The Realignment: Back from Summer Break, Pre-Fall Supercast Pitch, and Meet Marshall in SF?
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Welcome Back to The Realignment
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Why Should You Subscribe to the Show’s Paid Supercast?
We’ve funded The Realignment through Supercast (think Patreon, but better optimized for podcasters) since April. You’ve heard the pitch on the podcasts and in the newsletter. If you missed the link to the subscription page during the episode shout-out, go to:
https://realignment.supercast.com/. You can subscribe for $5 a month, $50 a year, or $500 for a lifetime membership.
If you’re still on the fence, here’s a quick summary of what we plan on doing with our money/resources/time:
1) Support In-Person Recording in Austin
Most of you know that I moved to Austin from Brooklyn in June. I can’t understate how much of a fan of Austin/Texas, and unlike my stints in DC and NYC, I’m here for the long-haul.
Something I didn’t expect before moving here was the huge number of prominent/excellent podcasts guests who roll through here every week. So the next stage of the podcast’s growth/evolution is the return of in-person recordings. Transitioning off of Zoom’s expensive, but it produces a much better product.
2) Building Out Our YouTube Channel
The Realignment’s longtime editor, Phil’s going independent himself. He’s building out his own podcasting practice starting this month. One of the main areas of focus he is turning attention to is our YouTube channel.
Up until now, the YouTube channels been a “nice-to-have” where we casually repost our content. As anyone in the content business will tell you, there’s a lot of back and front end work required to actually take a channel seriously.
3) More exclusive-content: A New Foreign Policy, Defense, and American Dynamism-Focused Series
IMO, the topics of foreign policy, defense, and American dynamism are the most important areas to focus in on this decade. The Realignment’s thesis is that we’re stuck in a gridlocked, political dead zone during the 2020s. Therefore, one of the most important things one can do is take the time to think and prepare for the next moment of opportunity. In September, I’m going to launch a show on the podcast’s Supercast channel dedicated to expanding this frame.
The advantage of Supercast’s model is that I don’t need to book/program with hundreds of thousands of views in mind. This series focus on going deep in the manner of our Ukraine series back in February.
4) Of course…The Q&A and expanded Discussion/Zoom Events
Reminder, if you’ve subscribed, you can submit your questions to the Realignment’s Supercast AMA section. We’re also looking into building out our community features as requested.
TLDR, with the November midterms coming up, things are about to transition to the 2024 election. This is the calm before the storm period. If you’d like to support the show and help us build the strongest product possible for the next two years, now is the time to do it.
Two Things to Share
Thursday’s episode was a crossover with my good friend Will Jarvis’s podcast, Narratives. If you enjoyed our conversation, definitely take a look here.
I’m going to be in San Francisco next week on Friday, September 9th. Lincoln Network (the sponsor of the podcast) is throwing an event. It is ticketed, but if you use the code: Realignment, you’ll get a 100% discount. Would love to see any listeners/readers there. More info below if you have any questions. Also feel free to reply to this email/comment.
Life, Liberty, and the Right to Shitpost: discussion about social media, free speech, and the digital public sphere
About this event
Online platforms, and the large companies that run them, increasingly mediate our free expression, economic activity, and family and community life. With this shift, we face a multitude of potential intrusions into our private lives, including the risk of new forms of surveillance and censorship.
These platforms are increasingly held responsible—by politicians, the media, and even their own employees—for allowing and amplifying harmful actions their users. This includes the spread false information, violent extremism, targeted harassment, and other societal harms. This has led to a rise in moderation, narrowing the scope of acceptable speech and behavior.
Would Elon Musk's vision have been better, or was it unworkable? Regardless of who's in charge, are central authorities the right governance approach, or would these challenges be better handled by distributed communities? Will the future continue the trend of tech concentration, or will the pendulum swing back—potentially with the help of regulators—from the cathedral of Big Tech to the bazaar of the open web?
We invite you to join us as we explore these issues and more, covering the balance and the boundaries of free speech, and the future of online platforms.
PANEL SPEAKERS
Renée DiResta // Research Manager, Stanford Internet Observatory // @NoUpside
Alex Feerst // CEO, Murmuration Labs; Co-Founder, Digital Trust & Safety Partnership // @alexfeerst
Antonio García Martínez // Senior Fellow, Lincoln Network; Author of Chaos Monkeys and The Pull Request // @antoniogm
Alex Stamos // Director, Stanford Internet Observatory; Founding Partner, Krebs Stamos Group // @alexstamos
Content Moderator: Gilad Edelman // Senior Writer, WIRED // @GiladEdelman
End of Summer Episodes
Here are the last few weeks of Realignment episodes recorded over the last few weeks since I sent the Substack.
283 | California at the Epicenter of America’s New Energy Crisis - Katherine Blunt on the Fall of PG&E, the Grid, and New Energy Sources
282 | Why Are Latino Voters Moving Towards Trump? - Geraldo Cadava on the GOP and Hispanic Voters
280 | Saagar & Marshall on Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plans + Beth Macy Macy on the Next Stage of the Opioid Crisis
279 | Sprinting Towards Conflict with a Peaking China - Michael Beckley on the Dangers of the Next Decade
278 | Why Were Schools Closed So Long During COVID? - Anya Kamenetz on What COVID Did to Children
The Realignment Bookshop
We’ve created a Realignment Bookshop affiliate store showcasing books by guests, what we’re actively reading this year, and deeper dives into the featured topic of an episode.
If you purchase a book using our link, the show gets a 10% commission, a local, independent bookseller gets support, and you get an awesome book!
We’re reorganizing our book lists over the next few weeks, so for now, check out our primary one:
Let us know what you think about this or any other week’s episodes. Please share The Realignment with anyone who’d enjoy the podcast.
I hope you see this Marshall. I listened to your discussion w/ Will Jarvis and once again, I have to say that it's men such as you that give me tremendous hope for the future of the USA. Your point that the leaders of tomorrow are right now in the trenches paying their dues was something I never thought about; and it is truly a bright spot. I hope that AOC and her ilk pay attention to your criticisms and suggestions.