“I really like just being down in the trenches with people. Discord is a place to have moments where a topic springs up in a channel, and for the next hour you have one of the most heartfelt, beautiful conversations.” Michael Garfield is the host of the Future Fossils podcast, Complexity podcast, and the social media director at the Santa Fe Institute.

(0m 42s):

How Michael came to host both the complexity podcast and the future fossils? Michael learned on stage that not only was he a musical performer, but he was also great at public speaking. Pretty soon, people were asking him to interview people and record it! So he started the Future Fossils podcast with his friend Evan Snyder.

(5m 29s):

Future fossils is a podcast about time, complex systems, philosophy, and technology.

(7m 3s):

A takeaway of the podcast: remain epistemologically flexible. Stories form our worlds. There are many ways of looking at the world. Also, “there are important symmetries between the pre-modern world and the postmodern world.”

(11m 9s):

How Michael started the Complexity Podcast for the Santa Fe institute.

(15m 39s):

Michael grew the Santa Fe’s social media assets from scratch, and promotes the podcast on them. He also promoted it in Nautilus magazine. He spends $0 on ads.

(16m 43s):

How Pete’s email, personality, and experimental new product sold Michael on our transcripts. Something Michael wants to get to eventually: creating networked diagrams of the topics covered in the podcast (also covered at the 21m 19s mark).

(24m 24s):

Michael is the only client we’ve seen who actively outsources his editing work to listeners! Here’s how he sourced volunteers - step by step - and shared responsibilities. He also shared some tips on what he’ll do differently moving forward.

(29m 9s):

Other future uses for the transcripts.

(32m 41s):

Michael has studied complexity, so does he have any insights into the pandemic as of yet? He did a 10 part episode series on COVID last year - you should listen to it.

His conversation with Shane Moss and Chris Kutarna on the Future Fossils podcast is a great episode to listen to if you can’t listen to the 10 parts (linked below).

But one point: “we’re awakening to the realities of being networked individuals.” Personal health affects the economy, public health, other people, etc. Furthermore, biological contagions mimic ideological contagions. Lastly, it has shoved our relationships into the digital sphere, causing more polarization. Our society has become more fragile.

(40m 57s):

Michael started a discord server to build a community that wasn’t on facebook. “People are looking for their own sort of bespoke little digital campfires that they can hang out at.” That’s where all of the heartfelt conversations occur.

“I don't think it's ethical at this point to try and grow a podcast as large as you possibly can, any more than it's ethical to try and grow a company as large as you possibly can. Like, there’s more than one bottom line.”

To join the discord channel, check out the future fossils shownotes, or just reach out to Michael on twitter.

Michael on twitter: twitter.com/michaelgarfield
The Santa Fe Institute: https://www.santafe.edu/culture/podcast
Transcripts of the Complexity Podcast: https://complexity.simplecast.com/episodes

Michael Garfield, Chris Kutarna, and Scott Jones on The Atlas Model: https://share.fireside.fm/episode/HFGEuPQ7+M03O20BK

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