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Don't Freak Out

Don't Freak Out

Written by: Marco Palou
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Don’t Freak Out, Being human in the future that came. Marco Palou makes things by hand with artists, scientists, futurists, and cultural thinkers while exploring creativity, identity, and meaning in a world being rewritten by technology. New episodes every Tuesday.

marcopalou.substack.comMarco Palou Art Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Who Told You You Can't Sing? | Indre Viskontas, Neuroscientist

    Who Told You You Can't Sing? | Indre Viskontas, Neuroscientist
    Oct 21 2026
    Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SNNmTEUHDzAListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033WXTU8zVolaWr23weegHListen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-freak-out/id6794541000Who told you that you couldn't sing, and how much of that judgment have you mistaken for a fact?Neuroscientist and opera singer Indre Viskontas joins Marco Palou (Baby Yors), author of HOMO ARTIS, on Don't Freak Out.NEW BOOK: HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is OUT NOW.Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8SR2NMRGet the book and the first 4 chapters free: https://homoartis.comWhile making art together in Oakland, Indre and Marco explore the judgments that silence us, the fear of creating, and what learning means when AI can do more of the work.In this episode:- Finding your voice after rejection- Why picking something up quickly isn't always lasting learning- Maria Callas and the power of an imperfect voice- Creativity anxiety and the difference between fear and ability- Writing, handwriting and finding something of your own to sayAbout Indre ViskontasIndre Viskontas is a cognitive neuroscientist, opera singer and opera stage director. She is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco, where she directs the Creative Brain Lab and studies memory, creativity and the factors that help or hinder creative work. Her career also spans musical performance, opera direction and public science communication. She is the author of How Music Can Make You Better and has created or hosted podcasts including Inquiring Minds, Cadence and Radiant Minds: The World of Oliver Sacks. She holds a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from UCLA and a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.Indre: https://www.indreviskontas.com/Creative Brain Lab: https://www.indreviskontas.com/viskontas-labHow Music Can Make You Better: https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/how-music-can-make-you-betterAbout Don't Freak OutDon't Freak Out is a podcast about being human in the future that came. Each episode, artist and author Marco Palou sits down with a poet, scientist, composer, founder or performer and makes something with them while they talk: a drawing, a watercolor, a page of play-doh. The conversations are about creativity, technology and the parts of us no machine can do, and every guest finishes the same sentence before they leave: "Don't freak out..."About Marco PalouMarco Palou is an Argentine artist, author and director working across music, film, visual art and writing. Born in Jujuy, he left Argentina for New York at 18 on a ballet scholarship and has built a career without a traditional job, through brand partnerships, creative collaborations and work released on every platform. He records and performs music as Baby Yors, runs Amarte Labs and Palou Press in Los Angeles, and hosts Don't Freak Out. His book HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is out now.Website: https://homoartis.comMarco Palou: https://marcopalou.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcopalouBaby Yors: https://www.instagram.com/babyyorsSubstack: https://marcopalou.substack.comFollow Don't Freak OutInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcastSubstack: https://marcopalou.substack.com/s/dont-freak-outYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFgR6xuA9wYeFjXXZAsKKfwProduced by Amarte Labs LLC Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 hr
  • EP 11: When Freedom Becomes a Trap | Fred Turner, Stanford Professor

    EP 11: When Freedom Becomes a Trap | Fred Turner, Stanford Professor
    Oct 13 2026
    Watch on YouTube · Listen on Spotify · Listen on Apple PodcastsWhat if the dream of being completely free is making it harder to live together?Stanford professor Fred Turner joins Marco Palou (Baby Yors), author of HOMO ARTIS, on the Don't Freak Out podcast.NEW BOOK: HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is OUT NOW.AmazonGet the book and the first 4 chapters freeSubscribe to the podcast on SubstackIn Oakland, a trip through Fred's CD collection becomes a question about everything Spotify never suggests. Milton's devil helps explain why a feed can be beautiful and impossible to leave. And the communes Fred thought would offer relief after a book about war lead him to a surprising answer: his idea of utopia is a hospital. From ChatGPT to Burning Man, they ask what freedom needs if we're going to share a world.In this episodeWhat Fred stopped hearing on Spotify, and how John Cage changed his earsMilton's devil and the feed that keeps us hungryWhy feeling seen by ChatGPT can confuse a product with a relationshipShowing the creative process, performing authenticity, and deciding whom to trustQueer media cultures, self-presentation, and the freedoms they opened up"Rule by cool" in communes, and why Fred argues that freedom needs institutionsBurning Man, Google, and why Fred's idea of utopia is a hospitalAbout Fred TurnerFred Turner is the Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication at Stanford University, where he studies media, technology and American cultural life. His books include From Counterculture to Cyberculture, The Democratic Surround and Echoes of Combat. With photographer Mary Beth Meehan, he coauthored Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America. His research connects subjects as varied as communal living, digital utopianism and Burning Man. A former journalist and Guggenheim Fellow, he continues to write for publications in the United States and Europe. He earned his doctorate in Communication at the University of California, San Diego.Fred TurnerBooksStanfordMentioned in this episodeJohn Milton, Paradise Lost; T.S. Eliot; W.H. Auden; Sylvia Plath, Winter Trees; Ernest Hemingway; John CageWhole Earth Catalog; Howard Rheingold and the WELL; RuPaul; Joshua Gamson; Burning ManAbout Don't Freak OutDon't Freak Out is a podcast about being human in the future that came. Each episode, artist and author Marco Palou sits down with a poet, scientist, composer, founder or performer and makes something with them while they talk: a drawing, a watercolor, a page of play-doh. The conversations are about creativity, technology and the parts of us no machine can do, and every guest finishes the same sentence before they leave: "Don't freak out..."About Marco PalouMarco Palou is an Argentine artist, author and director working across music, film, visual art and writing. Born in Jujuy, he left Argentina for New York at 18 on a ballet scholarship and has built a career without a traditional job, through brand partnerships, creative collaborations and work released on every platform. He records and performs music as Baby Yors, runs Amarte Labs and Palou Press in Los Angeles, and hosts Don't Freak Out. His book HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is out now.WebsiteMarco PalouInstagramBaby YorsSubstackFollow Don't Freak OutInstagramSubstackYouTubeProduced by Amarte Labs LLC Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • EP 10: The Only Instrument Made Out of Human | Pamela Z, Composer & Media Artist

