107 Comments
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Yuri Bezmenov's avatar

Congrats Ted! You were one of the first Substacks I subscribed to. Gotham appreciates you.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Happy Stackaversary, Ted!

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Zafirios Georgilas's avatar

Well done, Ted! Congratulations for having a vision and sticking to it. Here's an idea. It seems like we live in a time of the digital dark ages. Censorship is increasing. Social media ravages people's attention spans; making them dopamine depleted. AI seems to increase plagiarism while diminishing creativity. Platforms like Spotify make it hard for musicians to make a living from their creative act. We're in an age of a confluence of crises.

So how does one kickstart a personal renaissance? I ask this because it's a question I've asked myself. If I could go back time, I would love to live in a creative golden age like 5th century BC Athens, Renaissance Italy or swinging London of the 60s. However, we live in 2025. But as the proverb goes, "Wherever you go, there you are." So I would like to imbue a renaissance spirit to 2025. Any insights are greatly appreciated.

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Susan Clayton's avatar

You are the one, the only substack I archive on my desktop:)) I often go back into that 'folder' when I need a positive lift; when I make a connection between something else I read and something you have said. I could go on.... however - Thank you for all you do for this community and by extension the community at large.

Congratulations on your 5th birthday.

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JBoyle02's avatar

Congrats Ted, the Rick Beato interview brought me to your Substack and I really appreciate all your creativity, opinions and overall effort.

You (& Rick) are some of the few content creators who never seem to make your audience wait for your next release and speaking for myself (and I’m sure many others), thank you for all you do!

Oh & yes to more than just print, if not a podcast, maybe the occasional pre-recorded interview would be great!

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Stan McGee's avatar

I second that, Congrats Ted! Well, well deserved.

Rick Beato brought me here too and I am so grateful for it.

Your perspectives and insight so resonates with me of how all things in the spectrum - from beauty to craziness - in this world happens observing it from a sound, balanced view (and humorous touch).

🎆🙏

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Greg Lindenbach's avatar

Third that. Well done, Ted and full speed ahead.

Saw Rick's interview and had to check it out.

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John Harvey's avatar

Me too! God bless you and Rick. And specifically, you made me so happy when you spoke about Eva Cassidy, a person who was everything the modern world isn't, and the need to advocate for such people, vigorously.

And OMG: thank you for sending me to check out Hania Rani, who gets her music from some other dimension, apparently.

Ted, do you realize you have become a kind of Paul Revere? No riding off into the sunset for you...ride that horse and warn the people!

Actually, we all have to do that now, because the insanity is all around us. So, you are not alone.

Unfortunately there is just no way Substack will ever give you the complete feedback on what you have done. You only really get that in person.

You like songs. I believe the appropriate song for your birthday would be "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread." Maybe someone could sing it to you.

Listen, here's Eva:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCF9ndtB89A

And here's Judy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1geTotIT9s

Pete came too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYJ9DUVwR6k

They came to your party! Happy birthday!

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-Nate's avatar

Holy literary crusade Batman ! .

It worked .

Doing what one loves means it's not work .

-Nate

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Robert C. Gilbert's avatar

Congratulations, Ted, on this milestone and keep on rolling along. Learning that you had joined Substack inspired me to give a shot and write about music, a long-held ambitions. Almost four years, 140+ essays and 2,220+ readers, I'm still at it. Thanks, Ted, for the indirect inspiration.

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Ted Gioia's avatar

You’re doing outstanding work.

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Robert C. Gilbert's avatar

Thank you, Ted!

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Tim's avatar

Congrats Ted.

1) If I were you, I'd use Substack video and leverage the community to germinate new ideas. Have open Q&As with you reacting to submissions, links, etc.. Keep it closed to subscribers only. I think you'd go in really interesting directions beyond those which you plot yourself, precisely because you have a lot of curiosity and hybrid wisdom to offer. Make the short-term goal to create a habit in subscribers of attending these videos, with a secondary goal of content generation.

2) If you ever do a podcast, focus it more narrowly on solutions, consequences, implications etc. that follow from your original posts, rather than open-ended chitty-chat. Take your popular articles and bring in different voices that aren't just promoting books and figure out the next steps. What happens after a good post of yours resonates? Literally, what laws need to be changed? What new habits can be built? And so on... Chain these follow-ups numerically so that if there is a longer arc from beginning to end, you can see a bigger narrative playing out.

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Matthew Lilley's avatar

You're one of only a few paid subscriptions. It's fine if you want to experiment with chat or video or whatever, but I'm paying for the high-quality writing. It's fantastic!

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Anna Toledo's avatar

Congratulations Ted! Well before downloading the Substack app I was reading you on my email. You are the reason i entered Substack.

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BlackStratCat's avatar

I consider membership in your Stack as a sound investment. The returns I get for my contribution are incalculable to my psyche. I ponder and share/discuss ideas you bring up frequently. The best part is discussing these with my kids. Way better than school. Thanks for taking the leap!

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Ros Barber's avatar

Happy Stackaversary, Ted. What an amazing ride in four years. That spreadsheet is mind blowing! I go week by week responding to the currents. Thanks for sharing.

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Jeroen Vrolijk's avatar

Congrats mr Gioia. It was an interview with drummer extra ordinaire Vinnie Colaiuta which brought me here, subscriber/endorser since 1,5 years. Thx for all the honesty and insides!

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Gretchen's avatar

You were definitely my first paid Substack subscription. I love your books and was delighted to take in more of your writing.

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Patricia Salazar-Pazmiño's avatar

Congratulations! I’m learning a lot here! Greetings from Ecuador 🏔️

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Amalina Osman's avatar

Proud premium subs. Congrats Ted!

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