HudZah (https://x.com/hud_zah) is someone exploring what it means, and what it takes, to operate at the edge of what is possible.In this conversation, we traced HudZah's path from Riyadh to Sri Lanka to Waterloo. A childhood split across three countries, shaped by rationed wifi, a single HP desktop, and the discovery that what you build on a computer can change the world around you. We talked about coding HTML on Notepad at ten, building soundboard apps that funded his own move to Canada, and what it's like to grow up in a place with no permits, no regulators, and no one telling you what you can't do.We explored the birth of esports through Half-Life mods, the machines behind the food we love, and a baklava maker in San Francisco whose irrational pursuit of quality you can taste in a single bite. We discussed how AI is collapsing the walls between disciplines, what that does to the identities we built around expertise, and why individual agency might be the only variable that matters now.This is a conversation about curiosity, permission, and what happens when the cost of crossing boundaries drops to zero.The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin⁠, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New.—Timestamps00:00:00 Introduction00:03:38 Growing Up in Riyadh00:05:59 Saudi Shawarma and Broasted Chicken00:16:39 School in Saudi Arabia00:21:48 The HP Desktop and First Lines of Code00:25:55 YouTube Rabbit Holes and Gaming00:45:35 The Birth of Esports01:02:43 Valve's Employee Handbook01:05:12 Indie Games and Pure Pursuit01:06:05 Stardew Valley and ConcernedApe01:07:03 Moving to Sri Lanka01:10:34 SnapAPaper and Seeing Real Users01:13:47 Soundboards, Shopify, and Funding the Move01:27:38 Landing in Canada at 1701:36:25 AI and Collapsing the Distance Between Disciplines01:47:02 Identity, Expertise, and Permission Structures02:00:32 The Baklava Maker in San Francisco02:18:26 Machines Behind the Food We Love02:36:02 Frederic Tudor and the Ice King02:42:29 HudZah Flips the Interview02:49:05 Being a Parent—The Other Stuff Podcast: https://otherstuffpod.com YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AWSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419fApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531Twitter: https://x.com/otherstuffpodInstagram: https://instagram.com/otherstuffpodinternetVin ⁠https://x.com/internetvinNewhttps://x.com/newsystems_https://instagram.com/newsystems_The music used during the introduction is "Sitting by the Lake in Zurich" by Sweatson Klank. Available on Bandcamp: https://sweatsonklank.bandcamp.com/track/sitting-by-the-lake-in-zurich

Steph Ango (https://stephango.com/), also known as Kepano, is a designer, entrepreneur, and the CEO of Obsidian (https://obsidian.md/).In this episode, we discussed his journey from creating Winamp skins to leading Obsidian, and the fundamental patterns and inclinations that drive everything he explores and makes. We discussed Obsidian on multiple different dimensions, his deluxe chocolate chip cookie recipe, his exploration through furniture design, and his default inclination to push “too far” into anything he is exploring. Steph Ango demo'd the design process of several furniture projects he’s been working on at home as well as a custom piano learning app he created to teach himself music theory.This is a conversation about craftsmanship, pursuing a deep understanding, and what that reveals about who we are. The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin⁠, filmmaker and entrepreneur and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New.—Timestamps00:03:55 Origin of Kepano00:10:34 Relationship with Computers00:15:25 Online Communities & Video Games00:30:47 Winamp Skins00:40:04 Uniformity in Design00:51:05 Obsidian00:59:20 Bidirectional Linking, And The Relationship Between Everything01:23:18 Obsidian Sync, Publish, and Bases01:32:06 Why File Over App01:43:15 The Deluxe Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste Test01:49:48 Living Fully02:09:50 Early Project Walkthrough02:19:03 Furniture Design Walkthrough02:49:00 Constraint and Patterns02:58:47 Kepiano03:13:00 The Future of AI and Startups03:31:10 Closing—The Other Stuff Podcast: https://otherstuffpod.com YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AWSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419fApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531Twitter: https://x.com/otherstuffpodInstagram: https://instagram.com/otherstuffpodinternetVin ⁠https://x.com/internetvinNewhttps://x.com/newsystems_https://instagram.com/newsystems_

