Don't Freak Out

Marco Palou
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Arts

Don’t Freak Out, Being human in the future that came. Marco Palou makes things by hand with artists, scientists, futurists, and cultural thinkers while exploring creativity, identity, and meaning in a world being rewritten by technology. New episodes every Tuesday. marcopalou.substack.com

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    EP 11: When Freedom Becomes a Trap | Fred Turner, Stanford Professor

    Watch on YouTube · Listen on Spotify · Listen on Apple Podcasts What if the dream of being completely free is making it harder to live together? Stanford professor Fred Turner joins Marco Palou (Baby Yors), author of HOMO ARTIS, on the Don't Freak Out podcast. NEW BOOK: HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is OUT NOW. Amazon Get the book and the first 4 chapters free Subscribe to the podcast on Substack In Oakland, a trip through Fred's CD collection becomes a question about everything Spotify never suggests. Milton's devil helps explain why a feed can be beautiful and impossible to leave. And the communes Fred thought would offer relief after a book about war lead him to a surprising answer: his idea of utopia is a hospital. From ChatGPT to Burning Man, they ask what freedom needs if we're going to share a world. In this episode What Fred stopped hearing on Spotify, and how John Cage changed his ears Milton's devil and the feed that keeps us hungry Why feeling seen by ChatGPT can confuse a product with a relationship Showing the creative process, performing authenticity, and deciding whom to trust Queer media cultures, self-presentation, and the freedoms they opened up "Rule by cool" in communes, and why Fred argues that freedom needs institutions Burning Man, Google, and why Fred's idea of utopia is a hospital About Fred Turner Fred Turner is the Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication at Stanford University, where he studies media, technology and American cultural life. His books include From Counterculture to Cyberculture, The Democratic Surround and Echoes of Combat. With photographer Mary Beth Meehan, he coauthored Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America. His research connects subjects as varied as communal living, digital utopianism and Burning Man. A former journalist and Guggenheim Fellow, he continues to write for publications in the United States and Europe. He earned his doctorate in Communication at the University of California, San Diego. Fred Turner Books Stanford Mentioned in this episode John Milton, Paradise Lost; T.S. Eliot; W.H. Auden; Sylvia Plath, Winter Trees; Ernest Hemingway; John Cage Whole Earth Catalog; Howard Rheingold and the WELL; RuPaul; Joshua Gamson; Burning Man About Don't Freak Out Don't Freak Out is a podcast about being human in the future that came. Each episode, artist and author Marco Palou sits down with a poet, scientist, composer, founder or performer and makes something with them while they talk: a drawing, a watercolor, a page of play-doh. The conversations are about creativity, technology and the parts of us no machine can do, and every guest finishes the same sentence before they leave: "Don't freak out..." About Marco Palou Marco Palou is an Argentine artist, author and director working across music, film, visual art and writing. Born in Jujuy, he left Argentina for New York at 18 on a ballet scholarship and has built a career without a traditional job, through brand partnerships, creative collaborations and work released on every platform. He records and performs music as Baby Yors, runs Amarte Labs and Palou Press in Los Angeles, and hosts Don't Freak Out. His book HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is out now. Website Marco Palou Instagram Baby Yors Substack Follow Don't Freak Out Instagram Substack YouTube Produced by Amarte Labs LLC Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Oct 7

