Writer’s ■ [Writer’s Block] will not hold space as a void to scream into. Instead, it will serve as an aether to pull from. By differentiating the definition of the word ‘block’ in its association with the term writer’s block, I allow myself to change the interpretation of the affliction, turning it from a roadblock to a building block.

ii. Failing Successfully

To create is to fail; for success does not come without repetition in failure.

This begs the question: Why is failure frowned upon in the pursuit of perfection?

One argument suggests that the internet’s polarizing depiction(s) of reality have altered our general perceptions. While these alterations may hold true, we cannot just throw our hands up in the air and say “…bec a use the in t e rnet”, blaming it for everything.

Part of the problem is biological, and some of it is psychological when in relation with others. I say this because ‘fear’ of failure is a biological necessity for survival. Fear of failure keeps us alive, preventing us from taking risks that would otherwise harm us. In the present, this fear of failure activates in moments where it’s unnecessary, with examples provided below:

• Fear of raising your hand in class… In fear that you might be wrong… In a place of learning

• The fear of trying something new—and being bad it. Oh no! You’re so cringe for trying something you’re unskilled and untrained at! How dare you not come out the gates dropping ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ or ‘Mona Lisa’ as your first project.

In listing these, I will not cosplay as being immune to the very pressures that I critique. Instead, I understand these pressures all too well. And it is here that I also must hold myself accountable by knowing that the most potent feeling of suffocation comes within me.

iii. What Would Jesus Do? (sort of)

Biology aside, there’s a clear lack of forgiveness in our society—the psychological layer I referred to earlier. It’s this lack of forgiveness of self and others that leads us to our denial of failure as good. From our trauma(s), we’ve made it socially acceptable to not ‘forgive’ ourselves, much less others.

When we fail, we are often unkind to ourselves. This predisposition in the face of failure makes us reactionary; priming us to put others down when they fail. In turn, watching someone else fail becomes ‘cringe’ because it mirrors our own shortcomings.. Thus our conditioned response is anger, disgust, and suffocation—rather than love, tenderness, kindness, and support.

This leads us to the failure that led me to write this post.

iv. The Mind’s Eye

Last week my Panasonic Lumix G9 arrived in the mail. By definition, I’m a hobbyist photographer, and an amateur videographer. My perspective on photography is mostly that of a fly-on-the-wall experience. As someone that doesn’t [often] dance or attend social functions, the camera allows me to blend into the experience and have an excuse to be in spaces that I enjoy, without feeling pressured to participate.

This led me to taking my camera to a space I’ve never been before—with a collective of local Chicago DJ’s I’ve never met. At the time, my goal was simple: learn how to use my camera.

In the moment, I thought I’d succeeded. However post-edit, I realized that over 90% of the footage I’d taken was; mediocre in composition, blurry, and/or otherwise unsalvageable for one reason or another. This was disheartening, but to be expected. Albeit, there were some photos I really liked! But I was still afraid to share them with the DJs; after all—I’m the guy with the camera, I’m supposed to know how to use it.

Right? Wrong.

The goal was to learn. Reading manuals and attending Youtube Youniversity would only take me so far. I had to learn ISO, aperature1, white balance, and shutter-speed—and how to compensate for a lack of flash, or proper-lighting; all while handling subjects that move unpredictably.

Having succeeded in my goal of learning, I still felt defeated. I’d moved the goalposts, and backtracked on my initial intention. I didn’t want my first impression on these people to be that of an amateur photographer.

But to my credit I learned a lot from this experience! I could always delete these photos and take my experience with me to the next shoot, right? Everything would be perfect on that next shoot… Right?

After much deliberation, I decided it was necessary to release the photos+footage. In the middle of one of the sets, I stepped outside to get some air. While outside, I connected with a woman2 named Tessa3. We talked for what felt like awhile. Mostly about philosophy, modernism (including metamodernism) and the convergence of art and culture. Before heading inside4, I remember breaking down my personal understanding of the creative process.

As artists, we dedicate our lives to manifesting the vision that exists in our mind’s eye by bringing it to fruition in the present reality. This vision in our mind is the ideal vision for our creative work.

In our delusion, we understand the vision as ‘possible’, and we do everything in our power to translate our vision using the tools around us, knowing very-well that we may never get there—but we will fail and get closer with each repeated failure.

I’ve repeated this adage several times—to the point where I cannot remember if I formulated the idea myself, or directly stole it from another artist. Regardless, whether its inspired by several readings or directly ripped from another artist, I hope this advice finds you when you need it most.

Stay cringe and stay creative.

Photos:

i. Writer’s ■

Writer’s ■ [Writer’s Block] is a menace. It’s the midnight toe-stub of all creative pursuits. But, for this reason—I will not let it exist. It will not be a void to scream into. Instead, it will be an aether to pull from.

Thinking about the words, ‘Writer’s’ and ‘block’, I enacted some wordplay, allowing me to redefine my interpretation of the affliction, instead turning it into a building block in my creative pursuits, rather than a roadblock.

A block is a piece of a greater whole, a representation of a smaller space; within a larger space. It is such, that Writer’s ■ will be a space where I allocate time to breaking down the logic behind the projects I’m developing.

Specifically, this Writer’s ■ will be tackling one of my earliest projects: A fiction-ARG crossover called Swarming Locusts.

ii. Swarming Locusts

This year I was blessed with the opportunity to become a published author through Coffee People Zine’s final, award-winning1, issue; FUTURE.

The story takes place in a world defined by Swarming Locusts2, a grassroots organization that the story is centered around. However, the story exists outside of its own world. In addition to the manuscript, I developed an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) that seeks to blend the narrative of Swarming Locusts with the real world through SMS-based interactions.

What is an ARG?

ARGs are not traditional ‘games’. They are interactive experiences that tell stories across a variety of mediums (transmedia). By turning audience members into participants that become an integral part of the story’s progression, which is often gated by cyphers, puzzles, and the like. With this project, I wished to explore how this format could inspire-real world action, and foster dialogue across issues such as corporate control, climate change, and grassroots movements for sustainability and worker’s rights.

The World of Swarming Locusts

The concept of Swarming Locusts started with the world—not the story. As the world-narrative touched on themes that were too verbose and too urgent to remain confined to the pages of a zine. I wanted it to grow into an experience where readers could step into a developing-world, and become part of its gradual evolution—much like ArenaNet’s Living World, featured in the MMORPG3, Guild Wars 2.

For Swarming Locusts, the ARG format was a natural fit. The ‘core’ story explored issues that mirrored real-world challenges, and by making participants part of a fictional resistance, I would hope that the ARG would invite the audience to reflect on their responsibility in shaping the [real] world around them.

Initially was to write the story of Swarming Locusts from the perspective of three main characters, to-which each rendition would be published in a different magazine. Unfortunately, plans fell through — and I transitioned into a solo story + ARG Experience.

This multi-POV storytelling drew inspiration from the film Vantage Point (2008), where a single event unfolds through the perspectives of multiple characters. Each viewpoint reveals new details, creating a richer understanding of the story. Instead of telling the perspective of multiple characters, Swarming Locusts gives expose through various platforms, perspectives, and mediums; each adding a layer of depth to the overarching experience.

iii. Characters & Cliches

Stories are like Ogres, which are like onions4, and Swarming Locusts is no exception. The nature of developing a story within an alternate-future allowed me to explore uncomfortable, boundary-pushing themes while remaining grounded in the familiarity of our own reality.

Vietnam:

If I was going to write a story where a massive, covid-like blight wipes out most of Vietnam’s agriculture.. I needed to pay respect to Vietnam, and turn it into a character with its own arc of devastation, resistance, and recovery.

I wouldn’t let it be a ‘backdrop’ for which everything else occurs.

But why Vietnam?

I chose Vietnam for several reasons, each rooted in real-world politics that amplified the story’s speculative elements.

First, Vietnam is a the second-largest coffee exporter globally, just behind Brazil. However, while Brazil dominates in Arabica production, Vietnam is the world’s leading exporter of Robusta—a hardier, more bitter variety of coffee commonly used in instant coffee and blends.

Since climate change wiped out most Arabica, Vietnam’s existing expertise in cultivating Robusta places it at the center of a global coffee supply chain crisis, making it the target for exploitation and destabilization.

Historical Parallels

Vietnam’s history with the United States includes the usage of biochemical warfare, such was the widespread usage of Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant produced by Monsanto, during the Vietnam War.

A parallel is then drawn between Monsanto and Verdantis, both of which are companies with similar roots that destabilized Vietnam for profit.

Since the story draws on these historical atrocities, I wanted to make it very clear that I did not wish to exploit the suffering of a nation and its peoples’ for dramatic effect. Instead, I wanted Swarming Locusts to be a revisionist exploration of resistance.

It is such, that Vietnam becomes a key-figure in overcoming global corporate exploitation, leading the charge in redefining global power dynamics between corporations and individuals.

Avoiding the Western-Savior Complex

Admittedly, I wanted to use Swarming Locust to convey a criticism of writing; trauma should not define a character, a peoples, or a nation5. Certainly, the story begins with the blight—but it does not linger on Vietnam’s victim-hood.

I subvert this cliche by ensuring that Vietnam’s own recovery was driven by its people, not external saviors. Too often, Western narratives frame countries like Vietnam as victims awaiting rescue—a trope that perpetuates harmful stereotypes and reinforces the so-called “Global Safety Police” role of the United States.

Once we get to our other characters, we’ll see that they exist as supporting figures rather than heroes. Yes, they play important roles, but none of those roles are as important as the one held by Mai Nguyễn and her grassroots efforts. In the story, Mai works directly with farmers globally, spreading knowledge and fostering collaboration to overcome the struggles her country is facing.

Even though the first glimpse we see into the Swarming Locust World comes from Elias’ perspective, it is just one piece of a much larger fight that revolves around Mai. Their approach to the problem is also very different. Elias works methodically, working around the United States’ Government, while Mai is on the ground, igniting a resistance that eventually inspires similar movements across the globe.

Huỳnh Nguyễn Mai

Mai Nguyễn is a coffee farmer from Gia Lai, Vietnam. From the get-go, her family’s coffee farm is among the first to be devastated by the blight. Mai’s character arc is rooted in the idea of activism and the resistance of colonialism. After narrowly escaping prosecution in her home country at the hands of Verndatis, she flees to Africa and the Middle East, learning traditional agricultural practices, in-hopes of finding a way to stop the blight.

Traveling into regions yet untouched by the blight, she combats xenophobia and misinformation regarding the state of Vietnam, which plays into the theme of corporate-controlled propaganda. Many view Mai [an asian woman] as a carrier of the disease, as she’s quickly deemed a fugitive. This leads to her being referred to as Locust of the East.

Later in the story, she reclaims this title through the farmer-driven movement, Châu Chấu Bay (Rough Translation: Swarming Locusts).

Elias Walker:

Elias Walker is an undergraduate researcher at UC Davis’s Coffee Research Center. The ‘article’ published in Coffee People Zine is written by him—and is a reveal of his work, and the ethical dilemmas he faced while trying to be a whistleblower in a profit-driven system.

[REDACTED]:

The final perspective in Swarming Locusts comes from a Brazilian coffee importer. For the sake of not spoiling future plans, I’ve chosen to keep this character anonymous, for their invisible hand tolls with coincidence, pushing the plot forward as the binding agent that causes Elias and Mai to meet.

Verdantis:

At the center of Swarming Locusts is a reflection of our reality: Verdantis. Verdantis is the fictional manifestation of unchecked corporate greed operating on a global scale. Through their work, Verdantis sucks the soil dry of resources, depriving crops of the vital minerals they need to survive.

Monopolizing Problems, Engineering Solutions

As before-mentioned, Verdantis is heavily inspired by Monsanto, who had a history of developing genetically modified crops and chemical agents that were used in war.

Being the architect of the blight, Verdantis also ‘solved’ it by developing genetically modified seeds. These seeds however, forced farmers to become dependent on Verdantis’ blight-resistant seeds, further consolidating Verdantis’ control over an already fragile coffee supply chain.

Cliches

Swarming Locust explores xenophobia as a general theme. Within the story, the World Health Organization (WHO) designates the coffee blight as the "Southeast Asian Agricultural Pathogen" (SAAP), a name that immediately shifts blame onto Vietnam and its farmers. This verbiage mirrors real-world dynamics, particularly the rise of xenophobic, racist, rhetoric during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic (“china flu”).

This designation as a Southeast Asian Agricultural Pathogen also serves as a convenient distraction for the media, which diverts attention from Verdantis, instead focusing on the further marginalization of SAAP’s victims.

iv. Meta Elements

Designing the Cover Page(s)

The story begins not with a sentence, but with two cover-pages that were designed to be the replica of cover pages that appear on classified documents6 held by the U.S. Government. These designs include bold, almost comical headers, stamped insignias, and various subtext that convey a myriad of information to internal agencies.

I wanted to incorporate these same elements into my own story to build-upon the universe, drawing the audience into the world of Swarming Locusts before they even turned a page.

Albeit, my favorite part of the cover-page is from the third line:

"THIS IS NOT A WORK OF FICTION. ANY SIMILARITY TO ACTUAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, OR ACTUAL EVENTS, IS INTENTIONAL."

The phrase was intended as an homage to the TV series Swarm7, which used the same wording to blur the boundaries of reality and fiction. In Swarming Locusts, I wanted to make the reader double-take, and confront the real-world parallels that are embedded in the story.

