This is what the future of media looks like | Hamish McKenzie

Summary

Summary of “This is What the Future of Media Looks Like” by Hamish McKenzie

Podcast: TED Talks Daily
Host: TED
Episode: “This is What the Future of Media Looks Like”
Release Date: May 21, 2025

In this compelling TED Talk, Hamish McKenzie, one of the founders of Substack, explores the profound transformations occurring in the media landscape. He presents a vision for a new media ecosystem that prioritizes relationships and economic autonomy for creators over the dominant algorithms and platforms that currently control media distribution and monetization.

Introduction to Media Disruption

At the outset ([00:00] - [04:16]), McKenzie sets the stage by describing the current state of media as being in chaos. He refers to it as the most significant media disruption since the invention of the printing press, highlighting issues such as political polarization and the algorithmic takeover of editorial roles. Despite the apparent messiness, McKenzie is optimistic, believing that this disruption is paving the way for something greater in human history.

The Old Temple of Media

McKenzie contrasts the current media landscape with the historical "temple" of media systems, which were centralized and controlled by gatekeepers like newspapers, radio, and television. These traditional systems were stable but rigid, offering limited perspectives and requiring new voices to be introduced through favoritism or established channels.

“For decades, we all lived in a media world that was kind of like a temple. It was top down, centralized and controlled by gatekeepers.” ([05:45])

The Age of Chaos Media

With the advent of the Internet and social media, the centralized media structure was dismantled, leading to what McKenzie calls the "age of chaos media." In this environment, anyone can voice their opinions, but the power remains concentrated in the hands of major platforms like Google and Facebook.

“We've gone from catechism to cacophony, and our political culture mirrors this chaos.” ([07:30])

This shift has led to a political culture focused on humiliation and strict adherence to doctrines, where gaining any form of attention trumps meaningful discourse.

Emergence of the Garden Model

Amidst the chaos, McKenzie identifies a burgeoning "garden" model—a distributed system of independent voices that enjoy economic autonomy. Unlike platforms that centralize power, the garden empowers creators by fostering direct relationships with their audiences.

“The garden model connects creators directly with their communities. We've seen in history how revolutions like this can take quite a long time to fully unfold.” ([09:15])

Economic Autonomy and Creator Independence

Central to the garden model is economic autonomy. By securing their financial independence from traditional gatekeepers and advertising-driven algorithms, creators can focus on producing quality content tailored to their communities.

“Economic autonomy gives creators freedom. Instead of chasing virality, they can spend all their energy on doing their best work.” ([12:00])

Real-World Examples

McKenzie provides several examples illustrating the success of the garden model:

1. Breaking Points: Initially produced by The Hill, this non-partisan show was reinvented by Crystal Ball and Saga as an independent entity on platforms like Supercast and Rumble. This move allowed them to earn more from subscriptions and cater to a broader political audience.

2. Caroline Chambers’ Substack: When traditional publishers declined her cookbook proposal, Chambers launched her own Substack, amassing a half-million-strong community with practical and accessible recipes. Her subsequent cookbook became a bestseller due to the strong relationships she built with her readers.

3. Matt Iglesias’ Slow Boring: Departing from Vox to start his independent newsletter, Slow Boring, Iglesias now commands over 200,000 subscribers and earns more than a million dollars annually by maintaining true independence and focusing on content he is passionate about.

“They succeed by cultivating trust, not by gaming algorithms or knowing the right people.” ([14:30])

Benefits of the Garden Ecosystem

The garden model offers several advantages:

• Ownership and Sustainability: Creators own their relationships with audiences, ensuring a sustainable income that isn't subject to platform rule changes or algorithm shifts.

• Resilience: The distributed nature of the garden makes the system more robust against single points of failure, such as sudden policy changes by major platforms.

• Cultural Enrichment: Media can shift from capturing fleeting attention to nurturing meaningful relationships, allowing for nuanced and complex discussions. This fosters a richer and more thoughtful culture capable of addressing complex societal challenges.

Addressing Concerns

While some critics argue that the garden model might lead to echo chambers, McKenzie posits the opposite. He suggests that interconnected cultural connections allow people to move between communities, exposing them to diverse viewpoints in more moderate environments.

