Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap 11/15/2025)
November 15, 2025·0 comments·zg
Narrative Design and Narrative As Destiny
Ben Hunt and Rusty Guinn aren't just teaching you how stories work - they're showing you how to see the architecture underneath everything you consume. The core insight: governments, corporations, and organizers don't run massive campaigns to see how things turn out. They run them because they've already decided where things are going, and they're inviting the public along for the ride. When you understand that narratives are designed to precede action rather than follow it, you gain cognitive distance. Not emotional detachment, but the ability to ask better questions about what you're being shown and why. It's a literacy thing. On Panoptica, Ben and Rusty have built tools to track these narrative patterns across media - visualizing stories as they float past us in the ether. The real work isn't cynicism. It's paying attention.
House Party vs. Housing Policy
(This is a Zeitgeist column I wrote for Panoptica I wanted to share here too! It’s not a political post. It is a policy cautionary tale.)
Bill Pulte walked into Mar-a-Lago with a 3x5 posterboard pitching 50-year federally-backed mortgages to President Trump. Simple graphic. Clear narrative: "Great American Presidents." Within 10 minutes, Trump had posted it to Truth Social. Within days, Politico was running headlines about whether it was innovative or reckless. But both miss the actual story. The 50-year mortgage is a perfect real-time example of "Snip!" - Ben Hunt's term for when policy intent gets severed from policy action. The math is brutal: you save $250/month but pay $365,000 more in total interest and build equity half as fast. The real affordability crisis isn't financing - it's a shortage of homes. But the optics of solving it? That's the political strategy. The theater of promising the best party ever has become the only game in town. This is what happens when narratives precede reality and we stop asking what's actually being propped up.
The Diner Test: Writing to People, Not at Them
Kevin Alexander has built something remarkable: a music newsletter that matters because he's never tried to scale it. His secret? The post-it notes with real names. He writes as if sitting across a table from someone he actually knows - Janet, who loves The Cars. Sarah, who's been through heartbreak. Not everyone. If you write to everyone, you're writing to no one. His gold standard of engagement isn't likes or metrics - it's 5-paragraph email responses from readers. A Talk Talk review he published 30 years after the album's release still gets read four or five years later because people reach out to tell him how it got them through college, through darkness, through life. He never saw that coming. You can't force what resonates. You can only create conditions for it. And you have to have a system - formal or informal - to sit with it and shut up. This is the antidote to the narrative machine. Specificity over scale. Connection over metrics. People over algorithms.
DISCLOSURES
This commentary is being provided to you as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. The opinions expressed in these materials represent the personal views of the author(s). It is not investment research or a research recommendation, as it does not constitute substantive research or analysis. Any action that you take as a result of information contained in this document is ultimately your responsibility. Epsilon Theory will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information. Consult your investment advisor before making any investment decisions. It must be noted, that no one can accurately predict the future of the market with certainty or guarantee future investment performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Statements in this communication are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and other views expressed herein are as of the date of this publication. Actual future results or occurrences may differ significantly from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements, and there is no guarantee that any predictions will come to pass. The views expressed herein are subject to change at any time, due to numerous market and other factors. Epsilon Theory disclaims any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or views expressed herein. This information is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities. This commentary has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. Epsilon Theory recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments and strategies, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a financial advisor. The appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives.
