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If a chatbot writes your novel, did you really complete NaNoWriMo?
Two niche internet panics caught my eye over the last couple of weeks: a bungled AI policy by the organization that promotes National Novel Writing Month and a viral story about people hiring Strava surrogates to run for them so they can claim the kudos. And those two stories got me thinking about the ways that we delegate away the intrinsic value of other activities.
So with the help of a 1935 essay by Walter Benjamin, let's unpack the cult value of novel writing, running, and social media.
Footnotes:
"NaNoWriMo Says Condemning AI is 'Classist and Ableist'" via 404 Media"Some Thoughts on NaNoWriMo" by Sarah GaileyChannel News Asia on the Indonesian Strava jockey trend"People are paying 'Strava mules' to do their runs for them, but why?" via Women's HealthVelljko's Strava mule confession on TikTokLeigh Stein on the internet's difficult with satire on TikTok"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin"Unpacking the Attention Fetish" on What Works"In Defense of Inefficiency" on What Works"Why AI Isn't Going to Make Art" by Ted Chiang via The New Yorker
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Inspired by the current vibe shift, I'm interrupting my rebroadcast of the Self-Help, LLC series with an interlude about values—personal values, business values, American values, even Christian values. And it's about what is so often misunderstood about values. Values aren't chains; they are wings.
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This is the 6th installment in the Self-Help, LLC series, which originally ran in October 2022. Today's episode has been revised and re-engineered!
We form an impression of our voices early in life. While it might shift some as we age, those impressions tend to stick with us. For many of us, what we learn about our voices is how they don’t quite measure up to the ideal: too high, too low, too soft, too loud, too this, too that. This is especially true for women, queer people, transgender people, non-native English speakers, Black people, people of color, indigenous people, and really anyone whose voice doesn’t fit into the white, male baritone mold.
So what do we do? We try to sound more like everyone else. And that can not only mess with our ability to use our physical voices, but it messes with our ability to use our metaphorical voices and confuses our sense of self.
Samara Bay, a Hollywood dialect coach who’s worked on blockbusters like Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy, is on a mission to help everyone find “permission to speak.” In this episode, we dig into how the self-help imperative to “own your voice” might be more complicated than it sounds.
Find out more about Samara BayGet Samara’s book Permission to Speak“I still have a voice” by Alice WongSamara Bay on Anna Sorokin and Elizabeth Holmes’s voicesWomen and Power by Mary BeardMore about African American Vernacular English on Pause on the PlayCollege students talk about their relationships to their Southern accents on Dolly Parton’s America“The Magic of Voice Transitioning with Nicole Gress” on Camp Wild Heart with Mackenzie Dunham“Me minus me” on This American Life (Sandy Allen’s vocal transition)“If you don’t have anything nice to say” on This American Life (complaints about female voices)More on the mid-atlantic accent
Footnotes:As always, find the essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi
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How influencers, well, influence the way we see the world, our work, our families, and ourselves? And how does the spectacle we immerse ourselves in daily contribute to our perfectionism, anxiety, or fear? In the fifth installment of Self-Help, LLC, I talk about all that and more with Sara Petersen. This is an edited version of an episode that originally ran in October 2022.
There’s an influencer for every thing these days. Camping equipment? Sure. Nutritional supplements? You bet. Miniatures? You know it. College admissions? But of course. In this episode, though, we’re going to focus on one of the original influencer niches: MOMS.
The rise of the influencer ushered in a new outlet for self-help. Now, not only are there motivational books and talks, there’s a product endorsement to help you live your best life. Influencers give us, perhaps, the direct line between personal growth and consumer capitalism. I talk with the author of Momfluenced, Sara Petersen, about all of that and more.
Subscribe to Sara Petersen’s newsletterGrab your copy of Momfluenced“Life After Lifestyle” by Toby Shorin“The Rhetoric of the Image” by Roland BarthesThe Society of the Spectacle by Guy DebordEpisode 393 with Kelly DielsEpisode 395 with Steph Barron Hall“The Influencer Industry: Constructing and Commodifying Authenticity on Social Media” by Emily Dean Hund
Footnotes:
New!
Join me for an 8-week seminar called Making Sense starting in September! I'll guide you through how to use the process of sensemaking to make media that helps your audience better understand the world.If you're bored by your current content strategy, tired of coming up with new how-tos or advice posts, and want a fresh and impactful way to approach how you write, podcast, speak, or communicate in any way, this seminar is for you. You'll work week-by-week through on-demand learning, office hours, workshops, and small assignments so that by the end, you have the draft of an essay, script for a video, outline of a podcast series, or slide deck for a presentation.
