age

age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. Ep. 24: Government, Theater & The Fights We Don't Finish.

The trash can said government. The room had joked that politics and religion were the two topics it avoids, and then spent an hour and a half on one of them.

Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs, Mary Greene and guest Anthony Abraira start from the idea that government is a show put on over deals already made, and end up somewhere nobody planned: arguing about how a marriage survives a fight.

■ Is government a performance staged over decisions made somewhere else?

■ What does a 25 year marriage know about running a country?

■ Why do the people who care about the work so often lose the pitch?

■ Is critical thinking the fix, or can it carry two careful people further apart?

■ Can a country this size share one vision, and would you want it to?

■ What does Mary want from a leader, and why does it surprise her?

■ Where do our enemies come from?

It does not resolve. Tim and Anthony are still at it.

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell//

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyabraira/

Produced by Tim Scroggs.
Live production by Ricardo Tejeda.
Editing by Emily Parks.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.
One trash can and no notes.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Favorite parts
• 00:01:31 Welcome to the couch
• 00:03:30 What are you obsessed with right now
• 00:07:19 The topic: government
• 00:08:39 Government as theater over the real deals
• 00:09:51 Did theater start in the law schools
• 00:10:41 If you support it, do you know the argument
• 00:12:24 Why our arguments never finish
• 00:13:07 Twenty five years of fighting well
• 00:14:08 Governing yourself first
• 00:14:58 Was America built for self governance
• 00:18:02 A script for your character every morning
• 00:19:20 Do you want a fully authentic doctor
• 00:21:41 The HR voice
• 00:23:04 Trump and the facade
• 00:26:29 The country as a brand
• 00:28:31 The founders, the dream and wanting strength
• 00:29:48 Who polices the seas
• 00:31:51 Who wins government work
• 00:34:23 Mary, the salesperson in the room
• 00:37:25 AI and the value of an hour
• 00:38:45 Your AI intern
• 00:41:01 How language models actually work
• 00:45:49 Are we all just regurgitating
• 00:48:27 Can a country share one vision
• 00:49:44 The one lesson nobody taught us
• 00:53:16 Nobody starts from neutral
• 00:56:09 The alternative is relationship
• 00:57:32 Holistic versus logical thinking
• 00:59:10 Truth and vision are not the same thing
• 01:00:44 Cells, bodies and cancer
• 01:03:33 Adam Smith's warning
• 01:06:32 Death is a throttle
• 01:07:55 Government and shared belief
• 01:09:33 Mary's four things
• 01:13:21 The vision of a body is to live
• 01:13:43 A conversation about suicide
• 01:14:54 Villains and origin stories
• 01:16:15 Gatekeepers, reach and Shinola
• 01:17:00 Where Mary gets hopeful
• 01:19:44 Leisure is the greatest revenge
• 01:20:57 Bringing both head and heart
• 01:22:07 Most acting is stuck in vaudeville
• 01:23:32 Anthony's play
• 01:25:59 Theater as a way inside someone's head
• 01:27:37 What if you could feel your enemy's thoughts
• 01:28:43 The right to be offended
• 01:29:49 Certainty and bad actors
• 01:30:41 Government at every scale
• 01:31:19 My own worst enemy
• 01:31:53 Muscles against gravity
• 01:33:21 We're here to play
• 01:35:07 Cooperative games and I am here
• 01:36:29 Credits

age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one word. No idea where it goes. This week the word was ALWAYS ON.

It started with vintage headphones from Japan and an electric bill that lists everything in the house that never turns off. An hour later the room was asking whether the problem was ever the phone, or how much we care.

Mary Greene, Reggie Tidwell and Tim Scroggs, with Nicole Thiel.

In it:

• What a therapist asked about a laptop that never quite closes
• An AI that works all night, and the person who wakes up tired anyway
• What a 55-year-old still fears about burnout
• A message for anyone under 30 who is tired of being told what's wrong with them
• The power of forgetting, in a world where nothing gets forgotten
• Can one typo break a brand?
• Does anyone get paid to care?
• A new motto for 40 Hearts that can be read two ways

Tim is still arguing with his own advice when Mary wraps it up.

This is also Will Canady's last episode with us. He edited it, and you'll hear the room say goodbye near the end. Thank you, Will.

Presented by 40 Hearts.

Hosts: Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs, Mary Greene

Guest: Nicole Thiel

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Nicole: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-thiel-5737338b/

Produced by Tim Scroggs.
Edited by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Favorite parts
• 00:00:45 Meet Nicole Thiel, and headphones from Japan
• 00:05:02 Headphones and the end of the family record player
• 00:06:42 Uta Hagen's case against headphones
• 00:08:18 Out of the trash can: always on
• 00:09:23 Everyone can reach you, all the time
• 00:10:46 A night out without a phone
• 00:11:35 The electric bill for things that never turn off
• 00:12:16 Electricity, the first always-on
• 00:12:55 The AI that works all night
• 00:13:55 A therapist and a laptop left open
• 00:15:32 The crash that set Reggie free
• 00:18:27 Tab mania and a summit that keeps moving
• 00:18:58 The 24-hour news cycle
• 00:20:40 Small tasks after dinner
• 00:22:28 Burnout, from the 55-year-old
• 00:24:16 One phone, one conversation
• 00:26:33 Why a late reply feels like an insult
• 00:28:00 Focus modes and blocked texts
• 00:28:38 Leaving work unfinished on purpose
• 00:31:11 What if your brain can't stop?
• 00:33:11 The power of forgetting
• 00:35:41 "The time's gonna pass anyway"
• 00:36:19 Forgetting as protection
• 00:38:24 To anyone under 30
• 00:40:07 A minister's family, always on in the '80s
• 00:40:55 Paleolithic emotions, godlike technology
• 00:42:00 Ritual and small assignments
• 00:43:38 Trusting you'll have what you need
• 00:47:40 Bombed streets, Helene and neighbors
• 00:49:07 Do you have to know your neighbors?
• 00:49:53 Texts after hours
• 00:50:52 Working from the bath
• 00:52:45 The only designer at work
• 00:54:25 The night before a big day
• 00:55:38 The design cop
• 00:56:07 Nobody reads the brand guide
• 00:57:35 Brand lives in a body
• 00:58:25 Who gave them Canva?
• 01:00:24 A brand that shaky
• 01:00:39 Only as good as the last thing you made
• 01:02:45 Fonts as logos
• 01:05:37 A brand for nerds
• 01:07:08 Paid to get projects
• 01:09:30 Does anyone get paid to care?
• 01:10:07 "If I could just not care"
• 01:10:43 We could care less
• 01:11:33 Not the clog
• 01:13:08 Is there a job that pays you to care?
• 01:14:21 Close the laptop
• 01:14:36 Future Tim
• 01:15:20 Goodbye to Will
• 01:20:12 Why we do it the weird way
• 01:22:16 Credits
• 01:22:41 Before the show: the warm-up

age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one word. No idea where it goes. This week the word was IDOLS.