    EP 10: The Only Instrument Made Out of Human | Pamela Z, Composer & Media Artist

    Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/T8Xv8dTqWkM Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033WXTU8zVolaWr23weegH Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-freak-out/id6794541000 Why does a distorted voice disturb you when a distorted violin only sounds interesting? NEW BOOK: HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is OUT NOW. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8SR2NMR Get the book and the first 4 chapters free: https://homoartis.com Subscribe to the podcast on Substack: https://marcopalou.substack.com/s/dont-freak-out Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down in Oakland with composer and media artist Pamela Z. While they work with clay, Pamela talks about making music from voices, lists and the imperfect timing of machines. She recalls the Tower Records catalog that became one of her favorite pieces, and the piece she could no longer perform when a laptop replaced her rack of digital delays. The conversation moves from those happy accidents to deep fakes, AI slop and the peculiar sympathy she feels for a driverless car. In this episode - Why altering a voice feels different from distorting another instrument - The catalog page that became Pop Titles You, and why she prefers lists to rhymes - Studying opera while playing clubs, with one teacher's encouragement - What became easier when her gear became a laptop, and what she could no longer perform - The musical accidents she misses from old digital delays, and how she recreates their imperfect timing - What tech did to the word "multimedia", and why she dislikes "creative" as a noun - Deep fakes, AI slop, feeling sorry for Waymos, and the ChatGPT rewrite that called SoMa "trendy hip" Mentioned in this episode Pop Titles You, Baggage Allowance and Pamela's piece 85 for Pauline Oliveros KGNU Boulder and her program The Tuesday Afternoon Sound Alternative Max/MSP, the Lexicon 32-second delay, Pro Tools, FileMaker Bang on a Can All-Stars and Steven Schick; Ensemble for These Times; Roomful of Teeth Composer Tina Tallon Boots Riley, I Love Boosters (the tipping-building joke) The Millennium Tower, San Francisco About Pamela Z Pamela Z is a composer, performer and media artist whose work brings together the human voice, live electronics, sampled sounds and video. Through real-time vocal processing and controllers activated by physical gestures, she creates layered performances that move between experimental vocal techniques and operatic singing. Her practice includes concerts, multimedia productions and sound and video installations. She has written scores for dance, film and ensembles including Kronos Quartet and Eighth Blackbird. Her work has appeared at MoMA and the Venice and Dakar biennales. Her honors include the Rome Prize, Berlin Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the MIT McDermott Award. She studied music at the University of Colorado Boulder. Pamela Z: https://pamelaz.com Simultaneous (album, Other Minds Records): https://www.otherminds.org/recording/simultaneous/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PamelaZed Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamelazed About Don't Freak Out Don't Freak Out is a podcast about being human in the future that came. Each episode, artist and author Marco Palou sits down with a poet, scientist, composer, founder or performer and makes something with them while they talk: a drawing, a watercolor, a page of play-doh. The conversations are about creativity, technology and the parts of us no machine can do, and every guest finishes the same sentence before they leave: "Don't freak out..." About Marco Palou Marco Palou is an Argentine artist, author and director working across music, film, visual art and writing. Born in Jujuy, he left Argentina for New York at 18 on a ballet scholarship and has built a career without a traditional job, through brand partnerships, creative collaborations and work released on every platform. He records and performs music as Baby Yors, runs Amarte Labs and Palou Press in Los Angeles, and hosts Don't Freak Out. His book HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is out now. Website: https://homoartis.com Marco Palou: https://marcopalou.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcopalou Baby Yors: https://www.instagram.com/babyyors Substack: https://marcopalou.substack.com Follow Don't Freak Out Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcast Substack: https://marcopalou.substack.com/s/dont-freak-out YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFgR6xuA9wYeFjXXZAsKKfw Produced by Amarte Labs LLC Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Sep 23

