#5 - Alex Ebert | Death Rituals, Status Anxiety and Being Cool

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 stageResources:* The dancing man at Sasquatch Festival* Alex Ebert’s Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com