“When you network cultural connections, people can move freely between communities and be exposed to new ways of thinking in more moderate environments.” ([14:10])

Call to Action

McKenzie concludes by emphasizing the power of individual choices in shaping the media landscape. Every subscription, share, and moment of attention serves as a vote for the kind of culture we wish to cultivate. By supporting independent creators, listeners can contribute to a media ecosystem that values deep relationships and cultural richness over fleeting trends and algorithm-driven content.

“Every subscription, every share, and every minute of our attention is a vote for the culture we want to flourish.” ([14:50])

Conclusion

Hamish McKenzie's vision for the future of media offers a hopeful alternative to the current centralized and chaotic landscape. By empowering creators with economic autonomy and fostering direct relationships with audiences, the garden model promises a more sustainable, resilient, and culturally enriched media ecosystem. This transformation not only benefits creators and consumers but also strengthens the very fabric of our society by promoting thoughtful and diverse discourse.

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Notable Quotes:

• “We’re living through the most significant media disruption since the printing press.” ([04:16])
• “Economic autonomy gives creators freedom.” ([12:00])
• “They succeed by cultivating trust, not by gaming algorithms or knowing the right people.” ([14:30])
• “Every subscription, every share, and every minute of our attention is a vote for the culture we want to flourish.” ([14:50])

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This summary encapsulates the key points and insights from Hamish McKenzie's TED Talk, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened to the episode.

Transcript

[Elise Hu]

Hey TED Talks Daily listeners, It's Elise. Thank you for making this show part of your daily routine. We really appreciate it and we want to make it even better for you. So we put together a quick survey and we'd love to hear your thoughts. It's listener survey time. It only takes a few minutes, but it really helps us shape the show and get to know you, our listeners, so much better. Head to the episode description to find the link to the listener survey with we would really appreciate you doing it. Thank you so much for taking the time to help the show.

[Hamish Mackenzie]

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[Elise Hu]

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[Hamish Mackenzie]