    EP 09: If You Are Breathing, Help Someone | Jane Hirshfield, Poet

    Watch on YouTube: What does a poet who spent three years in a Zen monastery know about not knowing? HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is OUT NOW. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8SR2NMR Get the book and the first 4 chapters free: https://homoartis.comhttps://poetsforscience.org Subscribe to the podcast on Substack: https://marcopalou.substack.com/s/dont-freak-out Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down in San Francisco with Jane Hirshfield, poet, co-founder of Poets for Science and author of The Asking: New and Selected Poems. On this episode of Don’t Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, Jane reads four poems, explains why she starts every poem without knowing what it will become, and lands on the two words she would give anyone who is freaking out: help someone. You’ll learn: * Why “don’t know mind” is where all the possibility lives * What three years of monastic silence did to her relationship with music * When a meal, a paint color or a dovetail joint stops being practical and becomes art * Why a poem doesn’t fix grief but changes your relationship to it * What happened when her students asked her to stop saying “hit the bell” * Why the difficult emotions are information you can’t afford to suppress Poems read in this episode, all from The Asking: “My Life Was the Size of My Life” · “I moved my chair into sun” · “Late Prayer” · “The Weighing” About Jane Hirshfield Jane Hirshfield is the author of ten poetry collections, including The Asking: New & Selected Poems, Ledger, and The Beauty, long-listed for the National Book Award, plus two essay collections, Nine Gates and Ten Windows, and four books of translation. The Washington Post has placed her poems “among the modern masters,” and her work has been set to music by John Adams and Philip Glass. She was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2012 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019, and received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in 2026. In 2017 she co-founded Poets for Science, the traveling installation housed with the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University and launched at the first March for Science in Washington. She trained for years in Soto Zen, including three at Tassajara, and lives in the Bay Area. Jane Hirshfield on Substack: The Asking: New & Selected Poems: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/715681/the-asking-by-jane-hirshfield/ Poets for Science: https://poetsforscience.org Poets for Science Gathering, Kent State University, November 12 to 14, 2026: https://connect.kent.edu/register/poets-for-science-gathering Produced by Amarte Labs LLC Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Sep 15

    EP 08: Creativity Is Survival | Daniel Lismore, The Man Who Lives as Art

    What does it cost to be fully visible? For the season finale, on the day HOMO ARTIS publishes, Daniel Lismore answers with his life. Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS (out today), sits down with his friend Daniel Lismore, the British artist who lives as a living sculpture: every day, an assemblage of chainmail, beads, couture, and found objects collected across decades, each one carrying a piece of his life. Daniel appears in the book. It felt right to end the season with him. This is Don't Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, where every conversation happens while making something with our hands. They talk about what it takes to get dressed when the outfit is your life's archive, the armor that is also a magnet, what daily abuse costs and why he gets dressed anyway, why AI can generate the image of his work but never the life inside it, and creativity not as decoration but as survival. That's season one. Thank you for being here. Follow Daniel: https://www.instagram.com/daniellismore Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniellismore Daniel's site: https://www.daniellismore.com HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is OUT TODAY. Get the book and the first 4 chapters free: https://homoartis.com Watch and follow Don't Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.us Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcast Say hello: hello@dontfreakout.us Produced by Shira Chait and Marco Palou Cinematography and stills by Raul Seca Jr. Production design by Teresa Guerrero C. Color corrected by Shira Chait Post production by Amarte Labs Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

    EP 08: Creativity Is Survival | Daniel Lismore, The Man Who Lives as Art

  5. Sep 8

    EP 07: Your Brain Didn’t Come With a Manual | Heather Collins, PhD, Neuroscientist

    Is AI making us dumber? A neuroscientist with more than fifty peer-reviewed papers has a one-rule answer: your brain reserves the right of a first draft. Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down with Dr. Heather Collins, cognitive neuroscientist whose research runs from Alzheimer's disease to what space does to astronauts' brains. This is Don't Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, where every conversation happens while making something with our hands. Today: origami, and a Muppet named Bobby. They talk about brain gain versus brain drain, how to make AI a thinking partner instead of a replacement brain, breaking a chatbot of its flattery, why your working memory holds about four things, what nine months in space does to a skull, the 100-millisecond first impression and why everyone remembers the meat dress, and the science of Touchies, the memory-holding objects from HOMO ARTIS, which a neuroscientist validates in real time. Her closer: it's gonna be okay, because now you know how to take care of your brain. Pre-order and get the first 4 chapters of HOMO ARTIS free: https://homoartis.com Watch and follow Don't Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.us Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcast Say hello: hello@dontfreakout.us Produced by Shira Chait and Marco Palou Cinematography and stills by Raul Seca Jr. Production design by Teresa Guerrero C. Color corrected by Shira Chait Post production by Amarte Labs Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

