Experience.Computer

Jay Springett talks with first-generation digital filmmaker, artist, and The Spirited Man creator Van Neistat about aphantasia, the mind’s eye, YouTube filmmaking, and the imagination as an editing bay.Together they explore cinematic “hard cuts” in thought, visualising lost objects in physical space, text and video as raw material, setting creative boundaries with AI, and why the YouTube algorithm might ultimately be a mirror of ourselves.Also in this episode:* Typewriters, ribbon ink, and treating text as physical raw material* Why traditional cinema is Formula One, but YouTube is professional skateboarding* Van Neistat on The Spirited Man, Tom Sachs, Casey Neistat, and first generation digital filmmaking* Visualising to find lost items in physical space* Creative constraint, AI boundaries, and the “good enough” threshold* Tom Sachs’ Crusty Seal of ApprovalQUOTES“The camera is a hard drive, and the way you write on it is by showing it things.”“The algorithm is us. That’s you buddy. You have a problem with your algorithm? That’s you.”“The cinematic world either works like the real world, the perception world, to such a degree that we aren’t even conscious of how we go about perceiving things; or it just works like the dream world.”“A feature film is 70 ideas. These long form videos are 20 ideas, and figuring out how they fit together, that’s a fun part of the process.”ABOUT THE GUESTA pioneer in digital filmmaking, VAN NEISTAT made his first internet video, The Holland Tunnel, in 2000. He went on to collaborate with New York City artist Tom Sachs, directing a series of short films shown at the Guggenheim Museum in Berlin. Van has since directed dozens more films for the Tom Sachs Studio. In 2010 HBO aired The Neistat Brothers, an 8-episode series of short videos made entirely by Van and his brother Casey Neistat. For the past decade he has collaborated with masters and traveled the world as a journeyman filmmaker, conceiving and writing his latest project: THE SPIRITED MAN.LINKS* The Spirited Man on YouTube* Follow Van on Instagram* Support Van on Patreon* The Spirited Man Shop* Kevin Munger’s YouTube ApparatusSubscribe to Experience.Computer* Apple Podcasts* Spotify* Pocket CastsIf you enjoy Experience.Computer and want to support Jay’s independent research and production, consider supporting his work or picking up a copy of his zine, Start Select Reset.PERMANENTLY MOVEDPermanently Moved is an audio-only podcast about computers, their consequences, and the worlds they make possible. Written, recorded, and edited by Jay Springett since 2018, this long-running podcast explores techno-social systems, artificial intelligence, social media, world-running, fandom, and life in the shadow of the stack.ABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one’s mind. For 36 years he thought "picture this" was just a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist, producer, and cultural theorist. His professional work focuses on how worlds of all kinds are run; shaped, steered, and kept coherent over time. He has hosted the personal essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023.Jay is currently working on his first book Slop Machines of Loving Grace and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Host Jay Springett and guest Marco Giancotti explore aphantasia, SDAM, and spatial memory. They discuss writing as thinking, cognitive frameworks, and why looking at a picture of a sour plum (Umeboshi) doesn't make everyone's mouth water.Then they discuss:Aphantasia: Navigating spatial presence without a "mind's eye." • SDAM: Living without the ability to "re-live" past personal memories. • The "Swoosh": Using mental maps to trigger sudden cascades of information. • Digital Reality: Why browser windows feel as "real" as physical books. • Thinking Tools: Using "Framing" and "Virtual Physics" as cognitive rule sets. • Culture & Code: How Japan's cultural framings change the "feel" of apps like Line.A huge thank you to Marco for responding to my Bluesky DM after I spent an afternoon and evening binge-reading his fantastic blog Aether Mug. Which is definitely not about science, philosophy, philosophers, languages, Japan, or picture frames, or boxes, (though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise).QUOTES“ I tried but no image no picture appeared in my mind.”“My perception of what I feel that is happening, is that there’s a separation between this the actual sensory information, and how you accept it and how you internalise it ”*During COVID, I was flying and I went to Italy and then flew back to Japan. We had to take a test to see if we were infected, and basically, we had to spit in a little vial. There was this little cabin or space where you could spend a few minutes producing your saliva. In each of these little cubicles, they put a picture of Umeboshi. Which is a kind of dried peach—extremely sour. For most people, just looking at it is enough for them to produce a lot of saliva, so it makes it easy for them to spit into the vial. For me, it didn’t do anything at all.”