I explored the underlying mechanics and pedagogy around deep meditation, which enables access to intensely altered mental states with potential therapeutic benefits that extend well beyond mindfulness. These practices are still not well understood, but they offer insight into not just our wellbeing, but the mind and consciousness itself.
I became interested in tech’s growing social and political influence, and the values driving its behavior, after noticing a change in sentiment in the early 2020s. Tech had shifted from primarily building and funding startups to building movements and engaging with public institutions. I wanted to understand why this was happening from a systems perspective; key events that drove this change; and how tech’s story rhymes with prior historical industry wealth booms.
I spent five years researching and writing about open source developers. My early work argued that open source code is a form of public infrastructure that requires maintenance (see Roads and Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure). My later work focused on documenting modern open source (2010s-today) as distinct from early open source (1990s-early 2000s) and drawing parallels to the creator economy (see Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software).
The experience of pursuing this topic across a few different gigs also gave me a blueprint for understanding myself as an independent researcher, a process that I’ve also tried to document in public to hopefully encourage others to do the same.
I’ve had a longtime interest in modern (post-Industrial Revolution) philanthropy. I wanted to experiment with faster grantmaking processes, as well as funding individuals rather than organizations, so I decided to make my own microgrants program.
Helium Grants were “no-strings-attached” microgrants ranging from $1K to $5K, awarded to individuals. I ran this experiment for two years, and I documented my process and learnings along the way. I also put together a few resources to encourage more people to spin up their own microgrant programs.