    EP 07: Your Brain Didn’t Come With a Manual | Heather Collins, PhD, Neuroscientist

  6. Sep 4

    EP 06: What Gets You Cast | Kate Geller & Stephanie Holbrook, Casting Directors

    An actor lost a role after one meeting because he’d changed his face. Two Hollywood casting directors explain what they were actually looking for. Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down with casting directors Kate Geller and Stephanie Holbrook, taped the morning after the Oscars awarded casting for the first time in history. This is Don’t Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, where every conversation happens while making something with our hands. If you act, this is the other side of the room: what they’re reading in your eyes before you say a word, why your charisma doesn’t survive a self-tape, what fillers and facelifts are quietly doing to careers, why wrinkles get you cast (“you earn every part of your face”), and the walk-in feeling they can’t resist: “you’re a weird soul, I love you already.” Plus: the 1,000-kid search that found one gymnast with the spark, the Oscar tears the morning this was taped, and the question AI can’t answer: how do you replicate the spark of life with science? Listen anywhere Spotify: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id6794541000 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dontfreakoutpodcast Substack: https://marcopalou.substack.com/ Watch their picks: Nine Days and The Outside Story. Pre-order and get the first 4 chapters of HOMO ARTIS free: https://homoartis.com Watch and follow Don’t Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.us Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcast Say hello: hello@dontfreakout.us Produced by Shira Chait and Marco Palou Cinematography and stills by Raul Seca Jr. Production design by Teresa Guerrero C. Color corrected by Shira Chait Post production by Amarte Labs Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Aug 25

    EP 05: The Electricity Moment | Michelle Schneider, Future of Work Futurist

    Will your job exist in five years? A major study finally gave an honest answer, and it came with a disclaimer you have to hear: if we achieve AGI, disregard everything you’ve read here. Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down with Michelle Schneider, futurist and future-of-work author who spent twenty years inside Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok before leaving Big Tech to study the transformation from the outside. This is Don’t Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, where every conversation happens while making something with our hands. Today: a Brazilian flag and a sticker box. They talk about the contradicting jobs studies, the AI health agent she built from her lifetime of medical exams with no coding background, humans leading agents and the one-person unicorn, why AI’s productivity boom hasn’t arrived yet (the electricity lesson from 1882), and the Austin school where AI teaches academics in two hours a day and kids get paid to learn. Her closer: the future of work is not in our hands. But your future is only in your hands. Pre-order and get the first 4 chapters of HOMO ARTIS free: https://homoartis.com Watch and follow Don’t Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.us Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcast Say hello: hello@dontfreakout.us Produced by Shira Chait and Marco Palou Cinematography and stills by Raul Seca Jr. Production design by Teresa Guerrero C. Color corrected by Shira Chait Post production by Amarte Labs Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Aug 18

    EP 04: Everything Will Be All Right | Chris Pfaff, 30-Year Tech Insider

    Is the AI boom 1999 all over again? Chris Pfaff was inside that bubble, and he knows the exact warning sign to watch for this time. Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down with Chris Pfaff, CEO of Chris Pfaff Tech Media and co-chair of the VR/AR Association’s storytelling committee, a man who has been inside every technology wave since 1990. This is Don’t Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, where every conversation happens while making something with our hands. Today: pens, paper, and a character named Lucky Pierre. They talk about the round-tripping pattern he watched destroy telecom in 1999 and why he sees its shape in today’s AI deals, the Apple Vision Pro’s chicken-cutlet problem, the mixed reality concert that preserved composer Ryuichi Sakamoto as he was dying, why sauerkraut became freedom cabbage, who your data belongs to, and whether every human is really an artist. Chris is the first guest to tell Marco no. His answer to it all: everything will be all right. You got to believe. Follow Chris: https://www.chrispfafftechmedia.com Pre-order and get the first 4 chapters of HOMO ARTIS free: https://homoartis.com Watch and follow Don’t Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.us Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcast Say hello: hello@dontfreakout.us Produced by Shira Chait and Marco Palou Cinematography and stills by Raul Seca Jr. Production design by Teresa Guerrero C. Color corrected by Shira Chait Post production by Amarte Labs Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

