in-fighting on the left, and much more. Enjoy!
Follow Drew on Twitter: @drewtoothpaste
Donate to Drew's work: www.patreon.com/drewtoothpaste
Check out The Worst Things For Sale: theworstthingsforsale.com/
Dan Sheehan is a writer, comedian, creator of the viral NOT A WOLF Twitter account, and one of the creators of We Still Like You. In this podcast we talked about how NOT A WOLF has evolved, how important storytelling is in our current political system, the world of online politics (specifically leftism), cancel culture, and much more. Enjoy!
Check out Dan’s work at: DanSheehan.fyi
Follow Dan on Twitter @ItsDanSheehan
Check out We Still Like You here: www.westilllikeyou.com/
Taylor Lorenz is a staff writer for The Atlantic who focuses on tech and Internet culture. She’s previously written for The Daily Beast, The Hill, PEOPLE Magazine, Business Insider, and more. In our conversation we talked about the intersection of journalism and marketing, how Internet culture has created and reshaped parts of the job market, new ways brands are integrating into the culture, social media influencers, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Taylor on Instagram and Twitter at @TaylorLorenz
Kimeko McCoy is a journalist, social media strategist, and all around creative who currently works with Adweek. In our conversation we covered some of her personal story, what it's like working at the intersection of journalism and marketing, the current landscape of brands on social media, diversity in the workplace, hustle culture, Internet culture, the topic of racism as it pertains to our political climate, and much more. Enjoy!
Follow Kimeko on Twitter at @KimekoM
Check out her website: www.kimekomccoy.com/
Erik Martin was the longtime General Manager of Reddit. He’s currently a Lead Entrepreneur at Nike and has worked as a marketing/community executive for Airtime, WeWork, and Depop. He's been named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time Magazine, as well as a top 50 innovator by Adweek. He also runs the site Assholes on Demand where he helps people who aren’t extremely online deal with online problems. In this conversation we talked about the early stages of Reddit and how he got involved with it, the complexities of moderation and how the scale of Internet users makes it so difficult, the broader free speech debate online, forming ideologies online, older generations using new technology, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Erik on Twitter at @hueypriest
Follow Erik on Reddit at u/hueypriest
Brian Medlin is a musician, songwriter, and podcaster. He's played in bands such as Inkling, The Minor Times, Legendary Divorce, Desperate Living, Wives, Person L, and more, as well as multiple solo projects over the past 20+ years. He also co-hosts the podcast Volcano Vinyl where him and his friend commentate about records as they play. Brian and I became friends through songwriting in 2010 and in this episode we shared stories of how we met, how he got into the local music scene, touring, panic disorder, podcasting, and what it's like being a new dad. Enjoy!
Download his music: brianmedlin.bandcamp.com/
Follow his musical endeavors: www.facebook.com/medlinmusic/
Sloane Hughes is a comedian, twitter personality, graphic designer, writer, and the token Canadian at Funny or Die! In this episode we got into the story of how they got involved with internet culture, what it's like being open about mental health issues online, the problems with joke theft on twitter, their move from British Columbia to LA, their new job at Funny or Die, and more. (note: at the time of this recording Sloane went by "Gracie," hence the name differences). Enjoy!
Follow Sloane on Twitter: @cottoncandaddy
Follow Sloane on Instagram: @graciehoos
Viking is a personality on Twitter and one of the funniest joke writers online. In our conversation we got into how he built his Twitter following, the landscape of Joke Twitter, the ongoing problems with joke theft, and comedy in general. Enjoy!
Follow Viking on Twitter: twitter.com/NOTVIKING
Follow Viking on Instagram: www.instagram.com/notviking/
Kyle Sheva is a drummer, cyclist, and car enthusiast. He drummed in my old band “Nathan Earl and Rachel Joy” and also in my solo band, as well as in Former Belle and The Human Fund (links below). In our conversation we talked about our shared experiences in the local music scene, life being newly weds, the Fyre Festival fiasco, social media culture, podcasts, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Kyle on Instagram @kylesheva
Download our record Waste: nathanallebach.bandcamp.com/album/waste
Download Nathan Earl and Rachel Joy’s music: nathanearlandracheljoy.bandcamp.com/
Download Former Belle’s music: formerbelle.bandcamp.com/
Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka is the creator of Something Awful, host of the Murder The Internet podcast, and the Gaming Garbage on YouTube. In our talk we got into the history of Something Awful, problems with Twitter, outrage culture, how the Internet has changed over the past 20 years, free speech, deplatforming, and how to pronounce his last name. Enjoy!
Donate to his Patreon here: www.patreon.com/GamingGarbage
Michaela Okland is a comedy writer on Twitter and creator of the viral Twitter/Instagram account @SheRatesDogs. In our conversation we covered how she got into Twitter, what it’s like being a popular creator, online harassment, the story of SheRatesDogs, and a bunch more on internet culture in general. Enjoy!
