The State of Culture in 2024 | Ted Gioia | How I Write Podcast 

Ted Gioia thinks our culture is stagnant. Algorithms have us addicted to distraction, Hollywood's out of creative ideas, and people don't read hard books like they used to. 16 lessons about writing and breaking free from dopamine culture: 1. Ted's golden rule for writing: "Always be honest." 2. Three questions to ask yourself when critiquing something: Is it fair? Is it accurate? Will this be persuasive to all fair-minded observers? 3. Struggling as a non-fiction writer? Become an expert in something first. 4. Read slowly. 5. Success won't always come quickly. Ted's career is just now taking off - 50 years after he started writing for publication. 6. People will judge you on your outputs, but you should focus on your inputs. For Ted, that means reading mind-expanding books and listening to music. He does both for 2 hours per day. Then, he writes. 7. What kind of books should you read? Ted says: "Read for mind-expansion, not entertainment, and seek out challenging books." 8. Wondering which book to read? Think of books like drugs and pick up the one that'll give you the greatest out-of-body experience. 9. Do you struggle with writer's block? Do this: (1) buy a blank journal that only you will see, (2) write about something that happened at the end of every day - but there's one rule... you have to be 100% honest, (3) do this every day for a month, and (4) sit back and read what you've written at the end of the month. You'll be surprised by how much good stuff you have. 10. Your high school English teacher was right about this one... write in the margins of your books. 11. After you finish a book, summarize it in your own words. Helps with retention. Think summaries are too time-consuming? If just spent 10 hours reading the book, devoting another hour to synthesizing it is a relatively good time investment. 10-to-1 ratio. 12. Why is our culture stagnant? Consumer brands are increasingly old standbys. Look at video games. Minecraft (launched in 2011), Call of Duty (2003), Grand Theft Auto (1997), Madden NFL (1988), and Super Mario Bros (1985). 13. How about another example? The comic book market driven by the same brand franchises that were dominant in the 60s and 70s. All of the top 20 bestsellers are from Marvel or DC Comics, which were founded in the 1930s. 14. Want a third? Hollywood sequels. They're everywhere now. Top Gun, Spider-Man, John Wick, Mission: Impossible. 15. Music is like cloud storage for societies. That's why the historians in traditional communities were usually singers. Music preserves culture and folklore. 16. Consume old stuff when you're young and new stuff when you're old. This is the opposite of what most people do. Ted is the most well-read person I've met in years. You name it. He's read the book or listened to the album. This guy knows the Western canon.

Ted's Substack is fantastic.

Honestly, I think this is the best interview I have even seen. I'm even more impressed by Ted's knowledge and David's ability to make difficult topics translate into easy conversations. Thanks a lot!

A very, very good conversation - and kudos to both participants that it is a conversation and not just an interview. It goes to a lot of places and is guaranteed to make any intelligent person think and maybe even get inspired. Thank you!

I'm not even 4 minutes in and oh my god, I'm so thankful to hear y'all talking about a more maximal style of writing. I love writing, and I can't stand cutting out so much because of how ADD friendly it feels like I need to make it...

OMG can’t believe you got Ted Gioia on the show! I’ve loved his books for years and what he’s doing on Substack now. One of my favorite writers alive, and definitely my favorite writing style. I dream to write like him someday and honor to the craft full-time.

Thank you both for this interview.

We all know that Ted is an intellectual. But this interviewer is super bright, super well prepared. It is heartening to see someone from a younger generation being so old worldly erudite. I am thoroughly impressed. This young man is going places.

Love his substack. The State of Culture 2024 was so good. I’m still thinking about consuming “Distraction.”

The news is always breaking, our phones are constantly pinging, and social media feeds have no end. We're trapped in a Never-Ending Now. We think to ourselves: "Yesterday's news is old news, so focus on the present." But this is a dangerous idea. If you're not careful, you'll devote all your consumption time to present things while ignoring the wisdom of history and the marvels of civilization. Some highlights from the interview: • There's always a flavor of the month and a flavor of the week or the thing happening now. And if you try to build on that, it collapses because those things never survive. You must seek out the timeless. You must renew your mind on the timeless truths. That's why I spend a lot of time with these old books. They're my firm anchor. • I had a professor once who taught me Milton and Dante and medieval and renaissance literature. And he told me once, Ted, I don't read any book written after 1900 because it hasn't proven itself yet. The funny thing is, I was like that for a long time. Maybe I was like 1940 or 1950, but I had this idea that I didn't want to invest in a book until it had proven its benefits to generations of readers. • If something has given wisdom to generations of readers for hundreds of years, I should open myself to that experience.

Fantastic interview. Am a big fan of Ted; he’s the intellectual we sorely need in today’s culture.

Wow, I hadn’t heard of Ted but only 10% in and I’m hooked. Thank you David.

Ted is a genius - watching now!

I first learned of Ted from his first interview on Rick Beato's YT page and have received his newsletters since. Now, he was just on Beato's page for a second interview and now on David's page! Thinking independently is still a good thing!

Beautiful chat-full of rich insights into becoming an authentic writer who has depth and substance to offer. Key takeaways: 1. How the name of "honest broker" came about: a example of how seemingly weird incidents and experiences in life turn into nuggets. 2. Input (what and how much you read) matters to your output. 3. Brutally honest journaling is the way to regain touch with the true self. This also happens to be a rare podcast where the host doesn't directly tell you to like or subscribe--and you end up doing just that.

“There’s a danger I might get mystical at some point.” LOVED THIS ENTIRE INTERVIEW.

