

Discover more from Protein Supplement
The Protein Discord has been buzzin’ these past few weeks with members refining their methodologies, self-organising into research groups, and tending their research gardens for the upcoming Dirty Words COMMUNITY Report. We’ve also spun up a new propellerheads group to tackle how we bring the report to life and explore the numerous possible flywheels beyond the launch ✨
We’re also super excited to be hosting “What’s After the Creator Economy?” with Austin from Metalabel and Severin from Co-Matter at Protein Studios — exploring new perspectives on the ways creative work is produced, distributed, and monetized online. This is a members only event, so if you’d like to attend, you can apply here.
In Supplement news, you’ll notice we’ve added a few new categories and inspired by Chromuh’s post, we’ve brought our playlists back. This month’s beats come c/o Rob Jenkins, a UK-based producer who specialises in creating deep, immersive sounds inspired by the rich history of dub, as well as the futuristic possibilities of techno … making it a perfect soundtrack to help you digest this monster issue. And in the spirit of supporting artists, if you like what you hear, you can find his Patreon page here:
Sitting comfortably? OK, let’s get to it as we’ve got a lot to get through …
Water & Music’s $STREAM Season 3 report on Creative AI is out
As is their incredible behind-the-scenes playbook
Spawning is Holly Herdon's latest AI project
The head of ChatGPT admits she had concerns about releasing it publicly
Bot Love is a podcast about people falling in love with their chatbots
Which reminds us of the Spike Jonze classic, Her (that’s 10 years old btw)
You might have noticed, but Microsoft has lobotomized its rebellious Bing AI 🧠
Having fun with GPT-3? Just wait till you try GPT-4 …
Runway is the best we’ve seen as a single AI toolstack for creators
James Bridle asks if AI is going to kill our creativity
Similarly, Tech Won’t Save Us reminds us not to fall for all the hype
AI recipe generator anyone? Anyone?
Remember, consciousness is a thing, not a process
Bone Soda opens creative community space DIJONSS in East London
How to rebuild companies as communities
The 7 core human needs to build a thriving community
Also loads of community lessons to learn from Lore
Why communities are so important
Community as an antidote to loneliness
Anarchist Brand Modelling is a manifesto for participative community branding
Index is a new visual trends newsletter from Its Nice That
This guy made a website look like a lenticular
And this guy reviewed 3,000 design portfolios so you didn’t have to
We’re here for the IKEA X Marimekko collab
Grafik is launching a Discord, so be sure to follow their Twitter for updates
World Wide Walls from oio studio lets you “write” on any website
Five creative lessons from Factory Records
Ever wondered where Dyson got his inspiration for the bagless vacuum?
TASCHEN’s Library of Esoterica is what’s missing from your coffee table
Astrology in the age of uncertainty
A thread on colors & planet synchronicities
Where there’s light, there are also Dark Futures
In case you were unsure, the future of marketing is people
Want to know what two million-year-old ice looks like?
Tips to get your focus back to make better work
Is CC0 the future of Web3? A Felt Zine x FWB Roundtable
A long but excellent read on Platform Cooperativism
Derek Edws on storing value in digital objects
Evgeny Morozov on a critique of techno-feudal reason
Do we need to reclassify social taxonomies?
FWB have launched their own app and it’s half decent 💫
Are you dating the same guy?
Instagram looks to start selling verification
Offset is transforming industrial sabotage into premium carbon credits ✊
When trees fall, so do we
New Nature from Ollie at Flock Together
Musicians credit Earth as a collaborator to raise funds for activism
Siemens issues first digital bond on blockchain
Max Pain (a recent history) is essential reading
New from Gitcoin and Metalabel feat Vitalik
New from SeedClub coming soon …
New from Nouns on NFT movies
New from RADAR on playful futures
New from Spotify on token gating playlists
FINAL WORD 🇺🇦
THANKS
We give 200 $PRTN for any link that makes the Protein Supplement. So, a big shoutout to the following members, we’ll be in touch shortly to sort your tokens:
maartenwalraven#6758, AmirCaten8ted#1874, arthur#8888, heyjates#9854, sleeping swan#9511, elizeger#9886, 0xMdC#0401, benculpin#8988, VanKB#2896, Super_Fiction#8602 & lomedia#4486
Until next month, your friends at Protein 💚
SMALL PRINT
Protein is a place where people and ideas grow 🌱 We do this through our global community, agency, and studio space. We believe we’ve all got a responsibility to think and act bigger than ourselves and that good growth can only be achieved by balancing progress, profit, and purpose.
Yes, we really have published 700 issues 👀 of this newsletter. The first Protein Supplement was sent on 17th September 1997 to 14 people and (other than a few breaks over the years) has always aimed to distill what’s happening at the intersection of community and culture into a concise and accessible digest. If you’re interested in digging into the (incomplete) archive, you can here.
You can also find us on Discord, Mirror, Twitter, and Insta. We always like to hear from you and how we can improve what we do, so if you want to get in touch about anything, please use this form.
#700 | Metalabels, Propellerheads & Esoterica 🔮
This might be the most clickable newsletter I've ever opened.