“I have this definition of framings as the things that you take to exist in a certain thought. Because you cannot think about the whole world and everything that you know about the world at any given moment, you have to focus on a few things depending on what you're trying to do.”ABOUT THE GUESTMarco Giancotti is a thinking-tool artisan, writer, and engineer.He is the author of Plankton Valhalla, a collection of deep essays about the Universe, and Aether Mug, his blog about cognition, science, culture, philosophy, and other mysterious things like that. He lives in Japan and has aphantasia, just like Jay.IN YOUR MINDHas this interview sparked any thoughts or questions about your own mind’s eye, creative process, or inner experience? I’d love to hear your insights! Share your reflections in the comments below or on social media!If you have ideas for guests you would like to hear from in the next season, add your suggestions in the comments; or share this episode and tag them in Substack Notes.Your recommendations will help guide the conversations that follow.LINKS* Aether Mug* Plankton Valhalla* Follow Marco on BskySubscribe to Experience.Computer* Apple Podcasts* Spotify* PocketcastsPermanently Moved - Episode #302 - Monsters In The MirrorWhat are large language models really? On AI, Language, and the new entities that wear language as their skin.* Monsters In The MirrorABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one’s mind. For 36 years he thought ‘picture this’ was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist, producer, and cultural theorist. His professional work focuses on how worlds of all kinds are run; shaped, steered, and kept coherent over time. He has hosted the personal essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023.Jay is currently working on his first book ‘Slop Machines of Loving Grace‘ and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Jay Springett leads internet culture reporter and ethnographer Katherine Dee through a series of imaginative exercises.Then they discuss:* Early Internet experiences* The weight of words in software programs* The feeling of being inside/outside online communities*  The need for experiencing silence and boredomBig thanks to Katherine for coming on the show! She actually came down with something right after we finished recording.Experience.Computer is a slow-radio programme exploring aphantasia, creativity, and the imagination.QUOTES“I’ve given so much of myself to the internet. I tasted the fairy food, and I am returning to a mortal world that is different than the one I left.”“When I hit publish, it feels separate from me. It feels like it’s not mine anymore.”*“I’ve always been a big proponent of the internet as a place. Especially in the early days, there was a sense that you were going somewhere.”“Silence is so valuable. Just a few moments a day where you’re not scrolling TikTok or looking at your phone changes how you think.”ABOUT THE GUESTKATHERINE DEE (also known by her pen name; Default Friend) is a internet culture reporter and ethnographer. You can find her work on Substack at Default.Blog.IN YOUR MINDHas this interview sparked any thoughts or questions about your own mind's eye, creative process, or inner experience? I'd love to hear your insights! Share your reflections in the comments below or on social media!If you have ideas for guests you would like to hear from in the next season, add your suggestions in the comments; or share this episode and tag them in Substack Notes.Your recommendations will help guide the conversations that follow.LINKS* Default.Blog* Follow Kathrine on X* Follow Kathrine on BskySubscribe to Experience.Computer* Apple Podcasts* Spotify* PocketcastsABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. For 36 years he thought 'picture this' was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist and writer. His work focuses on the design, administration and flourishing of worlds of all kinds He has hosted the personal essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023.Jay is currently working on his first book ‘The Web Was a Side Quest‘ and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Experience.Computer is a slow-radio programme exploring aphantasia, creativity, and the imagination.After an unplanned pause, Experience.Computer will back in production for Season 3! If you have ideas for guests you would like to hear from in the next season, add your suggestions in the comments; or share this episode and tag them in Substack Notes. Your recommendations will help guide the conversations that follow.IN THIS INTERVIEWJay Springett leads cookbook writer and community-oriented caterer Jenn de la Vega through a series of imaginative exercises. Then they discuss:* Imagining the audience of a cookbook cooking* Scaling recipes for large events* Impact of organisation of the space of kitchen on the process of cooking* Traditional versus intuitive cooking methods* Social