It started on American Idol and a five-year-old who says Moana is a chief, not a princess. An hour later, three people who build brands for a living were calling their own job idol-making, and arguing about whether being original is an idol too.

Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs and Mary Greene, with Linsey Gray, fine artist and designer at Linsey Gray Creative.

In it:

■ Can you be close to someone you've put on a pedestal?

■ What a kid raised on "no other gods before me" did with that rule

■ What brands and idols have in common, according to the people who make them

■ The moment Linsey finally let herself be called an artist

■ Seth Godin's case against authenticity, and who in the room bought it

■ An ice cream lawsuit, and whether anyone can own a color

■ Why artists mostly don't sue each other

■ The cheesy worship song one of us wrote after giving up on being original

Tim and Mary are still arguing about originality when Reggie wraps it up.

—

Presented by 40 Hearts.

Hosts: Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs, Mary Greene

Guest: Linsey Gray

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Linsey:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/linsey-puckett/

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/linseygraycreative/

• See Linsey's work: https://www.linseygray.com/

Produced by Tim Scroggs. Edited by Will Canady.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Favorite parts
• 00:01:33 Meet Linsey Gray, and getting enough sleep
• 00:04:36 Out of the trash can: idols
• 00:04:48 American Idol, and who it forgot
• 00:06:55 The idols our kids have
• 00:08:38 Moana is a chief, not a princess
• 00:10:34 Reading We Are Gods, and everyday idols
• 00:12:29 Raised not to put anything on a pedestal
• 00:14:40 Idols keep us stuck
• 00:16:15 Moses and the serpent on a stick
• 00:17:41 Jesus, politics and the people in the middle
• 00:20:16 Idol or role model?
• 00:21:36 Castle in the Sky, watched again
• 00:23:33 Putting a partner on a pedestal
• 00:25:28 You can't be close to an idol
• 00:26:54 Brands are idols
• 00:27:37 From brand designer to fine artist
• 00:29:51 "She's an artist"
• 00:31:36 Making her own charcoal
• 00:32:37 Is authenticity a problem? Seth Godin's case
• 00:34:36 Authenticity as an excuse
• 00:35:00 What breaks an idol?
• 00:36:13 Changing careers in public
• 00:38:41 A haircut and permission to evolve
• 00:40:14 The ice cream lawsuit
• 00:43:11 Unique is only first to market
• 00:44:51 Can you own a color?
• 00:46:00 Nobody can copy MrBeast
• 00:46:35 Maker's marks
• 00:49:21 If they can be stolen, were they your customer?
• 00:50:09 It matters how it lives
• 00:51:04 The mark she almost threw away
• 00:51:46 Commissions instead of client work
• 00:52:40 The dark room and the lit room
• 00:54:40 When your idea already exists
• 00:56:33 Who can afford to protect a brand?
• 00:58:36 Is there room for everybody?
• 00:59:51 Trillion-dollar companies
• 01:01:27 A market without room
• 01:03:01 What if somebody copied you?
• 01:05:48 So sue me
• 01:06:00 Why artists don't sue each other
• 01:07:42 The race to get there first
• 01:09:31 First doesn't matter if nobody cares
• 01:11:02 Have we idolized being original?
• 01:12:14 Originality as an expression of the divine
• 01:13:24 The cheesy worship song
• 01:15:28 Copying as practice
• 01:16:25 The songs in Mom's drawer
• 01:16:40 Thanks, and a goodbye to Will

age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one word. No idea where it goes. This week the word was SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

Ninety minutes later they had worked out that none of them learned who it's okay to love from a label, and the host with the least to confess had asked the most questions.

Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs and Mary Greene, with Hannah Cole, founder of Sunlight Tax and author of Taxes for Humans.

In it:

• Why your orientation is nobody's business unless someone wants a date, and who the asking is really for
• The sentence a father said when his son came out, and what it did to the family
• A college friend, a campfire, and what happens to discomfort when you love someone
• The head nod one of us does in hardware stores, and why he does it
• Whether a man can widen his voice without everyone reading something into it
• Can a straight guy ruin a room just by walking into it?
• What drag brunches are asking bachelorette parties to do
• Why the kids in our lives already seem to have the answer

Nobody settles it. That is fairly standard here.

Presented by 40 Hearts.

Hosts: Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs, Mary Greene

Guest: Hannah Cole

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Hannah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-cole-3775561/

Produced by Tim Scroggs.

Edited by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Favorite parts
• 00:00:59 Meet Hannah Cole and Taxes for Humans
• 00:05:31 Out of the trash can: sexual orientation
• 00:06:11 Should this still be a hot topic?
• 00:08:04 The most boring orientation in the room
• 00:09:50 Bi or pan, and labels that move
• 00:11:08 Nobody's business unless you want a date
• 00:12:26 An era for the label
• 00:14:16 Can you see it? Signals and wedding rings
• 00:16:34 You like who you like
• 00:19:45 Hannah, and compulsory heterosexuality
• 00:25:04 The world needs to get over itself
• 00:26:53 Can you understand what you've never felt?
• 00:27:08 The college friend who changed Reggie's mind
• 00:28:49 Understanding comes through intimacy
• 00:32:35 Hannah's brother, her father and the script
• 00:35:48 Parenting without the script
• 00:37:56 Bringing it back to business: brands and Pride
• 00:41:03 Branding as a container
• 00:43:20 Does sexual orientation have a vibe?
• 00:46:31 You have to signal
• 00:48:04 Signaling safety: the hardware store
• 00:51:39 Gay voice and the range men keep
• 00:55:45 Would widening his voice signal something?
• 00:59:20 Gender, transition and what orientation means
• 01:01:24 We're all on the spectrum
• 01:03:22 Who they always were
• 01:04:31 Get everybody to a baseline
• 01:06:46 Religion at the root
• 01:10:17 Asheville's new lesbian bar, and branding a space
• 01:13:57 Who's welcome and who's not
• 01:14:29 The women-only club
• 01:16:18 Drag brunches and bachelorette parties
• 01:20:47 Can a straight guy be an offensive presence?
• 01:23:17 Learning a culture you'll never fully get
• 01:25:16 Reconsider "I'm not welcome here"
• 01:27:45 Our kids are teaching us

age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one word. No idea where it goes. This week the word was ANONYMITY.

