As climbers, we are inventors of our own goals, and must decide on our own how to achieve them. There is nobody else there. Nobody to control. We do extreme, dangerous things, and nobody else can say what is right or wrong. There is no moral loathing. We have only our instincts about human behavior, and in the end we are our own judges.
~ Reinhold Messner
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Second, and maybe more practically, I now think about what I buy on a cost-per-use basis, which lets me account for the replacement cost and lifespan of a product when comparing between products.
~ Chris Bailey from, Basically everything is a subscription service
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Bailey presents some interesting way of thinking about purchases. One idea he presents is that you can think about anything as a subscription service— if you imagine it will be recurring. Toothpaste? …that makes sense; it’s silly to consider the cost of my “subscription” to toothpaste, (but it makes intuitive sense since we know we’re going to buy it over and over.) I’ve often heard about lifestyle creep, where the money we spend expands to meet our paycheck. And one way that happens is by habit development.
I get a pay raise—HA, yeah right… sorry. And I try this new Thai restaurant. It’s a little pricey, but I start going there occasionally, then more often, then… I’m suddenly the largest-by-purchasing-total customer of that business. doh. If instead, I had considered: This $30 meal is a subscription… wait wat. I don’t even get to the part where I try to wonder-out how often I want to eat there. I’m on the maybe-don’t-purchase-it brakes as soon as I combine “$30” and “subscription.”
Bailey also mentions the good old “cost per use” idea, which I use all the time. But just in case that’s new to you, you really need to click through.
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What lessons and insights can be gained from exploring podcasting techniques, storytelling, and the challenges of capturing personal narratives?
The challenges of starting a podcast while maintaining authenticity take center stage in this dialogue.
I’ve found it much easier to interview someone I barely know, much harder to interview someone I know really, really well.
~ Elise Smith (20:04)
This conversation centers on the art and technicalities of podcasting, from choosing equipment to crafting meaningful episodes. Elise shares insights into how minimal research can simplify podcast production, emphasizing focusing on impactful storytelling over technical perfection. This approach reflects a desire to balance efficiency and creativity in podcast creation.
The discussion also explores the challenges of finding and interviewing guests, particularly those who have experienced significant turning points in life. Elise highlights how podcasting provides an intimate platform to capture raw, emotional experiences quickly, contrasting the immediacy of podcasting with the long timelines of book writing. Additionally, the dynamics of interviewing strangers versus close acquaintances reveal the complexities of creating content that resonates with listeners while addressing the unique comfort levels of guests.
Takeaways
Finding balance — Producing a podcast with minimal research can increase focus on storytelling.
Interview strategies — Open-ended questions and familiar anecdotes help guests ease into conversations.
Tech simplicity — Choosing simple, functional equipment avoids unnecessary complexity.
Guest dynamics — Interviewing strangers is often easier than interviewing close friends or family.
Raw narratives — Podcasts can capture immediate emotional experiences that books often cannot.
Intimacy of podcasting — The medium’s immediacy can make it more personal than other forms of storytelling.
Navigating topics — Creating a safe space for guests is critical, especially for sensitive discussions.
Momentum and format — Adjusting frequency and structure of episodes can sustain production energy.
Resources
The Akimbo Podcasting Workshop — A course mentioned as influential in shaping podcasting strategies.
Tim Ferriss — Referenced for his advice on using familiar anecdotes to ease guests into conversations.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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To live long, it is necessary to live slowly.
~ Cicero
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All of our digital platforms and systems, from the social media networks we post on every day, to the storage services we rely on to back up our most important files, to the infrastructures that power our digital world economy, are vulnerable to irretrievable data loss. Over time, file formats, applications, and operating systems go obsolete. Legacy systems become impenetrable. The migration of data to new systems risks breaking the chain of information transmission.
~ Ahmed Kabil from, The Permanent Legacy Foundation Wants to Preserve Your Digital Legacy for Future Generations
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Data loss is a tremendous issue. (I’m setting aside the other problem of data which stays around despite our desire for it to go away.) All forms of data storage “rot” in some fashion or another. (Because, entropy.) It’s not so much about our storing data, as it is about our continuously moving data forward to better—which isn’t always the newer or newest technology at hand—storage. Don’t think “data storage,” but rather think “data movage.”
I’ve absolutely mastered the art of wringing maximum utility for me out of all of the data I create. But in terms of post-mortem— well, it seems a lot harder for me to actually care about that, so I’ve ignored it. While I’ve not gotten behind the Permanent Legacy Foundation myself, it is interesting none the less. I sometimes wonder if my slipbox is worth wondering about preserving? …what about my journals? (They could be a treasure trove of research data on mental illness.) …what about the thousands of pages on this blog? …what about my collection of quotes? …physical (slides, prints) or digital photography?
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I’ve always treated the world as my classroom, soaking up lessons and stories to fuel my path forward. I hope you do the same. The worst thing you can ever do is think that you know enough. Never stop learning. Ever.
~ Arnold Schwarzenegger
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This has been distilled to a motto: “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will”. I am a pessimist or optimist of the intellect according to facts on the ground, but I am ever an optimist of the will.
~ Jason Crawford from, Descriptive vs. prescriptive optimism
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Frankly, I’ve never cared for the simple dichotomy of, “are you an optimist, or a pessimist?” There is simply too much complexity—in the world, in the mind—for that level of simplicity to be useful. I’m interested in models, and this article from Crawford spreads out some of the complexity nicely. (It also includes some interesting references.)
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I have found you an argument; But I am not obliged to find you an understanding.
~ Samuel Johnson
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This phenomenon—winning or losing something in your mind before you win or lose it in reality—is what tennis player and coach W. Timothy Gallwey first called “the Inner Game” in his book The Inner Game of Tennis. Gallwey wrote the book in the 1970s when people viewed sport as a purely physical matter. Athletes focused on their muscles, not their mindsets. Today, we know that psychology is in fact of the utmost importance.
~ Shane Parrish from, The Inner Game: Why Trying Too Hard Can Be Counterproductive
Somewhere I saw a great interview with Gallwey. (Try TouYube?) Some of the insights from his work—for example, that psychology is critical to success in sports—now seem obvious. But 50 years ago, this was not only “not obvious” but was literally unheard of. (Insert my peewee-baseball story from the late 70s. *shudder*) There’s a lot more worth gleaning from Gallwey’s work. Positive thinking doesn’t work! Worse, it’s a hinderance as bad as negative thinking. *gasp* This insight is also 50-years old, but from my conversations with athletes, it doesn’t appear that it’s percolated as thoroughly.
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Without failures I would not be here. I learned most of what I know today through them. Maybe it was my partner, or the equipment was not proper, or the training—especially the mental training, which is the most important thing—were not good enough. With success, you don’t always know why you succeed, but when you fail, it’s clear what you did wrong. Then you can make changes and learn.
~ Reinhold Messner
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