Tasteland

We convene three guests to discuss 25 years of the iPod, the consumer hardware End of History, and the possibility of a new consumer hardware Cambrian Explosion. Hosts Francis Zierer ( https://www.creatorspotlight.com/ ) and Daisy Alioto ( https://dirt...

In a new format for Tasteland, hosts Daisy and Francis spoke to three expert guests about the state and future of men's media. We set out to discuss a notion posed by our first guest, John McDermott — that we need The Cut for men. Over three guest conv...

No guest this week. Daisy and Francis discuss the concept of 'The Great Slowdown' as a response to media overload and the desire for deeper engagement with content, the idea of 'vibes gambling' in media, and Dirt's recent contest for essays on health a...

Raihan Anwar is a marketing leader for web3 products and communities at scale. He was a co-founder of FWB and also has his own fragrance business in addition to being a coffee connoisseur – all things we love talking about on this pod. Twitter Desire Paths - 00:00 Navigating Travel Chaos 02:25 Enter Raihan: The Intersection of Culture and Business 06:01 Exploring Fragrance and Identity 08:53 The A...

Elliot Aronow is the host/producer of minor genius, a culture imprint that publishes zines, hosts parties, and occasionally produces very handsome neckties. Inside that there's also a very discreet private studio where he works as an editor/co-conspirator with visible weirdos to ship finished artifacts. __ Elliot Aronow Instagram LinkedIn minor genius __ Timestamps 00:00 A year as a degenerate gam...

Jesse Hirsch is editor of Offrange. He has spent years working as a journalist focused on food and agriculture, most recently as managing editor at The Counter. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, Bon Appétit, Eater, and other outlets. Offrange is a digital publication covering American agriculture, food production, and natural resou...

No guest this week on Tasteland, so Daisy and Francis discuss books they haven't read, iPods, a sad monkey, and the state of modern media startups. __ Daisy Francis __ Timestamps 00:00 Monitoring the situation 02:35 The barbell of modern media 09:11 The 4 revenue streams of a media startup 13:33 Sober in New Orleans 18:26 Health is wealth 24:45 A bit vague 26:59 Texting less, going out more 28:54...

This week we're joined by Pritanka Desai, the COO at Tribute Labs & Partner at ADIN. __ Priyanka Desai LinkedIn Twitter/X The Physical Renaissance: AI Makes You Look Up __ Timestamps 00:00 Hammy Mad Men 04:38 Doomslop moving markets 12:06 The world's transition period in now 17:00 Information overload affecting perception of reality 23:24 Prediction market's role in society 30:27 True crime and in...

Today on Tasteland we're speaking to James Webster, the co-owner of Recluse Books, an indie bookstore in Dallas-Fort Worth. __ Recluse Books Website Instagram __ Timestamps 00:00 Doing Italian things 03:53 Recluse best sellers 07:28 Logistics of picking and stocking 6,000 books 11:40 Bookstore culture of Fort Worth 15:05 Receiving feedback on book recommendations 17:11 Current reads 24:15 Running...

Charly Wilder is writer, award-winning journalist and executive editor at Roads & Kingdoms. __ Charly Wilder Instagram Twitter/X LinkedIn __ Timestamps 00:00 Respect the Quad God 05:45 Maintaining a unique travel journalism perspective 10:51 Looking at the world through many lenses 17:10 The deepest culinary tours on Earth 23:50 The Roads and Kingdoms audience 28:57 Curating contributors 34:16 Joi...

Sam Levy is the former COO of Hinge and co-founder of Rodeo, a new app designed to wrangle the details of your social life and keep you organized. __ Sam Levy LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Rodeo Website App Store TikTok Instagram __ References Patient Capital Will Eat the World __ Timestamps 00:00 Somebody that I used to know 03:35 Patient capital will eat the world 09:27 Infrastructure for your socia...

Julia Black is a tech and business correspondent at Vanity Fair and freelance writer whose work has also been published in the New York Times, MIT Technology Review, WIRED, The Verge, and others. __ Julia Black Website Twitter/X LinkedIn __ Timestamps 00:00 Resy anxiety 07:35 The reality of modern genetic testing 12:38 Substack on TV 17:50 Evolving opinions and journalistic integrity 23:48 TikTok...

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Bre Morell, one half of the duo, crushed. __ crushed Tour dates Listen Instagram Twitter/X __ Timestamps 00:00 Judging a book by its cover 09:29 Brits in an Oasis 14:46 Entering eBay flow state 19:46 Late 90s musical influences 28:11 Nostalgic corners of the internet 33:00 Video game musical influences 38:33 Driving in Texas 41:37 Touring the country as a veg...

