The felling of the (Allison) Roman Empire and the calculus of the moment with tech columnist Navneet Alang. If you've read Nav's stuff, you'll be as thrilled as I am to dig into his process, life, work, and, of course, the greatness of Windows phone. Readers of the Toronto Star will recognize him as the weekly tech opinion columnist whose nuanced takes on tech and modern life offer a richness seldom seen these days in old fashioned newsprint. (His work is also found in Eater, The New Republic, the Globe and Mail, Macleans, Hazlitt and elsewhere.) A Nav column seems to always command complicated material in a way that makes its depths understandable. And what we find is always a surprise. In his autobiographical writing, this deftness turns inwards, and the results are at turns raw and personal. Things never stay in one place for long, however. Nav interweaves sophisticated notions of the self, the digital, the psychic implications of capitalism, and sometimes even straight up critical theory, into these unflinching investigations of the self. I encourage you to check out his back catalogue! GET READWISE FREE FOR 2 MONTHS AND SUPPORT GREAT LIFE WORK! We cover a lot in this one! Topics include: Nav’s upbringing Moving from London UK at 12 Lived in Etobicoke between wealthy predominantly white area and lower income predominantly brown area Why Nav’s parents moved from London to the GTA How the daily racism of London was escaped in Canada Why Nav maintained his english accent in Canada reflecting on the boom period of the personal essay what it’s like to look back on old revealing essays SSRIs and creativity The dirty secret of academics: they are trying to solve their personal problems through their study what brought Nav to the point of working on a dissertation why a masters is academia's gateway drug looking back on the dissertation and the stubbornness to finish why the personal essay era ended integrating teaching into Nav's life teaching journalism vs English how Nav knows he has crackin’ pitch “too good for twitter” test “speed of editor reply” test bodily signals of a pitch constrained format of the column vs the up and down rollercoaster of a longform piece why Nav actually likes writing (mostly) dealing with the “emotional waves of writing” writing as a place to manage idiosyncrasies battle to find and embrace your own writing voice Nav’s drafting process Nav’s appreciation of early editing from Jordan Ginsberg at Hazlitt Nav’s experience with backlash from Jordan Peterson’s fanbase the “calculus of the moment” and when to engage with conflict on twitter Nav’s tendency to “poke the bear” in his written work Allison Roman piece how Nav was way ahead of the game on Alison Roman - stars aligned Nav on the greatness of the windows phone why Microsoft was ahead of apple in innovating on smartphone UI but couldn’t pull it off how network effects limit the ability to drastically alter established smartphone design norms what will the smartphone be replaced with next? Thanks for listening! Contact: Email greatlifework (at) substack (dot) com Instagram: @GreatLifeWorkPod Newsletter: greatlifework.com

EMBRACE THE BOUNCE Aaron Lammer joins Great Life Work to reflect on CoinTalk, Exit Scam, music, collecting vinyl, and Tokyo audiophile bars (and so much more.) GET READWISE FREE FOR 2 MONTHS AND SUPPORT GREAT LIFE WORK! We cover a lot in this one! Topics include: Reflecting on CoinTalk Working close to the action, crypto obsession deepening Why crypto isn’t a final resting place for Aaron’s brain Why Aaron has no interest in app development anymore Why Aaron has no idea what his interests will be in 5-10 years How Aaron’s laziness helps him avoid certain would-be addictive hobbies (he’ll never fly fish) Wistfully remembered being addicted to video games Why Aaron is getting into review culture James explains renunciation (No TV/No Movies) Aaron is getting into condensed edits of soccer games Aaron’s reading habits Learning other people canon’s - books, rare records Thoughts on record collecting What Aaron likes in HiFi A basic starter set up: 2 speakers + an amp + a high-quality source Aaron talks the role of music-making in his life now and how he currently approaches it Explains his longstanding musical collaboration Why Aaron focuses on playing with the tools rather than creating a finished product Aaron digs into his music making workflow hoarding bits? Hard drive space is cheap How to embrace the stereo bounce Why computer interfaces are not particularly creative Why you should make decisions and bounce out bits Aaron’s recommended music gear Why knobs are infinitely better A readinbg of John Berryman’s Dream Song #14 The Difference between music and poetry to aaron James talks about late night “freak show” game Aaron talks about visiting an audiophile bar in Tokyo Exit Scam and writing for podcasts Thanks for listening! Contact: Email greatlifework (at) substack (dot) com Instagram: @GreatLifeWorkPod Newsletter: greatlifework.com

THE BIG SCREEN MAGIC OF QUIET CONFIDENCE 11 books in 14 years. Two major films coming to Netflix (with more adaptations to come). Bestselling Author Jennifer E. Smith is having a moment right now, but it wasn't always that way. Old friend of the show, Jennifer E. Smith, reflects on her "irrational (quiet) confidence era," before Hollywood came knocking, and the rejections that laid the groundwork for her remarkable success across formats. We reach Jennifer on the cusp of the release of the film of her novel, "Hello Goodbye and Everything in Between," to talk about the wonder of seeing a small village build out your fantasy world, the difference between film and novels, how she handled James' ribbing at St Andrews, and so much more. GET READWISE FREE FOR 2 MONTHS AND SUPPORT GREAT LIFE WORK! Thanks for listening! Contact: Email greatlifework (at) substack (dot) com Instagram: @GreatLifeWorkPod Newsletter: greatlifework.com

WELCOME TO GREAT LIFE WORK! Investigations in Going For it Episode - 01 - Justin Million - Poetry for the People! Have you ever wondered where poetry fits in the modern world? or Simply, what are all these poets on about?? Then this invigorating conversation with an old friend--Canadian Poet Justin Million--has answers. In the inaugural episode of Great Life Work, we delve deep into his Justin Million's unique approach to poetry. His is a confessional, popular, and uproarious style that speaks to the complexity simmering just under the surface of the everyday. Highlights include: Why you should be writing on a typewriter (and not your phone) KEYBOARDS! "the most accessible poetry reading in the world" Formative High School moments in Justin's poetic development The four elements of greatness in poetry Why you should (once again) embrace paper (and trash) GET READWISE FREE FOR 2 MONTHS AND SUPPORT GREAT LIFE WORK! Links: Buy Justin Million's Ejecta at APT 9 PRESS (ETSY) Billy Collins Live reading (YOUTUBE) KEYBOARDS! short film by perfectpencil (YOUTUBE) Bird, Buried Press (HOMEPAGE) Thanks for listening! Contact: Email greatlifework (at) substack (dot) com Instagram: @GreatLifeWorkPod Newsletter: greatlifework.com