The Monday Media Diet with Jasmine Bina
On neural networks, Now and Then, and Palos Verdes
Jasmine Bina (JB) is a friend of WITI and a very astute thinker on brands. We’re happy to have her with us this morning. -Colin (CJN)
Tell us about yourself.
I’m the founder of brand strategy agency Concept Bureau and host of the Unseen Unknown podcast. I also publish a brand strategy newsletter called Concept Bureau Insights. All of my work and publishing is based on understanding why the world works the way it works, and applying that to brand strategy.
The biggest thing on my mind right now is cultivating optimism for myself and the people around me because I think that is the ultimate advantage in work and life.
I’m coming at it from different angles. We just started a 4 day work week at our company (highly recommend it, I’m already seeing the benefits in the business), keep a ‘good things’ journal (a guru once told me to “disrespect reality” and only keep score of the good things that happen), force myself to think of a best case scenario every time my mind wanders toward the worst case, and indulging in hobbies that I’ve historically ignored because I felt they weren’t “productive” (which is a really pessimistic way of looking at things that bring you joy, but also something I’ve found to be pretty common among founders.)
I happen to be married to an indefatigable optimist who is also my partner at the agency, so that helps a lot (when it’s not annoying me, lol). We have twin boys and a baby girl, and we do a lot of hiking and camping.
Describe your media diet.
I read a lot of articles and newsletters on a typical day, and I’m lucky that I have a very smart, tapped-in team that keeps our slack channel strong. Here are some gems they’ve shared recently.
Want to Stare Into the Republican Soul in 2023? (Slate) - Ignore the title. This is actually an incredible ethnographic look into the car dealership industry.
‘Doing the Work’ and the Obsession With Superficial Self-Improvement (New York Times)
Hot Streaks in Your Career Don’t Happen by Accident (The Atlantic)
I also have a great slate of podcasts that I cycle through at the gym. Admittedly, it makes my workouts a little less effective, but that’s ok.
All of these podcasts will help you understand culture better, but from different angles.
Now and Then: Patterns throughout American history that explain the present, like why Americans love/ hate banks, why we’re obsessed with aliens, and how board games have conditioned our morality.
Articles of Interest: God bless everyone who works on this show because it is an incredible unraveling of culture wrapped in storytelling, all through the lens of what we wear.
Philosophize This!: A really smart guy summing up the entirety of a philosopher’s body of work in each episode. It's very digestible. I leave the gym feeling very smart. You will, too.
Bodies: Captivating discussions about our bodies. There is so much mystery in the human body, and so much culture and emotion wrapped up in it as well. This show unpacks all of it. The last couple of episodes I listened to made me teary.
Ologies: A look at all of the “ologies” or studies of things, in conversation with the scientists and researchers who are obsessed with them. The conversations and stories get extremely interesting and you get a peek into parts of life you wouldn’t otherwise have.
Hidden Brain: My favorite. You probably know this one.
All-In: Not a study of culture, but an important counterbalance to the rest.
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What’s the last great book you read?
May I impress you with three?
Imaginable by Jane McGonigal - This is a guide to training your brain to predict the future. Need I say more? It’s filled with imagination exercises and I kept reading it waiting for the skills part to start, but then I realized that exercising your imagination *is* the skill. I’ve bought this for a lot of friends.
Cultish by Amanda Montell - I read this book before interviewing Amanda for our podcast and although it was a great study in the history of cults, it was also a really eye-opening look at the human tendencies that make cults possible.
Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff & Mark Johnson - Tbh I read this many years ago and it shaped my strategy thinking so significantly that I still return to it regularly, including when I re-read it last month.
What are you reading now?
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair - Every chapter is the history of a different color. You quickly see how dyes, paintings and color symbols have shaped the history of the world. It’s a fun, quick and enriching read. Just another way of understanding humanity.
What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?
I read the introduction. There is a lot of valuable context in the introduction, so when I’m reading the book I don’t have to worry about understanding it, I can just focus on internalizing the concepts.
My other strategy is to keep buying books to add to my unread pile until I transcend all shame and guilt.
Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?
I think Tara Isabella Burton’s writing is fantastic and she has a new book called Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians coming out that I’m eager to read.
What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone?
Dex. We have small dinner parties in our home on many Friday nights. Having face-to-face conversations with people we like and love is the best way to balance the very real demands of work and parenting (and keep me optimistic!) I use Dex as my personal and professional CRM so I can make sure we see everyone at least once a year. Dex tracks them online, but it’s also a great place to park ideas for gifts and special gestures I want to do to make people know that they’re special to me.
Plane or train?
Train, but that’s only happened a couple times in my life.
What is one place everyone should visit?
The Vicente Bluffs Reserve trail in Palos Verdes. If you go early in the morning, you’ll see low-flying pelicans that make you feel like you’re in Jurassic Park. If you go in the afternoon during the right time of year, you’ll see whales with their babies.
Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.
The honest, not-cool answer is I randomly saw a video of a 1950s TV program which was essentially propaganda on social norms, and somehow that led me to spending weeks in a YouTube link hole watching all kinds of social propaganda TV shows from that time period. They’d cover topics like roles in the family, being a good mother, being a good sportsman, being someone other people likes… and then somehow that led me to watching many, many present-day videos of middle-America women baking casseroles, dump cakes and church food. I could not stop watching those cooking videos and I don’t know why.
But if I had to intellectualize it, I’d say it was all part of the visual mythology of the nuclear family, which is perhaps one of the most important mythologies of America… and if that topic interests you like it interests me, you must read this David Brooks article.
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Thanks for reading,
Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Jasmine (JB)
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So many podcasts I wanna check out!