I didn't know about Ted's existence at all. What a remarkable human being, in every sense. And what a gift to receive his wisdom at this point in my writing career, just about to start, but with enough life experience to not buy into dopamine culture's view on writing. TY for bringing this gem of an interview to us. It's helped A LOT with the issues I'm currently struggling with. TY TY 🙏🏼

I didn't know Ted before this episode... What an interesting guy! One of my favourite episodes. As always, thanks David. Your hosting is always the best. Keep it up 💪

The culture is dead because the Spirit which is what enlivens culture, has been denied for too long. We need a global understanding that the spiritual world exists and that we need to keep connected to it. Matter without spirit is a corpse. And now A.I enters the picture to cut out ANY connection to the spirit by cutting out the being that connects these two worlds, the human being.

I was thinking this man was going to talk about writing a podcast, my mistake, new here. That being said, very interesting episode and full of interesting tidbits. You have a new subscriber.

When I hear a nice thick Wisconsin accent, that makes my day as well, Ted! Good talk 👍🏻

I have been telling coworkers , and family and employee's that the more you learn - the valuable you will be at your job for decades . I started my own manufacturing company in 99 - 24 years later sold it for millions . I'm a high school drop out at 17 to join the Marines. Injured at 18 with a honorable medical discharge. No money , no job and no education. I spent my 20's & 30's constantly learning ( really my whole life ) This is how I was able to be successful at what did - I actually knew what I was doing , the customers & suppliers knew I was a creditable authority in the metallurgical & semi conductor industry .

I think the 1800 thing Ted mentioned has an answer: The Immanuel Kant to Friedrich Hegel transition in Philosophy. Everything from Socialism to Romanticism to even The several movements in Painting can be traced to this moment in German philosophy, and its re-reading of the classics.

This was great! Love Ted’s substack, and this interview was awesome, incredibly insightful. Thank you 🙏🏽

This is fantastic. I have never felt more like a slacker than I do now. Thank you for the time and thought you put into this.

Great Talk. I always enjoy listening to Ted.

This was excellent. I too hope we see more maximalism and honesty. I’m sick of the clickbait, shallow piffle, and lack of depth in so much of the online and even publishing world. Now I’ve got to go check out Ted’s The Honest Broker Substack.

I've followed this interview for the third time now! Thanks David.

Love Ted Gioia. Great interview! Well done.

Very good! My grandfather was a writer (an important one) and a journalist, and he spent much more time reading than writing.

Spot on.

Love Ted!

Where is joy, creativity, an exploration of environment, grounding when there's irrational hands that hold our strings at every turn in society. You want culture? Respect the culture. You want people to buy into society. Give them a society worth buying into

Reminds me of what Jason Zweig said, There are three ways to earn money as a writer. 1. lie to people who want to be lied to and you'll get rich. 2. tell the truth to those who want the truth and you'll make a living. 3. tell the truth to those who want to be lied to and you'll go broke. There is huge difference between knowing what's right and making a living, delivering what you know to be right. This may be the most common in investing, in law, or even in medicine when "do nothing" is the best answer a lot of the time. But "do something" is the career incentive for you to do. Sometimes your willingness as an expert to take an action is not moral.

So much of what he says about the music and entertainment industry aligns with Rick Beato.... then I find out that they know each other.

Drunk Australians have all the answers tbh lol. But also love this guy he’s great. My theory on being told to simplify language when it’s nothing extravagant but just not written for a 5 year old is that if you talk to ppl like they are stupid, they will be stupid and collectively this is bad

If you liked his tips then you would have loved what Win Wenger (learning and creativity researcher) was doing. Archive is all available online for free :)

At 1:38:17, Ted says "my writing is not bringing enough money to pay the bills", and we hear a female robotic voice says "AI". What's this? Do you know that David?

why is there a robotic-sounding voice at 1:38:18 that says "A.I." in response to Ted's question? I find it weird and unnerving 😅

Progress is not new technology, progress is flourishing human beings. Age of reason is not nearly as important as romanticism for the betterment of society. Not algorithms and code. And profits. We are at this same point today

Please have Ryan holiday or Robert Greene on

This is brilliant and every word is gold. But Ted, more than 1 in 1,000 of your readers know the "dogmatic slumber" quote surely!? It makes me sad you take these kind of references out.

Great conversation, full of interesting insights. But Ted's understanding of evolution and what "fitness" means is about as far off as you can get. Also, worth noting that Hemingway's succinct style is due to his having been a journalist for years.

First

Culture is stagnant. And that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be.

Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica is a true maximalist writer. He has a 9,000 page novel about organised crime in 1960s New York which is the richest and most fascinating set of character studies ever written. It's Moby Dick on steroids. His books have never been published. I will say though David Foster Wallace, while he does have long convoluted sentences, doesn't actually have any substance to his work. It's mostly cliches, gimmicks and juvenile humour. I think comparing Infinite Jest to Moby Dick is just absurd, except if the only thing you care about is big words and long sentences.

Interesting and a bit troubling. He says he was hired to help businesses set up shop in china and my working poor blue collar ass here's he helped companies off shore manufacturing etc. Then, midway he mentions Soros and my heart dropped a bit more. I'll finish this but idk. ...

Selah

Don’t agree about Disney. Their lack of hit movies is mostly trying to subvert formulas just to do it and it isn’t working. Subverting is good if it is clever, earned and well done. Subverting just to subvert is dumb.

Terrible noise gate

“World expert in jazz”? Sorry, that’s not a thing.