Episode 114Jul 16, 2025Ā· 49:19
𤳠Put Down Your Phone & Abandon Your Brand ā with Casey Johnston
āø Show notes from the creator
Casey Johnston is a weight-lifting memoirist and former editor at Vice, Ars Technica & the New York Timesā Wirecutter.
Sheās been reporting on social media and smart phones for over a decade, and in that time, she built her career on Twitter then left it behind in favorite of a paid newsletter and a phone with fewer than ten apps on it.
In this conversation, we dig into the the major shifts that Caseyās witnessed in digital media since 2010, as well as how she created a āDIY Dumb Phoneā to help her kick her phone addiction last year.
Specifically, we explore:
How Twitter helped Casey start her writing career
Why Casey launched a newsletter & how itās become her primary income stream
Virality, memes & how they push us to always be online
The difference between a Beat, a Brand, and a Business
The successes & failures of journalists on Substack
Caseyās āDIY Dumb Phoneā method
How algorithms convince us we have problems
Why Casey quit being a defender of social media
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About this episode
Casey Johnston is a weight-lifting memoirist and former editor at Vice, Ars Technica & the New York Timesā Wirecutter.
Sheās been reporting on social media and smart phones for over a decade, and in that time, she built her career on Twitter then left it behind in favorite of a paid newsletter and a phone with fewer than ten apps on it.
In this conversation, we dig into the the major shifts that Caseyās witnessedā¦
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