Alex Danco (https://alexdanco.com/) is a writer and editor-at-large at Andreessen Horowitz whose work centers on gift culture, crowds, and how shared beliefs shape real-world outcomes.In this episode, we explore the deep mechanics of how people coordinate, why crowds form, how narratives drive behaviour, why perception becomes reality, and how leadership is ultimately the art of getting people to think differently about themselves. We talk about reflexivity, the psychology of scenes, the role of gifts in opening people to new ideas, and how cities and cultures transform when the right stories take root. It’s a conversation about how groups move and how meaning spreads.The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin⁠, filmmaker and entrepreneur and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New.—Timestamps00:00:00 Opening Notes00:04:18 The Last Decade Before the Internet00:09:47 Reflexivity: When Perception Creates Reality00:28:23 Crowds and Power00:37:06 Human Evolution and Adaptability00:41:55 Betting on Yourself00:56:43 Gift Culture and Information Transfer01:11:44 Legitimacy01:15:52 The Development of Scenes01:31:18 A Gift for Alex Danco01:38:30 The Toronto Big Bang01:56:50 The Narratives of Toronto02:08:31 The Power of Gift Giving in Startups02:14:27 Creating High Signal Environments02:17:40 The Role of Capital and Mentorship in Toronto’s Startup Ecosystem—The Other Stuff Podcast: https://otherstuffpod.com YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AWSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419fApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531Twitter: https://x.com/otherstuffpodInstagram: https://instagram.com/otherstuffpodinternetVin ⁠https://x.com/internetvinNewhttps://x.com/newsystems_https://instagram.com/newsystems_

Michelle Jia (pronounced GEE-ah) is a Lecturer at the Stanford d .school and has worked with Prof. Michael Barry in ethnographic research and teaching for almost ten years, with a special focus on complex systems problems like Ocean Conservancy and Education Policy.Today she’s based in Toronto, Canada where she’s helping to co-create a design school focused on systems thinking and design for the whole.The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin⁠, filmmaker and entrepreneur and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New.—Timestamps(00:00:00) Opening: Twitter, Social Media, and Finding Your People (00:02:45) Soylent, Sweet Green, and San Francisco Food Culture (00:06:15) Plazas and Korean Fried Chicken (00:33:16) Needfinding: "Getting on the Roof" (00:44:49) Evicted, Grizzly Man, and the Art of Deep Immersion (00:55:59) Nausea, Existentialism, and Jumping Over the Abyss (01:33:39) Toronto's Privacy Culture and the Challenge of Connection (02:02:38) Secret Subculture Spaces in the City (02:36:44) The Five P's of Toronto's Cultural Code (02:48:22) Building IRID: A Design School for Complex Problems—The Other Stuff PodcastYouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AWSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419fApple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531Twitter: x.com/otherstuffpodInstagram: instagram.com/otherstuffpodinternetVin ⁠x.com/internetvinNewx.com/newsystems_instagram.com/newsystems_

Tom Schlesinger (https://tomschlesinger.com/#top) is a screenwriter, story coach, and teacher whose narrative expertise has shaped award-winning films and documentaries in North America and Europe.He describes seeing Midnight Cowboy at nineteen and deciding to work in film, and the people who shaped his approach, including screenwriter Waldo Salt and Joseph Campbell. Tom explains his view of story structure as the order in which an audience learns and feels things, and describes editing a documentary about the first integrated prom in Charleston, Mississippi.This is a conversation about storytelling, how structure works, and the role of emotion and the body in how stories affect people.The Other Stuff is hosted by @internetvin, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New.—Timestamps(00:00:00) Midnight Cowboy(00:03:52) Discovering Resonance and Storytelling Foundations(00:04:28) Waldo Salt, Screenwriting, and Early Career(00:10:51) The Kinesthetic Experience in Story and Life(00:13:40) The Field of Resonance and Relational Storytelling(00:17:40) Transformation Through Film and Personal Stories(00:23:33) Binary vs. Quantum Perception and Social Change(00:34:57) Quantum Physics, Consciousness, and Spirituality(00:43:02) Transformation, Somatic Experience, and Healing(00:55:14) Story Constellations and Embodied Storytelling(01:10:50) Blind Spots, Character Nuance, and the Writer’s Journey(01:26:53) Documentary Film Structure and Narrative Drive(01:41:57) The Hero's Journey: Archetype and Application(02:42:01) The Heroine’s Journey and Feminine Wisdom(02:59:03) Yin, Yang, and the Integration of Opposites—The Other Stuff PodcastYouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AWSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419fApple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531Twitter: x.com/otherstuffpodInstagram: instagram.com/otherstuffpodinternetVin ⁠x.com/internetvinNewx.com/newsystems_instagram.com/newsystems_