Tasteland

Adam Voith, a novelist and the mind behind Little Engines magazine, dives into the dynamic world of publishing. He advocates for putting readers first, arguing that the industry often neglects them. Voith shares insights on treating books like consumer products versus cultural artifacts. He stresses the importance of building relationships with writers, likening his approach to that of a record label. The conversation touches on the challenges of marketing for artists and how writers can embody small business principles to thrive.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Nick Susi, a strategy executive and entrepreneurial builder for 13+ years, exploring the technological, societal and psychological forces that shape our identity, perception and culture.__Nick SusiWebsiteSubstackLinkedInInstagramTwitter/X__Timestamps00:00 Creators are consumers of the self07:51 Posts are the cheetle of your identity15:19 Presence in marketing17:11 Start a war, create a monoculture29:16 Building trust vs capturing attention36:59 How myths shape modern media and technology45:25 Separating the technology for the myth51:45 Ice Cube got it right__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by startup founder, developer, and runner, Cole Townsend. Cole has been a product designer for over a decade and is the head of tech and co-founder of Sole Retriever.__ColeWebsiteSole RetrieverLinkedInX/Twitter__Timestamps00:00 Jury duty06:54 Post Tokyo crash17:20 Every app is a marketplace or dating app24:49 Running is becoming lifestyle29:53 Crewing an ultramarathon34:12 Performance culture37:17 Founding Sole Retriever43:36 Never had a New Balance50:20 Moth tech__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland, Daisy and Francis are joined by NYC based journalist, Claire Landsbaum. Claire is the Deputy Editor at HighSnobiety and has formerly held positions at The Cut, Vanity Fair, and Business Insider.__ClaireWebsiteHighSnobietyLinkedInInstagramX/Twitter__Timestamps00:00 Show and tell09:02 The bowling alley is the new afterparty11:27 Writing for magazines15:06 Finding journalistic honesty19:03 Fake adult in Berlin26:53 Are Veronika and Kyle for real?32:40 I saw this tweet37:08 Can The Daily Beast be saved?48:35 Revenue and editorial integrity54:29 Tattoos and steaks57:53 The dream profile__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Jose Mejia, the CEO and Co-Founder at Scene Infrastructure Company, a software company building better instruments for socialization.__Jose MejiaSICX/TwitterLinkedIn__Timestamps00:00 Intro01:42 Stress-induced tramp stamp04:07 Zero-slop pop-up gets pwned10:44 Daisy bullies Chat-GPT, again13:16 Addison Rae Iconic Magazine scene report15:10 Wild soda flavor combos17:45 Shopify for the experience economy21:31 World Cup 2026 ticket prices26:17 The endgame of the attention economy33:38 The decline of consensus reality41:34 Rebuilding consensus reality48:38 Matryoshka doll of meaning51:08 When did everything become so intentional?__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland, Francis and Daisy go guest-free and dive into everything from small farms and soybeans to the future of media and paywalls. Is media all media marketing now? Life is good.__Timestamps00:00 Sourdough fatherhood01:43 Venture agriculturalism05:34 Soybean political own goal10:06 All media is marketing15:40 Not all media is marketing22:37 Retiring the op-ed27:46 The future of micropayments and paywalls35:27 Distasteland38:11 Nostalgic scent of manure39:33 AGI is coming, go to party school42:04 Life is good; drip__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Casey Lewis, founder of the After School newsletter and Gen Z consumer trends expert. Casey has been an editor at Teen Vogue, MTV, and New York Magazine, and in 2016, she started a media company for Gen Z, which was acquired by another media company for Gen Z.__CaseyAfter School NewsletterInstagramLinkedInTikTok__Links & ReferencesA Taste of Thomas Bernhard__Timestamps00:00 Thomas Bernhard renaissance05:25 Double dogs and doubled subs08:00 Gen alpha are the marketing generation10:11 Denim is back18:51 Individuality vs. conformity in youth culture26:46 Brand loyalty in gen z and gen alpha30:45 Mom's influence on tween shopping34:00 The uncanny valley of fashion38:09 Refragmentation of youth culture44:03 You stole my brainrot51:30 The ethics of child influencers58:27 I wanna be your billboard__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Dani Loftus. Dani is a founder, writer and investor focused on the digital evolution of culture. After founding content platform This Outfit Does Not Exist in 2021, she became a leading voice in the digital fashion space working with brands like Chanel, Dion Lee, and Google and writing for publications such as HUNGER, DIRT and Jing Daily.__DaniSubstackInstagramLinkedInX/Twitter__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Dani01:00 Gimmicky martini epidemic05:10 The return the hipsterdom17:27 Happy victims20:28 Fashion is fine art28:18 Pandemic shopping habits31:22 The Doji problem38:58 The commodification of taste in fashion46:52 Putting a watermark on humanity51:22 Class structure in the UK vs US__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Andy Hunter, the founder and CEO of bookshop.org, an online bookshop with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.__BookshopWebsiteInstagramBlueskyAndy's LinkedIn__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Andy and Bookshop02:08 Press Publish NYC06:26 Introducing e-books on Bookshop08:00 Aligning against big tech11:36 Best performing genres on Bookshop14:12 The catalyst for Bookshop's impressive growth15:52 Rejecting investment to maintain the company's mission19:51 Support bookstores, not billionaires28:03 Innovating the e-reader35:00 Bookshop's impact on local book stores37:25 AI vs human book recommendations46:42 Taking the Bookshop model beyond books53:40 The value of physical books57:40 Current reads__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Ben Dietz, a long-time media/entertainment business guy.__BenSubstackLinkedIn[SIC] Talks Podcast__Timstamps00:00 Do not disturb05:12 No new luxury brands11:11 Cybertruck: a future classic16:20 Can software be luxury?23:23 AI email summaries, with emotion30:34 Brand safety is dead34:56 Podcasting for the generations38:31 Job tenure trends47:39 Well-mannered, socialized and curious51:13 Psychological foot binding54:00 A month of sobriety__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.