media's influence on food media and marketingQUOTES"I think creating food is like a song. Songs also need balance. They have melody, rhythm, tempo, and timbre.""I'm interested in how you approach scaling up dishes. The math doesn't always add up.""I have a rolling chopping block cart... I can wheel it anywhere!""I think we need a break. I think we all need a vacation from our devices."ABOUT THE GUESTJENN DE LA VEGA is a community-oriented caterer and cookbook writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Jenn has built a unique culinary practice mashing up experiential with visual art and food through residencies at TASTE Cooking, Babycastles Gallery, and Kickstarter. Her kaleidoscopic recipes appear on Food52, The Kitchn, Yummly, and Wine Enthusiast. You'll find a mash-up of her Filipinx heritage, tapas, artisanal cheese, and 90's inspired fast-food cuisine on her menus. She is most known for her Randwiches or "random sandwiches" and founding the gourmet hot dog program at Wonderville, an indie game art-cade bar in Bushwick.IN YOUR MINDHas this interview sparked any thoughts or questions about your own mind's eye, creative process, or inner experience? I'd love to hear your insights! Share your reflections in the comments below or on social media!LINKS* Jenn’s Website* Follow Jenn on Instagram* Jenn’s CookbooksSubscribe to Experience.Computer* Apple Podcasts* Spotify* PocketcastsABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. For 36 years he thought 'picture this' was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist and writer. His work focuses on the design, administration and flourishing of worlds of all kinds He has hosted the personal essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023. Jay is currently working on his first book ‘The Web Was a Side Quest‘ and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Jay Springett leads writer, producer, and sound designer Mike Rugnetta through a series of imaginative exercises.Then they discuss:* The nature of imagined versus physical experiences* Carmen San Diego’s role In sparking a love for portable technology* Nostalgia and memory* Smart phones and ‘machine touch’* where the audience is when making work for the internet?* Mike’s relationship with the Yamaha FB-O1 four operator FM synthesiser.QUOTES"You just have to get used to what done enough feels like."“It's like everybody is looking at the horse that just walked into the bar, and they're all talking amongst themselves. Being like, what's the deal with this horse?"“I often feel like I am fighting with my phone to get it to do what I want it to do.”"I could have gotten a similar result and not spent hundreds and hundreds of hours learning a really particular implementation of a really particular thing."ABOUT THE GUESTMIKE RUGNETTA is Brookyn-based writer, producer, and sound designer. He is the co-creator and host of Never Post, a podcast about the internet – as well as the co-creator, co-DM and sound designer of the actual play tabletop roleplaying podcast Fun City. Previously he was the writer, researcher and host of the multiple-award winning PBS Digital series Idea Channel, and the host of Crash Courses Theater and Dramaturgy and World Mythology. His production clients have included Atlas Obscura, Adobe, Duolingo, Future of Storytelling, IBM, Longreads and more.IN YOUR MINDHas this interview sparked any thoughts or questions about your own mind's eye, creative process, or inner experience? I'd love to hear your insights! Share your reflections in the comments below or on social media!LINKS* Mike’s Website* Never Post Podcast* Fun City Podcast* Yamaha FB-O1 Documentation* Mike’s NewsletterSubscribe to Experience.Computer* Apple Podcasts* Spotify* PocketcastsABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. For 36 years he thought 'picture this' was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist and writer. His work focuses on the design, administration and flourishing of worlds of all kinds He has hosted the 301 second long essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023. Jay is currently working on his first book ‘The Web Was a Side Quest‘ and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Jay Springett leads award-winning narrative designer, and writer Meghna Jayanth through a series of imaginative exercises.Then they discuss:* Imagination in narrative design* Agency and identity in video games* Digital spaces and online communities* Online harassment and its effects* Balancing plot and player freedomQUOTES“Games are a medium of agency.”"I stop playing at essentially the moment I’m about to be nuked by the other civilisation.""I think the screen does have a constant pull towards it, you have to resist.""A huge part of game narrative is defining and describing agency and imagining yourself inside the ego of the player."ABOUT THE GUESTMEGHNA JAYANTH is an award-winning narrative designer, writer and speaker. Her work is focused on subverting the capitalist-colonialist fantasies, pleasures