The Impossible Network

Jon Alexander - The Citizen Story in 7 Minutes

Jul 27, 2023

Jon Alexander, author of 'CITIZENS,' advocates for a shift from consumer to citizen story. Emphasizing civic opportunity, societal change, and community building. Exploring the impact of narratives on tools and inviting listeners to engage with a community of problem solvers.

09:26

Creator website

Episode guests

Jon Alexander

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Transition from consumer to citizen story crucial for societal progress.

Purpose Platform Prototype framework promotes collaboration over self-interest for societal advancement.

Deep dives

Crisis of the Consumer Story

The podcast delves into the concept of the crisis of the consumer story, highlighting how this narrative perpetuates societal challenges such as loneliness, inequality, and ecological issues. By emphasizing individual self-interest over collective well-being, the consumer story leads to detrimental outcomes while masquerading as beneficial, thus amplifying the existing crises. It is suggested that addressing these crises necessitates a shift away from the consumer story towards a more collaborative and participatory narrative, such as the citizen story, which advocates for active involvement and contribution to societal betterment beyond self-serving interests.

Introduction

2min

Exploring the Shift from Consumer Story to Citizen Story

6min

Exploring Societal Change, Tool Creation, and Community Building

2min

My guest this week is Jon Alexander, the author of "CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us," and the co-founder of the New Citizenship Project; a strategy and innovation consultancy with a mission to catalyze a shift to a more participatory, citizen-led society and driven by a belief that, given the right opportunity, people can and will shape the things that matter to them for the better.

Here are seven minutes of soundbites.

About Jon

Jon began his career in advertising, working at agencies including BBDO and Fallon, making ads for some of the world's biggest brands. However, Jon became disillusioned with the industry and realized he was caught up in a story he didn't believe in: the consumer story.

Through his book and his organization, Jon advocates for a new way of thinking, shifting the dominant story of the individual in society from consumer to citizen; reframing the moment in which we're living as a time of huge civic opportunity, emphasizing the world of possibility for countries, cities, organizations if they embrace the Citizen Story

Jon’s book may be the most important book I’ve read in years and I am convinced the story shift he’s advocating and fighting for will be pivotal if we are to overcome the meta-crisis we are facing as humans and as a planet.

Social Links

Jon’s Linkedin

Jon’s Twitter

NCP Twitter

What we discuss

00:00 Intro

0:34 The Meta Crisis

02:10 The Collapsing Consumer Story

03:42 The steps we can all take

04:58 How to do Marketing in a different way

06:46 The 3 P's of the Citizen story

07:46 Looking at AI