Learn more about Making Sense!
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This is the 4th part of my series Self-Help, LLC, which I'm replaying over the summer! Enjoy!
If your Instagram feed or Explore page looks anything like mine, then you likely see a preponderance of posts about personality types, conditions, or other self-knowledge. We’re hooked on learning about ourselves! And perhaps even more hooked on sharing what we’ve learned—which means that the Instagram algorithm (as well as TikTok’s and Pinterest’s algorithms) has learned to love this kind of content, too.
In this episode, I explore discovering ourselves versus making ourselves, why self-knowledge is big business on Instagram, and how creating viral personality content can wreak havoc on the creator’s psyche. To dig into this with me, I invited @ninetypesco creator, Steph Barron Hall, onto the show.
Find Steph Barron Hall on Instagram (@ninetypesco)Learn more about working with StephHow to be Authentic by Skye ClearyLearn more about the Enneagram and find your typeThe Nine Types of RestSelf-Help, INC by Micki McGee“Double consciousness”“Looking glass self”
Footnotes:
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Essay versions of each episode are posted at whatworks.fyi every Thursday. -
This is an updated version of the 3rd installment in my series Self-Help, LLC, from 2022. Enjoy!
Our quest for self-improvement requires us to decide who (or what) to trust with our time, energy, and money. What book do you decide to read next? Which coach do you hire? What accounts do you follow? Our consumer choices seem endless—so finding someone or something to put your trust in might feel like an Olympic feat.
On the flip side, as business owners or independent workers whether explicitly or implicitly in the business of self-help, our goal is to cultivate trust. Why would someone trust us with their business, their marriage, or their hopes and dreams for the future?
In this episode, I sit down with sociologist Patrick Sheehan to talk about his study of career coaches and the role they play with job seekers. We examine the roles that both credentialed and experience-based experts play in society and why uncertainty and instability might inspire us—for better or worse—to put our trust in prophets rather than priests.
Footnotes:
“We’ve stopped trusting institutions and started trusting strangers” by Rachel Botsman (TED Talk)“The Change Rules of Trust in the Digital Age” by Rachel Botsman (HBR)“Where did all the coaches come from?” by Patrick Sheehan (Work In Progress Sociology)“The new economy as multi-level marketing scheme: career coaches and unemployment in the age of uncertainty” by Patrick Sheehan (Work in Progress Sociology)“Gun Culture and Wellness Culture Come From the Same Place” by Alan Levinovitz (Huffington Post)As always, find an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi
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I’m continuing my rebroadcast of a series I did a couple of years ago called Self-Help, LLC, and asked the question, "Are we all in the self-help business now?"
Today’s episode is all about the aesthetics of self-help and what my guest Kelly Diels has dubbed the female lifestyle empowerment brand. If you’ve ever fussed with your hair or outfit before taking a selfie or sought out the perfect Instagram-worthy spot on vacation, this episode is for you. And if you haven’t? Well, hopefully, this episode will put your mind at ease: you don’t need to do any of that to be successful.
It’s not only self-help or entrepreneurship products that are sold as tools for “empowerment” today. It’s just about everything: makeup, clothing, workout equipment, vitamins, office supplies… Whole brands are built around the promise that a purchase won’t just solve your problem, it’ll make you a better, more fulfilled person. But empowerment isn’t for sale—only the status quo.
In this episode, I talk with writer and coach Kelly Diels about empowerment marketing and what she calls the “female lifestyle empowerment brand.” You’ll also hear from independent beauty writer Jessica DeFino about how empowerment is leveraged by the beauty industry (more from her later in the series!).
Learn more about Kelly DielsLearn more about Jessica DeFinoTrick Mirror by Jia TolentinoThick by Tressie McMillan CottomHow to be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment by Skye ClearyHelen Gurley Brown as quoted in Self-Help, INC by Micki McGee“The Rhetoric of the Image” by Roland Barthes
Footnotes:Read the updated essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi
Love What Works? Want to support the work of asking big questions about how we work today? Become a premium subscriber and get exclusive content and live quarterly workshops for just $7 per month. Go to whatworks.fyi/subscribe
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This is Part 1 of a series from 2022 called Self-Help, LLC. This summer, I’ll be republishing this series as I work on new essays and episodes. There’s a good chance this series is new to you, and if its previous reception is any indication, I think you’ll love it! If you listened to it the first time through, I’d love to know how it hits differently today.
