Take Back the Day Sam Beckbessinger & Simon Dingle

Sam and Simon are together in a room, for a change, and discuss the impact of artificial intelligence, existential crises, and a range of other topics. Along the way they mention:



The Cope Zine (instructions on how to fold it below)
ChatGPT again.
Nick Cave's The Red Hand Files on ChatGPT
Francis Fukuyama and his theories on the progress of civilisation.
Irresistible the movie (one of the many things Simon could not remember).
Also Triangle of Sadness.
The incredible art of Fanie Buys.
Many games. Including World of Warcraft, Don't Starve Together, Mario Kart, Stardew Valley, League of Legends, and other candidates for Sam and Simon to play together.
Wingspan.


How to fold a zine:

From trippy breath work to commanding a robot army, Sam and Simon are getting ready for a super weird future with its various perils. While discussing their battle strategy they mention:



The Wim Hof breathing method
ChatGPT, of course.
Clean: The New Science of Skin and the Beauty of Doing Less by James Hamblin
Building A Virtual Machine inside ChatGPT by Jonas Degrave
Midjourney
Botto the autonomous artist.


(Thanks for the album art, DALL·E 2)

Simon reads Sam a poem and our intrepid duo considers the best ways in which to treat our future selves, the tensions that keep life balanced, pros and cons of social media, and myriad other thingies. Along the way they mention:



Swan by Mary Oliver
Twitter's impending doom
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Stutz
Breath:The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor

Sam and Simon explore identity, how we change ourselves for each other, and what it means to push for making things better while appreciating the way things are. It's complicated. Along the way they mention:



Adventure Time!
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
Morning Pages
Ann Patchett
Clarkson's Farm
Wilding by Isabella Tree
The Jamison Valley
How Wolves Change Rivers

Sam's robotic brain and Simon's tin heart contemplate practices such as writing, running, meditating - or antyhing else that curiously calls you to do it for its own sake - and what these commitments mean and ask from us as they curiously make their way into the other parts of our lives. Along the way they mention:



Return to Oz
Google Keep
Obsidian
Notion
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Jim Rogers
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, Steve Friedman
The Hardrock 100
The Dreamachine
DeepDream
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

What gives things value, and how much should we be worried about that? Sam and Simon discover that everything is rubbish, and along the way mention:



Veblen goods
A lot of garbage things that don't deserve extra attention here
Cryptotrunks
Cryptokitties
Sir Digby
Vaccines: A Measured Response
Google Keep
Semiphemeral
📼
Bo Burnam