An hour in, nobody was asking whether you should be allowed to hide anymore. The question was who gets to decide when a company has done enough good to stop being watched, and the room did not agree on the answer.

Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs and Mary Greene, with Craig McAnsh, founder of Native Marketing, who had the McDonald's story ready before the question was finished.

In it:
■ A gas truck that shows up in the night and fills your car, and everything you hand over to make it happen
■ A traffic stop, a father's badge, and why a speed camera might be the fairer judge
■ A flower bought for a funeral and where it came from
■ Why a half-truth might be worse than a lie, according to people who sell stories for a living
■ Two buckets, a trust bank, and the two-word question that took both apart
■ A hammer sold to the same man twice
■ A sanitation grade on the door, but for how honest a company is
■ The founders who published anonymously, and the people who wanted their names

We did not settle it. The trash can never asks whether we will.

Presented by 40 Hearts.

Hosts: Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs, Mary Greene
Guest: Craig McAnsh

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Craig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebigidea/

Produced by Tim Scroggs.

Edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Our favorite parts of the episode
• 00:00:47 Johnny Bravo, and twenty episodes in
• 00:02:17 Welcome, Craig
• 00:04:16 The magic trash can
• 00:05:34 The word is Anonymity
• 00:06:30 Pros and cons, and Craig's whole answer
• 00:07:47 Sam Altman's eye scanner and proving you're human
• 00:10:22 Flock cameras, and a cop who used them illegally
• 00:12:04 Mary's dad's badge and the traffic camera
• 00:13:10 The camera ticket in the mail, and who it can't profile
• 00:14:10 Crypto, ID, and money nobody can trace
• 00:17:08 Experiential marketing and the Walmart that knows you
• 00:18:30 The gas truck that comes at night, and Craig's dad on the ATM
• 00:20:13 When data gets weaponized: the grocery card
• 00:22:11 Target knew first, and the ad that followed Reggie home
• 00:25:42 Know the game you're playing
• 00:27:27 Zero anonymity in the old world, and the relief of New York
• 00:31:00 Off the grid, and the Tool Library that wants your name
• 00:32:03 Was the community worth the cost of being seen?
• 00:33:02 The flower you bought for a funeral
• 00:34:00 Trust, child labor, and the hammer
• 00:35:33 The only trust left is trust in business
• 00:37:21 The sausage gets made: Leo Burnett and the truth well told
• 00:40:58 Half-truth is worse than a lie
• 00:44:03 Taco Bell steps forward
• 00:45:55 Reggie's two buckets
• 00:46:42 The trust bank: McDonald's in the LA riots
• 00:48:11 Incentivize money and you incentivize the bad
• 00:49:27 I decide whether I'm okay with you
• 00:50:42 Patagonia, and what technology digs up
• 00:52:17 Independent journalism: you can't stay hidden
• 00:53:37 Do businesses deserve anonymity?
• 00:54:55 A sanitation grade for how honest a company is
• 00:58:22 Hope, and the hammer turned over
• 01:00:25 What Japan has that we don't
• 01:02:00 Do you want to rebrand America?
• 01:06:11 Reggie pushes back
• 01:07:48 Whose vision, and who won't sign on
• 01:11:54 Pamphlets, hanging, and the founders who signed nothing
• 01:13:07 Sign-off

age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one word. No idea where it goes. This week the word was CANCEL CULTURE.

Seventy-five minutes later one of us had argued that you have to be willing to get cancelled before you can find out who you actually are, and the room had taken that apart while he sat there.

Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs and Mary Greene, with Will Canady, who has run the audio on every episode of this show and had never once been in front of the camera.

In it:
■ A coworker with a swastika tattooed on his ring finger who genuinely liked him, and the one question that stopped him cold
■ Why one civil rights movement moved faster than the others, and what it costs to have to defend your own humanity from day one
■ What happens to a man who says the wrong word in a deposition and goes to bed famous
■ The $750,000 somebody raised after doing the worst thing you can do to a child
■ Cancel culture as a church, with the doctrine swapped out and the machinery left running
■ A host admitting on camera what he is actually drawn to, which is not what he recommends
■ Two people coming out in the same hour, in opposite directions, neither of them planning to
■ One sentence near the end that takes the entire argument apart, and the person it is protecting

Nobody solves it. That is fairly standard here.

Presented by 40 Hearts.

Our Hosts: Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs, Mary Greene
Guest: Will Canady

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Will: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willcanady921/

Produced by Tim Scroggs

Live production and editing by Will Canady. With very special thanks to Dylan Garcia.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Pulling the topic: Cancel Culture
• 00:03:32 Will's own brush with it, on TikTok
• 00:06:02 Floaty in the abyss: nobody can tell what is real
• 00:08:59 Me Too, Weinstein, and where accountability started
• 00:09:56 When the tool becomes a weapon
• 00:11:32 Michael Jackson, Epstein, and buried truth
• 00:15:29 One word in a deposition, and a comment that went viral
• 00:18:52 The ,000 raised after the worst thing you can do to a child
• 00:19:38 Movements go numb, then become a fad
• 00:21:34 Backlash culture: the reactionary response
• 00:23:09 The game is mindshare, not being right
• 00:25:06 Chud the Builder, and the prophecy he kept
• 00:26:39 Justice versus cancel culture: where the buck stops
• 00:28:31 The thin blue line, and not wanting to pick a side
• 00:32:13 Why one movement moved faster than the others
• 00:34:43 The coworker with the swastika, who called him a friend
• 00:36:10 You become the exception
• 00:38:57 Puritanism, progressives, and the horseshoe
• 00:41:18 Violence, martyrs, and the cycle that never ends
• 00:44:44 Walking without armor
• 00:46:37 Identity, tribes, and losing yourself to find yourself
• 00:53:18 A congregation on Church Street owns its own past
• 00:58:07 Are you willing to be canceled?
• 01:02:31 Coming out twice, in opposite directions
• 01:04:03 The freedom is in the prison cell
• 01:09:03 The refinement: plenty of bad people are willing
• 01:11:26 Who can actually afford the risk
• 01:13:44 Closing thoughts

age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one word, no idea where it goes. This week the word was HUSTLE CULTURE.

Sixty-four minutes later we had established that we can all explain the science of rest in some detail, and that not one of us is doing it. One of us has the blood pressure to prove it.
Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs and Mary Greene, with George Awad, who produces theatre in Asheville and has done something to a ticket number he is not proud of.

