The characteristics of the online world have been talked to death—but almost always by people with bones to pick and axes to grind. These bones and axes can be political or temperamental or aesthetic. The more interesting stuff, I think, is somewhere in between. So of course I wanted to chat with Default Friend, who’s thought deeply about these things.
I don’t know very many people of my generation (late GenX) who aren’t looking for more of a balance between their virtual lives and their lives online. The extent to which they succeed in securing that balance can vary widely, of course; often, the people who are complaining these two sides of their lives are off-kilter are the one’s who’re longing for a better balance. In every case, though, they—we—want more real, less online. How to get this done without turning off your phone completely is another matter. We talked about some of these things and more.
This is the second audio and video episode of Late Republic Nonsense podcast, on the newly-launched LRN YouTube channel.
Episode 5: Default Friend
Default Friend is the pseudonym for writer, tweeter and social commentator Katherine Dee. Like me, she’s lived in San Francisco, Austin, New York City and elsewhere. She’s got a podcast called After the Orgy. Subscribe to her Substack, Default Wisdom.
Intro Music
“Decision,” the opening track to Sonny Rollins’ first Blue Note LP in 1956.
Default Friend: The Beauty of Each Thing