This week on Tasteland we're joined by the GM and co-founder of Boys Club, Natasha Hoskins. __ Boys Club Website Podcast Instagram Twitter/X Natasha Hoksins LinkedIn __ Timestamps 00:00 The asperges defense 05:38 Into the archives 07:55 Boys Club extended universe 12:23 Golden Globes Polymarket collab 17:15 The Boys Club network 20:27 Twitter muted words reveal 29:17 Trump to Tom Brady chlamydia d...

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Dena Yago, an artist, writer, and founding member of the trend forecasting group K-HOLE. Dena is currently working at Cosmos, a visual discovery and inspiration platform for creatives. __ Dena Yago Website Instagram LinkedIn Twitter/X __ Timestamps 00:00 Smoking Christmas gift 4:44 No smoke without fire 10:00 GQ editor-in-chief predictions 12:40 Name that tre...

Daisy and Francis bring 2025 to a close by looking back on their defining media of the year and looking ahead to the world of tech and media in 2026. __ Timestamps 00:00 A New England Christmas 04:09 Invisible labor of the holiday season 08:15 Dirt Books 14:13 Songs and albums 2025 18:23 Is 2026 the year of the techlash 22:37 The creator economy in 2026 29:32 Dirt reader's top books of 2025 31:44...

This week on Tasteland we're joined by writer and editor, Daniel Spielberger. Daniel is also the executive editor of Study Hall and the host of the Study Hall Podcast. Read the Farmer's Almanac article we discuss here. __ Daniel Spielberger Study Hall Podcast Daniel Docs LinkedIn Twitter Instagram __ Timestamps 00:00 $45 well spent, $5 poorly spent 07:36 Surprise proposal and tweets going viral 11...

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Jamie Wilkinson, co-founder of Know Your Meme, VHX, and most recently, Glif. __ Jamie Wilkinson Glif Website GitHub Twitter/X __ Timestamps 00:00 Coke and Wall St 03:26 Memes are a business of their own 11:30 The evolution of memes 17:03 Relationships with social media by generation 26:45 Software sub-cultures of consuming and creating 34:37 The intention of...

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Ochuko Akpovbovbo, creator and writer of the culture and marketing newsletter as seen on. __ Ochuko Akpovbovbo as seen on LinkedIn __ Timestamps 00:00 Naturist, not nudist 05:38 Resident of nowhere 10:07 Books of 2025 14:20 Nuremberg is boring 17:00 Writer vs. Substacker 27:22 An aversion to defining 34:30 Avoiding the parasocial 42:21 For business reasons, I...

This week on Tasteland we're joined by technologist and artist, Zane Kind. Zane is the co-founder and CEO of Silk, a blogging platform for creative research,moodboarding, and subculture. __ Zane Kind Silk Twitter/X LinkedIn Website Zane's FWB Fest talk __ Timestamps 00:00 Notebook vandalism and clone hype 08:57 Building the zoomer Facebook 17:06 The slow scale business model 19:28 Defining taste 2...

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Ethan Sawyer, a field producer at CBC and curator of the newsletter Human Pursuits, a newsletter for navigating modern existence with help from need-to-know names in media and culture. __ Ethan Sawyer Human Pursuits Twitter/X LinkedIn __ Timestamps 00:00 beats to write/edit to 04:08 Writer's block is not real 07:57 Nights in the Gardens of Brooklyn 11:46 An a...

No guest this week on Tasteland so Daisy and Francis discuss whether Frankenstein should've shown hog, the introduction to the polycene and quote tweeting the Pope. __ Daisy Dirt Twitter/X LinkedIn Francis Creator Spotlight Twitter/X LinkedIn __ Timestamps 00:00 The hog of Frankenstein 09:55 It was all yellow 16:29 Welcome to the polycene 27:15 Gambler's wives 30:24 Don't die, take mushrooms 34:00...

This week on Tasteland we’re joined by novelist Adam Voith. Adam is the editor and publisher of Little Engines magazine. __ Adam Voith Substack Instagram Little Engines __ Timestamps 00:00 Did Zohran win? 03:14 Dirt’s new podcasts 08:01 Relationship between art and commerce 13:29 Submission culture in publishing 20:29 Conservatism in publishing 26:35 Culture reflected in literature 33:32 Monetizin...

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Nick Susi, a strategy executive and entrepreneurial builder for 13+ years, exploring the technological, societal and psychological forces that shape our identity, perception and culture. __ Nick Susi Website Substack LinkedIn Instagram Twitter/X __ Timestamps 00:00 Creators are consumers of the self 07:51 Posts are the cheetle of your identity 15:19 Presen...

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by startup founder, developer, and runner, Cole Townsend. Cole has been a product designer for over a decade and is the head of tech and co-founder of Sole Retriever. __ Cole Website Sole Retriever LinkedIn X/Twitter __ Timestamps 00:00 Jury duty 06:54 Post Tokyo crash 17:20 Every app is a marketplace or dating app 24:49 Running is becoming lifestyle 29:53 Cr...