The Hope Axis ep2 Katherine Dee: Internet, Free Speech, Happiness

The great Katherine Dee (Default Friend) joined me for this lively discussion (debate?): we talked about happiness, free speech, online creativity, subcultures, why the internet is a good thing, what the kids do on social media these days, 90s digital anthropology, Tumblr, wokes, and more!
00:00 Intro, Interintellect, Millennials, Tumblr, Anne Frank
04:07 How having a baby changes one's views about the internet, and about one's audience
05:40 Kat's editorial process as an internet writer - shower thoughts, archives, planning
09:08 Is this digital anthropology? - the origin of the name "Default Friend", Kat's area of research
14:54: An interjection on online dating - the contradictions between official narratives about it and our lived experiences, the importance of being careful whose experience we present as universal
19:30 How will 2024 look in retrospect? What will be obvious in retrospect about this era? - Hyper-local, hyper-niche, hyper-human - Zadie Smith on how the internet killed the "ad hominem"
23:50 Online merging with offline, offline merging with online - Re-embodiment, TikTok
28:28 The Hope Axis - how Wokes (the past was bad) vs Conservatives (the past was good) as a dichotomy is gone and now it's Autist Culture (the future will be good) vs Public Nostalgics (the future will be bad) - my critique of Millennial intellectual blandness - Kat's notes on censorship - the purpose of semi-public spaces like Interintellect for finding the truth together
34:59 The present
38:03 Have subcultures changed?
44:04 The conversations we should be having: the benefits of the internet, who are the good writers on internet and free speech, the influence of Sherry Turkle
49:00 Idea genealogy, Kat's Big Idea, the importance of method and compassion, holding one's own as a journalist
54:29 Outro
To read / watch:
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