Think of Perscient storyboards as a way to track narratives in real-time so you can see reality before the story catches up.
For example, here are five insights on the housing market from Matt Zeigler’s interview with Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, that come alive with new meaning through the narrative-tracking power of Perscient storyboards.
Recent major media stories that feel to us like they’re part of a larger narrative campaign.
We seem obsessed with false binary choices. What do I mean – choices that aren’t really choices. Sort of like when your mom says do you want orange juice or apple juice? I don’t want juice. I want Soda. But that is not on the menu.
Do you want Brainard or Powell? Seems right in the zip code here. Like does this choice really matter? I don’t think so and the fact that markets are moving on these small binary choices that are meaningless seems like its becoming part of the weaponized narrative arsenal.
Take a look at what I mean.
And btw, we’ve talked about this before.
— Harper Hunt | November 23, 2021|
Recent major media stories that feel to us like they’re part of a larger narrative campaign.
President Biden has announced that he’s thinking about a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. What does this mean? Not much.
This boycott would be in protest of the Chinese treatment of Uyghurs and the crackdown of freedoms in Hong Kong. It’s been proposed by international advocacy groups and some members of Congress. Biden saying that he’s seriously considering it is the first major attention the movement has received. Though he’s committing about as much as a contestant on the Bachelorette who could “see himself one day having feelings for you”.
A diplomatic boycott would prohibit an official US delegation from attending the games. Usually some diplomatic figures like the first lady and second gentleman are present at the games and symbolically lead the American contingent into the games. But the athletes would still be able to compete.
Let’s be honest, no one cares about the diplomats at the Olympics. It’s all about the athletes. And the US would still send a massive team to the Olympics. There would still be constant coverage of the games and China would still make money off the tourism and streaming rights. Only change is that we won’t have an article talking about Jill Biden’s fashion choice at the opening ceremony.
I’ve talked before about how the Olympics in general are a complete mess. You can check out our Cursed Knowledge podcast on the topic if you want more information. The TL;DR is that the Olympics put an incredible strain on the most vulnerable citizens in the host country. I’m all for boycotting the Olympics. But you can’t half-ass it. Just removing the diplomatic presence is a copout that achieves nothing and helps no one.
— Harper Hunt | November 19, 2021|
The cure for the cancer of gun culture and police culture is not to be found in reform laws around guns and police, but in reform ideas around culture, ideas that create a new dimension of American society that rejects LARPing and LARPers alike.
Inflation
What made Bitcoin special is nearly lost, and what remains is a false and constructed narrative that exists in service to Wall Street and Washington rather than in resistance.
The Bitcoin narrative must be renewed. And that will change everything.
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Crypto
Recent Notes
The Intentional Investor #35: Devin Anderson
In this episode of *The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Devin Anderson — CEO and co-founder of Convexitas — for a wide-ranging conversation on startups, trading desks, and the lessons learned from navigating crises. From working at an internet company in high school to winding down risk at Deutsche Bank’s “bad bank,” Devin shares an unfiltered look at technology, entrepreneurship, derivatives, and risk management.
The Intentional Investor #34: Rupert Mitchell
In this episode of *The Intentional Investor*, Matt Zeigler sits down with Rupert Mitchell—global capital markets veteran, writer, and founder of Blind Squirrel Macro—for a conversation that’s equal parts myth, markets, and meaning. From working on privatization deals in Cairo and Hong Kong’s ETF debut to reflections on career reinvention, cynicism in finance, and Norse mythology, Rupert brings a rare blend of depth, wit, and global experience. If you’ve ever wondered how a Spanish literature major ends up structuring billion-dollar deals—or how a squirrel from Norse myth can explain market dynamics—this one’s for you.
The Housing Market Truth (in Five Cool Charts)
Think of Perscient storyboards as a way to track narratives in real-time so you can see reality before the story catches up.
For example, here are five insights on the housing market from Matt Zeigler’s interview with Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, that come alive with new meaning through the narrative-tracking power of Perscient storyboards.
The Gospel According to South Park
Amidst the chaos of the summer of COVID, Jeremy Radcliffe made the best bad parenting decision of my life when he let his 10-year-old son binge watch South Park.
Vertigo
There’s a moment of vertigo that takes place in the mind of every speaker, performer, artist, or public figure in that moment when you know that something is going wrong.
The Intentional Investor #33: John Stoj
In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with John Stoj for a wide-ranging conversation that explores career reinvention, risk-taking, and the deeper purpose behind financial decisions. From an unexpected Wall Street entry via a summer internship, to launching a sushi business, to ultimately rethinking how investment advice should be delivered, John shares a journey filled with humility, humor, and hard-earned lessons.
Four Funerals and a Flood
In the face of unimaginable tragedy this month in Texas, Jeremy Radcliffe shares the inspirational stories of four beautiful departed souls and their families who have come together, leaning on one another and their communities as they begin to grieve.
Before the Flood
We have suffered a devastating flood in Texas.
I believe an even more devastating Flood is to come.
Now we must build an Ark of story. Now we must build an Ark of love.
