Introducing: Middling Content
a broader approach to the space in between
Substack Subscribers,
I’ve been thinking about ways to reinvent this newsletter over the past few months, and as we close out the week of the Equinox (the “Weekquinox”?) it feels an appropriate occasion to usher in a new beginning of sorts.
So hear ye hear ye: I’ll now be writing under the banner of “Middling Content”, where I’ll be providing takes on how people and peoples can get more out of media. While I still think there were legs to the “Around The World In 80 Plays” concept, the frame was a bit narrow and I’m confident more of my ideas will suit the new format -- enabling me to publish more regularly.
“Middling Content” is a triple-entendre that frames the subject, goal and standard of this publication -- which I’m briefly outlining below!
Entendre #1: Middling-as-Subject (Media)
A medium is the thing between other things. It is the space in-between. And so “middling” reflects the subject of media, where I’d like to focus this newsletter.
I’ve had a variety of media jobs over the past two decades (!!), and that should make an informed and interesting commentator on media questions. I helped pick what TV shows would be watched by tens of millions of people. I’ve assessed the performance of hundreds of advertisements. I ran a media lab evaluating new technologies like VR and Smart Speakers. I’ve been a radio DJ, a music instructor, a live sound engineer and a 35mm film projectionist. I’ve been a musician in genres from punk-ska to Indonesian gamelan to bluegrass. Across these experiences, I’ve developed lots of opinions on media, and “Middling Content” will be a space where I can distill them into clean and focused thinkpieces.
The words “middling” and “content” also provide a contrast that I enjoy. A mantra of mine is “consume media, not content” -- as “content” exists to fill space whereas “media” exists to connect you to something outside yourself. Media solves a problem of disconnectedness, while content solves a problem of “what to do with all this time”. We probably all occasionally feel an emptiness that calls out to be filled with generic content, but I don’t actually think any of us have too much time. Disconnection, though, is a more serious challenge, and investigating how media attempts solve that is the kind of work I want this newsletter to be able to do.
Entendre #2: Middling-as-Objective (Centering)
Great media not only sits between a viewer and reality, but it actively provides a center that two or more readers can use to connect with each other. It grounds us, providing a common context.
This is part of why I set the goal to relaunch this week. Most folks think about how the equinox is a day that is equal between day and night. And that’s part of it. But it’s also equal across regions, with 12 hour days whether you’re in Auckland or Beijing, Anchorage or Patagonia. It provides a model for a media that sheds lights on places evenly. The media as it exists today does not do this, but I want to explore how media perhaps someday can. A more equitable media better creates common ground across which people can reach across lines of difference, which helps create a resilient humanity capable of addressing the world’s biggest challenges.
Media inclusion is another place where I’ve cultivated unique experience. I’ve co-founded a product that helps major media companies assess the inclusiveness of their content. I spent a year changing locations once a week, trying to give myself literal common ground with more of the planet. I’m piloting an app to help me learn a small slice of a broad range of languages through population music. I compiled a playlist with a song for every ten million people on the planet to help me better internalize population stats. I routinely audit my media consumption to see if it conforms with the geographic distribution of the population. These are experiences I will draw on as I try to think about a media environment that better creates shared experience.
This newsletter will be a place where I can investigate how media can better be a social tool, which is becoming increasingly important in a splintering media landscape.
Entendre #3: Middling-as-Standard (Sufficient)
Lastly, I am working to set a standard for the publication that ensures strong content without stifling publication altogether. To be honest, I find publishing ideas terrifying. I want so desperately to be liked, and sharing long-form opinions without being able to read and respond to the expressions on my readers faces twists my stomach in knots.
Despite my aversion to publication, though, I think it is important for me to put some words down somewhere. I often revisit (and reference) Jack Conte’s “work to publish” talk, where he talks through how quantity drives quality. Taking his guidance, I will try to be less precious about my ideas and put things out before they are maybe fully ready. And I’ll get better with time.
I am a big believer that it is okay to create “bad art”, and I’m a fan of improvisational forms that have low bars for creativity, but that’s not my aim here. I’m shooting somewhere in-between. So here are my criteria: (1) plays to my particular experiences and obsessions, (2) has guidance that could potentially improve the lives of readers, (3) is presented clearly and actionably.
It’s possible that some of my takes will be either derivative or misled, but I’m hoping that through experimentation and collecting feedback I will at least occasionally share thoughts that are novel to at least some readers. I have a few of these I’ve been working on for a bit, so… we’ll see how it goes!
So, again, this is the remit at Middling Content: middling in subject (covering media), middling in objective (centering/grounding) and middling in quality (good enough).
“...But What About The Previous Concept?”
I am in the process of conducting daily surveys to collect favorite songs from people around the world, and I will be sharing more information on that project sometime soon. It will still connect readers to new music around the world, but without me serving as some kind of arbiter of musical quality outside my own cultural context. A couple songs I’ve discovered from these surveys recently: “Känn Ingen Sorg För Mig Göteborg” by Håkan Hellström (off a record that Wikipedia describes as Sweden’s Born to Run which is funny to me) and “Ela Vai Voltar” by Charlie Brown Jr. (which was featured in a Brasilian teen soap opera Malhação).
That all said, I do have another couple posts about the “Around the World in 80 Plays” concept that I hope to get out in the next few months, so stay tuned. (And maybe bug me about them if you’re particularly interested.) I hope you stick around.
Happy Weekquinox!
Harry