Coffee People Zine as Canon

Within the universe of Swarming Locusts, Coffee People Zine is integral to the narrative. In the story’s universe, the zine itself serves as the publication of the exposé.

v. Easter Eggs

Nods to Coffee Culture

Swarming Locusts is full of tongue-in-cheek references to the Specialty Coffee Industry. For example, Swarming Locusts critiques the often-performative nature of mission trips in the industry, while simultaneously weaving them into the core of the story’s narrative.

In the story, Verdantis conducts corporate “mission trips”, promoting clean water initiatives and farming workshops. These trips however, act as a Trojan horse, which only furthers their intentional spread of the blight across previously ‘unaffected’ regions.

In the real world, these mission trips tend to prioritize ‘feel-good’ optics over genuine impacts, as trips rarely address the systematic issues of coffee-producing regions, such as inequitable trade and corporate control of resources.

For those familiar with the dynamics of mission trips in the coffee world, Swarming Locusts deliberately critiques the performative nature of these initiatives while weaving them into the story’s narrative of exploitation.

vi. The Critical Role of Technology

Through a backend built on Twilio and Flask, I developed a setup that allows participants to receive personalized messages and engage with the story further through SMS. This section predominately explores the technical aspects of the project, detailing how Flask, Heroku, SQLAlchemy and Twilio come together to power the ‘interactive’ portion of Swarming Locusts.

The Tech Stack

1. Flask

As mentioned earlier, Flask is one of the backbones for Swarming Locusts, as it provides a flexible, lightweight framework for handling API Requests and managing Player Interactions.

Key functionalities:

• Endpoints for Engagement: Endpoints handle enrollment, updates, and mass messaging to players.

• Request Validation: [REDACTED[ ensures all requests, especially those originating from Twilio, are authentic and secure.

• Error Handling: Flask’s built-in mechanisms allow graceful error management, preserving user experience even when technical hiccups occur (I built this from a point of zero-knowledge, so hiccups occur often.)

2. Database Management with SQLAlchemy

I wanted to track player engagement, and obtain (optional) user data such as email,and personal names. To do this, I used Postgre through Heroku, combined with SQLAlchemy to manage and log participant data.

Key functionalities:

• Participant Records: Each player’s phone number, name, email, and status are stored to enable personalized communication.

• Dynamic Updates: Players can modify their details, ensuring their involvement in the ARG remains relevant and up-to-date.

• Efficient Queries: SQLAlchemy’s ORM capabilities streamline the retrieval of participant data for use in missions, broadcasts, and analytics.

3. Twilio as the Interactive Gateway

Twilio’s messaging API is the primary medium through which players engage with Swarming Locusts.

Key functionalities:

• Enrollment & Interaction: Players join the ARG by texting keywords like “SWARM,” initiating their digital step into the narrative.

• Broadcasts: Mass updates are sent via SMS to keep players informed of story developments or call them to action regarding events.

• Twilio Signature Validation: Requests are verified to ensure they originate from Twilio, blocking unauthorized access.

• Environment Variables: Sensitive information like API keys and database credentials are stored in a secure .env file, outside of the GitHub Repository.

Player Interaction and Engagement

Joining the Swarm

The entry point begins the moment players text one of several specific keyword such as “SWARM” to a designated phone number provided by Twilio. This initial interaction serves both an onboarding process and a narrative hook into the story.

• Keyword-Driven Enrollment: Keywords like “SWARM” trigger the enrollment endpoint, storing participant data in the database and initiating their journey in the ARG.

• Personalized Experience: Players are asked for their name and email (or can choose to skip), creating opportunities for tailored communication while keeping the process optional and unobtrusive.

• Immediate Engagement: Upon joining, players receive a welcome message introducing them to the resistance.

Missions and Player Agency [In-Development]

One of the most exciting aspects of Swarming Locusts is how it leverages interactive storytelling to give players agency to move the story forward. Interactions are designed as branching narratives that adapt based on player choices.

• Puzzles and Clues: Missions often involve solving cryptic messages, deciphering codes, or finding hidden information within the narrative. These challenges are tailored to create a sense of discovery and collaboration.

• Real-World Actions: The goal is to have tasks that encourage players to take action beyond their screens, such as finding physical locations, engaging with social media, or even contributing real-world community/mutual aid programs.

• Consequences of Choice: Player responses shape the overall experience, with certain actions unlocking exclusive story-lines or impacting the overarching narrative.

H.R. 9495, officially titled the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” is a bill aimed at dismantling avenues that fund “terrorism”. While a portion of the bill focuses on tax relief for Americans wrongfully detained a broad, we will focus on Section 4, which takes a direct aim that organizations that use their non-profit status to provide support to “terrorist groups”.

It should be noted that since the 1950s, civil rights and social justice organizations have faced accusations of being tied to, or labeled as, “terrorist organizations”. From COINTELPRO’s to H.R. 9495, the United States government has historically swung large when defining “national security” to suppress dissent and neutralize movements challenging the status quo.

While Section 4 of H.R. 9495 claims to focus on combating terrorism, its potential for misuse under any administration is significant, as history shows how such laws have affected marginalized advocacy groups in the past.

A (Brief) History of the Surveillance State

COINTELPRO

COINTELPRO (COunter INTELligence PROgram, 1956–1971) was a covert FBI program aimed at disrupting and discrediting civil rights organizations and activist groups deemed “subversive1.” Through COINTELPRO, the FBI targeted movements fighting for racial justice, sovereignty, and systemic change, using methods that ranged from surveillance to outright violence:

Targets of COINTELPRO included:

1. Feminist Groups: Feminist organizations, such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Women’s Liberation Movement.2

2. Socialist and Communist Parties: Socialist and communist groups, including the Socialist Workers Party and the Communist Party USA.

3. The American Indian Movement (AIM): AIM, which advocated for Native American rights, was heavily targeted by COINTELPRO. The FBI used infiltration, harassment, and misinformation to weaken the organization, particularly during the Wounded Knee incident of 1973.

4. Civil Rights Leaders and Groups: COINTELPRO directly threatened and harassed individuals such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

5. Black Nationalist Movements: COINTELPRO was particularly aggressive against Black nationalist movements, including the Black Panther Party. Efforts included surveillance, infiltration, and orchestrating violent confrontations between rival groups, with the aim of neutralizing what it viewed as radical Black power movements.

6. Anti-War Groups: During the Vietnam War era, COINTELPRO targeted anti-war organizations, such as the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the broader anti-Vietnam War movement, which were critical of U.S. military involvement overseas.

Note, that much like H.R. 9495, COINTELPRO was created for the sake of ‘national security purposes’, which is a phrase that’s been utilized as a nation-wide3 brush stroke for framing any form of dissidence in a negative light. The program’s illegal activities, driven by fear of political dissent and social change, destroyed democratic freedoms and civil rights movements in the United States.

What H.R. 9495 (actually) Does

Section 4 of H.R. 9495 focuses on nonprofits suspected of supporting terrorism. It introduces a process to revoke their tax-exempt status if they are found to have provided “material support” to terrorist organizations, as an extension of 18 U.S. Code § 2339B.

How it works:

1. Notification: The Treasury Secretary sends a formal notice to the organization detailing the allegations.

2. 90-Day Response: The organization must either:

   • Prove the allegations are false, or

   • Take corrective action, such as recovering funds and committing to stop future support.

3. Designation: Failure to respond results in an official designation as a “terrorist-supporting organization.”

Consequences:

• Tax-Exempt Status Revoked: The organization loses its nonprofit privileges indefinitely unless the designation is rescinded.

• Appeals Process: Organizations can contest the designation through the IRS Independent Office of Appeals or in federal court. If classified information is involved, courts can review evidence privately to protect national security.

This provision applies only to future designations, ensuring no retroactive penalties.

Why I’m Not Scared?!

Funny thing is, I’m scared shitless—but I genuinely believe that as social dissidents, we need to restructure how we organize. If we’re playing a game where the system is rigged against us, we need to change how we support one another in a way that utilizes the loopholes in the system.

Selfishly, my lack of fear is due-in-part of me being a radical for change. I foresee a future of interactivity, where storytelling, and narrative play act as tools for how we organize, mobilize, love, and fight for what we believe in.

We are so quick to disassociate, or ideate from our present-reality into other forms of media that exist in an alternate reality. Whether it’s the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Forgotten Realms of Baldur’s Gate 3, or Westeros—we find ourselves absorbed in the lore, the characters, and the atmosphere.

So, who’s to say that as a community—we can’t develop an alternate reality that’s similar, yet different to our own—to the point where our community efforts in the real-world directly shape the history of a fictional universe. Why can’t we create the alternate history we want to live in, as a subset of our real life intention?

Who doesn’t love a little alternate-history, community-based fan-fiction?

If I lost you, what I’m talking about is gamifying socialism, mutual-aid, and community support. I know—you must think I’m crazy, or insensitive; or both. One can’t just turn support into a commodity—one can’t ‘Pokemon Go!’ soup kitchens, donation centers, and resource pop-ups… right? Trust, I’ve wrestled with these criticiasms while conceptualizing this idea of turning social aid into a game:

• Trivializing Issues: Gamification risks creating further disconnection from the real-life problems it seeks to address.

• Transactional Support: Turning mutual aid into a game may reduce acts of compassion into dopamine/reward-chasing.

• Corporate Exploitation: Gamifying mutual aid through an LLC could attract exploitative corporate interests or expose participants to surveillance.

• Resource Misallocation: Emphasizing narrative could divert resources from direct aid efforts.

• Short-Term Excitement: ARGs rely on novelty, which may lead to waning interest and reduced impact over time.

• Ego and Hierarchies: Reward systems or “leaders” could unintentionally create hierarchies, undermining mutual aid’s principles of equality.

• Unequal Rewards: Highlighting certain participants over others risks inequality within the system.

• Creative Demands: Sustaining a game with ongoing stories and tech [potentially] requires significant resources better allocated to direct support.

• Is It Even Necessary?: Adding a fictional narrative might draw interest but could also detract from the primary goal of helping others.

Still, the idea eats away at me: Could this work? Could establishing a fictional layer between reality amplify real-world action? Could an ARG, or ‘Unfiction’ inspire people to think critically, act collectively, and remain engaged with community? Or does this idea risk turning community activism into a fleeting moment of entertainment?

I’m not sure of the answers yet, but I think the idea is worth exploring. If nothing else, we’d be telling a story worth living—and maybe that’s the first step toward real change.

—Aireus

Half a decade in the coffee industry and I've learned one thing: Our smallest of choices can have the largest of impacts. Through coffee, I’ve met thousands of faces, all of which have impacted me in ways I’ve yet to fathom.

Intro 2.0

I'm Aireus Robinson, a twenty-six-year-old who wears as many hats as I've had cycles around the sun. Music Producer & Audio Engineer, Barista, Bartender, Mixologist, Journalist, Writer, AI Integrator, Conspiracy Theorist, Student, Coffee Educator, and Experience Designer.

While these titles do not define me, they’ve aided in developing my unique approach to user-experiences and user-interface/interaction (UX/UI).

The Hyperbolic Time Chamber

Early on in my career (and even now) there are moments where I find myself without a job to provide me a steady-income. In these instances, I've relied on platforms such as Pared, cups, and Instawork to cover my rent. Money-aside, these apps allowed me to explore the operations of over a dozen coffee shops in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Atlanta alike; providing me direct experience into the differing visages of coffee culture.

While these experiences shaped my perspective on crafting user experiences, it was my time at Red Bay Coffee and Bluestone Lane that solidified my foundations in specialty coffee.

An Australian-inspired experience rooted in Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) practices, Bluestone Lane had just begun to establish itself in the San Francisco Bay Area [in 2017]. Prior to my hiring, 227 Front Street had only been open for a few months; but Bluestone's expansion was rapid. By the time I'd left, in 2019, I'd aided in the launch, education, and management for three new locations in San Francisco. For reference, I went from never pulling a shot of spro' to being a coffee educator, store manager, and new store opener in under two years.

(was i being underpaid? absolutely.)

Underpaid, but dedicated—and if it weren't for those around me, encouraging me to remain steadfast, I wouldn't have progressed so quickly. I'd adopted a choreographic workflow thanks to the efforts of Jak Michael-Ryan (Current Global Barista Lead at Proud Mary Coffee), who also instilled within me, a chemistry-level understanding of coffee extraction through repeated trainings. These trainings were SPRO 101, and part of the on-boarding process for baristas. Nevertheless, each time Jak held a training, I attended. By the second training, I had the material locked in. By the third, I was assisting in the workshops, often co-teaching them, filling in spots of knowledge for specific team members that had questions but didn't want to derail the rest of the curriculum. By the sixth, I was a certified educator for Bluestone Lane's San Francisco region who reported directly to Jak and Georgia Goldsbrough-Reardon, who was the Director of Education for Bluestone at the time.

Unfortunately, no workplace is perfect—and Bluestone had its challenges; but it left an indelible mark on my understanding of coffee and cafe culture. It was also the place where I realized my knowledge needed to evolve in order to create the experiences I wished to

But how can a baby barista learn to pull a doppio if his espresso cup is already full?

Coffee: Experience or Flavor?

People are used to coffee being bitter—or tasting burnt. The darker the roast, the 'stronger' or 'better' the coffee; or at least that's the association we often have with the bean. For many of us, that's our olfactory memory because that's what we grew up with—a bitter, utilitarian beverage that served its purpose to get us out of bed in the morning.

It wasn't until the addition of sugar and sugar that coffee became more palatable to the American audience.