Follow Michaela on Twitter at @MichaelaOkla
Follow SheRatesDogs at @SheRatesDogs
Brandon Rhoten is the current CMO of Potbelly Sandwich Works and previous CMO of Papa Johns, as well as the VP of Marketing for Wendy's. Brandon put together the social and digital team at Wendy's that led to its viral success, and is an expert in developing brand voices on social media. In our conversation we talked about his industry experience, our shared perspectives on the social landscape, brand voices on Twitter, online content creators, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Brandon on Twitter at @brhoten
Scott Leatherman is a Civil War aficionado, professional tennis instructor, world traveler, and most importantly, my great uncle. In this episode he went into his story growing up, what got him into tennis, the history of tennis as a sport, his move to Fiji, some history of Fiji, and an insane story about living with the Fijians that may or may not have involved cannibals. Enjoy!
Iona Italia is an author, translator, writer for Areo Magazine, and podcast host of "Two For Tea.” In our conversation we talked about what led Iona to become more active in online political discourse, the landscape of ideological groups from far left to far right, the importance of using nuanced linguistics when talking about individuals and groups, plus much more. Enjoy!
Follow Iona on Twitter at @IonaItalia
Check out her podcast "Two for Tea" here: tinyurl.com/y8nm8czw
Scott Hackman is the founder of One Village Coffee, MyOhai, and is the current owner of a personal leadership company called Scott Hackman Ventures. In our conversation we went through his story of growing up with mental health issues and crazy expectations, how his ego affected his work and relationships, then what it's been like picking up the pieces and starting over.
Enjoy! Follow Scott everywhere at @scotthackman
Check out his work here: www.scotthackman.com/
Brandan Robertson is a pastor, blogger, author with his latest release "True Inclusion: Creating Communities of Radical Embrace," and activist who is best known for his work as an LGBTQ+ activist among evangelicals. In our conversation we went into his story of coming out as bisexual in a christian community, talked about his new book, and the broader cultural conversation on intersectionality in our political and religious systems. Enjoy!
Follow Brandan on Twitter: @BrandanJR
Ken Byler is a coach, speaker, and thought leader that owns Higher Ground Consulting. He coached me for over a year in a major transition point in my life and I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing without him. In our conversation we went through his story, our experience in sessions together, the personality assessment "DiSC," and some of the common issues of communication we face in the workplace, social media, and society as a whole today. Enjoy!
Follow Ken at: @kenbyler
Check out his work at: highergroundcg.com/about-ken-byler/
Ali Rizvi is a Pakistani-born Canadian medical science communicator, writer for Huffington Post, Co-Host of the Secular Jihadists Podcast, and author of the book "The Atheist Muslim." In our conversation we covered some of his upbringing, his journey from Islam to atheism, broader cultural conversations on secularism, social change, the "intellectual dark web," and much more. Enjoy!
Follow Ali on Twitter at @aliamjadrizvi
Kae Lani is a Social and Editorial Producer at USA TODAY 10Best and the co-founder to the network's newest venture, Eat Sip Trip. She's been featured in Billboard, Fodor's Travel, Budget Travel, and Yahoo. In this episode we covered the social conversation on cultural appropriation of food from its history, criticisms, and stories, we got into Kae Lani's background in a multiracial family, and how we can have better conversations about complex topics. Enjoy!
Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @KaeLaniSays
Follow her work: kaelanisays.com/
Robert Allam AKA "GallowBoob" is the CMO at Supload and has the 1st largest karma account on Reddit. He's been featured on Forbes, Meme Insider, and a bunch more for his internet wizardry, including having a Gfycat account with over 183 million views. In our conversation we covered how he got into Reddit, his current work with Supload, how complex online culture is between advertisers, brands, and content creators, free speech on social media, beards, and much more. Enjoy!
Follow Rob on Reddit: u/GallowBoob
Follow Rob on Twitter: @TheGallowBoob
About 52 minutes in we lost signal for a few seconds then it went to mono sound only for a few minutes
Jared Byas is a former professor, pastor, and current author, entrepreneur, and co-host of The Bible For Normal People podcast with Pete Enns. In our conversation we got into what constitutes beliefs and how to have better conversations around topics of privilege, labeling, language games, truth, religion, and more. Enjoy!
Follow Jared on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jbyasauthor/
Follow Jared on Twitter: @jbyas
Listen to The Bible For Normal People: thebiblefornormalpeople.podbean.com/
Trevor Gordon Hall is a fingerstyle guitarist that writes instrumental music and has toured all around the world with artists like John Mayer, Steve Miller, Andy McKee, Dar Williams, Phil Keaggy, and a bunch more. He's been rated one of the top 30 guitarists in the world under 30 years of age by Acoustic Guitar magazine, and has been featured on NPR, NBC, and PBS. In our talk we went through the highs and lows of his story, what it's like touring and balancing a music career with family and personal identity, and a bunch more. Enjoy!
