Rather than simply criticizing technology, I explore a more balanced view—drawing on Marc Weidenbaum’s idea of being “digitally cozy”: staying engaged with books, walks, art, meals, and family while dialing back the constant churn of short-term online conversations.

I also reflect on how meaningful relationships can form entirely through technologically mediated means, setting the stage for an upcoming interview that continues this conversation.

• 00:32 Introduction and Reflections on Being a Psychoanalyst
• 02:16 Exploring the Concept of Place
• 06:34 Technology’s Role in Social Interaction
• 07:33 Insights from Disquiet.com
• 11:53 Balancing Technology and Real Life
• 16:44 Upcoming Interview and Conclusion

Table of Contents: 
00:32 Introduction and Thanksgiving Reflections

01:52 Podcast Content and Recent Activities

04:14 Craig Mod and His Works

06:50 The Importance of Place in Human Experience

12:22 Jazz Kissa: A Unique Cultural Phenomenon

17:48 Reflections on Modern Social Interactions

24:50 Conclusion and Listener Engagement

Referenced:
Marjory Prime (film)
Mubi (service)
Craig Mod (web)
Things Become Other Things (book)
Ridgelines 218 (web)
Ridgelines archive (web)
Kissa by Kissa (book)

Contact: 
from78podcast@gmail.com

00:32 Introduction and Podcast Update

01:54 The Importance of Podcasting in My Life

04:21 Reflecting on Inspirations and Ideas

08:45 Engaging with Albert Camus

12:00 Longing for Connection and Place

19:52 Paul Kingsnorth’s Four Ps

23:14 Modern Intelligence and Points of Reference

29:05 Concluding Thoughts and Farewell

In this episode, Neil interviews Rob Bell, delving into significant memories and experiences that shaped Rob's life. They explore Rob's childhood memories on a farm and a rustic cabin in Michigan, poignant historical events like the Challenger explosion, and discussions on the impact of environment and personal history on his outlook.

Rob articulates his philosophies on living a fulfilled life by being attuned to nature, engaging in creative processes, and embracing curiosity and connection with others. The conversation also touches on influences from music, the importance of empathy, and the evolution of personal growth in understanding oneself and others.

You can find more of Rob's work over at RobBell.com, and you can join his Patreon page to support his ongoing work.

Table of Contents

00:31 Introduction and Early Memories

00:56 Life on the Farm

02:24 Michigan Cabin Adventures

03:17 Significant Historical Events

05:53 Impact of Locations on Life

06:31 Connection with Nature

16:32 Influence of Media and Music

20:47 Reflections on Parenting and Influence

26:03 Current Phase of Life

29:49 Navigating Emotional Investments

34:24 Understanding Agricultural Perspectives

35:39 Shifting from Contempt to Curiosity

37:28 The Glitch in the Progressive Matrix

45:11 Navigating Parent-Child Relationships

52:28 Learning from Others and Self-Reflection

56:30 The Power of Perspective and Absurdity

In this episode of the 'From 78' podcast, I explore the subjective experience of time and the impact of physical places on shaping personal identity and relationships. 

I share personal anecdotes about the various places that significantly impacted my life, including a game store, a Borders bookstore, and a Denny's restaurant. I reflect on how these places provided a sense of community, facilitated friendships, and influenced my tastes and aesthetics. I also ponder the effect of technology on social interaction and question how I can create or find similar meaningful spaces in my current life. 

The episode encapsulates a sense of nostalgia, gratitude, and curiosity about the evolving nature of communal spaces.

00:31 Introduction and Greetings

01:03 Kolacky and Coffee: A Morning Ritual

02:10 The Importance of Plans

02:47 Wandering Thoughts: The Significance of Place

05:10 Reflecting on Past Experiences

07:39 The Role of Place in Personal Growth

10:56 Memorable Places: Game Store and Borders

17:59 Denny’s: A Hub for Connection

27:00 The Impact of Technology on Social Spaces

28:54 Concluding Thoughts and Gratitude

In this impromptu episode of the 78 podcast, Neil Gorman delves into his subjective experience of time, sparked by a spontaneous observation while driving past a middle school. 

The episode explores themes of nostalgia and longing as Neil reflects on his own middle school experiences, juxtaposing them with his life as an adult, and wrestling with the emotions these memories evoke. 

Introduction and Episode Context

Reflecting on Daily Routines

A Nostalgic Encounter

Memories of Middle School

The Longing for Youth

Adult Reflections and Realizations

Concluding Thoughts and Reflections

In episode 021 of the From78 podcast, Neil reflects on a personal anecdote about eating a bagel and connects it to his thoughts after reading a New Yorker article about Mahmud Mandani's 1964 bus trip across America. 

Neil then explores themes of open-mindedness, desire, and the subjective experience of time, questioning whether people today are still capable of embracing the unknown and unfamiliar without fear or defensiveness. Through these reflections, the host delves into the concept of desire within Lacanian psychoanalysis and challenges listeners to consider their own reactions to lack and absence.

00:00 Introduction and Personal Anecdote

01:52 Introducing the Main Topic

03:08 New Yorker Article Excerpt

05:41 Reflecting on the Past and Present

09:15 Exploring Human Nature and Desire

13:07 Concluding Thoughts

In this episode of his podcast, host Neil Gorman delves into the subjective experience of time and reflects on his own emotional and cognitive journey from youth to adulthood. He discusses the shift from anger and judgment in his younger years to a more compassionate and understanding outlook as he grew older. Neil revisits previous themes, references the poem 'The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran, and shares insights about the natural progression of becoming a steward of the world. He also discusses the contrasting paths people may take as they age—either moving towards compassion or becoming increasingly bitter. Join Neil as he explores the complexities of time, growth, and the importance of compassion.