In it:

• The Asheville 48, and why producers in this town are quietly unwell
• What getting out of the kitchen did not actually solve
• A billionaire's advice about who ought to be raising your children
• One sentence at 33:42 that explains the whole episode, which nobody notices
• Three hours of sleep a night, and the arithmetic proving it was pointless
• Why a grocery store being shut on a Sunday fixed something discipline could not
• A question about human beings that nobody can answer, including the person who asked it
• One piece of advice from a stage, handed over at the very end, that you could use tomorrow

Nobody solves it. That is fairly standard here.

Presented by 40 Hearts

Hosts: Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs, Mary Greene
Guest: George Awad

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow George: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-awad-87b90a3/

Produced by Tim Scroggs. Live production and editing by Will Canady. With very special thanks to Dylan Garcia who helped us create age.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Everyone's favorite part, before you've heard any of it
• 00:01:58 Dylan moved away, so the fourth chair rotates now
• 00:02:53 Meet George Awad, and the correct way to say Awad
• 00:05:28 The taiko drummers handing out free fans on a Tokyo sidewalk
• 00:09:08 Pulling the topic: Hustle Culture
• 00:09:48 Producing yourself into a corner when you wanted to be onstage
• 00:11:48 He bought a ticket to his own show to watch the number change
• 00:12:18 The Asheville 48
• 00:13:28 The guest-list show that packed the Grey Eagle
• 00:14:58 The agency was founded to escape hustle culture. It didn't.
• 00:16:28 Girl boss, and why getting out of the kitchen didn't solve it
• 00:19:43 "I don't understand how you create a balanced life and succeed"
• 00:20:28 Kevin O'Leary's advice: find someone else to raise your kids
• 00:21:33 The woman who's always available, and the fathers who get called away
• 00:24:23 You can never work more to work less
• 00:27:03 George doesn't believe in work-life balance
• 00:28:33 Three hours of sleep, and getting a quarter of the work done
• 00:30:38 High blood pressure, and having to fight for the reset
• 00:31:58 A video editor wrote about dying, and the work that seemed urgent
• 00:32:48 "The work doesn't end. It's my decision to end the work."
• 00:33:03 Last night: the voice saying keep going, and going upstairs anyway
• 00:34:58 What is the natural pace of human work?
• 00:35:43 An operator's manual for a person
• 00:37:43 They train you to be indispensable. Then you succeed at it.
• 00:40:48 Everyone's dispensable. Get out of their way and let them do it.
• 00:44:28 The wall that goes up when nobody feels heard
• 00:48:38 "Revenue is a strong word, but go ahead"
• 00:49:43 "I'd probably have to imagine it in another country"
• 00:51:53 The grocery store was closed Sunday, and week three he liked it
• 00:52:48 "So you said you didn't believe in work-life balance earlier"
• 00:53:18 The bike that has to keep moving to stay upright
• 00:54:58 Beat people, or win people
• 00:56:28 Get weird, because nobody else got your parents
• 00:58:08 Get in each other's draft. That's how you win races.
• 00:59:53 Check yourself before you wreck yourself
• 01:01:08 The best advice George ever got, from a stage
• 01:02:38 Define your own success

age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one word, no idea where it goes. This week the word was SEARCH ENGINES.

Seventy minutes later we had established that the search engine nobody has figured out how to game does not have a website, and that most of us have been paid to help wreck the other kind.

Reggie Tidwell, Tim Scroggs and Mary Greene, with Liz Williams, who runs the art program at an Asheville LGBTQ nonprofit and pulled the word out of the can.

In it:

■ A search engine you can walk around in, and nobody has worked out how to game it
■ The AI answer at the top of the page that you are not allowed to switch off
■ The years one of us spent stuffing keywords to get clients onto page one
■ Why the map app quietly became the search engine in this house
■ A number for how much of the web is no longer people, corrected in the wrong direction
■ One line from an economics book that the back half never recovers from
■ Being told a first idea is too sharp, and to dull it until it will sell
■ What getting paid took from every person at this table, in turn, from 55:30
■ One offer made at the end that no company is in a position to sell you

Nothing gets fixed. Somebody does offer to help.

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Liz: https://www.instagram.com/southernequalitystudios/
Liz Williams is the director of Southern Equality Studios, the art program of Campaign for Southern Equality, an Asheville-based LGBTQ nonprofit working across the southern states.

Produced by Tim Scroggs.

age, the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Everyone's favorite part, before you've heard any of it
• 00:02:05 Meet Liz Williams, who runs the art program at a Southern LGBTQ nonprofit
• 00:02:55 The craft fair is a search engine nobody has figured out how to game
• 00:04:30 Jewelry made from the power lines Helene took down
• 00:07:10 Bobcats a mile from the grocery store, and the bears in everyone's trash
• 00:10:30 Pulling the topic: Search Engines
• 00:12:30 The AI Overview you are not allowed to turn off
• 00:13:05 The years Reggie spent gaming Google on behalf of clients
• 00:14:40 Why Mary searches Google Maps instead of Google
• 00:17:00 Ask Jeeves, AIM, and the prank Reggie ran for an entire day
• 00:21:20 Reddit is where the people still are, which is why the AI goes there
• 00:22:20 More than half of internet traffic is no longer people
• 00:24:20 "You have pores. You still have pores."
• 00:30:15 Planning a trip to Japan with almost no search engine at all
• 00:31:10 A death in Japan, and the argument about AI that came before it
• 00:34:30 Data centers, bees, and not being able to see what you cost
• 00:39:40 That handmade listing on Etsy is also on Amazon
• 00:42:10 Rick Steves was the original search engine
• 00:45:15 A brief defense of search engines
• 00:48:20 The Yellow Pages could be gamed too, so what actually changed?
• 00:51:00 Games are fine. Gamification is the problem.
• 00:54:40 Make an intrinsic thing extrinsic and it dies
• 00:55:30 "No, you need to dull it more and more and more"
• 00:59:30 Why the company is called 40 Hearts
• 01:00:30 "It's like giving birth to a child and then selling it"
• 01:03:50 Smart glasses, deepfakes, and whether search survives any of it
• 01:04:25 "I'll gladly be your search engine"
• 01:07:20 Search inside yourself, and inside your community

Welcome to age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one topic, and whatever happens next. This week: Youth.