Follow Trevor on Instagram: @trevorgordonhall
Listen to Trevor on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/2xoJcYGouJF836dsZbf0en
Check out his video for "Kalimbatar" here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo9kGHYn_bI
It's your host, Nathan Allebach. I wanted to give you all some backstory to who I am and how I got into what I do. It's a story of being born into a very tight knit religious community, rebelling against it, going through existential angst from rebelling against it, using songwriting and other outlets as coping mechanisms to manage the angst, going through a mental breakdown on a Weezer cruise from not managing it well, then rediscovering and constructing who I was in the aftermath around my beliefs, relationships, passions, and work. I've never done a solo podcast or gotten into these stories on a public platform so this was awkward and uncomfortable for me at times, especially knowing how privileged much of my story is. But the best part about podcasting and being on social media in general is being true to who you are and letting the world see that for what it is. I really appreciate all of you who have listened to the first 20 episodes and offered your feedback and support along the way. - Nathan
Eiynah is a Pakistani-Canadian blogger, illustrator, and host of the "Polite Conversations" podcast. She rides the social tension of both publicly criticizing Islam as an ideology, as well as anti-Muslim bigotry, which is an ongoing struggle for nuance in today's climate. In our conversation we processed through the movement of the "Intellectual Dark Web" and shared our critical sentiment of individuals like Dave Rubin, Jordan Peterson, Maajid Nawaz, Sam Harris, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who have each been strong proponents within this new tribal identity. Enjoy!
Donate to Eiynah on Patreon: www.patreon.com/nicemangos
Follow Eiynah on Twitter: @NiceMangos
Massimo Pigliucci is a Philosophy Professor at the City College of New York, a biologist, author, social critic, and the former co-host of the Rationally Speaking Podcast. He also hosts a podcast called Stoic Meditations and he just released a new book titled "How To Be A Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy To Live A Modern Life." In this episode we also touched on the moral dilemmas of free will and justice, virtue signaling, sensationalism, reactionary movements, navigating the pop culture of public intellectuals, and how to internally work on the self before projecting out into the world.
You can donate to Massimo's patreon here: www.patreon.com/massimopigliucci
Follow him on Twitter at @mpigliucci
Kai Corniel is a songwriter from the Philadelphia area who goes by the name "Lunamores." In our conversation we opened up with her sharing the story of her parents immigrating to the US from the Dominican Republic. From there we tied in her upbringing to how she got into songwriting, then how that shaped her outlook on relationships, mental health, spirituality and so on. Enjoy!
Listen to Kai's music here: lunamores.bandcamp.com/releases
See a video for her song "At Ease" I recorded here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF0OuMAan-4
Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. He is also the author of Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping The World and the co-editor of Rethinking Political Islam. He's been featured on podcasts with Sam Harris, Robert Wright, Gad Saad, and many more. Throughout our conversation we got a bit into his experience as a Muslim in America, we briefly commented on The Intellectual Dark Web, took a dive into some of the complications of identity politics, talked about racism, theocracy, Christianity, and some of the unique geopolitical complexities of Islam as a whole. Enjoy!
Follow Shadi on Twitter at @shadihamid
Ella Dawson is the social media editor for TED Talks and a sex/ethics blogger. She went viral in 2015 for publishing a personal article about living with herpes in order to help destigmatize it in our culture. Her work has been featured on The Daily Mail, Buzzfeed, The Guardian, MTV, and she's done a TEDx talk on her story as well as received a letter of solidarity from none other than Hillary Clinton for her work. In this episode we talked about internet culture, 4chan, gamergate, feminism, political correctness, social polarization, working in social media, and how to be better online. Enjoy!
Follow Ella on Twitter at @brosandprose
Follow her blog at: elladawson.com/
Alexandra March is a Philadelphia based songwriter who just released a new album titled "When The Garden Reveals Itself," which is available on Spotify and iTunes! In this episode we went through the story of what got her into writing and hit tangents on toxic relationships, trying new things, living in the moment, how to create a space for better conversations, and what it's been like for her being a female songwriter in such a male dominated industry. Enjoy!
