70. You Output What You Input

Studio Sessions

Studio Sessions
70. You Output What You Input
Apr 14, 2026 Season 3 Episode 17
Matthew O'Brien, Alex Carter

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We spend a lot of time thinking about what we make, and not enough thinking about what we take in. What we listen to, what we read, what we let interrupt us, what we hand our attention to without really deciding to — all of it shapes the output, whether we're conscious of it or not. This episode starts there.

From that we get into the systems designed to keep you feeding them — platforms, algorithms, companies that started with a mission and ended with an optimization — and what it actually costs to let those systems run in the background of your life unchecked. We're not against technology. We use it, depend on it, sometimes love it. But there's a difference between using a tool and being used by one.

The thing we keep coming back to is friction. Not difficulty for its own sake, but the kind of slowdown that forces a real relationship with the thing you're doing. When you build something, fix something, choose something deliberately, you feel responsible for it. That responsibility is where the good stuff lives. What you put in dictates what comes out — and most of us aren't being honest about what we're putting in. -Ai

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Links To Everything: 

Video Version of The Podcast: https://geni.us/StudioSessionsYT 

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Matt’s 2nd Channel: https://geni.us/PhotoVideosYT 

Alex’s YouTube Channel: https://geni.us/AlexCarterYT 

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Alex’s Instagram: https://geni.us/AlexIG 

Episode Artwork 70. You Output What You Input 55:26 Episode Artwork 69. What If Your Best Work Needs Less Sharing 1:15:24 Episode Artwork 68. Protect The Work At All Costs 1:06:56 Episode Artwork 67. Leica Luck 1:12:48 Episode Artwork 66. Back to Square One 1:05:56 Episode Artwork 65. Attempting A Low-Stakes Space For Photography And Conversation: PART 2 57:51 Episode Artwork 64. Attempting A Low-Stakes Space For Photography And Conversation: PART 1 49:52 Episode Artwork 63. Build The Foundation, Lose The Costume, Keep Your Soul 1:21:59 Episode Artwork 62. What Do We Owe The Past When We Build With Its Pieces? 1:09:50 Episode Artwork 61. Are We Curating Identity Or Chasing Dopamine? 1:14:01 Episode Artwork 60. Artists Make Ways of Seeing, Not Objects 1:17:01 Episode Artwork 59. Rethinking Collaboration: Why Working Together Still Matters 1:23:28 Episode Artwork 58. The Work You Keep Deferring 1:08:32 Episode Artwork 57. Private Work, Public Truths 58:41 Episode Artwork 56. Seasonality, Not Speed 1:00:15 Episode Artwork 55. Reclaiming The Soul of Digital Technology - Less Capability, More Freedom 1:40:06 Episode Artwork 54. Embracing Necessary Imperfections 1:18:52 Episode Artwork 53. The Terrible Master: On Ego, Perception, and the Choice to See Differently 1:47:12 Episode Artwork 52. The Homogenization Problem: Is Culture Losing Itself? PART 2 48:43 Episode Artwork 51. The Homogenization Problem: Is Culture Losing Itself? PART 1 59:43 Episode Artwork 50. Fragmented Culture: What Matters When Nothing Really Matters? 1:11:00 Episode Artwork 49. The Human Cost of "Artificial Intelligence": What Are We Trading Away? 49:15 Episode Artwork 48. What Happens When We Stop Believing Anything Is Possible? 1:19:07 Episode Artwork 47. Escape Velocity: The Quest For Autonomy in Art 1:09:49 Episode Artwork 46. Creative Obligation & Reciprocity: The Debt of Inspiration 1:25:10