that's interesting

bandwidth.productions

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JR's curious search for why the world works the way it does, and how to live well in it. History, systems and the people who know, with ideas on how to be. One surprising conversation at a time. 🤨 Rome and cartels, scientists and indigenous leaders, AI, attention and philosophy. The news, minus the noise: the Dial, every week at https://bandwidth.today More at https://bandwidth.productions

Oct 7

079_ Conversation: 🧠 Brand as memory, moat, and margin | the mediums and messages in our time 📺

What if a brand isn't a logo or a color palette, but a memory, and one you can tend but never fully control? In a world where factories can copy anything, that memory may be the last real moat, and it's eroding fast. Toronto-based entrepreneur and brand strategist Peter Reitano joins to talk about Rolex's memory architecture, Jaguar's spectacular rebrand, superclone watches, and how screens are reshaping both what we buy and how we think. We end where the market can't follow: Marx's critique of commodity life, the loss of community institutions, and the realization that we'll all worship something, so we'd better choose what. For more context and how to be the smartest in the room for what's going on in the world, check out bandwidth.today. Chapters (00:00) - Intro: Brand as Memory, Memory as Moat (03:51) - Meet Peter Reitano (08:07) - What Is a Brand, Really? (11:34) - Rolex, the Matterhorn, and Jaguar's Failed Rebrand (13:34) - Patagonia Vests and Aspirational Memory (16:31) - Burberry's Comeback and What Jaguar Missed (21:19) - Status, Signaling, and Superclone Watches (27:23) - Every E-Bike Is the Same Bike: Brand as the Last Moat (33:09) - When Brands Become Shows: McLuhan and Postman (37:22) - Attention Spans and Asymmetric Outrage (43:32) - Technology Before Ethics: Stirrups and Steve Jobs (50:34) - Millennials, the Last of the Before (52:08) - iPads at Dinner and Alpha School (01:01:17) - Grit, Hotel Lobbies, and the Productization of Everything (01:05:14) - Marx Was Right (About One Thing) and the $15,000 Furnace (01:13:05) - False Idols, This Is Water, and the Golden Calf Era
Sep 24

078_ Interview: 中 China's elaborte influence | A level of sophistication the US isn't contending with 🧐

Sarah Cook is an independent researcher and writer who has spent over 20 years working on China, human rights, foreign influence, and media freedom. We cover the full spectrum of Beijing's foreign influence operations: research findings suggesting some Chinese AI models that are exploding in popularity generate less secure code when prompted in certain ways, as well as the traditional, overt state media, covert paid placements, disinformation and bot networks, and, increasingly, control over the information infrastructure itself.. We also cover transnational repression cases prosecuted by the DOJ, and what Sarah thinks Trump should actually raise when meeting with Xi Jinping. Checkout Sarah's article in the Diplomat that was the basis for the chat, and her substack for more. For more context like this, and for how I found this article in the first place, check out bandwidth.today. Chapters: (00:00) - Statecraft, realpolitik, and the "Corporate Party" test (03:44) - Fake police stations, captured newsrooms, and meeting Sarah Cook (05:41) - 20 years inside China's influence machine (08:07) - Five buckets of Beijing's foreign influence (10:32) - The Huawei op-ed nobody knew was paid for (13:32) - WeChat and TikTok: owning the pipes, not just the message (18:01) - AI enters the playbook (19:32) - A smeared dissident, and the audio clip that almost swung Taiwan (21:13) - The ChatGPT irony: spies using AI to write their own reports (23:58) - Deep Zhang: a Tibetan AI that won't say "Tibet" (27:07) - From 4.5% to 58%: Chinese models take over OpenRouter (29:22) - Type in English, get worse code (35:38) - Catching the manipulation — Estonia, and gaming Hugging Face (43:16) - Taiwan's playbook, and when influence turns physical (48:16) - What Trump should actually say to Xi (54:55) - Where this goes next — and how to fix it
Sep 11

🌆 9/11 — 25th Anniversary Re-Release 002_ Interview Only: It Felt Too Big to Panic | Live From the Roof on 9/11 🇺🇸

Originally recorded in 2020 and re-released for the 25th anniversary of September 11th. A ground-level, hour-and-a-half account from my good friend Rowan, who lived four blocks from the World Trade Center in 2001. He talks through the ordinary morning that preceded it, watching the towers from his office roof, the days of no internet and no cell service that followed, and the years he's spent since dividing his life into before and after. In July of 2001, his digital agency was days from being acquired by a firm with offices on the 40th floor of Tower One. He talks about what almost was, what actually happened, and why — in his words — it felt too big to panic. For more context like this, and for how I continue to stay informed, check out bandwidth.today No ads. No clutter. More context. Chapters (00:00) - Cold open: revisiting 9/11 during a pandemic (02:33) - Setting the scene: 9/11 as an overlooked paradigm shift (05:49) - Watching parents' faces at school — an echo of COVID panic (07:32) - Life in Lower Manhattan before 9/11: bagels, Napster, and a dot-com job (28:53) - The sound that woke him up (31:47) - Turning the corner: the sky opens and he sees the plane (34:00) - The jolt of adrenaline — realizing it wasn't an accident (35:49) - New York, New York, a flag salute, and "drop a bunch of eggs" (37:36) - On the roof, watching the second tower (40:16) - The collapse: running for the door (44:53) - Tanks on the corner, and a city with no internet (48:42) - Spontaneous first-aid tables and neighbors helping neighbors (55:23) - The smell that kept him up all night (58:55) - Stopped by police, right next to a tank (1:00:54) - Three weeks to feel normal again (1:02:06) - He was about to move into the 40th floor of the World Trade Center (1:04:24) - Why he left New York for Hawaii (1:10:05) - Returning to New York today (1:15:19) - Dividing life into before and after
Aug 26