www.alexandrakaymarch.com/
Follow Alexandra on Instagram at @alexandrakaymarch
Kellen Schneider is a comedian and Twitter personality who goes by @captainkalvis. He's written some of the best original joke content on Twitter (which gets stolen by tweetdeckers and meme curators for profit) and works in LA! We talked about what got him into comedy, what got him into writing jokes on Twitter, the state of social and political madness in 2018, being a comedian in 2018, and much more. Enjoy! Follow Kellen on Twitter at @captainkalvis
Jeff Cassel is a designer, guitarist, and all around creative wizard. We've known each other for around 15 years so in this episode we opened up with a bit on our history and walked through Jeff's childhood, specifically in how he was raised by two families in two ways of thinking, which shaped his perspective of dualism early on. From there we got into the topic of archetypes centered around Carl Jung's work— something that Jeff is fascinated by and studies constantly. After that we pivoted into talking about Jordan Peterson, who is a public figure that both Jeff and I were invested in years ago and have since deconstructed and reshaped the way we perceive him, along with others like him in "The Intellectual Dark Web." In closing we talked about how to think critically using nuance and third way tools to help avoid groupthink, cognitive dissonance, and hero worship. Enjoy! Follow Jeff on Instagram/Twitter at @casselthunder Hear his music here: ygatm.bandcamp.com/
Bob Hunsberger is a writer, musician, and the man behind @theidiotintern Steve! He started interning at our agency in January and fully developed "Idiot College Intern Steve," who is a character on Twitter that plays the clumsy, positive, borderline crazy intern of Steak-umm Meats. In our talk we covered the story of how the Steve character came to be and went through what it's like working on social media together. Enjoy! Follow "Steve" at @theidiotintern
Daniele Bolelli is an Italian-born professor, martial artist, podcaster, and author of several books including On the Warrior's Path and Not Afraid. He's appeared as a guest on popular podcasts such as Joe Rogan's, Adam Carolla's, and Skepticality, the official podcast of the Skeptic Society. We opened up our conversation by touching on the tragic death of Anthony Bourdain, then got a bit into Daniele's experience in losing his wife and having to raise his daughter on his own. We then went onto critically break down "The Intellectual Dark Web" and this new culture of niche tribes, and we closed with speaking about how important it is to not get caught in this spiral of focusing on problems we're against, but rather focus on what we're for, and the tangible solutions we need to create to move forward. Follow Daniele on Twitter at @DBolelli Order his most recent book "Not Afraid" here: amzn.to/2y0FRUH
Jennifer is the Senior Editor at Topix and has had her writing featured on UPROXX, Splinter News, Gawker, and Jezebel, and describes herself as a "Christian who refuses to behave." In our talk she went through her story growing up in the Pentecostal Church of God and how she moved out of that religious denomination into a more progressive worldview. We also covered a bunch of various talking points within Christian culture as a whole. Enjoy!
Brian Walker is the man behind the band "A Day Without Love," he's a community organizer, and founder of the Philadelphia DIY Collaborative Facebook Group, which consists of nearly 8,000 members sharing promotional tools, music, and stories. In our talk we went through Brian's upbringing and the effect it's had on his songwriting and identity, we covered a bit about race in America and his experience as a black emo/indie songwriter, and we touched on outrage culture, identity politics, and a bunch of other hot topics focused on political polarization. Enjoy! Check out his new album "Diary" here: www.adaywithoutlove.com/
David Hayward has a Master of Theology and over 30 years of pastoral experience. Since 2006 he's run the blog Naked Pastor where he "undresses religion, religious community, and spirituality through writings, art, and cartoons." In this episode we talked about the cool projects David is involved with, shared our experiences growing up in the church, and worked through what it is to deconstruct religious baggage while reconstructing community and identity within the same framework. Enjoy! Follow David everywhere at @nakedpastor
Amy Brown is the former Social Media Manager for Wendy's and is the current Social Media Manager for Postmates! In this episode we went through the story of how she got to where she is today, what it's like to be the human behind a brand gone viral, and some of the fun (and craziness) of working in social media. Enjoy! Follow Amy on Twitter at @arb
Zoltan Istvan is a transhumanist, futurist, author, and journalist. He's a former reporter for National Geographic, ran for president in 2016, and is running for governor of California in 2018 under the libertarian party. In this episode we got into what transhumanism is, what his policy platforms are, and tackled a lot of the questions people generally have around these topics. Enjoy! Follow Zoltan at @zoltan_istvan on Twitter
Nelson Floyd is the owner of Speakeasy Coffee Company, drummer of Swift River Still, and a bunch of other cool stuff... but does any of that define who he is as a person? In this episode we talk about how "what we do" is often equated with "who we are" and a bunch more! Follow Nelson at @nelsonfloyd Follow Speakeasy Coffee at @secoffeeco on Twitter OR @speakeasycoffeeco on Instagram
Carolyn Lederach is the Sofar Sounds Philadelphia City Leader where she coordinates monthly concerts in third places around Philly. In this episode we cover the ins and outs of Sofar Sounds, get into the story of how Carolyn got to where she is today, and talk about our small town upbringings and how that ties into what we do! Follow Carolyn at @CLed1024 Follow Sofar Sounds at @sofarsounds
Mike Pflueger is a teacher, artist, and tech specialist based out of the Philadelphia area. In this episode we got together to talk about the education system, inner city life, futurism, artificial intelligence, and many more fun ramblings!