January’s Culture Consumed

Podcast: How to Discover Your Own Taste- The Ezra Klein Show 
 
Sadly, this podcast and episode are no longer free, but holy moly, was this podcast life-changing. The episode discusses how algorithms have flattened culture, using the specific example of coffee shops looking the same despite being in different parts of the world. It was surprisingly impactful for me as it made me question: What is my taste? What do I actually like in music, art, architecture, clothes, books, interior design? And what has been thrust upon me by algorithms?
 
I’ve been on Instagram for 12 years! That’s a lot of time for my taste—and how I see the world—to be influenced by what the algorithms tell me is "aesthetic" or "good".
 
So, I started looking back at what I loved when I was younger. Remember when you used to buy CDs for your car? I had Songs About Jane by Maroon 5. Wow, that was a good album. That was before Maroon 5 became commercialized, before they had high-production music videos. The music sounded grittier. The lyrics felt more honest, raw, and emotional. That album is currently back in my music rotation.
 
If you can, I highly recommend listening to this podcast. It was a great reminder that true, real culture—made by artists, musicians, writers, actors, and creators—is gritty, honest, and, most importantly, challenging. It’s important that we engage with media that challenges our norms. It helps us define what we like or dislike and shapes our taste and style, making us more individual, more honest with ourselves, and less systematic and predictable to companies like Meta, Amazon, and whoever else is mining our data.
 
I like being unpredictable. It’s more fun that way.
 
What was one of your favourite albums before social media? Give it a listen, maybe it's as good as you remember.