and designs that dominate the imaginaries of video games, and rethinking protagonism. Her work includes Thirsty Suitors, 80 Days, Sable, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Boyfriend Dungeon, This War of Mine and Sunless Sea. She is currently working on All Rise, an inappropriately joyous game about climate crisis and corporate criminals.IN YOUR MINDHas this interview sparked any thoughts or questions about your own mind's eye, creative process, or inner experience? I'd love to hear your insights! Share your reflections in the comments below or on social media!LINKS* Meghna’s Website* Follow Meghna on Twitter* Thirsty Suitors* 80 Days* Boyfriend Dungeon* Read more about Meghna on WikipediaSubscribe to Experience.Computer* Apple Podcasts* Spotify* PocketcastsABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. For 36 years he thought 'picture this' was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist and writer. His work focuses on the design, administration and flourishing of worlds of all kinds He has hosted the 301 second long essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023. Jay is currently working on his first book ‘The Web Was a Side Quest‘ and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Jay Springett leads multimedia artist, musician, and author Kris Saknussemm through a series of imaginative exercises. Then they discuss:* Memory and cognition* Discernment and intuition* Being around mainframe computers in the late 70’s* The transition from typewriters to computers* OscillationQUOTES“Everything wants to be remembered. Everything wants to be found.”“It's feeling for an edge, it's making radically rapid calculations of values and geometries”“If you think about rhetoric, the science of the open hand, and dialectic, the science of the closed fist, there is something surgical and geometric about the nature of discernment.”"I was a typewriting pounder. Yeah. I really, I savoured the mechanics of it."ABOUT THE GUESTKRIS SAKNUSSEMM is a multimedia artist, musician, and the author of a range of books including his latest work A Guide to Creative Writing and the Imagination published by Routledge Press. He also co-hosts the podcast Lost Xplorers with J. David Osborne.He received a B.A. with Distinction from Dartmouth, double majoring in English and Native American Studies and holds an M.A. from the University of Washington where he was the Robertson Fellow. His first novel Zanesville was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award and became a cult favourite in translation in Russia and Poland. His novel Private Midnight achieved bestseller status in France and Italy. His work The Memory Wound won First Prize in the Missouri Review Audio Play competition, and the film of his published play The Humble Assessment (which was the featured work at the Las Vegas Fringe Festival and has also been staged in Australia and Sweden) has been screened at 19 international festivals. He has been a Fellow at the MacDowell and the Black Mountain Institute, Distinguished Artist in Residence at Seattle University, Visiting Master Artist at Salem State University and California State University Dominguez Hills, and a Mellon Scholar in Residence at Rhodes University in South Africa.After living half his life outside America, he lives now in Boulder City, Nevada and is currently an Adjunct Professor at UNLV.IN YOUR MINDHas this interview sparked any thoughts or questions about your own mind's eye, creative process, or inner experience? I'd love to hear your insights! Share your reflections in the comments below or on social media!LINKS* Kris on Bandcamp* Kris on Hearnow* Kris’s books on Amazon.com* Listen to Lost Xplorers on Spotify* Read more about Kris on WikipediaSubscribe to Experience.Computer* Apple Podcasts* Spotify* PocketcastsABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. For 36 years he thought 'picture this' was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist and writer. His work focuses on the design, administration and flourishing of worlds of all kinds He has hosted the 301 second long essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023. Jay is currently working on his first book ‘The Web Was a Side Quest‘ and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Welcome back to Experience.Computer! I’m your host, Jay Springett, and I’m thrilled to announce the imminent launch of Season 2. Experience.Computer is a slow radio journey into high tech, where we explore perception, experience, and expression.In 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. For 36 years he thought 'picture this' was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. Exploring perception, experience and expression. