My guest today is Max Meyer, the proprietor of Arena Magazine, a new quarterly publication exploring technology, capitalism and civilization.
Arena’s aim? To “make it okay to dream in public again.”
Max and I discuss why he launched a print magazine in 2024, WTF happened to legacy media, the wisdom of Ratatouille and MUCH more.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack - https://8ca54796.streaklinks.com/CJPd0z7cXCh07hc4JAiMaKTC/https%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter.osv.llc%2F.
Important Links:
- Max’s Twitter - https://x.com/mualphaxi
- Arena Magazine - https://arenamag.com/join/
- The New Needs Friends - https://arenamag.com/2024/07/31/the-new-needs-friends/
- The Earthly Miracle of the Grocery Store - https://arenamag.com/2024/09/02/the-earthly-miracle-of-the-grocery-store/
- Robert F. Kennedy announces the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2kWIa8wSC0
Show Notes:
0:00:00 Intro
0:00:56 Main podcast
0:01:40 What is going on with legacy media?
0:03:28 Print advertising and the race to the bottom
0:05:05 The collapse of trust in the media
0:12:20 TikTok brain, news consumption & social media as a steam valve
0:23:33 Bailouts & the appeal of the “zero interest fairyland”
0:26:44 The wisdom of Ratatouille
0:33:46 The decline of Presidential oratory
0:38:36 American progress & the population bomb that didn’t go off
0:46:15 Failure is a ladder
0:52:10 The one rule of capitalism
1:04:50 Long haul flights: Where’s our roast turkey?
1:15:17 Why is Arena a physical magazine?
Books & Articles Mentioned:
- The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch
- The Ultimate Resource; by Julian L. Simon
- The Population Bomb; by Dr Paul R. Ehrlich
- The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
- How United Became an Airline - https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-united-became-an-airline-flight-dress-code-first-class-jobs-boarding-crew-c9f74c37; by Andy Kessler (WSJ)
- This is Water - https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/; by David Foster Wallace line.