This led to the universal rule of coffee consumption: People will drink coffee, even if it doesn't taste great, as long as the consumption of the beverage meets one or more of the following criteria:

1. They’re supporting a brand, business, or organization they care about.

2. They're seeking a unique or memorable experience.

3. They crave convenience—quick, easy, and reliable.

The Utilitarian Narrative

Coffee in the United States is still a utilitarian, capitalist tool that's used to get us out of bed in the morning. This is far different from its origins in Ethiopia and Yemen, where it holds a place a place as a cultural beverage with social-ties. Ironically, in Scandinavian countries, coffee lends itself to being more of a social-beverage, to the point where the Swedes called 'Fika', which they consume coffee in social gatherings.

[In a later article, I’ll breakdown the concept of third-wave in relation to coffee consumption, and how Scandinavians ran laps around the World Barista Championship for about six years straight.]

This is the complete opposite of the American habit of grabbing a quick cup of coffee to go—a perspective I want to change. I aim to return coffee to it’s social, ritualistic roots. Through interactive and immersive design, I hope to meet people where they are in their education to better define their olfactory memory, and redefine how we approach coffee.

Years later, these insights inspired the creation of Event Horizon, a concept rooted in the nostalgic charm of the early internet—a time when online interactions were slower, more intimate, and less entangled with everyday life. With Event Horizon, I aimed to revive that lost sense of intimacy and mystery in our metamodern world, with food & beverage at the forefront.

Event Horizon, an Experiment: The meme_χ Prequel

Event Horizon was a curated beverage experience that I said ‘existed in the space between senses’. Using my mixology experience, I crafted beverages that reflected and enhanced the atmosphere of events. From art shows, to fundraisers, corporate events and private house parties; Event Horizon acted like a symbiote from the Marvel Universe—it seamlessly integrated into its host, elevating the overall experience.

The concept, which later evolved into ‘SpaceBar,’ began to take shape during the latter rounds of the Glitter Cat’s [RIP] 2022 Digi2tion, an online barista competition that challenged participants to push their creative boundaries. At its inception, Event Horizon emerged as a bizarre, imperfect Alternate Reality Game (ARG), straddling the line between fiction and reality. At the time [to me] it was more than just a brand; it was the conceptualization of a character—an extension of my public persona and a manifestation of my deep love for hard sci-fi, roleplaying, and immersive storytelling.

To breathe life into Event Horizon, I created an Instagram account populated with some followers and staged interactions in an attempt to give it a ‘lived-in’ feel. I even set up a functioning fake email and phone number, making it seem like an organization that existed just beneath the surface of everyday life. I wanted Event Horizon to be surreal; blurring the lines between brand and personified-entity that people could interact with.

As the concept developed, I collaborated with coffee professionals and brand designers to shape Event Horizon's aesthetic and identity. We wrestled with questions like: What should Event Horizon look like? Should it lean into Afro-futurism? How should the drinks it developed reflect the events it inhabited? What aromas, textures, and flavors would best represent the 'default' state of Event Horizon? Each question peeled back a layer of what Event Horizon could be, pushing me to idealize how the online experience would translate into the physical.

A Response to a World, [Disconnected].

In addition to a side-hustle, a labor of love, and weird self-expression, Event Horizon represented my answer to a world that felt increasingly disconnected. Growing up in the early 2000s, the internet offered a unique form of intimacy in the way we connected. At the time [rose-tinted goggles, please don’t fail me] secrets were still exchanged on playgrounds, and cheat codes like the Konami Code, Motherlode, and Blood Code were scribbled in notebooks, hidden between the pages of school textbooks, or shared through Game Informer [RIP^2] and Nintendo Power [RIP^3]. The internet, still in its teenage-groot years, offered pockets of community and joy in the most unexpected of places. Those moments of surprise and discovery of something special and personal (even if just for that moment) are feelings that seem lost in our hyper-connected, overly curated world.

I wanted to design an experience that would pull people back into a world where intimacy wasn’t entirely lost. I wanted to encourage people to step away from their screens and get reconnected with the tangible, immediate reality around them. In regards to companies, I wanted to reject sterile engagement tactics; instead choosing to curate moments/memories that felt both nostalgic and entirely new all-the-same.

The Birth of Memeχ: Learning from Event Horizon

Event Horizon was, in essence, a proof of concept for what would later become memeχ, a framework for understanding media and storytelling through the lens of past, present, and future cultural shifts. Inspired by Vannevar Bush’s concept of the memex—a device designed to mirror the human mind's associative processes—memeχ examines how our interactions with media oscillate between different modes of consumption and understanding.

Much like Event Horizon, memeχ draws on nostalgia and the reinterpretation of past experiences to inform our present and future interactions. It rejects one-size-fits-all narratives/strategies in favor of creating personalized, sensory-driven narratives that often play off of our olfactory memory. In truth, Event Horizon was a complete and utter failure. I received all-but-two text messages, but it was atop this failure that I established the foundations of a new philosophy, one that would challenge the ways I connect with audiences; and would open the door to a new perspective of immersive storytelling.

And before you ask—Yes, I’m working on a new ARG.

Nothing is original.

Every medium of cognitive, (sub)conscious, theatre of thought has already been granted its space in reality.

Each stroke of the brush is but a sample of life that has since been lived. Each melody is but a vibration sung by stars whomst have since faded and lost their light. Perhaps they, too, collapsed and were repainted as the darkness between The Starry Night.

Ancient mythology and our creation mythos fall subject to this inevitable ethos. Take, for example, The Curse of Atreus and its retelling of the story of generational trauma throughout an existence that transcends humanity.

The tragedy that befalls The House of Atreus in itself is unoriginal and is an artistic concept that has been brushed and sampled by a myriad of artists throughout history.

Eden, Eve, and Adam and the depiction of original sin does not differ from the story of Tantalus and his damnation into the entity of Tartarus. The story of the tantalizing apple undoubtedly sampled the Abrahamic religions, with a re-brushing for a new era.

Each mosaic of stained glass depicts the story of a fallen kingdom—that of which the architecture has since faded and been reforged by the dimensions of time. By nature, the depicted mosaic would there-inevitably transform into the very same dust that it had sampled itself from.

Same sample, different time.

When the sun stumbled, it often fell behind the mountains where it shed the last of its flames upon the horizon. These last flames of the day flickered like the plume of the mythological fox—each tail providing a spin-off worthy of its own folksong.

To what lengths must an artist go to satisfy their incessant need for perfection? To what lengths is originality sanctified so that a painter must construct their own brush to paint upon an easel?

If the unnamed artist cannot kill the boar for which the bristles of the brush are sourced, must the artist use their own hair to impart originality in their piece?

A ridiculous, extrapolated metaphor it is, yes. This is often the level of perfectionism an artist may hold themselves to in light of never seeing others fail.

The false dichotomy of coming from nothing in an era of manufactured perfection breeds a characterization of unacknowledged privilege. Once the trace lines are erased from a fully drawn owl, one does not know where the starting point originated, thus giving the perception of innate perfection since the first line drawn.

With Artificial Intelligence (AI) being the next ‘big thing’ how we navigate the line between inspiration and imitation?

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages globally; however, the environmental impact of our favorite go-getter socialite beverage is misunderstood.

As consumers, it is our responsibility to understand the nuance of the coffee supply chain.

In doing so, we can act more sustainably and make choices that benefit both the environment and farmers in coffee-producing countries. Only through the empowerment of knowledge can we create a more fair, equitable supply chain and mitigate coffee’s environmental footprint.

Coffee Cultivation and Deforestation

Coffee cultivation and deforestation have had a long-standing link. Between 2001 and 2015, coffee farming was responsible for 1.9 million hectares (Mha) of deforestation. In commodity-driven deforestation, coffee represents about 1.86% of deforestation, totaling 102 Mha during the same period.​

While this might seem significant, comparing it with other commodities is essential. Here are the deforestation impacts of various commodities between 2001 and 2015:

• Cattle (pasture as a land use): 45.1 Mha

• Oil Palm: 10.5 Mha (of which 6.2 were direct)

• Soy: 8.2 Mha (of which 3.9 were direct)

• Cocoa: 2.3 Mha

• Plantation Rubber: 2.1 Mha

• Coffee: 1.9 Mha

• Plantation Wood Fiber: 1.8 Mha

When considering all causes of deforestation (forestry, commodity-driven deforestation, wildfires, shifting agriculture, and urbanization), coffee’s contribution is relatively low. It accounts for approximately 0.39% of the total 486 Mha, a far cry from cattle, which has a more significant impact than all other commodities combined.

Commodity Coffee vs. Specialty Coffee

The environmental impact of coffee production varies significantly between commodity and specialty coffee. Large, plantation-style farms typically grow commodity or ‘conventional’ coffee, prioritizing quantity over quality. This often leads to over-farming and heavy use of external inputs like chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which degrade soil health and increase the environmental footprint.

Specialty coffee growers on smaller farms, in contrast, usually adopt more sustainable practices. These farmers often use organic fertilizers, sometimes made from the coffee pulp left over from processing. They avoid over-farming and focus on producing high-quality beans. This approach helps preserve soil health and reduces the need for chemical inputs, making specialty coffee farming more environmentally friendly​.

Most criticisms regarding coffee’s sustainability often stem from the practices associated with commodity or conventional coffee production. These large-scale operations contribute significantly to deforestation, water usage, and carbon emissions because of their focus on high yields and reliance on chemical inputs. Specialty coffee, emphasizing quality and sustainable farming practices, presents a more eco-friendly alternative that can mitigate many of these environmental impacts​.

Specialty vs. Commodity Coffee Practices:

Organizations in smaller/specialty-focused countries, like Guatemala’s Anacafe, prioritize shade-grown coffee and agroforestry, safeguarding the region’s vulnerable ecological health by protecting watersheds, reducing erosion, and storing nutrients. For instance, Guatemala’s coffee production is 98% shade-grown, starkly contrasting the deforestation-intensive practices seen in larger commodity coffee producers like Brazil​.

Water Usage in Coffee Production

Coffee production is incredibly water intensive. On average, producing a single cup of coffee consumes about 140 liters of water, accounting for irrigation, processing, and brewing. Annually, this translates to 351 billion liters of water to meet global coffee consumption. This substantial water usage can strain local water resources, particularly in regions facing water scarcity​.

Investments directed towards coffee-producing countries, particularly in improving infrastructure and sustainable water management practices, could significantly mitigate water scarcity. Improved irrigation techniques, water recycling systems, and rainwater harvesting could help reduce coffee production’s water footprint​.

Carbon Emissions from Coffee Production

The coffee production process, from cultivation to processing, contributes significantly to carbon emissions. Cultivating coffee often involves clearing forests, which releases stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Additionally, the processing and transportation of coffee add to its carbon footprint. One day’s global coffee consumption results in approximately 900,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions, comparable to the annual electricity usage of 177,000 homes​.

Soil Degradation and Biodiversity Loss

Intensive coffee farming can lead to soil degradation, reducing fertility and productivity over time. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides often exacerbate this, which can harm soil health and local water sources. Moreover, converting forests into coffee plantations disrupts local ecosystems, leading to biodiversity loss. Species that once thrived in forested areas may struggle to survive in monoculture plantations​.

The Growth of Robusta

Between 2001 and 2015, nearly 2 million hectares (Mha) of forest were replaced by coffee plantations. Of this, 1.1 Mha was used for robusta and 0.8 Mha for arabica. Robusta, generally grown in full sun at lower latitudes, has been the primary driver of this deforestation. The countries most affected include Indonesia (33% of the global total), Brazil (16%), Madagascar (14%), and Vietnam (12%). On the other hand, arabica is typically grown in shaded, higher-altitude regions, with significant deforestation impacts seen in Brazil (36%), Peru (20%), and Colombia (8%).

The rise in deforestation for robusta coffee is driven by increasing global demand, particularly in Asia and Brazil. Robusta’s share of global coffee production rose from 36% in 2000 to 44% in 2015, likely because of its use in instant coffee and other mass-market products.

As Maya Nguyen suggests, the growth in robusta’s popularity may be due to the general increase in coffee consumption, and larger companies opt for less expensive crops rather than a specific preference for robusta itself. Fine robusta, comparable to specialty arabica, remains a niche market, and the land use changes for these specialty robusta farms are likely insignificant compared to broader trends in robusta cultivation.

Robusta’s cultivation often leads to large-scale deforestation because it thrives in full sun, requiring forest clear-cutting. Conversely, arabica coffee can sometimes slow deforestation rates because it thrives in shaded environments, allowing farmers to preserve trees in cultivation areas. This agroforestry approach supports biodiversity, maintains soil health, and benefits local ecosystems.

For more insights into the dynamics of robusta coffee and its place in the coffee industry, I highly recommend reading Maya Nguyen and I’s article on fine robusta here:

The Importance of Investment in Coffee-Producing Countries

Investing in the infrastructure and supporting farmers in coffee-producing countries is key to raising sustainability in coffee production. This includes:

• Improved Water Management: Developing efficient irrigation systems, water recycling, and rainwater harvesting to reduce water usage.

• Sustainable Farming Practices: Promoting agroforestry, organic farming, and other sustainable practices to enhance soil health and biodiversity.

• Fair Trade and Economic Support: Ensuring farmers receive fair wages and have access to resources that can improve their livelihoods and reduce economic pressure to engage in environmentally harmful practices.

Conclusion

The environmental impacts of coffee production are substantial, affecting deforestation, water resources, carbon emissions, and biodiversity. However, we can significantly mitigate these effects by investing in infrastructure and supporting sustainable practices in coffee-producing countries. Making informed choices about the coffee we choose to drink can lead to a more sustainable and equitable coffee industry. This approach addresses environmental concerns and supports the livelihoods of millions of coffee farmers worldwide who rely on coffee production to maintain their livelihood.

Drink responsibly.