    EP 10: The Only Instrument Made Out of Human | Pamela Z, Composer & Media Artist
    Oct 7 2026
    Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/T8Xv8dTqWkMListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033WXTU8zVolaWr23weegHApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-freak-out/id6794541000Why does a distorted voice disturb you when a distorted violin only sounds interesting?NEW BOOK: HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is OUT NOW.Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8SR2NMRGet the book and the first 4 chapters free: https://homoartis.comSubscribe to the podcast on Substack: https://marcopalou.substack.com/s/dont-freak-outMarco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down in Oakland with composer and media artist Pamela Z. While they work with clay, Pamela talks about making music from voices, lists and the imperfect timing of machines. She recalls the Tower Records catalog that became one of her favorite pieces, and the piece she could no longer perform when a laptop replaced her rack of digital delays. The conversation moves from those happy accidents to deep fakes, AI slop and the peculiar sympathy she feels for a driverless car.In this episode- Why altering a voice feels different from distorting another instrument- The catalog page that became Pop Titles You, and why she prefers lists to rhymes- Studying opera while playing clubs, with one teacher's encouragement- What became easier when her gear became a laptop, and what she could no longer perform- The musical accidents she misses from old digital delays, and how she recreates their imperfect timing- What tech did to the word "multimedia", and why she dislikes "creative" as a noun- Deep fakes, AI slop, feeling sorry for Waymos, and the ChatGPT rewrite that called SoMa "trendy hip"Mentioned in this episodePop Titles You, Baggage Allowance and Pamela's piece 85 for Pauline OliverosKGNU Boulder and her program The Tuesday Afternoon Sound AlternativeMax/MSP, the Lexicon 32-second delay, Pro Tools, FileMakerBang on a Can All-Stars and Steven Schick; Ensemble for These Times; Roomful of TeethComposer Tina TallonBoots Riley, I Love Boosters (the tipping-building joke)The Millennium Tower, San FranciscoAbout Pamela ZPamela Z is a composer, performer and media artist whose work brings together the human voice, live electronics, sampled sounds and video. Through real-time vocal processing and controllers activated by physical gestures, she creates layered performances that move between experimental vocal techniques and operatic singing. Her practice includes concerts, multimedia productions and sound and video installations. She has written scores for dance, film and ensembles including Kronos Quartet and Eighth Blackbird. Her work has appeared at MoMA and the Venice and Dakar biennales. Her honors include the Rome Prize, Berlin Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the MIT McDermott Award. She studied music at the University of Colorado Boulder.Pamela Z: https://pamelaz.comSimultaneous (album, Other Minds Records): https://www.otherminds.org/recording/simultaneous/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PamelaZedFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamelazedAbout Don't Freak OutDon't Freak Out is a podcast about being human in the future that came. Each episode, artist and author Marco Palou sits down with a poet, scientist, composer, founder or performer and makes something with them while they talk: a drawing, a watercolor, a page of play-doh. The conversations are about creativity, technology and the parts of us no machine can do, and every guest finishes the same sentence before they leave: "Don't freak out..."About Marco PalouMarco Palou is an Argentine artist, author and director working across music, film, visual art and writing. Born in Jujuy, he left Argentina for New York at 18 on a ballet scholarship and has built a career without a traditional job, through brand partnerships, creative collaborations and work released on every platform. He records and performs music as Baby Yors, runs Amarte Labs and Palou Press in Los Angeles, and hosts Don't Freak Out. His book HOMO ARTIS: A Manifesto for Creation in the Age of AI is out now.Website: https://homoartis.comMarco Palou: https://marcopalou.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcopalouBaby Yors: https://www.instagram.com/babyyorsSubstack: https://marcopalou.substack.comFollow Don't Freak OutInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcastSubstack: https://marcopalou.substack.com/s/dont-freak-outYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFgR6xuA9wYeFjXXZAsKKfwProduced by Amarte Labs LLC Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 hr and 3 mins
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