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Jay Springett leads director and animator Kirsten Lepore through a series of imaginative exercises. Then they discuss:* The process of creating animation * The physicality of stop motion animation* The role of the director* The concepts of time and energy in film editing and more.Experience.Computer is a slow radio show about high tech. Exploring aphantasia, creativity, and the imagination.QUOTES“Once it's done, I'm like, I can't look at it. Like, I need time. You know? Like, I need to be detached from this.”“My mind had a blueprint and I just followed it. I would sketch it out, get what I'm imagining right, and then stick to it. Then it's just about following that blueprint that's in my mind from the get-go.”“I enjoy animation maybe 10 to 15% of the time when I'm doing it. I like to dance sometimes when I'm animating and get into a really amazing state of flow.”ABOUT THE GUESTKirsten Lepore is an LA-based director and animator, and alumna of CalArts. She was the Animation Director on the A24 feature, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe, and won 3 Annie Awards, a Critics Choice Award, National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Animated Picture. She recently wrote and directed the Marvel Studios "I Am Groot" series streaming on Disney+. Previously, Kirsten's viral short “Hi Stranger” garnered upwards of 200 million views online, and her stop-motion episode of Adventure Time won a 2016 Emmy & Annie award.IN YOUR MINDHas this interview sparked any thoughts or questions about your own mind's eye, creative process, or inner experience? I'd love to hear your insights! Share your reflections in the comments below or on social media!LINKS* Kirsten’s Website* Kirsten on IMDB* Marcel the Shell with Shoes On - A24* Read more about Kirsten on Wikipedia:Subscribe to Experience.Computer* Apple Podcasts* Spotify* PocketcastsABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. For 36 years he thought 'picture this' was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist and writer. His work focuses on the design, administration and flourishing of worlds of all kinds He has hosted the 301 second long essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023. Jay is currently working on his first book ‘The Web Was a Side Quest‘ and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer

Jay Springett leads writer and social thinker Dougald Hine through a series of imaginative exercises.Then they discuss:* How the internet came in like a tide* The importance of attention and presence* The significance of writing by hand and its impact on self-expression and communication* The power of conversation and its ability to shape and influence ideas and moreExperience.Computer is a slow radio show about high tech. Exploring aphantasia, creativity, and the imagination.QUOTES“And then you said symbolism and suddenly my attention was completely pivoted away from that towards something more abstract”“So there are two ways of using language. We can use it to word the world, which is to attempt to create a sort of descriptive layer above the world that tells us how things really are, or we can use words to world, the world, which is treating language as something that's part of, and acts within the world.”“There's a danger of the written word because it can't explain itself, because it is context less.”ABOUT THE GUESTDougald Hine is a social thinker, writer and speaker. After an early career as a BBC journalist, he co-founded organisations including the Dark Mountain Project and a school called HOME. He has collaborated with scientists, artists and activists, serving as a leader of artistic development at Riksteatern (Sweden’s national theatre) and as an associate of the Centre for Environment and Development Studies at Uppsala University. His latest book is At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics & All the Other Emergencies (2023). He co-hosts The Great Humbling podcast and publishes a Substack called Writing Home.IN YOUR MINDHas this interview sparked any thoughts or questions about your own mind's eye, creative process, or inner experience? I'd love to hear your insights! Share your reflections in the comments below or on social media!LINKS* Dougald On Substack* Dougald’s Website* Buy At Work in the Ruin* The Great Humbling Podcast* A School Called Home* Read more about Dougald on WikipediaABOUT THE SHOWIn 2022 writer and host Jay Springett discovered he had aphantasia - the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind. For 36 years he thought 'picture this' was a metaphor.Experience.Computer is slow radio about high tech. An interview show exploring perception, experience and expression. The show examines how people perceive the world, and how they work with the creative tools they use to make their work with.ABOUT THE HOSTJay Springett is a strategist and writer. His work focuses on the design, administration and flourishing of worlds of all kinds He has hosted the 301 second long essay podcast Permanently Moved since 2018, and Experience.Computer since 2023. Jay is currently working on his first book ‘The Web Was a Side Quest‘ and writes online at thejaymo.net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit experience.computer