  9. Aug 11

    EP 03: Curiosity Is Contagious | Sarah DaVanzo, Futurist

    What kind of futurist sweetly puts her own AI on mute before predicting the future, then closes by calling AI a jealous lover you should never hand your keys? Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down with Sarah DaVanzo, futures activist and superforecaster who predicts the future with roughly 70% accuracy. This is Don’t Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, where every conversation happens while making something with our hands. Today: two clay aliens from the same planet. They talk about how to stop fearing what’s next, the four kinds of curiosity (which one are you?), 40 days of silence in a Benedictine monastery, testing forecasting AI with DARPA, aliens over an Argentine cornfield, and how the Curiosity rover accidentally infected Mars with life. Her rule for AI is simple: it’s like a jealous lover. Enjoy it. But don’t give it the keys to your apartment. Follow Sarah: https://futuresactivist.com Get the first 4 chapters of HOMO ARTIS free: https://homoartis.com Watch and follow Don’t Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.us Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcast Say hello: hello@dontfreakout.us Produced by Shira Chait and Marco Palou Cinematography and stills by Raul Seca Jr. Production design by Teresa Guerrero C. Color corrected by Shira Chait Post production by Amarte Labs Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

  10. Aug 4

    EP 02: Action, Not Swiping | Scott Sugino, CEO of Yamaha Music Innovations

    What happens when the person investing in the future of music technology nearly cries listening to a song he made himself? Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down with Yusuke “Scott” Sugino, President and CEO of Yamaha Music Innovations, home to a $50 million fund focused on music, media, audio, and creative technology. This is Don’t Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, where every conversation happens while making something with our hands. They talk about the gap between wanting to create and actually creating, Scott’s honest experience with his four year old son’s screen time, why AI has not fundamentally changed music yet, and the song Scott wrote while moving from Germany to the United States. The conversation eventually reaches a larger question: if machines take more of our work, what will human beings live for? Scott’s answer is simple. Action, action, action. Not swiping. Learn more about Yamaha Creator Pass: https://yamahacreators.com Get the first 4 chapters of HOMO ARTIS free: https://homoartis.com Watch and follow Don’t Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.us Instagram: https://instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcast Say hello: hello@dontfreakout.us Produced by Shira Chait and Marco Palou Cinematography and stills by Raul Seca Jr. Production design by Teresa Guerrero C. Color corrected by Shira Chait Post production by Amarte Labs Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

    EP 02: Action, Not Swiping | Scott Sugino, CEO of Yamaha Music Innovations

  11. Jul 27

    EP 01: One Frame at a Time | Ben Treat, Stop Motion Animator

    This is a podcast about being human in the future that came. In the premiere: stop motion animator Ben Treat of Frantic Frames, who built one of the most distinctive creative brands on social media through pure craft and patience. Marco and Ben make things out of clay while they talk about committing to craft in an age of instant content, the 50-hour video, escaping the algorithm, the trick that finally beat doomscrolling, and what the human hand is worth when AI can fake the look of anything in seconds. Get the first 4 chapters of HOMO ARTIS free: https://homoartis.com Watch and follow Don't Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.us Follow Marco Palou: https://instagram.com/marcopalou Follow Ben: @franticframes Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe

    EP 01: One Frame at a Time | Ben Treat, Stop Motion Animator
  • 11 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Don’t Freak Out, Being human in the future that came. Marco Palou makes things by hand with artists, scientists, futurists, and cultural thinkers while exploring creativity, identity, and meaning in a world being rewritten by technology. New episodes every Tuesday. marcopalou.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Marco Palou
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Marco Palou
  • Show Website
    Don't Freak Out

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