Reggie, Tim, Mary, and guest host Jordan Duvall pull the topic from the can and immediately the room gets reflective. Jordan talks about color palettes and warm seasonal vibes and how we don't appreciate aging the way we should. Reggie flashes back to his kids as portals to his younger self. Mary appoints herself spokesperson for the youth and wonders whether kids aren't soft so much as starved of anyone's undivided attention. And Tim reflects on P.O.D., the Youth of the Nation, and how school shootings became so normal we stopped talking about them.

They get into youth as experimentation, guilt as an entity you can pull out of yourself, the sleep paralysis demon as a metaphor for the voices that aren't yours, and why maybe the most radical thing you can do is stop feeling guilty for the youthful part of you. There's the realization that kids will find their way, that suffering isn't a requirement for growth, that waste might be the whole point of youth, and that maybe if we stopped fearing the outcome of their upbringing we'd realize they're going to be all right.

It's sprawling, it's earnest, it's a little mystical, and it doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Jordan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanduvall/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 What Was Your Favorite Part?
• 00:01:25 Welcome to age — One Trash Can, One Topic
• 00:02:09 Jordan Duvall: Color, Branding, and Aging Out Loud
• 00:10:12 My Kids Are My Portal Into Youth
• 00:15:08 I Won the Argument With My Eleven-Year-Old
• 00:16:13 School Shootings and Desensitization
• 00:22:26 Every Generation Grows Up in a Different World
• 00:24:24 Famous for Being Famous, and the Death of Boredom
• 00:28:31 Sticking Up for the Youth: Attention, Not Screens
• 00:31:21 Screen Time, Studies, and What Parents Get Told
• 00:33:43 Love Languages, Buckets, and Speaking to Each Other
• 00:36:55 Discipline, and Breaking the Cycle You Were Raised In
• 00:38:43 Can We Talk About Youth Without Talking About Screens?
• 00:42:13 Work Ethic, Remote Culture, and What Gets Missed
• 00:44:07 Go Sit on the Couch for an Hour and Do Nothing
• 00:46:32 The Soft Generation, Argued Both Ways
• 00:50:36 What Is Wrong With Waste?
• 00:54:30 Swept Floors and the Kid He Wasn't Allowed to Be
• 01:00:19 Take an Era of Experimentation
• 01:02:09 Whose Voice Is That in Your Head?
• 01:06:20 You Can Only Control Your Response
• 01:07:28 Guilt Is an Entity, and You Can Put It Down
• 01:09:20 They're Going to Be All Right

Welcome to age, the podcast from 40 Hearts. One trash can, one topic, and whatever happens next. This week: Art Theft.

Reggie, Tim, Mary, and guest host Nicky Balachandran pull the topic from the can and immediately the room shifts. There’s talk of AI stealing music and how 40% of songs uploaded to streaming platforms might be AI generated, intellectual property and who really gets hurt when art is stolen,The Thomas Crown Affair and how cool art theft looks in the movies, and sampling, remixing, and whether anything is truly original anymore.

They dig into ownership versus inspiration, whether you can really steal something if it's truly yours, music as shared experience instead of individual performance, and why taste might be the only original thing we have left. There's talk of collaboration and credit, the politics of who gets paid, spirit and vibration in handmade objects versus factory goods, and whether we're all just living in someone else's imagination. Nicky admits he's been stolen from more times than he can count but refuses to fight that battle. Mary confesses this conversation feels like meeting a kindred spirit. Tim opens up about the crushing weight of trying to survive financially while staying true to the dream. And Reggie wonders if the thief suffers more than the artist because they never get to have an original experience.

They get into 40 Hearts as a spaceship on a creative mission, morale and money and the dream they're building together, depression as waking up inside the lucid dream, the two trees in the garden and choosing life over the knowledge of good and evil, and why your website is your world when every other platform is someone else's imagination. There's the realization that we're all creators, that community matters more than individualism, that the only thing truly unique is your experience, and that maybe the most radical thing you can do is stop living in someone else's dream and start building your own.

It's sprawling, it's mystical, it's a little therapeutic, and it doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Listen to Nicky’s music: https://www.instagram.com/nickybalachandran/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Art Theft
• 00:02:01 Nicky's Journey: From Refugee to Creative Director
• 00:12:44 Stealing vs. Remixing: AI, Music, and Intellectual Property
• 00:17:06 Living in Someone Else's Imagination
• 00:30:29 Spirit, Taste, and the Role of the Creator
• 00:49:13 Dreams, Nightmares, and Waking Up in the Matrix
• 01:01:03 The Two Trees: Life vs. Knowledge of Good and Evil
• 01:10:10 40 Hearts as a Space Station: World Building and Purpose
• 01:20:59 Your Website is Your Imagination
• 01:34:09 Closing Thoughts: We Make Sense Together

Welcome to age, the podcast from 40 Hearts where four people pull a topic from a trash can and see where it goes. This week: Materials.

Reggie, Tim, Mary, and guest host Cat Slater pull the topic from the can and immediately the room gets philosophical. Cat talks about quality over cheap synthetics and her dream of becoming a cobbler. Mary flashes back to Japan and the cultural reverence for natural materials. Reggie goes back to his BFA in graphic design, where finishings and materials were the whole game. And Tim reflects on his time as a furniture repairman and seeing how things are made from the ground up.

They dig into Japanese denim that you're only supposed to wash three times, fast fashion and beaches full of disposable fabric, wabi sabi and featuring material's true nature instead of hiding it, and why fiber arts reveal the maker in the material. There's talk of the true cost of a handmade sweater, Marie Kondo and clutter as intergenerational trauma, sentimental value versus aesthetic preference, and whether your parents' oak furniture has to live in your garage forever. Cat shares gathering the best tortillas and cheese in her mom's Costa Rican town and building an altar for a funeral with materials gifted by the whole community. Cat confesses she made her five year old go through the Marie Kondo method and they never fought about clothes again. Tim opens up about homeownership as the American dream versus stewardship. And Reggie wonders if his son's generation values digital materials more than physical ones, buying Minecraft skins instead of caring about their actual living space.

They get into land ownership and colonialism, the flyer debate and whether bad design is objectively bad, brands as judgment and the materials we're judged by, death rituals and community as the fabric that holds us together, fear versus love and the city without walls, and why the promised land might be the place where you let your guard down. There's the realization that materials connect us to the maker, that we've turned homes into assets instead of shelter, that community is the material we're all woven from, and that maybe the most radical thing we can do is stop fearing each other and start building the village we're missing.