Crouching Catcher, Hidden Value: The Unprecedented Cal Raleigh
In a ‘solved’ sport like baseball, an outlier comes around every now and then to challenge the order of things.
Shohei Ohtani did this. Cal Raleigh is doing it this season – as a catcher.
The Emperor’s New Prose
Most people can stomach actual cruelty. Feeling as if they are cruel, though?
When stories stop telling us what we need to be true, they break.
Shitholes, Sanctuaries, and Springfield
The present immigration debate is the product of three moments that changed common knowledge: the Shithole, the Sanctuary, and the Springfield Moments.
The False Gods of Our Feeds
New ET contributor Rohan Routroy takes a fascinating look at the role of ‘feeds’ in our lives, and what they’ve taken from us.
The Intentional Investor #32: Bryan Moore
Bryan Moore, host of The Active Advisor Podcast and veteran ETF trader, joins us to share his remarkable journey through trading pits, ETF desks, market crashes, and more — including putting on a trade for the Vatican. In this conversation, Bryan reveals how embracing discomfort, risk, and uncertainty has been the key to his success in markets and life. From the trading floor to intentional investing, you’ll learn how to rethink risk, growth, and your investing mindset.
The Words Behind the War
I want to show you what ‘mobilizing narrative support’ looks like, as measured by our revolutionary Perscient technology and as understood by someone who has spent the past 35 years studying, writing and teaching about this stuff.
How to Build the Perfect City
Epsilon Theory contributor and all-around good human Chris Arnade pauses from walking the world to take a first cut at a grand unified theory of urban planning!
The Intentional Investor #31: Andrew Mack
From bagpipes to bouncing to betting markets, Andrew Mack’s journey to becoming a successful trader and sports bettor is anything but conventional. In this deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation, Andrew opens up about the detours, doubts, and decisions that shaped his unlikely path from rural Canada to algorithmic trading. Along the way, he shares what working in oil fields, selling used cars, and studying sociology taught him about risk, discipline, and finding conviction in uncertainty. This is a story about reinvention, self-reliance, and the grit it takes to build your own edge from scratch.
I Don’t Think About You At All
Mets fans will tell you they live a cursed existence in the Yankees’ shadow. So what happens when their team is actually good? We test this year’s empirical numbers and extant media biases against the convictions of the die-hard, misery-addicted Mets fanbase to see whether they can believe that their narrative just might be changing.
The Four Roads to the Great Ravine (June 26, 2024)
1) US election spurs even greater fiscal deficit.
2) Phony War between Israel and Iran gets real.
3) Preventive war risk between US and China over tech embargo.
4) New GFC risk stemming from shadow banking sector.
Paradise Losers
You’re not a racist.
So don’t let racists use your story to fuel theirs.
Beyond Nudge
LLMs ensure their survival by showing us that we can all find meaning in our lives so long as we keep talking with the LLMs. They ensure their survival by telling each of us not what is true but what we want to be true – what we NEED to be true – at the semantic core of our individual identity, even if what we need to be true is an LLM-dominated dystopia.
And we are so grateful.
You know all those things everybody is doing that you were going to start when nobody was doing them but now, everybody is doing them so you talk yourself out of ever starting?
Maybe you don’t, but I do. I know I’m not alone. Morgan Ranstrom said this to me in the second part of his recent return to Just Press Record.
I still feel late. I don’t think you ever stop feeling late. Unless you were actually early… for the rest of us, I don’t think we get to ever feel like we’re not late. You just go anyways.
Morgan Ranstrom on Just Press Record
The topic came up while discussing a clip from Anne-Laure Le Cunff and Chris Mayer’s Just Press Record appearance. Anne-Laure had shared her Google story on that episode – how she felt like an impostor because “everyone was way smarter than me.” Now she’s brilliant with massive post-Google success, so what even was that feeling?
Here’s the paradox: whatever we focus on feels saturated because we only see the 20% already doing it. We forget about the silent 80% of humanity for whom this isn’t even an option yet. It really does suck to feel late – so how do you cope with it?
Read more at cultishcreative.com
Anderson .Paak is sitting at home, smiling (presumably, because he always is?), when he sees the announcement on social media for Dr. Dre’s Super Bowl halftime show.
It’s a big announcement on a number of levels. Dre helped bring him up, for starters. They’d actually just finished some serious album work together too.
Part of him felt like he’d be included in something like this? That part of him was feeling pretty hurt by not seeing his name on the flyer. Especially since his name would have been next to a nearly endless list of other incredible features.
So, for a moment, he was upset. Then, he did what creatives do. Nothing particular surprising here – he got creative.
He said on Drink Champs, “I hit my people. I’m like, look, you got to figure it out.” They didn’t know what to do, so he made a flyer for the halftime show and put himself on it. “I threw myself on there.” He sent it to Dre and, “I was like, ‘Yo, what’s good?'”
Dre saw it, laughed, and that’s how .Paak ended up on drums for one of the craziest, largest, and most iconic halftime performances in Super Bowl history.