Alex Ebert is a Golden Globe-winning singer-songwriter and composer. He is best known for being the lead singer and songwriter for the bands Ima Robot and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. He is also a philosopher, exploring ideas around death, self-hood, creativity, media, status anxiety and coolness.

Topics include:

Alex’s creative process (i.e. meeting the daemon)

Why memes have made everyone into philosophers

That time when Alex got too meta for Bono and Robert Redford

The perils of success and how it tempts you to be formulaic

Status anxiety and the philosophy of cool

Why “selling out” stopped being a thing around the year 2000

Death initiations and managing death anxiety

Why you need a gang with a shared mission

Why society is perfectly primed for virtue to become cool

How wokeness acts as a shield for capitalism

The benefits of having a stoic conversation partner

Alex’s anxiety-inducing ritual before going on stage

Resources:

The dancing man at Sasquatch Festival

Alex Ebert’s Substack

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Episode ID: 1000575402541

GUID: substack:post:67474635

Release Date: 08/08/2022, 18:54:01