Severin Matusek

I describe us not as a media company, but as a culture-forward media company, meaning that we view culture as the most important thing that’s feeding the planet.

And in politics, this type of speculation has become the closest thing to agency for people who feel like they are no longer served by the economy. People speculate on ideas, personalities, etc. Why wouldn’t they? But when this happens, you end up with a system optimized for speed and virality rather than stability or accuracy.

In 2024, an online experiment with 36 ChatGPT users found that use of AI can expand how many creative ideas an individual user has, but at a group level, “users tended to produce less semantically distinct ideas”. That same year, another study reached similar results; this time it was a group of short-story writers who each managed to independently... See more

Is it the writer’s role to be strategic or truthful?

brands like Rare Beauty and Poppi reward subscribers with early launches and discounts, while using their communities to gauge new ideas, get feedback and build loyalty. Loyalty driven by sincere participation compounds, creating brand evangelists whose influence can’t be bought.

The artists take a pragmatic stance—what Herndon calls the “sexy middle ground”—in debates around A.I. and tech. “We’ve been doing this forever,” her husband adds. “And then the culture war emerged on either side of us.” The pair don’t evangelize for godlike silicon intelligence, nor will they be smashing the machines. They also believe that... See more