077_ Interview: ♟️ China's strategic advantage in climate change | Adapting to what's here 🦊

Humans are amazing at adapting, it may be our most defining trait, and something that's going to be all the more important starting now. The environment around us that has been fixed and stable, is now shifting drastically. Wildfires are becoming more common, as is flooding and drought. Things that in the summer of 2026, have become all the more apparent, and are only just the start. When comparing the two elephants on the global stage, China and the US are taking very different courses. China is speaking, and starting to act, in ways to specifically call out how to adapt to this changing dynamic. While the US has no national adaptation plan and has stripped climate change from its major strategic documents. Alice Hill is the David Rubinstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations, where her work focuses on catastrophic risk, including climate change. She joins this episode to talk about her article, Extreme Weather Will Upend U.S.-China Competition, and explain how the two super powers are approaching what's here, and what's to come. For more context like this, and for how I found this article in the first place, check out bandwidth.today. No ads. No clutter. More context. 📖 Chapters 📖 (00:00) - Intro essay: adaptation as humanity's greatest feature (02:38) - Why "surviving" isn't the goal — thriving, and introducing Alice Hill (06:07) - Meet Alice Hill: catastrophic risk and climate at CFR (08:10) - China's self-washing solar panels vs. wildfire soot (11:37) - Trump exits climate policy while China runs a 15-year plan (13:48) - $55B in Chinese losses, ~$250B combined US-China damage (15:33) - Sponge cities and moving water south to north (20:01) - JR's storm, passive house design, and building for changing risk (26:53) - Climate resilience as a strategic advantage (29:47) - Gross Ecosystem Product: putting a price on nature (35:39) - Why humans discount catastrophic risk (38:12) - The six-minute storm and early warning systems (43:07) - The Arctic hit 95°F (44:56) - Three wishes, data centers, and the next "Rachel Carson moment" (52:19) - Prioritizing investment and managing climate migration
Jul 13

076_ Conversation: 🙊 Frank Lloyd Wright was a real son-of-a-bitch | Art and the artist, a legacy 📐

Can the work outlive the man enough to forgive him? Frank Lloyd Wright designed the homes that quietly shaped how millions of Americans live — and he was, by nearly every account, a genuinely difficult person to love. David (Black Sheep Makery, Big Dudu, Dudetunes) joins me to trace Wright's life from a childhood box of wooden blocks to Fallingwater, the Guggenheim, and a tragedy at his own home that killed seven people. We use his story to ask a bigger question: when the art is this good, does the artist's life even matter — and where do we draw that line today? Drawings from Frank Lloyd Wright, the early period mentioned throughout the episode. (00:00) - Intro Essay: The Artist's Canvas Is How You Feel (05:53) - Show Open & Guest Welcome (09:32) - Who Was Frank Lloyd Wright? (10:50) - Born in Wisconsin, Died the Year Before Kennedy (14:03) - Fired From Adler & Sullivan for Moonlighting (16:32) - The German Book That Made Him Famous (18:29) - Organic Architecture, Prairie Style, and Designing Every Doorknob (22:53) - Japan, Zen, and the Tokyo Imperial Hotel (29:07) - Concrete, Steel, and Fallingwater (31:03) - The Affair, the Refused Divorce, and Taliesin (34:04) - The 1914 Taliesin Murders (41:45) - How Wright Invented the American Split-Level (48:16) - Beautiful but Leaky: Art vs. Function (53:50) - Picasso, Van Gogh, and the Myth of the Difficult Artist (58:17) - Where Is the Paris of Today?
Jul 6

075_ Interview: 🏡 The beauty of designing a house in a spreadsheet | Passive house design and the future of how we build 🔨

