When I first launched this cyberpunk newsletter, I think my desire was to be a weirder version of Ben Thompson’s Stratechery. I usually describe him as a tech-biz analyst, but it’s probably more accurate to say he’s a business futurist. Thompson looks at the trends embodied by companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook, then extrapolates where they might take us in five years, ten years, or twenty years.

I wanted to do the same thing but with a focus on sociocultural power dynamics. Of course that includes a heavy dose of economics, but it also encompasses government, day-to-day oddities, the nouveau riche — all sorts of bits and pieces. I’ve dabbled in micro-fiction (and to be honest it seems like many of you would prefer if the main thrust of this newsletter were fiction).

I knew from the outset that there was no way I could write even 500 words every time, so I let myself keep it short and tried to have that be a feature rather than a bug. Exolymph is morning-cup-of-coffee length and that’s the intended use-case. I chose a pulpy sci-fi name because I wanted to evoke the classical cyberpunk aesthetic, which I also try to maintain with the images I choose to accompany my words.

I’ve been surprised and delighted by how many people are interested in this area of exploration. 596 readers is not a lot in the grand scheme of the internet, but it’s more people than have ever consistently paid attention to me before. I think this is mostly a product of the zeitgeist, especially in the US — life feels increasingly dystopian and it helps to marvel at that. Okay, “marvel” isn’t quite the right word. Maybe “gawk” fits better.

Exolymph will be coming up on a year in December, and I wonder if I’ve said everything that I want to say. Currently I’m working on a longer essay for another outlet that will lay out my Grand Theory of Cyberpunk, and maybe that would be a natural closing point.

On the other hand, the cyberpunkness of our world keeps intensifying. (Cyberpunkitude?) I like pointing that out. But I’m not sure that I’m adding anything intellectually anymore.

What do you think? Any ideas for how I could change things up? Comment below or tweet at me or whatever.

Header image by Candace Nast.