It's sprawling, it's warm, it's a little mystical, and it doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Cat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catalina-slater/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Materials
• 00:04:05 Quality Over Quantity: Japan and the Value of Materials
• 00:11:09 Fast Fashion, Cheap Materials, and Environmental Impact
• 00:15:33 Wabi-Sabi and Featuring Material's True Nature
• 00:18:11 Fiber, Weaving, and the Maker in the Material
• 00:20:26 The True Cost: Time, Labor, and Gratitude
• 00:22:55 Marie Kondo, Clutter, and Intergenerational Relationships with Stuff
• 00:29:21 Sentimental Value vs. Aesthetic Preference
• 00:33:55 Land, Ownership, and Colonialism
• 00:39:03 Homeownership, the American Dream, and Stewardship
• 00:45:28 Digital Materials: Minecraft, Skins, and the Next Generation
• 00:49:33 Process, Craft, and Warren Wilson's Fiber Arts
• 00:52:26 Form, Function, and the Flyer Debate
• 00:59:25 Brands, Judgment, and the Materials We're Judged By
• 01:03:09 Costa Rican Community: Gathering the Best Materials
• 01:04:30 Building Altars, Death Rituals, and Community Materials
• 01:11:58 Fear, Love, and the City Without Walls
• 01:14:29 Closing Thoughts: Materials as the Fabric of Community

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week: Nostalgia.

Reggie, Tim, and guest hosts Juan Holladay and Alyssa Downey pull the topic from the can and immediately the room gets warm. Juan talks about the late 90s as the peak of human existence, the moment before everything shifted. Alyssa admits she wouldn't want to go back to those years but can't stop thinking about them. Tim flashes back to his big CD case and all the memories it held. And Reggie reflects on how nostalgia sneaks up on you, a smell or a song that floods you back and makes you feel alive.

They dig into music as the most powerful trigger, CK1 as a time machine, fast food as a lie we used to believe, and whether Taco Bell ever actually looked like the commercials. There's talk of Jack in the Box tacos, Lucky Charms in Canada versus the U.S., why we're okay with being lied to, and whether kids today even care about McDonald's or if they've moved on to something healthier. Reggie shares how his daughter has never had fast food. Tim confesses he avoided Instagram his whole life. Alyssa wonders if rebellion is just eating whatever your parents wouldn't let you have. And Juan talks about the mountain lion that lives in all of us.

They get into CD books with sleeves, recording songs off the radio with a tape deck, Milli Vanilli and the death of authenticity, and why Justin Bieber's new album feels like the anti pop movement. There's the realization that live music is the scarce asset we've lost, that vinyl might be bad for the environment but we cling to it anyway, that AI is teaching us to hide our weirdness instead of lean into it, and that maybe nostalgia isn't about the past at all. Maybe it's about being present enough right now to create a memory worth coming back to.

It's sprawling, it's tender, it's a little mystical, and it doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Juan: @juan_holladay on Instagram, and Juan Holladay on streaming platforms.

Follow Alyssa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ampddesigns/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Nostalgia
• 00:05:05 Music and Memory: The Soundtrack of Our Lives
• 00:10:29 Fast Food Nostalgia: The Taste of Youth
• 00:16:09 The Blissful Ignorance of Youth
• 00:25:23 Living Simply: The Mountain Lion Philosophy
• 00:28:57 Gaming, Identity, and Digital Worlds
• 00:33:27 The Death of Physical Media: CDs, Tapes, and Artifacts
• 00:40:55 Live Music: The Scarce and Sacred Experience
• 00:52:54 Authenticity vs. Perfection: The Justin Bieber Revelation
• 01:04:10 Closing Thoughts: Nostalgia is Right Now

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week: Crying.

Reggie, Tim, and guest hosts Jeannie Adair and Ricardo Tejeda pull the topic from the can and immediately the room gets tender. Jeannie calls it heartwater, a release that keeps us soft. Ricardo admits he was a cry baby as a kid but learned to shut it down. Tim reflects on a childhood moment when crying felt so good he knew it was bullshit to hold it in. And Reggie wonders if crying is an underrated skill we should all be practicing.

They dig into growing up male and the pressure to never show weakness, crying as permission to feel, whether there's ever a wrong time to cry, and why Western culture gives you three days to grieve and then expects you back at work. There's talk of stored emotion living in your body, massage therapists hitting a spot that makes you weep, the difference between angry crying and joyful crying, and whether we've lost the rituals that used to move us through grief. Ricardo shares losing a friend to suicide and the guilt he carried for years. Genea opens up about losing her son just three months ago and learning that grief doesn't get cold and hard if you keep it warm like clay. Reggie confesses he hasn't cried about his sister's death yet but knows it'll hit him when he's driving. And Tim tells the story of a spiritual awakening in a parking lot where his heart cracked open and he saw what it means to stay soft.

They get into pets as the first place we learn about loss, the neighbor who might have hurt the cat, the hamster with the tragically short lifespan, and why avoiding grief means avoiding love. There's the realization that crying works across every emotion, that science will never fully explain it, that maybe the mystery is the point, and that staying open is the only way to keep living.

It's vulnerable, it's tender, it's a little mystical, and it doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Jeannie:https://www.linkedin.com/in/uxjeannieadair/

Follow Ricardo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/showandtalecreative/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Crying
• 00:03:18 First Reactions: Heartwater and Emotional Release
• 00:07:15 Growing Up Male: The Pressure to Not Cry
• 00:16:45 Crying as a Skill: Permission to Feel
• 00:21:00 Grief, Loss, and Stored Emotion
• 00:24:41 Suicide, Guilt, and the Weight of Loss
• 00:27:45 Cultural Rituals: The Missing Space for Grief
• 00:49:28 Parenting and Crying: Teaching Emotional Intelligence
• 01:00:19 Pets, Death, and Learning to Grieve
• 01:14:32 Spiritual Awakening: Breaking Open the Heart
• 01:18:57 Closing Thoughts: Staying Open and Soft

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week: Influencers.

Reggie, Tim, and guest hosts Jenn Maer and Camille Kurle pull the topic from the can and immediately the room gets tense. Jenn admits she has a visceral response to the word, like cereal getting soggy. Camille talks about gluttony and the unrealistic lifestyle influencers flaunt. Tim realizes he's been using AI to write his emails and someone used AI on him. And Reggie reflects on how influencers might actually be democratizing a system that was never meant for them.

They dig into the difference between influencers and people who are just doing what they love, whether the word itself is a red herring, the long tail of a thousand real fans, and why growth at all costs is finally starting to collapse. There's talk of cancel culture as high school trauma, the black hole of job applications, why everything has become content, and whether we've commodified every single thing that used to be free. Camille admits she feels burnt out from applying to jobs that never respond. Jenn confesses she quit her restaurant review blog because food stopped being fun. Tim talks about mapping your warm network instead of throwing resumes into the void. And Reggie wonders if we should all just influence towards friendship instead.