Andrew Michler is a Santa Fe-based architect and author of Hyperlocalization of Architecture, and one of the leading practitioners of passive house design in the United States, including the first certified passive house in Colorado, which he built himself. Also checkout a great YouTube video ( and excellent channel ) walking through Andrew's Colorado Passive home. Passive house isn't a style. It's a methodology rooted in physics: rather than prescribing materials or following minimum code, it models the entire building. The insulation, airtightness, window placement, how the sun effects the warmth, even body heat from occupants, and targets aggressive performance outcomes. The result is a home that stays comfortable with a fraction of the energy a conventional house requires. In here we cover the basics of passive house from the ground up, including what separates it from traditional high efficiency build certification and passive solar design, why the "boxy German building" reputation is mostly coincidence, and how a house in Colorado stayed in the mid-60s for a week at -9°F with the heating system off. We also dig into surprising economics of passive house construction (spoiler: it's closer to conventional than you'd think), and whether you can retrofit an existing home ~ a process Andrew is actively doing on a house in Oakland. Chapters (00:00) - Revolutionizing Home Building with Physics (02:44) - Understanding Passive House Design (05:29) - The Role of Physics in Architecture (08:04) - Passive House vs. Traditional Construction (10:43) - The Benefits of Passive Design (13:32) - Real-World Applications of Passive House (16:19) - Innovative Heating Solutions in Passive Houses (19:01) - The Importance of Ventilation and Air Quality (21:34) - Cost Considerations for Passive Houses (34:33) - The Cost of Building and Energy Efficiency (36:58) - The Value of Passive Homes (41:12) - Survivability in Extreme Weather Conditions (48:32) - Retrofitting Existing Homes for Energy Efficiency (53:54) - Opportunities in Passive House Design (57:23) - Insights from Japanese Architecture (01:02:45) - The Importance of Design in Architecture
Jun 1

074_ Conversation: 💭 The consciousness problem | AI, awareness, and an ancient unsettled debate 🌀

We can't prove you're conscious either — and that's kind of the point. Istanbul-based researcher Mesut Bilgili joins to reframe the AI consciousness debate around what we can actually measure. Plus: what your dog, a forest, and ChatGPT have in common, and why curiosity might be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. Check out Mesut's paper on Functional Awareness, and follow along for more of his work. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction: Philosophy and Bias in Observation (00:49) - Applying Philosophy to AI and Technology (01:57) - The Relevance of Consciousness in AI Use (02:57) - Guest Introduction: Basut Bidjuli and AI Research (04:01) - Defining Intelligence vs. Consciousness (06:00) - The Difference Between First-Person Experience and Functionality (09:04) - Debate on Panpsychism and Consciousness in Nature (11:48) - The Shaky Foundations of Consciousness and Observation (16:43) - What is Functional Awareness in AI? (19:56) - Ecosystems as Functionally Aware Systems (24:34) - The Primary Role of Consciousness in Reality (30:43) - Testing and Measuring Functional Awareness in AI (37:55) - AI Dreaming and Self-Modification Experiments (40:49) - The Fascination with AI Prediction and Potential (48:27) - The Impact of Technology on Society and Culture (54:38) - Cultivating Curiosity and Human Potential (55:34) - Final Thoughts: Humanity and AI Co-evolution
May 26

073_ Interview: 🏋️‍♀️ Strength as a Skill | 8 Women: Off the Street to Dutch Team 🇳🇱 (Part 2)

In part two of this episode, In this episode, Thom Van De Meer shares his journey from academic background to applying StrongFirst principles in training athletes, including the women’s rowing team he trained to prepare for the 2020 Olympics— Project2020. We explore the principles of strength training, the science of energy systems, and how targeted, sustainable training can enhance performance and health. Check out Thom's breathwork tracks on Spotify and his website to check out from him. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction to Knowledge vs. Wisdom (01:52) - The Impact of Mental Work on Physical Performance (05:29) - Strength Training Methodologies and Their Applications (06:42) - Transforming Athletes from Novices to Competitors (11:16) - Training Protocols and Recovery Strategies (17:53) - The Role of Energy Systems in Training (30:36) - Integrating Strength and Rowing Training (40:26) - Practical Strength Training Insights (43:18) - The Role of Neurology in Strength (44:45) - Understanding Strength Beyond Muscle Size (49:36) - Neurological Drive and Strength Training (57:28) - Complex Adaptive Systems in Training (01:03:54) - The Importance of Slow Changes in Training (01:12:14) - Vitality and Lifelong Strength Training

See All (85)

Creator

bandwidth.productions
Years Active

2020 - 2026
Episodes

85
Rating

Explicit
Show Website

that's interesting

that's interesting

Episodes

079_ Conversation: 🧠 Brand as memory, moat, and margin | the mediums and messages in our time 📺

078_ Interview: 中 China's elaborte influence | A level of sophistication the US isn't contending with 🧐

🌆 9/11 — 25th Anniversary Re-Release 002_ Interview Only: It Felt Too Big to Panic | Live From the Roof on 9/11 🇺🇸

077_ Interview: ♟️ China's strategic advantage in climate change | Adapting to what's here 🦊

076_ Conversation: 🙊 Frank Lloyd Wright was a real son-of-a-bitch | Art and the artist, a legacy 📐

075_ Interview: 🏡 The beauty of designing a house in a spreadsheet | Passive house design and the future of how we build 🔨

074_ Conversation: 💭 The consciousness problem | AI, awareness, and an ancient unsettled debate 🌀

073_ Interview: 🏋️‍♀️ Strength as a Skill | 8 Women: Off the Street to Dutch Team 🇳🇱 (Part 2)

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