Ted Gioia thinks our culture is stagnant. Algorithms have us addicted to distraction, Hollywood's out of creative ideas, and people don't read hard books like they used to. 16 lessons about writing and breaking free from dopamine culture: 1. Ted's golden rule for writing: "Always be honest." 2. Three questions to ask yourself when critiquing something: Is it fair? Is it accurate? Will this be persuasive to all fair-minded observers? 3. Struggling as a non-fiction writer? Become an expert in something first. 4. Read slowly. 5. Success won't always come quickly. Ted's career is just now taking off — 50 years after he started writing for publication. 6. People will judge you on your outputs, but you should focus on your inputs. For Ted, that means reading mind-expanding books and listening to music. He does both for 2 hours per day. Then, he writes. 7. What kind of books should you read? Ted says: "Read for mind-expansion, not entertainment, and seek out challenging books." 8. Wondering which book to read? Think of books like drugs and pick up the one that'll give you the greatest out-of-body experience. 9. Do you struggle with writer's block? Do this: (1) buy a blank journal that only you will see, (2) write about something that happened at the end of every day — but there's one rule... you have to be 100% honest, (3) do this every day for a month, and (4) sit back and read what you've written at the end of the month. You'll be surprised by how much good stuff you have. 10. Your high school English teacher was right about this one... write in the margins of your books. 11. After you finish a book, summarize it in your own words. Helps with retention. Think summaries are too time-consuming? If just spent 10 hours reading the book, devoting another hour to synthesizing it is a relatively good time investment. 10-to-1 ratio. 12. Why is our culture stagnant? Consumer brands are increasingly old standbys. Look at video games. Minecraft (launched in 2011), Call of Duty (2003), Grand Theft Auto (1997), Madden NFL (1988), and Super Mario Bros (1985). 13. How about another example? The comic book market driven by the same brand franchises that were dominant in the 60s and 70s. All of the top 20 bestsellers are from Marvel or DC Comics, which were founded in the 1930s. 14. Want a third? Hollywood sequels. They're everywhere now. Top Gun, Spider-Man, John Wick, Mission: Impossible. 15. Music is like cloud storage for societies. That's why the historians in traditional communities were usually singers. Music preserves culture and folklore. 16. Consume old stuff when you're young and new stuff when you're old. This is the opposite of what most people do. Ted is the most well-read person I've met in years. You name it. He's read the book or listened to the album. This guy knows the Western canon. I've linked to the full interview with @tedgioia below. If you prefer to consume the interview on another platform, you'll find the Apple, Spotify, and YouTube links in the reply tweets.