First ten in review
Plus "Chris is an android"
Can you believe that we’re already ten episodes in?
I started publishing podcast-style conversations here so that I would get a chance to use our video and audio publishing tools, and have an excuse to talk to interesting people. I’m not sure what it says about me that it’s easier to ask people to “come on my podcast” than “talk”, and I’d rather not examine it, so without further ado here is a look back at the first ten episodes.
- ) who was a mensch for being my guinea pig and instantly earned a place as a recurring character / show thief here. Watch for: me quizzing Mills about whether he believes in god while he vapes furiously. Biggest technical error: embedding the subtitles in the video.
- ) who is a rising star, doing interviews that have captivated the intelligentsia of the Silicon Valley diaspora. If you lived through COVID in California and haven’t seen his conversation with Patrick McKenzie, go remedy that immediately! Watch for: advice on treating your Substack like a startup. Biggest error on my part: tie, between Riverside-induced audio sync issues, and accidentally leaving my apple background blur on.
- ) the writer, thinker, and internet sleuth. I did the usual thing of billing him as an “ex-mormon gay furry” which I now regret because those turned out to be some of the least interesting things about him, to the point where we didn’t even talk about the furry angle (though did here if you’re curious). Watch for: how Trace ran laps around the conservative media breaking a legitimately scandalous DEI-gone-mad story about air traffic controller training. Biggest technical error: the computer I was recoding on ran out of batteries and shut off (!!), so the last bit is audio-only from my iPhone.
- ) the economics blogger. I took the opportunity to grill him about what I called “Noah Smith thought”, which to me is a distinct blend of left(-for-an-economist)-leaning patriotism, techno-optimsim, and geopolitical pessimism. Watch for: me trying and failing to keep it together while Noah shows me “Insane Facebook AI Slop” of a hummingbird with giant balls. Biggest technical error: poor ducking of the music.
- ) the author, poker player, election forecaster came on just before Biden dropped out of the race. I’m grateful for Nate for making us an early stop on what became an epic podcast tour for his new book. We recorded this one with the team at Substack watching live, and cross-published it to Substack Reads which is where many of you discovered this place. Watch for: an interview-within-an-interview by . Biggest technical error: the music ducking again.
- ) the legendary entrepreneur and VC, whose firm is an early backer of Substack. After hearing his fascinating generational conflict theory that explains why he hates millennials, I had to admit to him that I am a millennial. Watch for: asking “why is pmarca promoting Dimes Square writer girlies?” Biggest technical error: Riverside fucked up the audio sync here and I wound up tediously fixing it by hand.
- , ) my two amazing colleagues. We talked about an ACX banger, and how fiction & fashion work on Substack. commented “Jasmine fan hive rise up!!!” and I must agree. Watch for: surprising them by making them introduce each other. Biggest technical error: honestly this is the first one I feel ok with the production. My only mistake was telling Jasmine that Squadcast was snitching on her every time she alt-tabbed away.
- ) who is the head of writer relations at Substack. We recorded in person over gin and tonics in Chicago during the DNC, but didn’t talk about politics at all. Watch for: us trolling each other about Astrology and the movie 300. Biggest technical error: the audio. I’m so sorry. I either used the wrong kind of microphone, or did something very wrong, or—likely—both. Still less embarrassing technically than my first in-person attempt with Trace.
- ) and my co-founder . Another one with the Substack team listening live, and it was great to hear from Ryan who is a legendary D.C. reporter. Watch for: what it’s like to go from a newsroom environment to being a media founder. Biggest technical error: my entire original video was somehow lost completely. This marks the official last time I ever use Riverside. Fortunately my absence didn’t hurt, and maybe enhanced, the episode.
- ), the co-founder of Zynga. I had tremendous fun talking to Mark in person about Polymarket, aliens, live video, and Substack. Watch for how Substack is like an MMORPG. Biggest technical error: this is the first in-person one that I thought turned out ok! I would still tweak video framing and audio.
Bonus: if you missed the “Chris is an android” live stream test earlier this week in which I answered a few of your questions, I’ve posted the recording here.
So far this project has been more successful than I’d dared hope. The quality of the people and conversations has been great, more of you have been following along, commenting, and sharing than I expected (thank you!!), and most importantly I’ve been having great fun.
I think I’ll keep it up.
Thank you for editing help. Thank you (who has a new album out soon, subscribe!) for the music, and for making this possible.
I don’t think I mentioned this, but you got me podcasting / video recording; it’s your fault / thank you!!! Love all this of course, and will note for viewers that your tendency to note technical problems per episode isn’t surprising; a ton of your energy around product design comes from rage at how complicated and bad all this can be when people are just trying to make interesting things.
Mills episode is #1