- Eco Punks Gazette
- Posts
- Issue 2 - Healthy Ecosystems
Issue 2 - Healthy Ecosystems
Monopolies do not make things easier
Jan Lemke & Jesse Hirsh
September 21, 2023
Hello Again,
Welcome to issue two of our Gazette. Thanks a lot for the overwhelmingly positive feedback on our first issue. You could not have been more encouraging and validating.
We love hearing from you. Regarding what we write, do, or anything that you think we should know about. Write us via [email protected].
Health Matters
Are we self-diagnosing ourselves to death?
“I love Cross-Fit. For as long as there is Cross-Fit, I’ll never go out of business.”, the physical therapist said as she kept working on some scar tissue. We had just been talking about health care, and how people try to take matters into their own hands. It’s quite tragic: being left behind by a system that makes it impossible to get doctor appointments or insurance coverage, a system that benefits primarily the benefactors instead of who are supposed to be the beneficiaries, we try to prevent, maintain, cure and optimize as best as we can, but oftentimes get sicker and worse while doing it, i.e. by getting injured in a Cross-Fit session. |  |
Sick-care and health-care, and how can we fix a system that is consuming more and more resources? Meanwhile we’re witnessing an effective decrease in life-expectancy!? Premature aging due to long covid? We look forward to discussing those complexities and more in our upcoming salon on September 26th at 11:00 am Eastern NA. Please register here - we look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.
What the Google?!
Monopolies make for unhealthy ecosystems
Google has agreements in place with clients such as Apple that guarantee that their search engine will be pre-installed on iPhones prior to a customer’s purchase. Google’s market share in search is over 90%. Currently there’s a significant antitrust trial underway as the US government attempts to make the case that Google is too powerful. Should it be broken up a la AT&T? Face restrictions in how it does business?
If this sort of thing makes your head spin and you want to learn more go right to the source and check out what Tim Wu says. He’s been a heavyweight in antitrust circles, and was recently a part of the Biden administration. The following is an interview that provides insights into the case and related issues:
Notable Punk
Bobbi Althoff and the media ecosystem
It’s understandable if you don’t know who Bobbi (Althoff) is, but if this is the first time you’ve heard of her, it probably won’t be the last. The 26 year old got her start on TikTok (sharing her experiences as a mom) and has since leveraged her TikTok success into a thriving and rising podcast. Aptly named “the really good podcast” it has quickly become a means by which Bobbi can enter and play in the larger media (and celebrity) ecosystem.
Why? Attitude. Part playful, part awkward, and entirely irreverant. Check out this TikTok clip previewing Bobbi’s interview with Shaq (20.8 million views and growing):
@bobbialthoff Coming tomorrow with @Shaq Diesel
There’s something about Bobbi’s approach that is capturing this moment in time. While many focus on her awkwardness, there is also plenty of chutzpah that drives it. And for the record, she’s playing a role in the podcast, and she’s completely different when being interviewed. However, as the interviewer she has a knack for getting her guests to go somewhere different.
Not bad considering the podcast was only started this year, and already has millions of views. However a big boost came this summer when Bobbi interviewed Toronto-based rapper Drake.
The issue was not so much the interview itself, which weirdly was done in Drake’s bed, but rather what happened after the episode was published. During the recording, Drake played a song by Tyga, which technically is a copyright violation. The allegation is that after the episode was published, Drake got word to Universal Music who then got the episode flagged, causing it to be removed.
@photogsteve81 #bobbi #bobbialthoff #drake #podcast #news #drama #corporate
Whether this is what happened, doesn’t really matter. Enough people saw the Drake/Bobbi interview that when it was removed, it only served to create more hype.
This is why we think Bobbi is a notable punk! Worth keeping note of in the weeks and months to come. If you want a longer sample, here’s Bobbi talking with billionaire Mark Cuban:
Kevin Bacon and Murals?
Follow up from last issue
Remember that brief article on murals in last week’s Gazette? Turns out that Warby Parker store front was designed by Steve Powers, husband of Mary Anne Powers who Jan worked and sat with for close to 5 years. Thanks for the nudge, Marie Anne, you’ve got quite the impressive husband. We’ll keep a close eye on his work. |  Steve Powers pictured in front of one of his murals. |
Worth Reading
Spend some time with fiction
Last week’s book recommendation, Range by David Epstein, encouraged us to courageously spend time doing things that might not be linked to an immediate goal or purpose. Reading fiction falls into that category, and therefore this week’s recommendation comes from T.C. Boyle, one of the most prolific contemporary American writers. Living in Santa Barbara, T.C. Boyle churns out novels, essays and stories as if he had an assembly line somewhere in his office, and the essays and stories regularly make their ways into respective collections and compendiums. I walk between the raindrops is one of those short story collections, and the individual stories cover topics such as COVID, friendships, love, loyalty and faithfulness, mass surveillance, etc. As usual topics our current daily lives, and also as usual with T.C. Boyle, heroes are absent and nowhere to be found. A quick, intriguing and thought provoking read.
Worth Listening To
Everything's better with music
Music is essential, and that doesn’t just count for Punks. Andrew Huberman released an unusually and refreshingly short episode on the many benefits of music in our lives, and we strongly recommend listening to “How to use music to boost motivation, mood and improve learning.” Let’s never be without music ever again.
As always we love hearing from you! You can reply to this email or directly via [email protected].
Our LinkedIn page is now up, please follow and join us there!
Reply