Every so often, things fall apart.
In the words of those who lived it, here are the vibes and the semantic signatures of the twentieth century’s most devastating social collapses.
From the meaning in their words, wisdom for our future emerges.
Recent major media stories that feel to us like they’re part of a larger narrative campaign.
Recent major media stories that feel to us like they’re part of a larger narrative campaign.
This is an exclusive subscriber-only preview of the first six chapters of Rusty Guinn’s upcoming book Outsourcing Consciousness: How Social Networks are Making Us Lose Our Minds. The book explores how evolution, polarization, and technology are slowly transforming humanity into a hive mind - and what we can and can't do about it.
The Long Now is everything we pull into the present from our future selves and our children. We are told that the economic stimulus and the political fear of the Long Now are costless, when in fact they cost us … everything.
Tick-tock.
Men of God in the City of Man is a nine part series about a Narrative virus that infected the charismatic and Pentecostal churches in the United States. It isn't a story about Christian Nationalism. It isn't a story about January 6th. It isn't a story about why people voted for Trump. It is a story about a story. It is a story about the language that created a self-sustaining movement defined by its unwavering belief in a fundamentally corrupt electoral system.
Men of God in the City of Man
Amid the Widening Gyre of politics and the black hole of financial markets, the only anchor is us, together, walking with Clear Eyes and Full Hearts. Experience Ben's original 4-part series.
Outsourcing Consciousness
The Long Now
Men of God in a City of Man
Things Fall Apart
Recent Notes
The Zeitgeist | 1.29.2019
Food and retailing are top of mind (and…bullish?), trade continues to dominate content and commentary, and a hero rides in to protect the Lu Ann Platter.
The Road to Tannu Tuva, Pt. 2
The next stops in our discovery of the process of discovery? A town of 1,282 people and the mind of a German physicist named Arnold Sommerfeld.
You and Me (But Mostly Me)
Like it or not, the 2020 election season has begun. But I’ve got good news for you: someone has The Answer for the political center, and he’d very much like to discuss it with you.
In the News | Week of 1.28.2019
Tech, telecom, pharma and defense report. Plus some…er…highlights, from Davos.
The Zeitgeist | 1.28.2019
Oil falls, gas bounces, banks are buoyed. It’s apparently a weird gravity metaphor grab-bag on a Monday Zeitgeist.
Pricing Power (Pt. 1)
When an inflation regime shifts, the only question that really matters for your investments and your business model is this: do you have pricing power?
Pt. 1 of a three-fer Brief series … why the worst place to be in any services industry is on the product side.
The Zeitgeist | 1.25.2019
Billionaire penthouses, vertical integration in cannabis, non-musical music power, and a shifting tone in tech.
Mailbag!
Time to resurrect an old Epsilon Theory feature and make it a regular thing. Because the ET pack has a voice that’s worth hearing.
The Zeitgeist | 1.24.2019
An American mutual fund gatekeeper does PR for China, DNC gunning for Wall Street, multiple missionaries live from the pulpit in Davos.
The Zeitgeist | 1.23.2019
Talking ourselves into a recession, trusting our employers, and a fine example of government shutdown Fiat News.
The Zeitgeist | 1.22.2019
Welcome back, folks. Today, it’s all about cloud and blockchain, but no cannabis. Also: tech earnings, Trump can’t make a deal, and corporate debt.
Schrödinger’s Staredown
The gyre widens again, and if we are not careful, it will force us into positions that require us to deny the basic humanity of our fellow citizens. Reject it.
In the News | Week of 1.21.2019
Another big earnings week across banks, insurance, energy services, staples, transports and other industrials.
What Gang Aft Agley
We asset owners and allocators (rightfully) obsess about alignment, but too often that obsession becomes an outward one, motivated by our rights and entitlements instead of our ultimate best interest.
The Zeitgeist | 1.18.2019
Today it’s Morgan Stanley, the price of rice, Morgan Stanley, the art of AI and a bit more Morgan Stanley.
Modern Monetary Theory or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the National Debt
Modern Monetary Theory is neither modern nor a theory. It’s a post hoc rationalization of politically expedient policy that makes us feel better about all the bad stuff we’ve done with money and debt in service to Team Elite.
And all the bad stuff we’re going to do in the future.
The Zeitgeist | 1.17.2019
The Zeitgeist for January 17th: China, ‘no inflation’, advice from Bogle, and another day, another cannabis headline.
ET Live – 1.15.2019
ET Live! is now in the books for January, but you can catch the replay here.
Navigating the Discovery Map
At the suggestion of one of our friends and subscribers, we wanted to provide what we think are some of the best launch points for exploration of the newly published Discovery Map. The only question: do you want to explore topics in depth or see the connections between them?
In The News | Week of 1.14.2019
A busier than usual week, as first quarter earnings season kicks off for banks and airlines. A few other notables in tech and energy, as well.