They get into authenticity versus privacy, AI as the judge and jury of what's on brand, why taste is the thing AI will never have, and whether influencers are just the new factory girls showing up at Andy Warhol's party. There's the realization that we're all storytellers, that companies need to grow deeper instead of bigger, that pain is what separates us from the algorithm, and that maybe the most radical thing we can do is lean into the uncomfortable and say hi to someone on the street.

It's sprawling, it's warm, it's a little feisty, and it doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Dylan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanngarciaa/

Follow Jenn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-maer-b2a45b2/

Follow Camille: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camille-kurle-85551a333/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Influencer
• 00:06:16 First Reactions: The Icky Feeling About Influencers
• 00:10:43 Authenticity vs. Performance: The Influencer Dilemma
• 00:40:29 The Job Hunt Black Hole: Camille's Experience
• 00:26:09 Growth at All Costs: Rethinking Scale and Success
• 00:30:34 Brand Stories and Re-evaluation
• 00:35:57 AI, Taste, and the Human Element
• 00:45:07 Warm Networks Over Cold Outreach
• 01:00:39 Leaning Into the Uncomfortable
• 01:06:14 Closing Thoughts: Influencing Towards Friendship

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week: Social Media.

Reggie, Tim, Dylan, and guest host Lauren Moody pull the topic from the can and immediately the energy shifts. Lauren does social media for Cultivate Climbing, so naturally the trash can delivers exactly what's needed. She admits social media scares her even though it's her job. Tim gets heated about being forced to create content just to survive in business. Dylan talks about photo dumps as digital archives and how her generation gets their news from feeds. And Reggie reflects on the echo chambers we're all trapped in, reinforcing beliefs instead of challenging them.

They dig into the algorithm as overlord, whether small businesses should have to perform to exist, the death of word of mouth, and why COVID pushed everyone so deep into their devices that we forgot how to connect. There's talk of voyeurism as the new normal, Black Mirror coming true with robotic dogs and social credit scores, the industrial revolution versus the AI revolution, and whether quantum computing will break everything we thought was secure. Dylan admits she had too much access to information as a kid. Tim confesses he's been avoiding Instagram his whole life and has no regrets. Lauren tries to find hope in using social media to build real community. And Reggie wonders if billionaires are even human or just hiding behind money while the rest of us suffer.

They get into the barter system, rebuilding the village, why inconvenience is the price of community, and whether we've monetized every single thing that used to be free. There's the realization that capitalism has trained us to value what we do instead of who we are. That AI might take 80 to 90 percent of jobs in the next few years. That data centers are sucking up fresh water while people can't water their lawns. And that maybe, just maybe, the suffering we're experiencing is pushing us toward something more true.

It's sprawling, it's dark, it's hopeful, and it doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Dylan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanngarciaa/

Follow Lauren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleighmoody/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Social Media
• 00:05:38 First Reactions: The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media
• 00:07:33 The Forced Nature of Content Creation
• 00:12:54 Echo Chambers and Political Division
• 00:14:29 Social Media for Small Businesses: Finding the Middle Ground
• 00:25:44 Information Overload and the Dark Side of Access
• 00:27:07 News, Trust, and the Algorithm Problem
• 00:34:27 Money, Politics, and the Root of the Problem
• 00:52:37 AI, Data Centers, and the Future of Work
• 01:00:28 Closing Thoughts: Rebuilding the Village and Finding Hope

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week:same cloth, different font.

Reggie, Tim, Mary, and Dylan pull the phrase from the can and immediately the room gets philosophical. Mary starts thinking about self expression and calibration. Dylan wonders if it's about independence or just a new way to say we're all different. Tim tries to figure out if it's about the remix culture we're all living in. And Reggie reflects on a lifetime of choosing cars nobody else had, from a British Sterling to a lime green sedan.

They dig into what it means to be seen versus understood, the pressure to conform in small towns, why Ferrari owners can't customize their cars, and whether brands are trying to reach micro niches or just chasing the biggest audience possible. There's talk of David Carson destroying fonts in Raygun magazine, the heroin chic comeback, GLP1s and the skinny trend, and whether capitalism benefits from keeping women insecure about their bodies. Dylan admits she judges people at Walmart for all wearing the same thing. Reggie confesses he's been chasing different his whole life. Mary spirals about septum piercings and looking too Karen. And Tim reveals he has a Hebrew guitar tattoo that he ignored for years (and sometimes even forget he has) but is now coming back around to.

They get into tattoos as ritual, marble countertops as life markers, the difference between being special and being unique, and why Tom Hanks is more relatable than Brad Pitt. There's the realization that fonts are functional, not just decorative. That delusion might be the thing that sets you apart. That we're all trying to hit an archetype, and if you have enough money, you can get closer. And that sometimes the best thing you can do is stop trying to be different and just be excited about what you share.

It's sprawling, personal, and doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Dylan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanngarciaa/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Same Cloth, Different Font
• 00:02:10 First Reactions: Interpreting the Phrase
• 00:05:25 The Age of the Remix: Fonts, Brands, and Micro-Communities
• 00:08:45 Cars, Identity, and Standing Out
• 00:15:50 Ferrari, Scarcity, and the Power of Exclusivity
• 00:21:30 Fashion, Conformity, and the Walmart Effect
• 00:28:05 Tattoos, Belonging, and Body Autonomy
• 00:47:00 Beauty Standards, Power Dynamics, and the Heroin Chic Comeback
• 01:01:20 Marble Countertops, Wabi-Sabi, and Embracing Imperfection
• 01:07:45 Closing Thoughts: Lumbar Labels and Rebranding the Tramp Stamp

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week: Vlog.

Reggie, Tim, Mary, and Dylan pull the topic from the can and immediately things get uncomfortable. Dylan admits she's a product of the vlog, consuming them like oxygen. Tim recoils at the word itself, harboring a resentment that runs deeper than anyone expected. Mary tries to find middle ground between art and marketing. And Reggie just wants to know if TikTok videos count.

They dig into what vlogs actually are, whether they're different from podcasts, and why the word makes everyone cringe. There's talk of GoPros and surfboard wipeouts, the democratization myth of social media, Casey Neistat and the people who started early, and whether anyone actually stumbles upon content anymore or if the algorithm is just feeding us what it wants us to see. Dylan confesses that 25% of her media diet is vlogs. Tim's percentage might be higher but he's in denial about it.