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It’s hard to escape the language and politics of self-help today. Whether you’re browsing your LinkedIn, Instagram, or even TikTok feed, there’s a very good chance that the first post you see offers up some idea for living a better life or growing a more successful business. Shoulds and supposed-tos are cultural currency. We gain social capital by sharing advice or “giving value.” And that’s left me wondering: are we all in the self-help business now?
Today’s episode kicks off an 8-part series called Self-Help, LLC which will explore that question from a number of different angles. In this episode, I’m taking a close look at a particular construction of personal growth and entrepreneurship culture: winners and losers.
Dr. Rick for ProgressiveWhy does the insurance industry have so many mascots? on Planet MoneySelf-Help, INC by Micki McGeeMore about Marshall McLuhan (”The medium is the message”)Nixon’s universal health care plan proposalReaganism & ThatcherismThe Old is Dying & the New Cannot be Born by Nancy Fraser
Footnotes:Find the essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi and support my work critiquing and theorizing the 21st-century economy by becoming a premium subscriber for just $7 per month!
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For justice-minded people, navigating the world of work in the 21st-century economy can feel... impossible. A real no-win scenario. There's a constant tension between what's good for the communities we inhabit and what's good (and necessary) for us as individuals. But it's in this tension that we find a "margin of maneuverability"—a source of hope, possibility, and creativity.
That's the theme of a new book called The Myth of Making It by Samhita Mukhopadhyay, a feminist writer and editor, and the former executive editor of Teen Vogue. I sat down with Samhita to talk about the book and explore our margins of maneuverability.
Grab your copy of The Myth of Making It by Samhita MukhopadhyayFind out more about SamhitaStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and more on the Kobayashi Maru in Star Trek loreThe Politics of Affect by Brian Massumi"At 20, Teen Vogue knows its readers contain multitudes" by Annie Aguiar for Poynter
Footnotes:Related episodes:
466: Making Room for Others with Leonie Smith455: The Case for Uncertainty (and How to Navigate It)457: How to Define Hard-to-Define Work Stress450: The Will to Share Power with Tania LunaJoin me for Summer Seminar x What Works! It's an 8-week guided learning and reflection experience that provides a structure for examining your relationship with rest. Learn more and register here!
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Our podcast feeds and streaming services are full of real stories of real people. And not all of those stories feel... true. I mean, even if the facts are accurate, the way something is edited, packaged, and marketed can dramatically alter a story's impact.
Artist and audio producer Jess Shane wanted to create a project that would expose some of the problematic elements of this booming (and highly profitable) industry. The result is a podcast series for Radiotopia Presents called Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative. Listening to it made me deeply uncomfortable, so I knew I needed to have her on What Works to discuss it!
In this episode, you'll get the behind-the-scenes on this project. And you'll learn what happens when attention becomes a fetish.
Footnotes:
Listen to Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative from Radiotopia PresentsFind out more about Jess ShaneCurated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling by Sujatha FernandesThe Crisis of Narration by Byung-Chul Han ★ Support this podcast ★ -
Okay, this isn't really an episode about speculative investing. Well, it is. But I'm not talking about crypto or meme stocks. I'm talking about the challenges of living and working as a speculative investment.
Today's episode is a brief reflection on self-speculation, the "anticipatory, speculative self," and why the second person is so ubiquitous on social media.
Footnotes:
"Verified: Self-presentation, identity management, and selfhood in the age of big data" by Alison Hearn in Self-(Re)presentation Now"The Truth About Influence" by Alison Hearn in Re-thinking Mediations of Post-Truth Politics and TrustPsychopolitics by Byung-Chul Han"What 'You' and 'We' Say About Me" by Ariana OrvellAs always, find an essay version of today's episode at whatworks.fyi
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What would happen if you archived all of your Instagram content, announced that you had taken a job at a fictional wellness company, and then got fired for disclosing your experience with company-mandated colonic hydrotherapy? Well, Leigh Stein did exactly that.
Leigh wears many hats—novelist, poet, cultural critic, book coach, publishing expert. And when she realized that she wasn't wearing the hat she wanted to wear on Instagram, she decided to have some fun with a satirical performance art project.
Listen for the whole story and a provocation to embrace your own social media use as a project of identity performance!