~Aireus

Intro.

memeχ dictates that as media evolves, so do methods of consumption. From Limewire to Spotify, the digital age has transformed how we access, discover, and experience media. Bungie’s management of Destiny 2, a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG), will serve as a prime example, along with Kanye West’s "Life of Pablo" and Childish Gambino’s "3.15.20”.

Both albums experienced post-release updates that altered or removed original content. Similarly, Bungie’s approach to Destiny 2 content management raised controversy about digital rights management (DRM) in video games, as players lost access to content they’d paid for.

With streaming, we sacrificed ownership and the physical experience for convenience and accessibility. In this article, we will explore the nuances of these sacrifices by examining instances where digital content was altered or removed entirely.

Destiny 2’s Content Vault:

Destiny 2 is an online multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Bungie. Released in 2017, the game has expanded significantly over the years with multiple downloadable content (DLC) expansions.

In June 2020, Bungie announced a significant change in how they would be managing Destiny 2’s growing content. Bungie explained that Destiny 2 had become “too large to update and maintain efficiently.”1 The game required players to download up to 115GB of worth of data to access all of the available content. With around 25GB of new content added each year, the game became increasingly harder for developers to patch and continued to take up more space on users’ hard drives.

To address this issue they introduced the Destiny Content Vault (DCV). The DCV aimed to cycle older, less-played content out of the game to make room for newer content. While this allowed Bungie to innovate and respond to player feedback more rapidly, it also meant that players lost access to content they had previously paid for.

Bungie explained that this approach was necessary to keep the game manageable. To further their decision, they pointed out the statistics regarding the inefficiency of the available content that Destiny 2 had accumulated.

While Bungie stated removing ‘legacy’ content was necessary for the game’s long-term health, many players felt lost and frustrated at being unable to access the content they’d paid for. Legally, Bungie was well within in their legal right. As a consumer we pay for a license to access the content—a license that Bungie has the right to revoke at any given moment.

This concept of ‘vaulted’ content isn’t isolated to the video game industry. Despite the narrative being framed as a necessity for maintaining a viable game, the removal of content is one of the many complexities of digital rights management (DRM) across several industries.

Kanye West: Life of Pablo

In February 2016, Kanye West released his seventh studio album, "The Life of Pablo." Upon release, Ye tweeted that the album was a “living, breathing, changing creative expression.” Following its initial release, the album underwent numerous updates and changes, with tracks being added, removed, or altered over several months.

These ongoing changes were unprecedented in the music industry and illustrated the potential of artists utilizing digital platforms for continuous creative modifications, similar to changelogs seen in coding projects or developer blogs in games like Destiny 2 and League of Legends.

The changes to "The Life of Pablo" were extensive. For example, the track "Wolves" was significantly reworked, with Vic Mensa and Sia being reinstated, and Frank Ocean's part was spun off into a separate track called "Frank's Track"​​. Other tracks, like "Famous" and "Fade," saw lyrical adjustments and production tweaks to refine their sound​​. "Saint Pablo" was added as a new outro, further evolving the album months after its initial release​.2

For fans, this meant that the version of “The Life of Pablo“ they first heard was not necessarily the same version they might listen to months later. While some welcomed this ‘ongoing development’ approach and the insight it provided into West’s creative process, others found the inconsistency of the listening experience frustrating.

Childish Gambino: 3.15.20 and Atavista

On March 22, 2020, Donald Glover, a.k.a Childish Gambino, released the album "3.15.20." The title reflected the date it premiered on DonaldGloverPresents.com, serving as a memorable zeitgeist3 for the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The album was available in two forms on all digital streaming platforms: a continuous play version under "Donald Glover Presents" and a standard track-by-track version under "Childish Gambino." Upon its release, “3.15.20” received mixed reviews. While praised for its musical components and Gambino’s creative expression, some found it inaccessible because of the lack of identifiable track names. Only two tracks had official titles, “Algorhythm” and “Time.” The rest were titled with timestamps indicating their starting points in the album. For instance, “12.38” began twelve minutes and thirty-eight seconds into the album. Along with the album's release, promotional artwork and a handwritten note by Donald were included, the latter of which, is available below.

Four years later, on May 13, 2024, Glover released his latest album, "Atavista.” Described as a ‘finished’ version of "3.15.20," “Atavista” included noticeable differences: several tracks were removed, two new tracks were added, and existing songs were sonically enhanced. However, the release of “Atavista” led to the removal of “3.15.20” from most streaming services, making the original tracks inaccessible.

For many fans, "3.15.20" represented more than just an album. It was a zeitgeist of the pandemic, capturing imperfection amidst the chaos of a world with an uncertain future. For some, the removal of “3.15.20” wasn’t just disappointing; it was a loss of something personal and irreplaceable. One fan expressed their frustration, stating:

“I have a lot of respect for artists' wishes for their work so I understand why Donald would want to remove it. However, I don't like the fact that when he removed it we lost something. If Atavista was just 3.15.20 plus some songs then I wouldn't mind so much, but shock is gone now and so are all the sweet transitions on the original album. I'm disappointed that this is the route he went but it's his work so he gets to do what he wants even if we disagree. That album will always be very special to me, so the fact that it's just gone is incredibly frustrating. But it's whatever, that's why God created local files 🙏” — Mismo

Another fan noted the inconsistency across streaming platforms:

"I think it's kinda cheese that Tidal and YouTube still have the DGP version, and Spotify doesn't."— Djmakproto

One of the most insightful claims was from /u/rocker2014 on Reddit:

Streaming is convenient, cheap, and has become the norm in modern culture. But you don't own anything you stream. Just like Donald did with this album, any artist can remove their music at any moment. You kind of consent to this by not actually owning any of it.

I bought 3.15.20 on iTunes when it came out. So I can now listen to both 3.15.20 and Atavista whenever I want. I have it uploaded into my YouTube Music app so I can stream it and have the digital copies on a hard drive so I'll never lose them.

And not only that, but artists get very little money from streaming. They get much more from you buying their music.

Even though it seems antiquated, buying music is the better way to support artists and retain ownership of the music you purchase. Buy the vinyl, buy the CD, the digital download, the cassette, whatever your preferred format is. Support the artist and own the music.

Digital Ownership in Streaming

Purchasing media used to imply that we owned it outright. While you were legally bound not to reproduce or share the work with others, it was still yours to keep and manipulate as you saw fit. However, with the rise of digital platforms, the concept of ownership has changed.

When we subscribe to streaming services and register with digital stores like Steam, the App Store, Epic Games, or Google Play, we access vast libraries of content—some of which we can purchase and some of which we can download or stream for free. The caveat to these digital platforms is that we own nothing. Even ‘purchased’ items are merely licenses to access said digital content.

Music streaming platforms operate similarly. Although they’ve revolutionized how we consume music, they’ve also shifted ownership from physical media to digital access. Streaming merely grants temporary rights to content hosted by the service. Even when media is downloaded for offline listening, they remain tied to the streaming service through DRM. Furthermore, this content can be changed, removed, or added as seen with Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” and Childish Gambino’s “3.15.20.”

For this reason, physical copies of media such as CDs, vinyl records, and video games are resurgent. Physical media provides users with complete control over their library. Even digital ‘purchases’ from platforms like iTunes are only partially safe. Apple allows providers to offer and remove items from the store at their discretion, meaning you can only re-download your purchases if they are available in the store. Once the provider has removed it, not even Apple can provide it again.

In the case of the PlayStation Store, “P.T.,” a highly acclaimed demo developed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, was removed. After its removal, users who had downloaded it could not re-download the demo, leading to PlayStation consoles with “P.T.” installed being sold at a premium on websites such as Ebay and Facebook Marketplace.

As we delve into the implications of digital ownership, it’s crucial to consider the balance between experience and convenience, which will be the focus of the next article. The implications of streaming go far beyond being ‘well-informed’ about our relationship with digital media—as streaming affects artists just as much [if not more] than consumers.

This is our first guest article at CTRL+POUR—and it won’t be our last!

Author’s Note: Throughout this article, “robusta” is a broad term referring to Cafea Canephora, akin to how “coffee” relates often broadly to Coffea Arabica.

Understanding Coffea

There are two major categories that divide coffee: Canephora (Robusta) and Arabica. Smooth, complex flavors characterize arabica beans, which growers typically cultivate at higher elevations. They are also more susceptible to pests and diseases, which generally them more expensive to produce.

On the other hand, robusta beans exhibit a more robust, “bitter”1 flavor profile and farmers often cultivate them at lower elevations. They’re also more resistant to pests and diseases, making cultivating them more accessible and cheaper (in theory).

A New Narrative

The narrative of robusta hinges on its ability to be a sustainable alternative to arabica amidst ongoing climate change. While sustainability is necessary, we must give more credence to the farmers, Q-graders, and everyone else in the supply chain by valuing it as a product based on the merit of its taste, not its durability.

Statistically speaking, the average US-based coffee professional has tasted hundreds (if not thousands) of different coffees, depending on their role and time in the industry. For the sake of this article, Aireus performed a broad survey among coffee professionals to determine the amount of robusta they have consumed throughout their careers.

We asked five different coffee professionals two distinct questions. Each of these five individuals has varying amounts of expertise in the industry, so we like to think we captured the essence of the industry at large;

1. How many coffees have you tasted?

2. How many of those were robusta?

On average, these professionals have tasted approximately 718 Arabica coffees and about 10 Robusta coffees each. This means robusta makes up approximately 1.33% of the total coffees tasted by the surveyed coffee professionals.

Beyond this small anecdotal study, I looked into the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) for more data. There are 9081 Q-Graders for Arabica and 592 Q-Graders for Robusta, meaning robusta Q-graders make up only 6.12% of all total Q-graders.

Maya’s Journey

Before delving into robusta in 2019, I distinctly recall the two times I’d tried it: once on drip at The Lab at Royal NY and once as espresso at a cafe I managed. Both times, I recoiled at the thought of drinking it again—it reminded me of burnt tires.

Thankfully, a lot has changed since then. There’s been much more accessible, higher-quality robusta coffee in the United States.

Before deciding to compete with an anaerobic2 robusta in the 2023 US Barista Championship, I had only experienced tasting and preparing robusta a handful of times. Based on my experiences, the anaerobic process, when applied to robusta, could develop a heightened faux acidity on the palate. 

I intended to use Nguyen Coffee Supply’s Anaerobic Robusta for the USBC nationals to make robusta more approachable to the arabica-centric palates that represented the main stage. While preparing for the competitive season, I discovered that everything I knew about robusta was challenged. Throughout the process, I had to unlearn and relearn different principles, as most of what I’d learned in the industry was misinformation based on deep-rooted practices.

My House, My Rules;
New Beans, New Tools

Since then, I’ve focused on seeking fine robusta3 and sharing it with as many people as possible. While doing so, it is essential to establish resources to support education around robusta.

With that, I need to be blunt. The tools we’ve been given to evaluate coffee as a whole (flavor wheel, elevation chart, brewing chart, etc.) have all been centered on arabica, making it incredibly difficult to standardize practices specifically for robusta.

Though I understand why this is, I can’t help but feel frustrated. Writing off robusta is one of the most close-minded things the specialty coffee scene has done. Elitism against robusta is so deep-rooted that packaging around the world boasts “100% Arabica” to imply inherent value. For years, we have built the false narrative that arabica has the potential to be specialty coffee and robusta does not. As such, seeing that narrative crack has been encouraging. Over the past few years, we’ve seen more fine robusta pop up in the specialty coffee scene as coffee professionals and consumers recognize robusta has its place in our industry.

When I think about specialty coffee, one thing I think about is all the little details that people put into serving it. It’s not only the coffee that’s special; it’s the experience as well. Then I think about how robusta has been presented to curious baristas in the past. How have we set their expectations? How do those expectations affect the way they experience the coffee?

It has become clear that, alongside the growth of the fine robusta market, coffee professionals must learn how to properly evaluate, roast, and brew this species of coffee.

Speaking from personal experience, it’s tough to forget everything you know about brewing arabica and start from scratch with robusta. My best recommendations (after a lot of trial and error, with help from many friends) are as follows (in no particular order):

• Grind finer than you think you need to. I have consistently had issues on the USBC stage with grinders being incapable of grinding my coffee fine enough to taste the way I wanted it to (oddly, this has not been an issue in my cafe).4

• Lower the temperature of your water by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit, or between 5 and 6 degrees Celsius.

• For roasting, do a faster roast at a lower temperature and roast lighter. Don’t fret if the exact end temperature on a robusta appears much lighter than it would on an arabica—this is normal!

• Longer degassing times can yield incredible results, so let your coffee age significantly.

There is something freeing about learning almost solely through experimentation and firsthand sensory experiences, but it is also a long and challenging process. Hopefully this article and these tips will empower you to utilize robusta in your home or cafe!

To help you further, here’s a brief (and certainly not exhaustive) guide on where to order fine robusta: Paradise Coffee Roasters, New Math, Nguyen Coffee Supply, Portland Ca Phe, Kawa Moka, Nam Coffee, Caffe Ibis, Vietnam Ca Phe Project, Suedhang Coffee, Uncommon Coffee, Rabbit Hole Roasters and FAT MIILK.

Palestinians, indigenous to the Palestine/Israel region alongside Jews, trace their lineage back to the ancient Canaanites, the region’s original inhabitants. Genetic studies confirm this shared heritage, even as centuries of religious conversions and cultural shifts have shaped Palestinian identity.

Initially practicing Judaism, many Palestinians converted to Christianity and later to Islam, all while adopting aspects of Arab culture through a process called Arabization. This transformation, however, did not alter their ethnic roots or their deep connection to the land. The Palestinian coffee culture, which evolved over centuries through Bedouin traditions and Ottoman influences, reflects this enduring heritage.

