chadkoh

"Find the others"

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:19:20 -0700

Last month I shared the new-to-me Lost Prophets podcast. I’ve made it halfway through the back catalogue to the episode titled “A Pause to Reflect” which if you aren’t convinced yet could be a great starting point. It encapsulates the concept of the show and also drops some excellent lessons they have learned along the way.

Basically, the show examines thinkers from the mid-20th century who grappled with the second order problems of modernity: technocracy, hyper-individualism, and more. These themes echo through the generations, from the Counter Culture to Reactionary Modernism to Techno-Utopianism to Techlash down to our present age of Enshittification. As they say in the show:

if you want something new, read something old

Excellent advice. I already mentioned the Ivan Illich ep in my previous post, but the eps about Gary Snyder and Jane Jacobs are some of my faves so far. If the big names can’t convince you, just take a listen to this “pause to reflect” episode, which delivers idea after idea. Including:

… are we in search of kind of a new version? Maybe it’s a secular version of a liberation theology, sort of an open source liberation theology here … spirituality is the source of theology, not the other way around, and that the spirituality we’re really looking for and that used to be the standard form is communal, not individual. … some sort of a communal spirituality would be a wonderful thing to recover

[emphasis mine]

Their reference to Timothy Leary’s phrase “Find the Others” had me thinking about my own search for community and finding things like DWebYVR and Z-Space and various online communities I am part of. Goodbot (where I serve on the board) is another example. Anyone that has attended ATmosphereConf knows the energy I am talking about. There are lots of people out there trying to make things just a little bit better, and connecting with them is a source of hope and energy.

That is the praxis. But Lost Prophets is part of the theory: a deep, interdisciplinary discussion of the kinds of ideas that communities are built on. Saying the show is ”just theory” is not fair, since they do an excellent job covering the lives of the “prophets” and what they did. Host Elias Crim says “I feel I kind of understand the concept of sainthood a little better” and host Pete Davis replies “in your own moral development, abstract virtues are not very inspiring. No. Be cool like Dorothy Day is very inspiring.” This podcast project is full of worthy examples. Full of “Others.”

Have a listen and get some inspiration. But don’t settle for mere consumption and a parasocial relationship with the hosts. Get your “Others” to listen and then discuss it with them. Discuss it with me!

👉 https://www.lostprophets.org/

(and yes, I know it’s Substack, the “Robert Moses highway” of the open web, but we all can’t be Buddhas. If curious to learn more: leavesubstack.com)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 19:27:14 -0700

Back home in Surrey after a few days in the Okanagan. Sad to say bye to friends and family, but glad to be breathing clean air again. Here was driving by Merritt. You couldn’t even see the town at all. 😵‍💫 AQI there is currently 366. Kelowna is about 200-250 😷

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:33:26 -0700

Pretty smoky in Kelowna today for Day 1 of our summer holiday. Here is a comparison of the view with a shot from the past

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:06:53 -0700

Made it to the Smokanagan. Here is crossing over the bridge with downtown on the left. Happy summer holidays! ⛱️👙😎🔥

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 19:24:02 -0700

About to be Spider-Man: Brand New Day 3D’d with Daughter 2 🕷️

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 20:21:05 -0700

Powell Street Festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary. We spent the afternoon there, saw some friends, ate some food, listened to some drumming, and painted some fish (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gyotaku-japanese-fish-printing)

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 02:53:50 -0700

Yeah it’s 3am but I been going down a Northeast India rap hole. Kim bring the pen game and Reble is a revelation! 💎

youtu.be/u6KDqfCco…

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 17:11:20 -0700

This looks cool → digshibuya.com Shibuya opens its streets as an urban laboratory… issues a global open call to artists and innovators. Applications in En open to 31 Aug. Last years' fest had 470,000 people! #Japan #art #tech (h/t @z-space.ca)

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:18:20 -0700

Mother and daughter worked together this morning 👩🏻👧🏻 to make snacks for daughter’s school potluck today. Looking forward to pics of all the other food! 🥘 🍱🍲

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:27:49 -0700

Is there no good biography of Sundar Pichai out there? 🧐

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 21:58:45 -0700

Today on my walk under the wild green trees and amber setting sun I started listening to The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman 📚

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:56:27 -0700

“effective extractivism” 🔥🔥🔥

Why this philosopher turned down Anthropic: The AI industry is courting the humanities — but it is asking the wrong questions

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 08:25:42 -0700

Woke up to the earthquake news in Kumamoto. I remember the last big one that hit the mainland in Kumamoto. 😬

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 23:29:06 -0700

Started CIRCE by Madeline Miller 📚

#AmReading

Anglo-Saxon maxxing

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 18:29:57 -0700

Ever since visiting the British Museum in February I have been on an Anglo-Saxon history kick: reading books, watching videos, listening to podcasts… That was certainly not on my “Reading Goals for 2026” list, but it kind of took over my media diet for the first half of the year. Early British history is not something I have ever studied before; I am an Asian Studies scholar since Grade 10, and prior to that we only learned about Britain in the formation of the Canada. But something about walking the halls of the British Museum Early Britain section captured me, and I became enthralled with the era after the Romans left and before the Normans came, otherwise known as the Anglo-Saxon period.

I knew next to nothing about the period prior to this recent reading, partly because I think in North America showing interest in (scare quotes) ✌️the Anglo-Saxons✌️ as a white man… has some problematic associations. But I am very glad I got over it since it is truly fascinating and now I have a new understanding of Britain and Europe.