Footnotes:
Leigh Stein's books and cultural criticismLeigh Stein on Instagram, TikTok, and SubstackGender Trouble by Judith ButlerJudith Butler on Why Is This Happening with Chris HayesSarah Urist Green on performance art for The Art AssignmentPerformance by RoseLee Goldberg"From Work to Text" by Roland BarthesRuPaul explaining drag on The Preachers
Organizing Indie Labor with Chiarra Lohr of the Indie Sellers GuildFiguring Out the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate TysonBuilding Solidarity in the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate TysonRethinking Creativity: An Interlude
Also in this series:
Find an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi
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I'm teaching a new workshop on May 15 & 16, 2024! It's called World-Building for Business Owners, and it's based on a process I've been honing for more than a decade. I'll help you apply creative, even playful thinking to your business strategy—and help you create an internally consistent business that causes fewer headaches, meets your needs more efficiently, plays to your strengths, and creates satisfying work.Click here for all the details or go to explorewhatworks.com/world
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Good luck going anywhere today without running into a message about creativity.
I was going to say, "anywhere online," but really, it's just about anywhere. We get creative in the kitchen. Creative in our workouts. Creative in bed. And of course, creative at work. Creativity is somewhat of a "cult object," as Samuel Franklin put it in his cultural history of creativity.
Today, I want to get uncomfortably close to that cult object and ask, "What is our fascination with creativity hiding?" So join me as I venture onto the third rail of the 21st-century economy.
Footnotes:
The Cult of Creativity: A Surprisingly Recent History by Samuel W. Franklin"The Surprising Origins of Our Obsession with Creativity" by Samuel W. Franklin in Behavioral Scientist"The Origins of Creativity" by Louis Menard (book review) in The New YorkerCapitalist Realism by Mark FisherAlso in this series:
Organizing Indie Labor with Chiarra Lohr of the Indie Sellers GuildFiguring Out the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate TysonBuilding Solidarity in the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate TysonFind an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi
***
I'm teaching a new workshop on May 15 & 16, 2024! It's called World-Building for Business Owners, and it's based on a process I've been honing for more than a decade. I'll help you apply creative, even playful thinking to your business strategy—and help you create an internally consistent business that causes fewer headaches, meets your needs more efficiently, plays to your strengths, and creates satisfying work.
Click here for all the details or go to explorewhatworks.com/world***
★ Support this podcast ★
If you enjoy What Works, please consider supporting this work by becoming a premium subscriber for just $7 per month. -
I'm teaching a new workshop on May 15 & 16, 2024! It's called World-Building for Business Owners, and it's based on a process I've been honing for more than a decade. I'll help you apply creative, even playful thinking to your business strategy—and help you create an internally consistent business that causes fewer headaches, meets your needs more efficiently, plays to your strengths, and creates satisfying work.
Click here for all the details or go to explorewhatworks.com/world
★ Support this podcast ★ -
"How do I want to live?" Philosopher Rahel Jaeggi says this question is bound up in the concept of alienation. Our disconnection and dissatisfaction keep us from answering that question—but they also keep us from asking it in the first place.
So in this episode, Kate, Charlie, and I ask that question—and five more. We examine how work in the creator economy can reinforce competition and individualism when what we really need is solidarity and collective action. If you're curious what you can do to join with others for your own success and theirs, this episode has some ideas.
Footnotes:
Kate Tyson: Whiskey Fridays (podcast), Wanderings (on Substack) and Wanderwell ConsultingCharlie Gilkey: Productive Flourishing and Better Team Habits"What the creator economy promises and what it actually does" by Kyla Chayka in The New Yorker"Surplus populations are all around us" by Tara McMullinAlienation by Rahel Jaeggi"Metrics, Incentives, and the Seduction of Clarity" by Tara McMullinCasey Newton on Decoder with Nilay Patel"Algorithms at Work" (algoactivism) by Katherine Kellogg, Melissa Valentine, and Angéle ChristinAs always, find an essay version of today's episode at whatworks.fyi
And speaking of the creator economy, if you appreciate the work I do, I'd be so grateful if you became a premium subscriber of What Works for just $7/month. Your support makes a world of difference when it comes to my ability to do this work.
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It seems the creator economy is booming. Or is it?
And what even is the creator economy??Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TechTalk are quite happy to advertise the ways they support creators with features and advice. Their aspirational creator hubs give the distinct impression that becoming a creator is akin to getting paid to be yourself.
But that said, when Kate Tyson told me that she doesn’t think the creator economy should exist but that she couldn’t put that in writing, I told her she was wrong—about not being able to put that in writing. Turns out, our mutual friend Charlie Gilkey had told her the same thing. So I arranged a meeting of the minds.Today's episode is Part 1 of 2 of that conversation. We get into who a creator is, how the creator economy really works, why we value what we value, and how platforms distort the market for our creative work.