Amidst the history of colonialism, displacement, and conflict, coffee has remained a powerful symbol of hospitality, resistance, and identity, as vividly captured in the works of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Darwish’s verses highlight the resilience of the Palestinian spirit, even as their collective memory faces systematic erasure. The story of Palestinian coffee culture, intertwined with the nation’s complex history, reflects a narrative of persistence, belonging, and a longing for freedom.

Pre-Ottoman (Pre-1516)

Coffee’s history is murky, much like the ichor itself. Before its consumption as a beverage, nomadic mountain warriors of the Galla tribe used coffee in Ethiopia, where the plant is indigenous. Initially consumed as food between 575 and 850 C.E, beans of the cherry were crushed into balls of animal fat and eaten. While some historians date coffee’s first cultivation to 575 C.E in Yemen, the bean was first described by Arabian philosopher and astronomer Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes) between 850-922 C.E for its medicinal usage, then later by Ibn Sina (Avicenna).1

Coffee’s consumption as a beverage is attributed to the Sufis of Yemen, who utilized it during their nightly rituals, or dhikr. By the 15th century (1401-1500)2, the monks would craft a drink called qahwa. Originally qahwa was derived from khat — yet another plant native to Ethiopia. After the discovery of coffee, the khat was replaced by qishr, a drink made from the pulp of fermented coffee cherries.3

Historical records trace Palestinian coffee culture to the Bedouins, nomadic Arab tribes who roamed across Arabia, including Palestine. These tribes prepared their ‘qahwah sadah’ (plain coffee) by flame-roasting beans and grinding them with a mortar and pestle. The freshly ground coffee was brewed in a dallah (an Arabic coffee pot) with water and often cardamom, producing a rich, aromatic beverage.

Serving coffee is a sign of hospitality in Bedouin and other Arab cultures. Guests were typically offered one to three small cups, each partially filled. After the last cup, guests would say “daymen,” a polite gesture meaning “always,” implying, “May you always have the means to serve coffee.”

Being nomadic, the Bedouin’s had undeniably come across coffee prior to it’s spread throughout the Levant, as by 1414 the plant was known in Mecca, and was spreading to the Mameluke Sultanate of Egypt by the 1500s by way of trade and Islamic practice.

Ottoman Period (1516—1880)

After Yavuz Sultan Selim of the Ottoman Empire defeated the Mamluk ruler, Kansu Gavri in the Battle of Marj Dabiq, Syria and Palestine to joined the Ottoman lands. With their conquest—they also brought their coffee culture. Within the Ottoman Empire, coffee grew beyond its Islamic roots, no longer being solely affiliated with religious practices. Instead, it became a social venture akin to what we see in modern-day society. In addition to the Arabic dallah, the Ottomans used the cevze/ibrik to prepare coffee.

Though the first coffee houses appeared in Damascus, Ottoman coffeehouses also sprouted up in Mecca and the rest of the Arabian peninsula before finally landing in Istanbul and Baghdad. During the Ottoman occupation, the ministers of Istanbul built cafes at their own expense in the countries under their control to benefit from the rental allowances. The governor of Baghdad (Sinan Pasha), known as (Gala Zada), commissioned the architect (Proizaga) to build a cafe for him in one of the shops of Baghdad, and the cafe (Khan al-Kumark) was built in (1590 AD). This cafe is the first cafe built in the capital, Baghdad.4

Author’s Note: I did not write this following section. See footnotes for attribution.56

As much as coffee was liked and accepted by the citizens during the Ottoman Empire, it was punitively criticized by the Sultan leaders who considered it a substance causing opposition at the coffeehouses in Istanbul. Coffee drinkers were frequently known as dissident to the empire which ruled much of the Mediterranean. 

By the 16th century, the commoners where the Ottoman Empire reigned had taken a liking to the beverage, and the first coffeehouses were opened in the 1550s. The coffeehouses became a place where people gathered to exchange ideas and debate freely with out fear of the Sultans. After the assassination of Osman II in 1622, his brother Murad IV became ruler from 1623 to 1640.In 1633, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV cracked down on a practice he believed was provoking social decay and disunity in his capital of Istanbul. The risk of disorder associated with this practice were so dire, he apparently thought, that he declared transgressors should be immediately put to death. By some accounts, Murad IV stalked the streets of Istanbul in disguise, whipping out a 100-pound broadsword to decapitate whomever he found engaged in this illicit activity.

Murad IV never banned coffee wholesale. He just went after coffeehouses, and only in the capital, where a janissary uprising would pose the most risk to his rule. Murad IV kept on drinking coffee—and liquor—himself, and tolerated consumption so long as it occurred in socially homogeneous households.

The Sultan’s successors continued his policies, to greater or lesser degrees. By the mid-1650s, over a decade after Murad IV’s death, Çelebi wrote that Istanbul’s coffeehouses were still “as desolate as the heart of the ignorant.” Although by that time a first coffee drinking offense resulted in just a beating; only a second offense would get a coffee drinker sewn into a bag and thrown into the Bosporus. But coffee culture survived in the background, and popped right back under more lax or unconcerned rulers later in the century.

Post-Ottoman

Starting in 1880, over 25,000 Jews immigrated en masse from mostly Europe, to Palestine in what would be called the ‘Aliyah(s)’7. Seeking an escape from the Pogroms8 in Russia, this immigration was based on a Jewish national movement would eventually develop into the Zionist movement9. The World Zionist Organization, established by Theodor Herzl in 1897, declared that the aim of Zionism was to establish “a national home for the Jewish people secured by public law.”10

Ultimately the politics of Zionism was influenced by nationalist ideology, and by colonial ideas about Europeans’ rights to claim and settle other parts of the world. In this context, the aforementioned claim of ‘colonization’ is in-reference to the Balfour Declaration of November 2nd, 1917, in-which the government of Great Britain announced its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, to which was land that it did not own11. Furthermore, The declaration specifically stipulated that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”

Britain wouldn’t govern Palestine until the League of Nations granted them the ‘Mandate of Palestine’ five years later, in 1922.12

It should also be noted that in July of 1915, the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence states that the Government of the United Kingdom agreed to recognize Arab independence in a large region after the war in exchange for the Sharif of Mecca launching the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.13 Britain walked back on this promise in the Skies-Picot agreement (1916), a secret plan with the French that divided the Middle East between the two countries after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. This resulted in the creation of the British Mandate of Palestine, which existed between 1919-48.14

Tensions rose between Arab Palestinians and the Jewish immigrants. Between 1920-1936, a series of protests-turned riots broke out across the land. Included in this, was The Great Palestinian Revolt (Thawrat Filastin al-Kubra). All together, these conflicts led to the deaths of tens-of-thousands of Arabs, and thousands of Jews alike. These conflicts then boiled over into a civil war based off of the United Nations’ Partition Plan for Palestine, also known as Resolution 181 (II) of 1947.15

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine would be a two-state solution that would give the Arab state 42% of the territory, the Jewish state 56%, with the remaining 2% being an international zone that encompassed Jerusalem and Bethlehem.1617

As of 1944, there were roughly 1,061,277 Arabs, and 528,702 Jews, meaning 30% of the population would receive a majority of the land over the Arabs, who made up 60% of the population.18

The Jewish Agency for Palestine, later known as the Jewish Agency for Israel, accepted the partition plan, although the percentage wasn’t nearly as large as they’d hoped, as cited in a letter Ben-Gurion (head of the aforementioned executive committee of the Jewish Agency) wrote to his son:

Does the establishment of a Jewish state [in only part of Palestine] advance or retard the conversion of this country into a Jewish country? My assumption (which is why I am a fervent proponent of a state, even though it is now linked to partition) is that a Jewish state on only part of the land is not the end but the beginning.... This is because this increase in possession is of consequence not only in itself, but because through it we increase our strength, and every increase in strength helps in the possession of the land as a whole. The establishment of a state, even if only on a portion of the land, is the maximal reinforcement of our strength at the present time and a powerful boost to our historical endeavors to liberate the entire country.

[…]On the other hand there are fundamental [emphasis original] historical truths, unalterable as long as Zionism is not fully realized. These are:

1) The pressure of the Exile, which continues to push the Jews with propulsive force towards the country

2) Palestine is grossly under populated. It contains vast colonization potential which the Arabs neither need nor are qualified (because of their lack of need) to exploit. There is no Arab immigration problem. There is no Arab exile. Arabs are not persecuted. They have a homeland, and it is vast.

3) The innovative talents of the Jews (a consequence of point 1 above), their ability to make the desert bloom, to create industry, to build an economy, to develop culture, to conquer the sea and space with the help of science and pioneering endeavor.19

The Palestinian Arab leadership including the Arab Higher Committee and the Arab League, boycotted it the partition entirely—arguing that it was unjust because Arabs formed a two-thirds majority and already owned most of the land. Declaring their intent to prevent the plan's implementation, their rejection led to a civil war in Palestine as Israel declared their independence, which would then turn into the greater 1947–1949 Palestine war.

1947–1949 Palestine War and the Nakba

Amid the 1947-1949 war was the 1948 ethnic cleansing known as the Nakba, or ‘catastrophe’ in Arabic. During the Nakba, over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced, and hundreds of towns and villages were depopulated and destroyed by Israel. This mass exodus was accompanied by a systematic erasure of Palestinian identity and culture, leading to a shift in Palestinian coffee culture to an Israeli focus.

By the start of the Nakba, the coffee culture in Palestine had started to change. While Arabic and Turkish preparations methods were still prominent, the Jews that immigrated from Europe brought with them European-style brewing, which included the usage of kettles and filters.

Over the course of the war, Israel replaced over a thousand historic Palestinian place names with Hebrew names, some of which were derived from the original names, while others were completely new inventions. The destruction of non-Jewish historical sites further pushed this cultural cleansing, with over 80% of mosques being destroyed. In this destruction included several of the first cafes in the region, some of which had been around since the days of the Ottoman Empire.

For this reason, Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, utilizes the concepts of tangible memory, nostalgia, and coffee in his literary work, representing a memory of Palestinian life before the Israeli occupation. During the Nakba, Darwish's family fled their home in al-Birwa to Lebanon, but when they returned a year later, the village had been razed and replaced by two settlements. Since Darwish had not been present for the first Israeli census, he was labeled a "present absentee"—a non-citizen Arab subject to military rule.

In the 1960s, Darwish became part of a generation of resistance poets (šuʿarāʾ al-muqāwama), who broke with tradition to develop a politically committed style of Arabic poetry. His breakthrough poem, Biṭāqat huwīya (Identity Card), captured the Palestinian plight and warned the Israeli government of growing anger amidst a population under occupation.

In his poem Arba'at 'anawīn shakhsiyya - Mītr murabba' fi-l sijn (Four Personal Addresses - One Square Meter of Prison), Mahmoud Darwishn stresses a sense of longing for his native village, using the aromatics of coffee to transport himself and the reader to a world that has been lost,

Amid the systematic erasure of Palestinian identity and culture following the Nakba, Darwish's use of tangible memory and nostalgia serves as an act of resistance. By drawing on symbols like coffee, he reconstructs a collective memory that connects Palestinians to their heritage and the lives they once knew.

What is Collective Memory?

Collective memory refers to the shared memories, knowledge, and traditions within a social group that significantly shape its identity. It encompasses the profound stories of past events, such as the Nakba, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and The Holocaust, as well as daily cultural practices, like a ritual of coffee preparation. More than just historical remnants, these shared memories influence the group’s present perspectives and future aspirations.

In Palestinian culture, collective memory is a vital link to experiences of displacement, resistance, and resilience. Stories, rituals, and symbols such as the keffiyeh in the Palestinian culture continuously nourish collective memory, playing a role in building community and sustaining cultural identity.

In Memory for Forgetfulness, Mahmoud Darwish recounts the relentless bombing during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The sea, filled with an enemy fleet, transforms into "one of the fountainheads of hell." Despite the devastation around him, Darwish expresses a compelling need to reach the kitchen and make his coffee. A glass partition separates the bedroom from the kitchen, which is exposed to fire from bombers and snipers. Every time he wants to make coffee, he has to account for the risk to his life.

In Memory for Forgetfulness, Darwish conveys an almost manic desire for his cup of coffee, even if it means putting his life at risk. Coffee is no longer just a gateway to the collective memory of pre-colonized Palestine; it also embodies hope, nationalism, and liberation under occupation.

If you’re gonna debate in my DMs or comment section, please start your sentence off with ‘Pumpkin’ so I know you read the entirety of the article. Normal readers, please ignore this sentence and continue! :^)

Coffee has long been exploited as a commodity under colonial rule. Baristas are underpaid and mistreated, while coffee producers suffer even more. Although coffee is synonymous with liberation, it is also intertwined with the suffering endured during the fight for freedom. At what cost should Israel exist? How much suffering, bloodshed, and generational trauma must the Levant inherit by its native peoples?

The unjust treatment of the Palestinians has become a collective memory of the subjugated and the oppressed—one that isn’t going anyway anytime soon.

Free Palestine.

Footnotes/Glossary: Please take the time to read Ayesha Kuwari’s work on the subject, to which much the latter half of this article was inspired by.

The sources are all live. Currently finding a way to source all of them consistently..

Hip-Hop and R&B, combined, represent the most popular genre(s) of music in the United States. With a total volume of 27.7%, the duo are topping the charts. Being a genre often-defined by spoken-word, hip-hop finds itself being the written expression of a growing culture. Under the banner of hip-hop, nothing is sacred—and [almost] everything is permitted. Topics such as body dismorphia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicide, depression, political corruption and even climate change all lend themselves to hip-hop’s scope of self-expression. However, one cannot consider hip-hop progressive without also reflecting upon the negativity that hip-hop allows. Misogyny, ableism, homophobia, sexual assault, murder, and drug trafficking are topics that most critics chastise when discussing the genre(s) at large.

Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera is the most notorious (not the B.I.G.gest) critic of Hip-Hop. Regarding Kendrick Lamar’s BET Awards Performance of the Grammy-Award-winning song “Alright”, Rivera said:

“This is why I say that hip-hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism in recent years. This is exactly the wrong message.” -Rivera

Is Rivera correct? Though his comment was in response to the lyric; “And we hate po-po / Wanna kill us dead in the street, fo sho.” Rivera may otherwise have a point. What if the commercialization of Hip-Hop is establishing a self-perpetuating cycle of violence and drug abuse that leads African Americans and minorities down a path of destruction and chaos? What if this music meant for self-expression is, in fact, the catalyst that breeds racism?

Consequently, numerous experts find that their research might correlate with this theory by providing evidence that some of Hip-hop’s more suggestive themes negatively impact the behavior of its listeners. For example, according to a series of experiments by Craig Anderson and his colleagues of the American Psychological Association (APA), those who listen to violent music show increased levels of aggression in the short term, with long-term effects being undetermined.

“One of these experiments hosted by Anderson and his colleagues asked over 500 college students to listen to such violent songs as “Shoot ’Em Up” by Cypress Hill and “Hit ’Em Hard” by Run DMC, and such nonviolent songs as “Finger Lickin’ Good” by the Beastie Boys and “Love vs. Loneliness” by the Suicidal Tendencies. Researchers also included the lyrics of humorous, violent, and nonviolent songs like “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash and “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh” by Allan Sherman.

After listening to the songs, the students performed various word-association tasks to test whether they linked more non-aggressive words with aggressive words or completed incomplete words to form aggressive words. They also reported their feelings of hostility as measured by the ‘State Hostility Scale’, ranking sentences based on their emotions after hearing the songs.

The results for the students indicate a relationship between violent song lyrics and increased aggressive thoughts and feelings of hostility. According to Anderson, humorous, violent songs also increased aggression levels relative to humorous nonviolent songs. The findings held even after the researchers controlled for the listeners’ gender and personality differences and their reactions to the different performing artists and musical styles.”

This style of study is pertinent, as it challenges the idea of the Greek Catharsis Hypothesis, which suggests that pent-up emotions, anger, and frustrations can be purged by expressing one’s feelings through aggressive lyricism.

Tyler, The Creator

Before hosting his festival, Camp Flog Gnaw inside Dodger Stadium and securing two of his own fashion lines, Golf Wang & Golf Le Fleur, Tyler, The Creator was a foul-mouth rapper known for brutalist punchlines that held no regard for the feelings or emotions of anyone or anything; himself included.

In his debut mixtape, “Bastard”, an eighteen-year-old Tyler describes his upbringing through a harangue of verses that are everything but nonviolent. The titular track Bastard directly references self-harm and Tyler’s suicidal thoughts that hinge on the impulsive urges he’s feeling. Darker thoughts and brooding fantasies loom across Bastard, but none stand out like the opening lines to the song AssMilk. Fellow Rapper, Earl Sweatshirt along with Tyler, spits these series of verses:

Uh, addicts arise when I arrive
In this cracked crack fag back slab in disguise
Fat sack of knives in the passenger side 
Bitch, reach for the door, get your access denied
I’m not an asshole, I just don’t give a fuck a lot
The only time I do is when a bitch is screaming “Tyler, stop!”…
To have a bitch ready to stab a clit with some glass and shit
Your whole gang’ll be diminished, bunch got the Brady’s in it
Spit sick shit like my saliva got the rabies in it
Fuck rap, I’ll be a landlord so I can rape the tenant’s daughter
Leave my house with a new stomach, and a baby in it

Through these lyrics, alongside other cases, Tyler, The Creator, was banned from touring the United Kingdom by then-home secretary Theresa May. Her reasoning?

Tyler was inciting terrorism. While far-fetched, digging deeper into Tyler, The Creator’s discography provides some enlightening details to her reasoning. In his debut album, Goblin, the song Radicals, has the following lyrics that repeat throughout the entirety of the chorus:

Kill people, burn shit, fuck school
I’m fucking radical, nigga
I’m fucking radical

In the wake of America’s lax gun control and yearly mass shootings, it was almost too easy to blame the artist — even more so when several students worldwide have been found to have written these same lyrics in schools (Fitzmaurice; Kent; Milwaukee; Kochhar and Sechopoulos).

Even Hip-Hop’s artists have a level of self-realization regarding the genre. Multi-hyphenate Donald Glover, who performs under the moniker Childish Gambino, said to the New Yorker:

“Y’all are forgetting what rap is. Rap is ‘I don’t care what you think in society, wagging your finger at me for calling women “bitches” — when, for you to have two cars, I have to live in the projects.” (Friend and Glover)

For greater context, Glover says this about the story of Tay-K, a rapper who was found guilty of murder for his involvement in a home invasion that occurred in 2016. At the time of the murder, Tay-K was only sixteen.

Numerous lyrics illustrate the environments and scenarios that have produced some of the industry’s most recognizable stars. However, with 37 million Americans living in poverty — a number that’s only increasing, it’s easy to understand how Hip-Hop/R&B has become so popular amongst a shrinking middle class. A little over eleven percent [11%] of America’s population sits below the federal poverty line, and as that number grows, the artistic expression — No, the reality of Hip-Hop culture becomes ever the more so real to the lives of many across America.

When Hip-Hop is juxtaposed with [and in] the forefront of White America, specifically middle-class, the ‘struggle’ adjacent trauma of White America aligns with that of the Hip-Hop/R&B artist(s) they might listen to. While the collar worker is not trapping out of a Fortune 500 company, they still struggle, even if in a different, far-removed way from that of Chief Keef and Pop Smoke. It is here that we understand that Hip-Hop is entertainment to some; while also being a mirror that reflects the realities of others. While sometimes these realities are emphasized and extrapolated for entertainment, that does not make them any less real. These struggles that are reiterated in Hip-Hop often appeal to the struggling culture of Americans that live in a capitalistic society but still live paycheck to paycheck; a statistic that fits a baffling two-thirds of the American population, or roughly 153 million.

However, if most of us are struggling — why do critics such as Geraldo Rivera and Bill O’Reilly condemn Hip-Hop and its culture with such animosity that it may be perceived as anti-blackness?

Circling back to Rivera’s early statements regarding the Pultizer-Prize-winning artist Kendrick Lamar’s work begs the question; If Hip-Hop is damaging, can Hip-Hop also be healing?

Kendrick Lamar’s latest album, “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers,” tackles this question. With every bar comes a realization, a self-reflective plea for help. Kendrick addresses the lifestyle and period he grew up in and how he has grown to heal from it. In a culture where masculinity is prime, an artist like Kendrick Lamar being vulnerable about his mental health and his need to see a therapist is an eye-opening move that leans to shift the trajectory of hip-hop. However, Kendrick isn’t alone in this. Many artists have released self-reflective albums that openly discuss trauma and healing from it—though, they’re not all as transparent and accessible as “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers”.

Throughout the album “Donda” by Kanye West, the artist references the trauma of losing his mother and how his growth from it has made him want to be a better father to his children. In-fact, most of Ye’s earlier work up until Yeezus had dealt with different levels of self-reflection, and included critiques of materialism, capitalism, fame, and its impacts on the black community.

The late Mac Miller’s final projects, “Swimming” and “Circles” are melancholic pieces that examine the highs and lows of Mac Miller’s life and reflective thoughts. Works by Lupe Fiasco such as “Tetsuo & Youth” and “3.15.20” by Childish Gambino are both reflective albums and self-accepting in their regards.

Lastly, Igor by Tyler, the Creator is an album worth focusing on. If one recalls, Tyler, the Creator, is the artist mentioned earlier for his vitriol lyricism in his projects, “Bastard” and “Goblin”. He has since released his fifth studio album, Igor.

The lore of Igor tells the story of Tyler struggling to handle love — and the trauma that comes with being left in a relationship. Throughout the album, he explores several stages of life, going from the stages of puppy love to the inevitable death of the relationship as Tyler comes to terms with the fact that his lover is now his ex-lover. Being an ex, Tyler sits with his feelings, doing his best to maintain a stable friendship with his former lover while still grieving through the state of trauma that the break-up has left him in. This album shows a significant growth in maturity from Tyler, who has had most of his projects since Goblin. While sonically pleasing, do Igor and the various albums mentioned above provide listeners with a form of therapeutic emotional release?

“Over the past decade, music therapy has emerged as a creative art form used to address stress and cope with trauma survivors. In a case study of 8–11-year-old children who had survived a tornado in the Southeastern United States, for example, music was used to assist the children in expressing feelings and to help them transition back to school (Garrido). The children created a musical composition based on their feelings about the tornado, enabling them to acknowledge and process their emotions in a healthy and healing way. While the effectiveness of music therapy and other arts programs have been clearly demonstrated in the literature, and individual therapists are themselves highly aware of the way in which the programs affect participants as individuals, clear experimental evidence that demonstrates the mechanisms at work and the influence of differences in personality and coping style, is currently lacking. There is little understanding of which elements of these programs are crucial to their effectiveness. Do creative activities such as songwriting, for example, confer benefits superior to comparatively passive activities such as reading? Do group activities confer greater benefits than solitary activities? Are the lyrics of the music involved more important than the acoustic features? Or is the effect of music a synergy between these elements? Do the benefits of musical activities, in fact, outweigh those of other art therapies? Or, do the benefits of various types of engagement with the arts differ depending on various factors in relation to the individual involved?”

The answers to these questions are crucial, given the increasing numbers of arts programs that are emerging in the wake of traumatic events around the world (Garrido). Questions left unanswered by the article amend themselves through anecdotal social media posts. Fans often articulate their love for an artist and their musical compositions through TikTok, Twitter, and other social media platforms. The connection between artists, their music, and shared trauma is inevitable. With these statements made, we find ourselves questioning the narrative at large. Reports from both sides state opposite, opposing factors; Hip-Hop is damaging, and Hip-Hop can forge a bond between listener and artist; one that can lead to one working through their traumas.

There is no ‘right’ answer. The evidence just isn’t substantial enough to support either argument having a greater advantage. One thing is true however; the perception of violent lyricism through the veil of a black man is going to be accepted as more violent than that of a white male repeating the same lyrics, leading to harsher criticisms of hip-hop and its surrounding culture.

Earlier in this paper, the song “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash was referenced. Craig Anderson used it as one of the songs in his research for determining the effects of violent lyricism upon the listener, and whether the level of aggression within the listener would increase because of these lyrics.

More recently, the “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash was utilized in a case with the rapper NBA Young Boy. Defense lawyers cited Cash’s ballad, “A Boy Named Sue,” which is about a father who abandons his son but gives the lad a girl’s name to toughen him up. The ballad ends with Sue, as an adult, rediscovering his father in “an old saloon on a street of mud” in Gatlinburg and fighting him. (Advocate)

“Lawyers for YoungBoy, recognizing America’s anti-blackness, and stigmatization of black culture, successfully argued that a jury might hold the rapper in a negative light because people react more negatively to violent lyrics if they believe they are from rap songs rather than from other music genres, like country. They cited a 2017 dissertation by Adam Dunham at the University of California-Irvine that included a look at Johnny Cash’s 1969 hit.”

“Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes, And he went down, but to my surprise, He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear,” Cash wrote. “But I busted a chair right across his teeth, And we crashed through the wall and into the street, Kicking and a’ gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.”

Study participants not familiar with the song previously perceived it more negatively when told it was from the rap genre. Those told it was a country song were less offended (Advocate).

The problem lies in the fact that Hip-Hop/R&B is often consumed and presented in such a way that it allows the narrative of America to legitimatize and maintain perspectives that align themselves with anti-blackness. This shows itself through the criminal justice system, where courts are attempting to quantize a rapper’s life by using their lyrics as fact during trials. This was present in the NBA YoungBoy trial, as well as countless others. While many rappers do utilize rap was a way to brag and take historical account of their gang-related activity, many rappers hold themselves as storytellers that speak on the life around them. For example, in the song “Gang Related”, Logic raps from his brother’s perspective, detailing the life that raised both men. This is a song that criticizes the system, while taking note of the gang activities that surround Maryland, where Logic and his family grew up. Even more directly, Nas takes on the persona of a physical gun in the song “I Gave You Power”, thus further dismissing the idea that rap lyrics should be presented as evidence in court.

The line between the culture of hip-hop and the perception of black culture in America is very thin. In many scenarios, taking the stance of being anti-rap, or “anti-hip hop” can almost be equated to being anti-black. While the two are closely related, they are not equivalent. Hip hop is black culture—but black culture cannot be watered down to being exclusively hip hop and associated genres. Furthermore, the expansion of White-American culture into Hip-Hop further dilutes the messaging. That said, one can be critical of hip hop (and truthfully—not a fan of it) while also being accepting of the facets of culture that hip hop derives itself from (or vice versa).

Earlier I begged the question as to whether Hip-Hop was the cause of racism itself, through its vulgar motifs and glorification of unsavory topics. In short, the answer to this question is no, it does not. While yes it can aid in building the problem, it itself isn’t the source. This brings forth one train of thought: America doesn’t have an anti-hip-hop problem, America has an anti-black problem.