We'Re living through the most significant media disruption since the printing press. It's a transformation that explains everything from political polarization to why algorithms now do the jobs of editors. And it's creating a hell of a mess. But I secretly think that we're on our way to something greater than we've ever seen in human history. This is a massive deal, of course, because media systems don't just convey information. They shape how we think and how we behave. They shape our culture. I've spent my career navigating these shifts. As one of the founders of Substack, I help writers and creators make money directly from their audiences. Before Substack, I was the lead writer for Tesla, I wrote a book about the electric car revolution, and I covered media startups as a reporter. So I've witnessed firsthand how media systems evolve and how they collapse. The arrival of the Internet promised to democratize media, but so far I think it has broken more than it's fixed. Yes, social media has given everyone a voice, but it has still concentrated power in the hands of a few. But I see a new system starting to flourish, and I call it the garden. This garden includes a new generation of media platforms that give more power to creators and consumers. It's coming from places like Patreon, Twitch, Supercast, and then the company I started with, Chris Beston, Giraj Sethi, Substack it's an ecosystem that gives economic autonomy to independent voices, and it fosters direct relationships that are built on trust, instead of just putting everyone at the mercy of algorithms that maximize engagement and advertising revenue. For decades, we all lived in a media world that was kind of like a temple. It was top down, centralized and controlled by gatekeepers. We had the city newspaper over breakfast, radio for the morning commutes, TV news just before dinner. And it was a relatively stable system, but it was also rigid. It could represent only a few perspectives, and new voices had to be led in by favor. Well, the Internet companies came along and they sacked this temple. Craigslist took the classifieds. Google and Facebook captured the ad markets. Streaming services are dismantling television. Now, with the rise of social networks, we're in the age of chaos media, where anyone can have a voice, but the power still flows primarily to the platforms. We've gone from catechism to cacophony, and our political culture mirrors this chaos. Opponents are to be humiliated. Followers are expected to show fealty to specific doctrines and attention of any kind, whether it's positive or negative, wins the day. So we've gone from ask not what your country can do for you to what you can do for your country, to dunk tweets and goading salutes. Not going to do one of those. But when you look closely, it is possible to see something new emerging. And when I look closely, I see the green shoots of a garden. This garden, to put it in somewhat inorganic terms, is a distributed system of independent voices who enjoy economic autonomy. Unlike Instagram or TikTok, where the power mostly goes to Mark Zuckerberg or the Chinese Communist Party, the garden model connects creators directly with their communities. We've seen in history how revolutions like this can take quite a long time to fully unfold. Thomas Edison demonstrated the first practical light bulb in 1879. But it wasn't until the 1920s when electricity started to become common in people's homes. The missing piece was the electric grid. And if we look today at our current media revolution, we can see that the missing piece has been a different kind of power, economic power. So economic autonomy gives creators freedom. Instead of answering to bosses or an advertiser or an algorithm, they can focus on deeply serving their communities. Instead of chasing virality, they can spend all their energy on doing their best work. And in this way, the garden can bring a sense of order to social media's bedlam, distributing the power among the many instead of the few. Let's take a look at Some examples of how the garden is already starting to flourish. Take Crystal Ball and Saga and Jetty. They're the hosts of a non partisan new show called Breaking Points. It used to be produced by the Hill and it had the name rising. But then Crystal is from the left. Saga, who's from the right, decided to go independent. They moved it to Supercast and YouTube and then to Rumble. Now they make more money from subscriptions and cover a broader range of political viewpoints for an audience of more than a million viewers. Take Caroline Chambers. When publishers spurned her proposal for a cookbook deal, she took matters into her own hands. She set up a substack because she's a genius. She called it what to cook when you don't feel like cooking. And she grew a community there to about half a million people. They're all based around practical, accessible recipes. So when she did eventually publish that cookbook, it became an instant New York Times bestseller. Not because a publisher anointed her, but because of the genuine relationships she had cultivated with her readers. Consider Matt Iglesias. In 2020, Matt left Vox, the company he co founded, to start a newsletter, which he called Slow Boring. Matt had been a blogger since the early 2000s. He went on and wrote for the Atlantic. Then he started Vox during the social media boom. But it's worth Slow Boring that he's found true independence. Today he writes about what he wants to write for an audience of more than 200,000 subscribers. And he makes more than a million dollars a year. What these creators share in common is independence from traditional gatekeepers and aggregators. They succeed by cultivating trust, not by gaming algorithms or knowing the right people. So when you subscribe to Breaking Points or you support Caroline's substack, you're not just paying for content, you're entering into a relationship. The creator knows you're there, they value your support, and they can often engage with you directly in ways that just weren't possible in the old systems. This garden is about ownership and sustainability and resilience. When the creators own their relationships with their audiences directly, no platform or algorithm can suddenly cut them off from their community. That sense of ownership translates into a sustainable income that doesn't depend on algorithmic whims or viral trends. And the whole system is more resilient because it's not vulnerable to a single point of failure. If TikTok or Facebook changed their policies overnight, the independent creator can continue to live off the value of their relationships with subscribers. This shift has profound implications. In the garden, the media can become less about capturing attention and more about nurturing relationships. There can be more space for nuance and complexity in a world that increasingly resists both. And in the garden, biodiversity can flourish. There can be many more winners. There can be much better coverage of a vast multitude of niches. And everyone can play a role in shaping the culture they live in. Of course, there are going to be some people who will say, well, this is all just going to lead to more echo chambers. But I think the opposite can be true. Because when you network cultural connections, people can move freely between communities and be exposed to new ways of thinking in more moderate environments. The chaos of our current media moment cannot last. But then, no one's quite sure what the new landscape's going to ultimately bring. And that's why our choices today matter so much. Every subscription, every share, and every minute of our attention is a vote for the culture we want to flourish. And now we can invest in a system that values deep relationships. We can reclaim our attention from the doom scroll feeds and pour it like water onto the seedlings of a better future. And when we do this, it's not just about getting better content. It's about cultivating a richer and more thoughtful culture. A culture that can face up to the complex challenges of our time. A culture worth subscribing to. Thank you.

[Elise Hu]

That was Hamish MacKenzie at TED 2025. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, Tonsika Sarmar, Nivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Balarazo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.

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[Hamish Mackenzie]

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