Alex Ebert is a Golden Globe-winning singer-songwriter and composer. He is best known for being the lead singer and songwriter for the bands Ima Robot and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. He is also a philosopher, exploring ideas around death, self-hood, creativity, media, status anxiety and coolness.
Topics include:
Alex’s creative process (i.e. meeting the daemon)
Why memes have made everyone into philosophers
That time when Alex got too meta for Bono and Robert Redford
The perils of success and how it tempts you to be formulaic
Status anxiety and the philosophy of cool
Why “selling out” stopped being a thing around the year 2000
Death initiations and managing death anxiety
Why you need a gang with a shared mission
Why society is perfectly primed for virtue to become cool
How wokeness acts as a shield for capitalism
The benefits of having a stoic conversation partner
Alex’s anxiety-inducing ritual before going on stage
Resources:
#5 - Alex Ebert | Death Rituals, Status Anxiety and Being Cool