Those that are the most critical of hip-hop/R&B use the music as a gateway to criticize black culture as a whole without being labeled as racist or prejudice. Unfortunately, this stigma further diminishes and separates black communities into different identities [and spaces] that develop their own gatekeeping standards that are reflective of the cultural colourism that was established during early America’s slave-ridden colonial period. This trend is dangerous, as we [black people] become inclusive to only a particular ‘type’ or ‘level’ of blackness that fits our own narrative of what black culture—that of which has been beaten, molded, and formed by constant reaffirmation of anti-black practices through the guise of hip-hop criticisms.

Dunbar articulates my feelings in these final paragraphs:

“The belief that rap music is strongly associated with crime also influences approaches towards crime control. For example, Dabney, Teasdale, Ishoy, Gann, and Berry explored how appearance characteristics associated with rap music (e.g., braids, wearing sagging pants, and having artificial gold teeth) inform police arrest decisions. After analyzing 934 police–citizen interactions, Dabney and his colleagues found that citizens displaying appearance characteristics associated with rap music were three times more likely to be arrested than not be arrested, even when controlling for relevant legal factors (e.g., suspect demeanor, priors, and seriousness of the offense). In a similar vein, research has revealed that negative attitudes about rap music predict increased support for punitive criminal justice policies more broadly and result in less empathetic judgments towards Black victims.”

“One thing to note from this study, is the influence that black culture has on Hip-hop culture. Hip-Hop is pulled from black-culture, not vice-versa, therefore by targeting black men that have braids — a hairstyle as common as the pompadour, you’re targeting them for a part of their culture, as opposed to targeting them for their association to Hip-Hop stereotypes. Through this, Hip-Hop and its surrounding culture acts as a proxy of sorts, for anti-blackness. By disliking Hip-Hop, individuals are allowed to critisize black people without being seen as prejudice, since their focus is upon Hip-Hop, and not black people themselves. Bonilla-Silva explains that “racism in the United Stated is now characterized by subtle, institutionalized, and seemingly non-racial practices and mechanisms to reproduce racial inequality” Relatedly, Bobo describes contemporary attitudes about race as laissez-faire racism or a more covert, culture-centered racist ideology. Both of these arguments, which have been echoed by numerous other scholars, highlight how opposition to cultural affectations and traditions is used to maintain a racial hierarchy.”

Addendum (5.11.2024)

Discussions surrounding hip-hop and its permeating cultures will always border broader conversations about black culture. Because of this, it is essential that we do our best to differentiate criticisms into subset categories1:

• Criticisms rooted in racial prejudice.

• Criticisms focused on the artistic and thematic & artistic elements of the culture itself.

Critiques of hip-hop can be based on various factors unrelated to implicit racial bias. These may include critiques of lyrical content, musical style, or the perceived impact of the music on society2, which do not inherently draw on or contribute to racial stereotypes. It is essential, therefore, to recognize that not all criticism of hip-hop is a veiled attack on black culture; some may reflect personal taste or a critical assessment of artistic elements.

Greater problems arise when critiques on hip hop (or black culture) come from outsiders looking in. In these instances, the critiques may use hip hop as a vehicle for exploring racial prejudice. In academia, the term is referred to as ‘cultural racism’—a form of racism that allows individuals to target cultural expressions of a racial group while ostensibly maintaining a stance against the group itself.

Because of this, we need to engage and consume arguments critically and thoughtfully. As Aristotle once said (paraphrased):

We need to seek clarity where appropriate, given each subject. For example, expecting a mathematician to be as persuasive, or communicative as a public speaker or politician—or expecting the public speaker to provide definitive proofs like that of a mathematician, is unreasonable. We are most adept at understanding and critiquing fields we are familiar with. To effectively critique a specific subject, one needs a deep education in that area; to critique a broad range of topics, one needs a comprehensive education.

The internet gifted us a level of unparalleled hyper connectivity. With this gift, we created a confluence of expertise and an internet search, where the search result is the illusion of an education.

Debating in the digital age means to explore the context of the critique, followed by the examination of the language that is being used. What is the goal—and what social narratives are being supported, or challenged based on a combination of these things?

In doing this work, we can [better] discern when a critique reflects personal taste, or if it’s symptomatic of deeper racial prejudices. Unfortunately, that means a bulk of the work is often provided by the oppressed. We find that we have to be the educators, the fact-checkers, and the editors of not only our message—but the message of the oppressors. We must not only be the gatekeepers of our own culture, but the curators of the ‘message’, gift-wrapping it and molding it so that it can be received ‘well’ by audiences everywhere, hoping we may gather more allies.

——

I would be lying if I said that the impetus behind the addendum wasn’t reflective of the Palestinian—Israeli conflict. It’s with this, that we as a society—as humans, need to be open-minded to the context in which we use words, guiding ourselves to true articulation of thought.

 Just as criticism of Israeli policies does not inherently equate to anti-Semitism, so too can criticism of hip-hop exist independently of anti-black racism. Both areas require a careful and informed analysis to avoid oversimplification and misrepresentation of the issues at hand.

Media, Evolution, and Metamodern Experiences

Media
Evolution
Metamodernism
E(χ)periences

The media landscape is oversaturated, and algorithms have run rampant, immobilizing society’s ability to think critically—and find information that exists outside ones own native-internet experience.

It’s for this reason, that we need a new way to understand, navigate, and disseminate our relationship to—and with media, both physically and digitally.

memeχ is a metamodern framework, or a "way of thinking" for media analysis and creation. memeχ proposes that culture evolves through oscillations—predictable, cyclical shifts between opposing values, such as sincerity and irony, or analog and digital. By understanding these oscillations, creators can not only predict the future—but develop media that will reach audiences in a more intentional way.

The name memeχ honors Vannevar Bush's memex—a visionary device for organizing and accessing that was explored in his essay, As We May Think (1945). Instead of a hypothetical machine, memeχ builds on the mythological device in Bush’s essay. By developing memeχ into a framework for the human experience, we can adress present and future challenges in contemporry media, including; algorithms, misinformation, deepfakes, and oversaturation of media.

First, we will exlore the foundations of memeχ through its philsophical background in metamodernism—then we will breakdown oscillations to understand the ebb-and-flow of how culture navigates ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Finally, we will provide examples of the memeχ and how it can be (and is) applied to modern-media creation and consumption.

This section provides the philsophical context and general foundation(s) for metamodernism, to which, memeχ is the application of this philosophy [metamodernism].

ii. The Philosophy of Modernism, Postmodernism, Metamodernism

The prefix meta derives from Plato’s metaxis, which describes the condition of “in-betweenness” that is one of the characteristics of being human. In particular, Plato applied it to spirituality, describing its location as being between the human and the divine. Whelan (2008) expands the notion of metaxis further, claiming that “...we humans are suspended on a web of polarities--the one and the many, eternity and time, freedom and fate, instinct and intellect, risk and safety, love and hate, to name but a few”. Metaxis has also been defined as the state of belonging completely and simultaneously to two different autonomous worlds (Linds 2006). So, the notion of humans passing through an interface between the world of ideas and the physical world is over 2,000 years old.

Modernism

Modernism emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a reaction to the changes brought about by industrialization, urbanization, and the First World War. Modernism is represented by the will to break from tradition and discover new forms of expression that were capable of capturing the reality at the time.

Modernists embodied a belief in progress, innovation, and the power of human creativity to reshape society and reveal universal truths through art.

Key Characteristics of Modernism:

1. Innovation

   • A push for new techniques and styles in art, literature, and music.

   • Examples: Stream-of-consciousness narration in literature (e.g., James Joyce) and atonality in music (e.g., Schoenberg).

2. Exploration of Form

   • A focus on the structure and medium of art itself, often resulting in abstraction and experimentation.

   • Example: Cubism in painting (e.g., Picasso) challenged traditional representations of reality.

3. The Hero’s Journey for Authenticity

   • A desire to uncover the essence of human experience, free from outdated conventions or constraints.

   • Modernists believed art could reveal universal truths about life, identity, and society.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism arose in the mid-to-late 20th century, largely in response to Modernism's perceived limitations and failures, especially in light of the horrors of World War II, which shattered Modernism’s progress in universal truths.

Postmodernists approached the world with skepticism and irony, rejecting the idea that art or philosophy could uncover a singular, objective truth. Instead, they embraced plurality, ambiguity, and relativism, viewing reality as socially constructed and inherently fragmented.

Key Characteristics of Postmodernism:

1. Skepticism and Irony

   • A critical stance toward objective knowledge, grand narratives, and cultural ideologies.

   • Example: Postmodern literature often questions reality and meaning (e.g., Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five).

2. Pastiche and Parody

   • The blending of styles, genres, and media to expose the artificiality of “reality.”

   • Example: Postmodern architecture mixes classical and modern designs without concern for coherence.

3. Rejection of Grand Narratives

   • A dismissal of overarching stories that attempt to explain history, culture, or the human condition.

   • Example: Instead of one universal truth, Postmodernism embraces multiple perspectives and interpretations.

While Modernism sought meaning and order, Postmodernism revealed the chaos, subjectivity, and contradictions of life in a fragmented world.

Metamodernism

Metamodernism, emerging in the early 21st century, can be understood as a response to Postmodernism’s skepticism and detachment. While it acknowledges the failures of grand narratives and the ambiguity of truth, Metamodernism also recognizes humanity’s renewed desire for meaning, depth, and sincerity in an increasingly complex and digital world.

Metamodernism does not reject irony or skepticism—it embraces them. However, it also allows space for hope, authenticity, and idealism to coexist. Metamodernism does not seek to find balance, but instead chooses to oscillate between the extremes of modernism and postmodernism—truth and ambiguity, irony and sincerity, optimism and despair.

Key Characteristics of Metamodernism:

1. Synthesis of Opposites

   • A movement between Modernist idealism and Postmodernist skepticism.

   • Example: Art and culture oscillating between irony and sincerity, without settling on either.

2. Informed Naivety and Pragmatic Idealism

   • A willingness to hope and dream, while fully aware of the limitations of past ideologies.

   • Metamodernism reflects a pragmatic optimism—striving for new possibilities while understanding their imperfections.

3. Dynamic Engagement

   • Instead of fixed viewpoints, Metamodernism encourages continuous growth and engagement with the world.

   • Example: The blending of nostalgia and innovation in media (e.g., the resurgence of vinyl records alongside streaming)

From Modernism to Metamodernism

To understand Metamodernism, it helps to view it [Metamodernism] as a reaction and reconciliation through time:

• Modernism sought universal truths through innovation and creativity.

• Postmodernism shattered those ideals, revealing a fractured, pluralistic reality.

• Metamodernism oscillates between these perspectives, striving to create meaning of the ‘in-betweenness’ while embracing complexity and contradiction.

Metamodern is not the end-point, instead it’s the journey between two destinations. Between point A and B, there are an infinite amount of stops, and such is metamodernism. It reflects, and measures the way humanity navigates the pendulum swing of progress and reaction—swaying between hope and doubt, tradition and innovtion, and old and new.

iii. Oscillations

The Concept

An oscillation is the movement between two points, in physics this is observed through a pendulum swinging between two extremes. The human experience is no different. Just as a pendulum swings between two extremes—so too does culture, technology, and human behavior. These cycles are often recurring, and are always predictable, as they’re the driving force of cultural evolution.

In the frame of meme_x, an oscillation is a cyclical shift in collective values and behaviors between two opposing thought-forms. These thought-forms can be physical/technological (analog vs. digital), philosophical (sincerity vs. irony), or social (community vs. individualism). It’s through identifying, and understanding why these trends emerge, that we can predict the future to understand the fundamental [media] needs of what will come.

Generations and Media: Inherited Processes

Each generation builds on its predecessor, creating a lineage of media engagement that feels almost like an inherited family trait. However, this inheritance is not passive—new generations react, reforge, and reinterpret what they receive, forming an oscilltion between the future they’re born into and the past that molded them.

Example: Growing up in the 90s/2000s might’ve meant you experienced a hybrid of portable CD players, digital music stores, and eventual smartphone streaming. Now, there’s a return to vinyl records—an oscillation between nostalgia for tangible, physical media and the convenience of digital platforms.

Vinyl presented not just a return to nostalgia but also a return to physicality and ownership, with record-digging being its own human-powered algorithm of sorts. In addition, vinyl curated its own community, and exclusivity. Vinyl (much like CDs) offered album art, producer credits, and a series of extras that are lost on digital streaming platforms.

The Pattern Repeats Itself

This same oscillating pattern appears across our culture, revealing a collective negotiation with technology and meaning:

• Photography: The revival of film cameras and the popularity of apps that create grainy, "imperfect" digital polaroids represent an oscillation between the sterile perfection of smartphone cameras and a desire for authentic, unpredictable aesthetics.

• Reading Culture: The explosive growth of #BookTok and the renewed focus on libraries showcases an oscillation between the isolating, algorithm-fed nature of social media and a sincere, community-driven celebration of physical books and shared-community within third-spaces.

• Digital Ownership: Even th rise of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) can be understood as an oscillation. It not only brings out the idea of a sacred, provable ownership and scarcity, but leans into the early internet-days of Neopets and forum-signature pets. From the physical world, it drawns upon collectibles and TCGs (Trading Card Games).

  Conclusion

By observing to become aware of these cultural pendulums, we move ourselves from being passive subjects of media trends to becoming intentional creators and consumers that understand the forces that shape our experience.

Most oscillations, can be understood as an inheritance of the past, trying to maintain, and uphold its relevancy in the present. What may be obsolete to one generation might just be essential to the next. And what was groundbreaking, may too become limiting, especially as new technology inform how we interact with media.

iv. meme_χ for dummies: a framework for creation

While memeχ can be used to analyze culture, it’s really a practical guide for creating media that resonates with audiences. Therefore, one must navigate the most critical oscillation there is: the oscillation between the creator and the consumer.