I thought I would take a moment just to record what I have been reading and watching, both as a sort of marker of my progress, but also to solicit recommendations.

Books

A History of Britain: Volume 1 by Simon Schama

Very narrative flow, very easy to listen to… but hopefully you already have some grounding because he just breezes through the topics. This is like an attempt at making all the history you learned at school fun and interesting and engaging.

The Anglo-Saxon World by Nicholas J. Higham and Martin J. Ryan

This one is a bit of a hard read. Each chapter is basically an academic paper that sums up the latest research in a specific field of inquiry. Tons and tons of information, but I listened as an audiobook expecting something narrative like the Schama book, which it is not. Read it in text.

A Short History of London by Simon Jenkins

This was a great little intro to the city, and helped me fill in some flavour. Not much specific about Anglo-Saxon times, but thought I should mention it.

The Anglo-Saxon chronicles by translated and collated by Anne Savage

I admit I did not read this cover-to-cover. I flipped through the actual chronicle sections looking for specific references, and read the interstitial material. Something I will definitely go back to again. Amazing work.

Some Fiction

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

This was a weird and interesting book depicting the interaction between the indigenous Brythonic peoples and the Anglo-Saxons who lived side-by-side for years. The book itself is actually about identity, cultural memory, and Brexit.

Hild by Nicola Griffith

Oh my god this was a brilliant book that hit me at just the right time. I am glad I did a lot of Anglo-Saxon reading beforehand. Nicola Griffith did a ton of research and it shows. Really beautiful writing and so much detail about the daily life of people in the 7th century. I ordered the sequel as soon as I got to chapter 3.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

Currently listening to this one…

The Rest is History Podcast

While traveling in London a mutual on Mastodon recommended I listen to The Rest is History podcast if I wanted to learn more. Wow! That sent me down a deep dive and I have now listened to dozens and dozens of episodes. What a great show. They have some Anglo-Saxon specific eps, but I also learned a lot about specific people, saints, and events. Very entertaining stuff. They have a whole curated collection of episodes on the history of Britain here →

YouTube Videos

There is so much out there but here are some highlights:

The Full History of the Anglo-Saxons | Documentary by Fire of Learning
Why Has England Forgotten Its Anglo Saxon History? by Past and Curious which has a lot on the Anglo-Saxon era specifically
The British Museum’s Curators Corner features some excellent vids on things like The Sutton Hoo Helmet and Anglo-Saxon swords

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 15:10:55 -0700

Been consuming The Odyssey meta all day: podcasts, interviews, behind the scenes, Emily Wilson’s reaction to the film. It is a very impressive feature, and totally worth watching on a big screen if you can. I have decided to move Circe by Madeline Miller up to my next book read!

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 23:32:24 -0700

I’ve been IMAX 70mm’d!

Wow… gonna have to sit with this achievement for a bit. It was a real… journey… or as one might say, an Odyssey

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:07:19 -0700

About to be Odysseyed! 🐴

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:52:34 -0700

There is a LOT of great material in here (read the extensive refs in the shownotes!) but I want to highlight an important piece of WISDOM from Erin:

“refusing contempt in favour of inquiry”

That’s a bar 🔥

Listen to the ep: atproto.com/off-proto…

For the latest Off Protocol conversation, @jimray.bsky.team had a delightfully wide-ranging talk with @kissane.myatproto.social about so many things and ultimately a desire to make better mistakes

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 22:22:26 -0700

After the Goodbot.ca summer BBQ took a selfie with the big World Cup Ball before they take it down. Lovely hot evening in Vancouver tonight.

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:53:27 -0700

On the weekend I drove to my hometown deep in the Rockies for a 30 years grad reunion. It has been 10 years since I have been back. Realized how I took these stupendous mountains for granted.

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 10:36:30 -0700

I’m in my hometown in the Rockies for the first time in 10 years. We had our 30th High School Reunion. So good to catch up with old friends.

Magnifica Humanitas Breakdown

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:49:26 -0700

Decided to do something a little different than a straight review of the Pope’s Encyclical on AI, the Magnifica Humanitas and thought it might be fun just to talk about it as if we were sitting down in a book club. In this sort of solo-podcast I break down each of the chapters with some highlights to give you a sense of what the document contains, offer a few criticisms, and let you know some of the value I got out of it, and why you might want to read it too.

Lost Prophets Podcast

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:54:16 -0700

Recently Nathan Schneider introduced me to the Lost Prophets podcast (yes, Substack, I know… 🤦‍♂️) a show he will be on soon to talk about the Magnificas Humanitas. Scrolling through past episodes I was immediately intrigued: Jane Jacobs… Thich Nhat Hanh… bell hooks…? What is this show!?

I decided to taste test with Ep 4 on Ivan Illich. If you are at all up on your critical tech theory you will know all about Tools for Conviviality. But Lost Prophets goes deep on Illich, bringing on one of his biographers David Cayley (who passed away just last month!) for a fascinating discussion about Illich’s life and his astonishing array of analyses of modernity. What an episode!

Then, for a chaser, they brought on the excellent L.M. Sacasas for a follow-on discussion about Illich, mixing in Ellul, Postman, Noble, and others. Wow!

I just had to recommend it to anyone that wants to think more deeply about technology and society. I smashed the subscribe button, am going through the backlog, and am looking forward to Nathan’s upcoming appearance.

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 16:50:53 -0700

森林浴　Forest Bathing

This is in Redwood Park, near the Fairie Forest in South Surrey, just a few blocks from the US border.