The lesson I've learned as a writer is that it's extremely risky to take notes from someone who doesn't love your work. Because if they don't see an underlying goodness to what your write, they'll just take a torch to it, perhaps ridding it of some flaws, but also, inherently of the things that make it great. A fan of yours can see what's working and what's not; but someone who is just a critic makes no such distinctions, hacksawing away and not caring if anything's left behind. The danger of criticism capture is not that you go crazy; it's that by appeasing your critics, you end up losing the people who became fans of you in the first place.
The lesson of the last decade of media has been that you shouldn't feel entitled to your audience, because they can and will leave, and you shouldn't take your critics so seriously, because even if you listen to them, they may never in fact show up. (I actually think your idea of "criticism capture" was best expressed by the "undecided whale" theory you put forward about the NBA, China, and its American fanbase.) I often think back to an Esquire post from the early teens which featured "80 Books A Man Should Read Before He Dies", and the insane amount of pushback it got because 76 or so of the authors were White men. In response, the magazine has grown woker: it's now rare for them to publish their best books of the year list that isn't at least 3/4ths women, and of the men, most of them are not white. But the magazine has grown slighter, too, each month it appeares in my mailbox; its articles seem less ambitious, less bold, less often a part of the conversation. And as a result, everyone who I knew who subscribed 10 or 15 years ago at some point chose not to renew. In many ways, what's happened to the media is just an extended form of criticism capture: a wellspring of dullness and a dearth of originality caused mostly by a deep fear of being yelled at on the internet.
The real lesson of our moment, however, is that criticism capture is often just audience capture in another form: no one likes being publicly humiliated, of course, but often the only reason people engage in sadistic, fruitless and unending forms of humiliation is because there's a public cheering them on. The currency of our time is attention of course, and the twin poles of capture illustrate the two forms of demise: get audience captured and the world watches you turn into a cartoon; get criticism captured and no one watches you at all.
I think a great way to live is 10-toes down with a desire to be objective, knowledgeable, informed, open-minded, and aware one's experiences are limited. It is also my belief a commitment to core principles with regular reality checks will prevent one from becoming decidedly one-way. .
From the guests to the issues to the quantity, I legitimately love Ethan's content. HOS is objectively high-quality content - how high can be debated by others - and I attribute much of my enjoyment to stating his objectives clearly while providing continued authenticity.
I am a MN-small-town-blue-collar-college-dropout who doesn't know how to write, yet I find myself chuckling at how many thoughts and beliefs we share, despite Ethan being a highly-educated-big-city-verbose-west-coaster. ESS and the HOS is my favorite content to consume and I am excited for what is up next.
I'm actually impressed by Dasha on Red Scare from this perspective. She says outlandish things sometimes and gets criticized but shows basically no effect or change
I personally like their voices but my girlfriend is like you, she says their voices put her to sleep. And I can see how some people would find Dasha's laugh annoying, but I find it charming.
I'm listening to it now. Seems like a pretty good podcast. A little conspiratorial for my tastes, but I'm into it. I will say, after looking up the host of the show on X, I predicted at least one AG1 ad read and was not left wanting.
I didn't listen to the podcast for a while despite it having a lot of guests and topics I am interested in. Something about the host rubbed me the wrong way, but I eventually got used to him and now it's one of my favorite pods. Though I don't listen to every episode.
@Ethan - congrats! And, unrelated, this seems like Ethan bait and would be curious to know your thoughts: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/41122997/commanders-suspend-vp-comments-players-jones-goodell
lol, high school educated alcoholic mouthbreathers seems spot on to me!
The lesson I've learned as a writer is that it's extremely risky to take notes from someone who doesn't love your work. Because if they don't see an underlying goodness to what your write, they'll just take a torch to it, perhaps ridding it of some flaws, but also, inherently of the things that make it great. A fan of yours can see what's working and what's not; but someone who is just a critic makes no such distinctions, hacksawing away and not caring if anything's left behind. The danger of criticism capture is not that you go crazy; it's that by appeasing your critics, you end up losing the people who became fans of you in the first place.
The lesson of the last decade of media has been that you shouldn't feel entitled to your audience, because they can and will leave, and you shouldn't take your critics so seriously, because even if you listen to them, they may never in fact show up. (I actually think your idea of "criticism capture" was best expressed by the "undecided whale" theory you put forward about the NBA, China, and its American fanbase.) I often think back to an Esquire post from the early teens which featured "80 Books A Man Should Read Before He Dies", and the insane amount of pushback it got because 76 or so of the authors were White men. In response, the magazine has grown woker: it's now rare for them to publish their best books of the year list that isn't at least 3/4ths women, and of the men, most of them are not white. But the magazine has grown slighter, too, each month it appeares in my mailbox; its articles seem less ambitious, less bold, less often a part of the conversation. And as a result, everyone who I knew who subscribed 10 or 15 years ago at some point chose not to renew. In many ways, what's happened to the media is just an extended form of criticism capture: a wellspring of dullness and a dearth of originality caused mostly by a deep fear of being yelled at on the internet.
The real lesson of our moment, however, is that criticism capture is often just audience capture in another form: no one likes being publicly humiliated, of course, but often the only reason people engage in sadistic, fruitless and unending forms of humiliation is because there's a public cheering them on. The currency of our time is attention of course, and the twin poles of capture illustrate the two forms of demise: get audience captured and the world watches you turn into a cartoon; get criticism captured and no one watches you at all.
I would subscribe to your substack.
You should have Chris Williamson on HoS. Or go on his YouTube channel.
I think a great way to live is 10-toes down with a desire to be objective, knowledgeable, informed, open-minded, and aware one's experiences are limited. It is also my belief a commitment to core principles with regular reality checks will prevent one from becoming decidedly one-way. .
From the guests to the issues to the quantity, I legitimately love Ethan's content. HOS is objectively high-quality content - how high can be debated by others - and I attribute much of my enjoyment to stating his objectives clearly while providing continued authenticity.
I am a MN-small-town-blue-collar-college-dropout who doesn't know how to write, yet I find myself chuckling at how many thoughts and beliefs we share, despite Ethan being a highly-educated-big-city-verbose-west-coaster. ESS and the HOS is my favorite content to consume and I am excited for what is up next.
I'm actually impressed by Dasha on Red Scare from this perspective. She says outlandish things sometimes and gets criticized but shows basically no effect or change
She’s great
I want to listen to the show but I can't go over their voices/laughs. Am I the only one?
I personally like their voices but my girlfriend is like you, she says their voices put her to sleep. And I can see how some people would find Dasha's laugh annoying, but I find it charming.
Congrats, Ethan. We all know how badly you wanted this, and how tirelessly you’ve worked to make it happen. You’re the hero we need but don’t deserve.
I'm listening to it now. Seems like a pretty good podcast. A little conspiratorial for my tastes, but I'm into it. I will say, after looking up the host of the show on X, I predicted at least one AG1 ad read and was not left wanting.
I didn't listen to the podcast for a while despite it having a lot of guests and topics I am interested in. Something about the host rubbed me the wrong way, but I eventually got used to him and now it's one of my favorite pods. Though I don't listen to every episode.
✅ "fetch" off the bucket list