On one end, you have the Modernist Auteur—the visionary with a top-down, finished product that is uniquely theirs, delivered to a mostly passive audience. The end-product is all about the Auteur’s singular vision. Even if the audience was taken into consideration whilst being crafted, they had no hand in its construction.

The other extreme is the Postmodern Participant, where the lines between Creator, Product, and Audience are all but erased. The audience is no longer passive. Instead, it acts as a fourth-wall breaking force that reinterperets, remixes, and collaborates with the Creator and Product alike, until they [the audience] become co-creators. (Think TikTok Trends, and Twitch/Youtube Culture, specifically Mr. Beast).

This dynamic mirrors a famous concept in quantum physics: the double-slit experiment. The very act of observing [read: measuring] a particle changes its behavior; similarly, the audience's active participation fundamentally affects the art's final meaning and trajectory.

Gone is the age of the celebrity. Now is the age of the influencer/content creator. The difference between the celebrity and the influencer is that the influencer/creator today, quite literally, cannot afford to live at either extreme (Auteur, or Participant). Thus, we come to understand that meaningful art requires a tactful, purposeful sway between the Auteur’s Vision and the Audience’s Engagement1.

David Ogilvy knew this decades ago, as some of his greatest advice came not from the perspective of marketing, but empathy: “The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.”

This is a call for the creator to build a responsive relationship with their audience—to oscillate between their world and their audience's, because they exist in a shared one.

The Tastemaker, Curator, and The Experience Designer

So, how does a creative cultivate an experience that exists in this shared reality?

By adopting the mindset of a User Experience (UI/UX) Designer.

Most internet-based platforms obsess over a user’s needs and emotional responses. To understand their users, and how they interact with their platform, companies hire UI/UX designers. The goal of UI/UX is not to design an app that works ‘functionally’, but instead design an experience that is intuitive and purposeful for the intended audience. Those developing content under the context of memeχ do the same, but with culture, making them the tastemakers of culture.

Early on, we must understand that iterative development is part of the process. We must fail hard, and fail fast in our endeavors, throwing wet paper towels at a wall until one—or several, stick. This process however, isn’t to be confused with careless content creation. Instead, it’s the artist’s form of rapid prototyping. A postmodern acceptance of trial and error—failing hard, and failing fast. We can conceptualize ideas all we want, but until we put oru ideas practice, all we’re doing is thinking… About thinking.

It’s very rare that our ideas actually match what’s in our mind, and the faster we fail and the harder we fail, the faster we can learn and catch up to the vision that we have, even if that vision is technically unattainable (because in our head, the vision is ‘perfect’).

This experimental approach requires a mindset that overcomes the paralysis of perfectionism. As producer Kenny Beats advises, you sometimes have to D.O.T.S. (Don’t Over Think Shit). This mindset, although easier said than done, prioritizse action over analysis and momentum over perfection. In Silicon Valley terms, this is what one would call a "Minimum Viable Product" (MVP), with the goal to get ideas out into the shared reality where they can be tested, refined, or abandoned based on real-world feedback.

Ultimately, creating within memeχ means embracing this process:

• Holding a sincere, authentic vision (the Modernist Auteur).

• Designing an experience with deep empathy for the audience’s perspective and participation (the Postmodern Participant).

• Using iterative, human-centered methods to bridge the two (the UX Mindset).

As technology such as generative AI enter our studios and writer's rooms, this adaptive and oscillatory approach—one that blends a unique vision with a profound respect for the human experience—will become more crucial than ever for creating work that stands out as not only clever, but alive.

v. Vannevar Bush and the memex

Development

memeχ took shape during my second year at Georgia State University (GSU) as a project for a Media, Society, and Culture course. Initially focused on media consumption and cultural implications, it evolved into a system for analyzing and creating media from a metamodern standpoint. This approach draws inspiration from giants like internet mentor Camden Ostrander (contributor to the Dissect podcast), whose work in media analysis showed how culture, philosophy, and technology intersect.

Vannevar Bush’s Influence

In July of 1945, weeks before the atomic bombs “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” were dropped, American physicist Vannevar Bush published “As We May Think” in The Atlantic. Bush—an academic leader, vice president and dean at MIT, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and director of the National Defense Research Committee [NDRC]/Office of Scientific Research and Development [OSRD]—was deeply involved in WWII’s scientific efforts, including the early stages of the Manhattan Project.

During World War II, the OSRD, under Bush’s leadership, oversaw the development of technologies that played a decisive role in the war effort, including radar and sonar. However, the OSRD’s most infamous contribution was its early role in laying the groundwork for the Manhattan Project—the top-secret operation that produced the world’s first nuclear weapons.

By the end of the war, Bush stood at a crossroads. He had led science to its most destructive achievement in history, yet he believed deeply that science should serve humanity—not destroy it. In “As We May Think,” Bush reflected on this shift in priorities, urging scientists to move beyond war and turn their efforts toward progress and innovation:

Information Overload

While Bush was concerned with the role of scientists, he also identified a growing challenge: the human experience could not match the overwhelming amount of information being produced. Even in 1945—long before the internet, Bush observed that humanity was creating more knowledge than it could process, organize, or effectively use:

In other words, the tools for managing information were not keeping up with the rate at which new knowledge was being created. Sound familiar? Bush’s observation in 1945 is no different than the issue that plagues us today:

• Content Overload: At this very moment, over 272 TikToks are posted per second, alongside countless articles, tweets, videos, and posts. No human being can consume or make sense of it all.

• Echo Chambers: Modern algorithms curate content for us, tailoring what we see to our preferences. While convenient, this often isolates us in digital echo chambers, limiting exposure to diverse perspectives.

Despite advancements like indexed search engines and AI, we’re still struggling with the same core problem Bush described nearly 80 years ago. It’s humanly impossible to engage with even a fraction of the content thats being created, even within a specific niche. This experience of threading through a consequent maze is consistent throughout the development of technology, which makes me wonder—how much have we really changed?

As described earlier, our interaction with technology is a penedulum; one that swings with increasing velocity until its course corrected; either by time, or by the introduction of a technology that changes our perspective on how we understand all other technology. Examples of this include the computers, the internet, artificial intelligence, and the memex.

The Memex

(Summary below)

Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, “memex” will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.

It consists of a desk, and while it can presumably be operated from a distance, it is primarily the piece of furniture at which he works. On the top are slanting translucent screens, on which material can be projected for convenient reading. There is a keyboard, and sets of buttons and levers. Otherwise it looks like an ordinary desk.

In one end is the stored material. The matter of bulk is well taken care of by improved microfilm. Only a small part of the interior of the memex is devoted to storage, the rest to mechanism. Yet if the user inserted 5000 pages of material a day it would take him hundreds of years to fill the repository, so he can be profligate and enter material freely.

Most of the memex contents are purchased on microfilm ready for insertion. Books of all sorts, pictures, current periodicals, newspapers, are thus obtained and dropped into place. Business correspondence takes the same path. And there is provision for direct entry. On the top of the memex is a transparent platen. On this are placed longhand notes, photographs, memoranda, all sorts of things. When one is in place, the depression of a lever causes it to be photographed onto the next blank space in a section of the memex film, dry photography being employed. —Vannevar Bush, “As We May Think”

The slightly-less-longer TL;DR:

In "As We May Think," Vannevar Bush introduced the idea of the memex, a device imagined as a mechanized private library and file system. The memex was designed to solve the problem of information overload by allowing individuals to store, retrieve, and organize knowledge in a way that mimicked our own brain’s associative processes.

Bush described the memex as follows:

How the Memex Would Work

The memex resembled a desk outfitted with advanced technology for its time:

• Slanted translucent screens for displaying information.

• A keyboard, buttons, and levers to navigate and organize content.

• Microfilm-based storage, capable of holding vast amounts of data without running out of space.

Users could add information in various ways:

• Purchasing microfilm content, such as books, newspapers, and correspondence, for direct insertion.

• Creating new entries by photographing handwritten notes, photos, or documents onto blank microfilm using a lever.

The most revolutionary feature of the memex was its ability to create associative trails. Much like how our brains form connections between memories, the memex allowed users to link related pieces of information. These trails could then be revisited, shared, or expanded upon, transforming static data into dynamic, meaningful networks of knowledge.

Why the Memex Matters Today

Bush’s vision for the memex was revolutionary not just for its time but for what it anticipated:

• The hyperlink: Associative trails are the foundation of how we navigate the internet today.

• Cloud storage and digital libraries: Systems that allow us to store and access vast amounts of information.

• AI-driven recommendations: Tools that attempt to curate content, though often imperfectly, to help us manage the overwhelming flow of information.

While the memex was never built, its spirit—the urgent need it was meant to address—is more relevant than ever.

Thus, memeχ is the metamodern answer to Bush's postmodern challenge. It proposes that the most powerful associative trails are not mechanical, or algorithmic, but human-centric. Where technology alone cannot solve our problems, I believe human-centric computer design will advance us further as a species.

Naturally, new innovations create new opportunities and new challenges, further complicating the maze Vannevar Bush mentioned. memeχ offers a compass for that journey—a way to create with purpose, to consume with awareness, and to find clarity within chaos.

It is with memeχ, that I hope to aid in developing systems that improve understanding nd connection across the human race; rather than further obfuscating our fragile cultural borders.

Education is central to a nation’s economic growth and prosperity, right? One would think that—yet the history of the United States reveals that by restricting education, one can propel economies forward.

Through this article, we’ll explore the dichotomy between education and market growth and how the foundations of Colonial America have aided in shaping the imbalanced market that exists today. Specifically, we’ll look at Specialty Coffee in the United States, where consumer knowledge—or lack thereof—plays a pivotal role in cafe operations, for better or worse.

Author’s Note: The interplay between education, power, and consumerism predates early American Colonies. It stretches far into the depths of history into the relationship of literacy & religion. For the sake of a narrower focus, I’m highlighting how the United States' foundations have led us to where we are today.

Glossary:

Specialty Coffee (Grade): Specialty coffee is any coffee that has achieved a score of 80 or higher out of 100 on a standardized score sheet by a panel of expert coffee tasters known as Q Graders.

Specialty Coffee (Shop): Any shop that sells specialty coffee1.

Third Wave Coffee: Third-wave coffee is a movement that prioritizes high-quality, ethically sourced coffee. It treats coffee as an artisanal product, focusing on the entire production process from farming to brewing. This approach emphasizes single-origin coffees, unique flavors, and education about coffee's complexity.

In this article ‘economy’ refers to the relationship between production, trade, and the supply of money in a country or region. In commonality ‘the economy’ is often discussed as a monolithic entity. However, this perspective oversimplifies the complex interactions that make up economic systems.

Just as plant cells are reliant on various organelles to function, an economy is comprised of many components that contribute to its overall health. Furthermore, trillions of plant cells are required for a plant to function. In the same vein (or shall I say—branch?), a magnitude of smaller markets feed into the overall American Economy.

Our [American] market has its foundations in keeping consumers ignorant and uninformed, for these consumers have provided a surplus profit to beneficiaries of the economy; the upper-elite.

Admittedly, this behavior isn’t always intentional—but why is it so ingrained in our society? How did it come to be this way, and WTF does this have to do with Specialty Coffee?

Historical Contexts and Modern Implications

The ruling class of Colonial America decided the exploitation of the lower classes would be normal the moment settlers landed upon the Americas. This exploitation is not only marked through the destruction of indigenous culture but through forced assimilation and signed legislature that prohibited enslaved, and sometimes free, Black Americans from learning to read or write between the years of 1740 and 18672.

The lasting-effect of these practices is visible in today’s market, as they’ve become the foundation for a market that is now reliant on a consumer base that is more-often-than-not, intentionally disconnected from the products they consume in order to provide profitability to people that benefit from separated socio-eco structures.

In specialty coffee, this is no longer theory—its a practice. There remains a significant gap in the consumer understanding of specialty coffee and third-wave practices. Many customers remain blissfully unaware of the difference between a single and double shot in their espresso drinks3. Even less people understand bean origin, or the different processing techniques that affect the taste and quality of their coffee. Unfortunately, this ignorance extends beyond the nuances of flavor profiles and even into fundamental aspects like caffeine content and brewing techniques. One of the most common iterations of this is the misconception that a 16oz latte contains more caffeine (espresso) than its 12oz counterpart—a standard that alternates between coffee shops.

Companies often capitalize on this disconnect through creative branding. By showcasing their [lower-quality] product as “specialty grade”, they can command higher prices for their products, appealing to the consumer desire for quality and exclusivity. However, without a solid understanding of what distinguishes a $6 latte from a standard run-of-the-mill latte, consumers are left to trust in a company’s branding rather than informed judgement. This allows non-third-wave coffee shops to maintain a higher profit margin by relying on the aesthetic [read: vibe] and superficial aspects of the coffee experience rather than\educating their customers about the product. In-fact, according to a consumer survey conducted by National Coffee Association of America, 48% of U.S. coffee cups are perceived by the consumer to be specialty.

As a result, the major players of the specialty coffee industries are the ones that benefit the most from a consumer’s lack of knowledge by cultivating a sense of loyalty based on brand image, rather than an appreciation for the quality or sourcing of the coffee itself.

TL;DR: The more a customer feels aligned with a brand’s identity, the less likely they are to question the value, origins, or intentions of their purchase.

“When I talked about it it wasn’t supposed to be shorthand for the industry to engage with itself, but a way to bring consumers into our world and help them engage with us.” —Trish Rothgeb