They get into the pressure to perform, the difference between a portfolio and a vlog, why COVID forced everyone online and destroyed Tim's business in the process, and whether you can even have a career anymore without making content. There's the realization that social media promised democratization but delivered manipulation. The algorithm as overlord. The exhaustion of having to do three jobs just to make one job work. And whether any of this is actually art or just another layer of bullshit we've been sold.

Tim gets heated. Dylan walks off camera. Mary tries to hold it all together. And Reggie celebrates his birthday in a clanky chain while everyone processes what it means to be forced into visibility in an over edited, monetized world.

It's messy, it's heated, and it doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Dylan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanngarciaa/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Vlog
• 00:03:27 What Is a Vlog? Defining the Medium
• 00:11:51 Dylan's Vlog Confession: A Product of the Algorithm
• 00:16:30 The Democratization Myth: Social Media's Broken Promise
• 00:21:04 The Pressure to Perform: Portfolios vs. Vlogs
• 00:54:03 COVID's Impact: When Everyone Was Forced Online
• 01:03:58 The Algorithm Problem: Control, Manipulation & Lost Connections
• 01:09:15 Finding the Middle Ground: Art, Marketing, or Both?
• 01:11:54 Closing Thoughts: Tim Gets Snarky & Everyone Processes

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week: Roots.

Reggie, Tim, Mary, and Dylan pull the topic from the can and immediately the conversation goes deep. Mary starts thinking about family lineage and the stories we inherit. Dylan talks about the Boller gene and generational DNA passed down through eggs. Tim reflects on a childhood moment of grief, realizing he'd never be that little baby again. And Reggie shares his grandpa's story, written by his grandma, and wonders why he never knew these people when they were alive.

They dig into photos and memory, whether pictures steal your soul or replace your experiences, the quantum field that connects us all underground, and why deleting your Facebook archive might actually be an act of self preservation. There's talk of trees and branches, oral tradition versus digital documentation, the original wound of men who couldn't bear children, and whether businesses can have roots or if they're just performing origin stories for the market.

There's the realization that roots aren't just about where you came from, they're about what feeds you now. The question of whether we've traded depth for clothing, myth for metadata, connection for documentation. Dylan's dad in a Carhartt video. Tim's projector nights at family reunions. Mary deleting her Facebook and sobbing on a bed. Reggie meditating on trees and realizing we're all connected in the darkness below the soil.

It's sprawling, emotional, and doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Dylan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanngarciaa/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Roots
• 00:04:54 The Boller Gene: Family Lineage and DNA
• 00:07:01 The Original Wound: Gender, Creation, and Envy
• 00:10:44 Photos and Memory: Capturing vs. Experiencing Life
• 00:14:01 Discovering Your Ancestors: The Power of Images
• 00:28:43 Oral Tradition vs. Documentation
• 00:46:52 The Tree Metaphor: Roots, Trunk, and Branches
• 00:57:34 Business Roots and Brand Stories
• 01:10:30 Coming Home: Place, Connection, and Belonging
• 01:12:23 Closing Thoughts: Roots Equal Connection

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week: Obesity.

Reggie, Tim, Mary, and Dylan pull the topic from the can and immediately the air gets heavy. Dylan clamps up. Mary starts sweating. Reggie admits he's been struggling with his own body in ways he never thought he would. And Tim tries to figure out where health ends and marketing begins.

They dig into GLP-1s and Ozempic face, the fat free movement that lied to us all, why Serena Williams' body became a national conversation, and whether the word obesity even means what we think it does anymore. There's talk of intuitive eating, dad bods as reclamation, the pressure to stay small or get smaller, and why Dylan's generation is recovering from eating disorders. They wrestle with genetics versus willpower, whether beauty standards are just capitalism in a meat suit, and why it's so hard to talk about bodies without accidentally talking about value.

It's uncomfortable, vulnerable, and doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Dylan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanngarciaa/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Obesity
• 00:03:23 First Reactions and the Ozempic Era
• 00:09:13 Marketing, Fat-Free Movements, and Capitalism
• 00:14:19 Personal Stories: Body Image Across Generations
• 00:24:17 The Label Debate: BMI, Genetics, and Health
• 00:29:14 Cultural Differences and Food Systems
• 00:42:25 Dylan's Perspective: Athletes and Eating Disorders
• 00:52:33 Gender, Beauty Standards, and the Male Gaze
• 01:00:38 Language, Reclamation, and Political Correctness
• 01:14:16 Connection Over Judgment: Finding the Middle Ground

Welcome to age, where four people from four different decades throw topics in a trash can and see what happens. This week: Homeschool.

Reggie, Tim, Mary, and Dylan pull the topic from the can and immediately things get personal. Reggie drops a bomb from his past that he completely forgot about. Dylan admits she probably would've been a degenerate if she'd gone that route. Tim wrestles with what connection really means when you're learning through a screen. And Mary tries to figure out if homeschooling is a quiet luxury or just another broken system.

They dig into what it means to learn without a classroom, how isolation shapes identity, and whether technology is actually helping kids or just replacing human connection. There's talk of chemistry teachers who actually care, the death of regional culture, billionaires who should be funding teachers instead of rockets, and whether the whole education pipeline is just a scam designed to keep us compliant.

They get into caregiving as invisible labor, why social capital matters more than test scores, the weirdness of kids watching other kids play video games, and whether we've all been homeschooled by the internet without realizing it. It's vulnerable, sprawling, and doesn't resolve cleanly. But what if that's the point?

Follow Reggie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggietidwell/

Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timscroggs/

Follow Mary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-greene/

Follow Dylan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanngarciaa/

Produced by Mary Greene.

age the podcast is edited and engineered by Will Canady.

All episodes are filmed at the 40 Hearts Studio in Asheville, NC.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Pulling the Topic - Homeschool
• 00:03:10 Reggie's Homeschool Revelation
• 00:04:30 The Social Dynamics of Middle School
• 00:05:30 The Unique Nature of Homeschooled Kids
• 00:11:50 School Systems and Social Connections
• 00:19:00 Transparency vs. Connection
• 00:21:48 The Homeschool Experience: Free Play and Family Time
• 00:24:48 Technology in Education: The Great Debate
• 00:35:52 The Value of Teachers and Human Connection
• 00:45:34 The Pipeline Problem: School, College, and Career
• 00:50:38 AI, Isolation, and the Future of Learning
• 00:37:54 Billionaires, Teachers, and Caring for Caregivers
• 01:02:52 Protecting Children: A New Political Framework
• 01:05:12 The Resolution: Well-Gotten Success