Warning:

This episode is a self-referential reflection, where I revisit some of the themes from prior episodes. It is very rambly, so if you like that kind of thing, you'll like this one. And, if you don't like rambling episodes, you should probably skip this one.

Themes & Returning Themes: 

• Dwelling in the house of Tomorrow when you're young, and moving out into the world of the present.
• The shift from being one who is going to inherit the world to someone who has inherited the world and is now a steward of that world.
• The loss of youth, the future, a large stack of tomorrows.... This makes some people soften and become more compassionate, and others harden and become bitter and brittle. 

Referenced: 

• The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
• F78 Episode 015 
• Nick Cave (Faith, Hope, & Carnage; The Red Hand Files) 
• F78 Episode 017 
• F78 Episode 018 

1. How technology lets me kind of travel in time, by letting present me listen to past me.
2. My general liking for audio as a medium.

Referenced:

TV show: Quantum Leap
Ira Glass
This American Life
Joe Frank
RadioLab  

• The Read Hand Files
• Nick Cave (Wikipedia) 
• Faith, Hope, & Carnage (Amazon) 
• Freud Morning in Melancholia (Wikipedia) 

• The Read Hand Files post I read out loud. 
• Nick Cave (Wikipedia) 
• The Botman's Call (Apple Music, Spotify) 
• The Murder Ballads (Apple Music, Spotify) 
• Faith, Hope, & Carnage (Amazon) 

Contact:
You can now email me your thoughts, reactions, questions, criticisms, concerns, etc. Just email from78 at surplusjouissance.com

Referenced:
The Prophet, On Children, by Kahlil Gibran 

• Why focus on the subjective experience of time?
• Why do so in the form of a podcast?

But I've been thinking about it a lot lately, so I made a new episode. Let's see where things go from here. 

In this episode of From78 I talk with a fellow Podcrade from the Lost Horizon's Network, Jason from The Regrettable Century. We talk about our own lives and our experiences as we have moved through time. The conversation gets into putting down roots v. drifting, fear of death, the pursuit of an impossible Justice to come, our ability or inability to choose our path in life, the impacts of technology on our lives as social beings, and more.

This was one of the best conversations I've had in a long time, and I hope you all enjoy it as well.

References: 

• Derrida's Specters of Marx (.pdf) 
• Parker Palmer's description of depression from On Being
• Jean-Paul Sarte (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Chris's (also from the Regrettable Century) interview on From78

Outro musics:
The outro track on today's episode is a track called Go Small by the band Seaming. It is on the album The Birdwatcher's Guide to Atrocity, which you can stream or pre-order now on Bandcamp. 

During our conversation, From78 & Chris talk about: 

• The role of universities and religious institutions in our lives 
• Life as it might have been in medieval times
• Communities, or the lack thereof
• Places that people can gather in to just hang out and talk about things and stuff
• Starting things when you’re young but not finishing them till way later in life
• Psychoanalysis (Das Ding, object a) 
• Self-care vs people caring for one another

Here are some things we talk about in this: 

• Is Mapquest a scam by shoe stores & Denny's 
• Emojis 
• Online dating 
• Xennials
• Red Dawn
• The three-lane way of thinking about time
• Online banking
• Buying music (with your own money!) 
• Recording songs off the radio 
• Hauntology, Ghosts, Specters
• Economic crashes 
• Cold war
• 9/11
• Retirement? Ha! 
• Si-Fi & the imagined future 
• The Westwing & House of Cards. 

Till next time: Make Glorious Mistakes. 

In this episode, we start to suss out each of our own ghosts and our current orientation as dialectical (revolutionary?) pessimists.

The entire uncut interview is available right this red hot second via the From78 Patreon page. 

So this is the third episode of the show and the first interview of the show. The interview itself was very long (more than 90 min) so I decided to break it up into two parts. 

If you want to hear the entire uncut interview (and the interview without me background music, or my inserted commentary) you can do so by supporting the show via Patreon. The lowest level of support is $1.00 and the highest level is $25.00, but regardless of what level you support the show at you get ALL the extras. I'm doing this because I want those with very little disposable income to have their contributions just as valued as those who are fortunate enough to have larger disposable incomes. Any support is will help offset the costs of producing the podcast, and are very appreciated! 

This second episode is sort of the pilot episode part 2 (listen to part 1 here).

After recording the first episode the idea of hauntology entered my mind, and I thought it was a concept that the podcast will probably be spending some time with. At first, I thought I would need to re-record and re-release the first episode, but then I thought...

"That's silly. This is a podcast! It can be messy."

Thus, episode 002 is all about hauntology.

References: 

• Jacques Derrida (Amazon, Wikipedia, IEP, SEP) 
  • Of Grammatology 
  • The Specters of Marx
• Mark Fisher (Amazon, Wikipedia)  
  • Capitalist Realism 
  • Ghost of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology, & Lost Futures 
• Pauline Boss (Amazon, AL, Wikipedia, On Being) 
  • Ambiguous Loss 

Any and all feedback is welcome.