Simplify is a podcast for anyone who’s taken a close look at their habits, their happiness, their relationships, or their health and thought, “There’s got to be a better way to do this.” Hear ideas that get you to better from Gretchen Rubin, David Allen, Rebecca Traister, Dan Savage, Seth Godin and many more.  Hosted by Caitlin Schiller and Ben Schuman-Stoler. Brought to you by Blinkist.

<br />
        &lt;p&gt;What did you make on the internet, back before anyone was paying you to?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This time around, Ben takes the interview chair. He&#039;s talking with Joanna Walsh, writer, artist, arts activist, author of twelve books, several of them co-written with AIs she coded herself (badly and on purpose &amp;lt;3). Her new book &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2862-amateurs?srsltid=AfmBOoql4_EtDooHxA_uc1ureFeDe5F5K6OcJY0hejsRkyVu2EQzR8WT&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Amateurs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;!&lt;/em&gt; is a philosophical history of the internet we all built for free: the Tumblrs, the blogs, the aesthetic wikis, the momentary flashes of hilarity. Her starting point is the French sense of the word—amateur, from &lt;em&gt;amour&lt;/em&gt;. Not a beginner or someone who isn&#039;t any good, but someone who does the thing for love, without expecting to be paid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Joanna and Ben get into what happened to the braided conversation of early Twitter, the difference between paying attention online and performing it, and why Joanna&#039;s answer to &quot;should we just log off?&quot; is an immediate and emphatic no. There&#039;s a thread about vulgarity—she means it as a compliment—and what it revealed when people started mashing up &lt;em&gt;Girl with a Pearl Earring&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Then there&#039;s the dead internet: how we&#039;d know we&#039;d arrived, and whether we&#039;d know at all. Joanna&#039;s image for it involves the sea, and it&#039;s the best thirty seconds in the episode.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Her advice for anyone starting out right now isn&#039;t optimism. It&#039;s a union card.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Resources&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Guest&#039;s book: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.versobooks.com/products/2862-amateurs&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Amateurs! How We Built Internet Culture and Why It Matters&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; by Joanna Walsh (Verso, 2025)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ben&#039;s Rec: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.versobooks.com/products/640-new-dark-age&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; by James Bridle. Also worth your time: &lt;em&gt;Ways of Being&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Caitlin&#039;s Rec: &lt;a href=&quot;https://global.oup.com/academic/product/what-to-save-and-why-9780197744550&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;What to Save and Why: Identity, Authenticity, and the Ethics of Conservation&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/a&gt;by Erich Hatala Matthes (Oxford University Press, 2024)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;New: we&#039;re putting outros and bookends up on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@KolloMediaInfo&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt;. Find the Simplify page on YouTube and tell us what you think — we&#039;re experimenting with all of it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let us know what you thought of this episode! Find us on Instagram at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.instagram.com/simplifypod/&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;@simplifypod.&lt;/a&gt; Subscribe to our newsletter on &lt;a href=&quot;https://simplify-show.beehiiv.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;beehiiv&lt;/a&gt; here. Also, you can email us at &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:info@kollomedia.com&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;info@kollomedia.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This episode of Simplify was produced by Caitlin Schiller, Ben Schuman-Stoler, and Molly Hart. Engineered by João Lucas in Berlin, Germany, for Kollo Media.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See Privacy Policy at &lt;a href=&quot;https://art19.com/privacy&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;https://art19.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; and California Privacy Notice at &lt;a href=&quot;https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;<br />
      

Simplify

The Data