Footnotes:
Kate Tyson: Whiskey Fridays (podcast), Wanderings (on Substack) and Wanderwell ConsultingCharlie Gilkey: Productive Flourishing and Better Team Habits"Millions work as content creators. In official records, they barely exist." by Taylor Lorenz and Drew Harwell on The Washington Post"Digital sharecropping" by Nicholas Carr"Preferential attachment" via Wikipedia"You Gotta Be in it to Win It" by Collin BrookeCapital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse? by McKenzie Wark"'Wait, I think you're platform-pilled'" by Tara McMullinCory Doctorow on 'enshittification' and platforms being 'too big to care'The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour ★ Support this podcast ★ -
The labor market has undergone a sea change in the last 20 years. A full third of US workers are part of the independent workforce, including gig workers, contract workers, freelancers, and sole proprietors. And yet, key provisions in our labor regulations do not cover independent workers.
What's more, platform companies have further changed our idea of work. If you sell your labor on a platform, you're not an employee of the platform—you're an entrepreneur.
Well, those entrepreneurs are starting to ask questions. I am, too.
Today's episode examines one organization's attempt to organize the indie workforce. The Indie Sellers Guild formed in the wake of a strike action in April 2022 by 30,000 Etsy sellers. I spoke with executive director Chiarra Lohr about what they've been up to, the challenges they face, and the victories they've already celebrated.
Plus, you'll learn a bit about the history of working women's organizing in the US—starting back in the 1830s!
Footnotes:
Learn more about the Indie Sellers GuildWhat Works Ep 385: "Who do you work for?"The Lowell Offering by Benita EislerThe Voice of Industry digital archive"History & Culture" — Lowell National Historical ParkPlatform Capitalism by Nick SrincekMonopsony 101 via InvestopediaNational Labor Relations Act of 1935Check out the Indie Sellers Guild Convention ★ Support this podcast ★ -
The Center for Nonviolent Communication describes what they teach as "empathy in action." And so it seems fitting to close out this series on Decoding Empathy with a look at nonviolence, Nonviolent Communication, and making social spaces at work & beyond that work for more people.
I talked with Leonie Smith, founder of The Thoughtful Workplace, about how she uses the tools and practices of nonviolence to help individuals and teams feel more seen and understood.
Footnotes:
Find out more about Leonie Smith and The Thoughtful WorkplaceWatch the Ask Leonie video seriesThe Expulsion of the Other by Byung-Chul Han"Ahimsa" on WikipediaThe Center for Nonviolent Communication"The 'Magic' of Meeting in Person" by Devon PriceThe Notebooks of Simone Weil edited and translated by Arthur WillsRelated:
My conversation with Mara Glatzel on the economics of "neediness"My conversation with Charlie Gilkey about implied rules and better team habits
Check out the full Decoding Empathy series!
Every episode of What Works is also released in essay form at whatworks.fyi!
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I have learned a lot about cognitive empathy by learning copywriting. After all, copywriting is a puzzle—the puzzle of figuring out what someone is thinking or feeling and how you can connect your idea to that thought or feeling.
So, it seemed only fitting that I would invite a copywriter to this series on decoding empathy to share her process and give you a behind-the-scenes look at cognitive empathy in practical application. In this episode, I get real nerdy with Samantha Pollack, a positioning strategist and copywriter, and think about how the digital doppelgangers we create via our personal brands might help us get curious about who is behind others' digital doppelgangers.
Footnotes:
Find out more about Samantha Pollack and Cult of PersonalityDoppelganger by Naomi Klein"The Politics of Recognition" by Charles Taylor in Multiculturalism
Find every essay and episode in the Decoding Empathy series.Every episode of What Works is also released in essay form at whatworks.fyi!
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Typically, the question of accessibility online is considered in technical terms: How does this website need to be designed? What ALT text is appropriate for this image? Are captions available for this video? And obviously, knowing the technical aspects of accessibility is important.
But if accessibility stops at the technical requirements, we forget that there are people on the other side of those checklists and manuals. We forget that even the most rigorous checklist can’t account for everyone and their experiences. We forget to ask critical questions that seem obvious when it comes to a backstage pass but are readily dismissed when it comes to most other social spaces.In the 3rd episode of my 5-part series on Decoding Empathy, I talk with Erin Perkins, an accessibility educator and the founder of MabelyQ, and draw on the work of disability studies scholar Tanya Titchkosky to theorize the overlap between access and empathy—and what it means for you.
Footnotes:
Learn more about Erin Perkins and MabelyQThe Question of Access by Tanya TitchkoskyImpact of post-COVID symptoms on US adults via the CDCWC3's Web Accessibility Initiative tips for online content"Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis as biographical illumination" by Catherine Tan"Coming Out Disabled" by Tanya Titchkosky
Every episode of What Works is also available in essay form at whatworks.fyi
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