SXSW ‘25 Debrief: What You Missed & I’m Thinking About

An unfiltered recap of lingering thoughts

I’ve been attending SXSW on and off for over the last decade, and (still) find it to be an invaluable firehose to the face of provocations.

This year I organized my thoughts (big and small) as I overdosed on talks (some okay, many meh), films (mostly great) and network-y chats (all incredible) over my full week in Austin.

In no particular order...

• I caught the premiere of The Age of Disclosure, the new mic-drop doc on the growing presence of UAPs (AKA UFOs). While once seen as comical tinfoil hat conspiracy theory fodder, mounting evidence, especially from legitimate sources, are making the idea that we’re alone harder and harder to believe. As I recently shared in an interview with DAZED: this is absolutely reality-shattering and often a disturbing thought experiment, but a valuable one nonetheless... even if we are the only ones. Aliens, real or imagined, challenge us and act as an important exercise in humility. As the most bipartisan issue in existence, aliens may also be an effective psyop for political and international peace. Which is more likely... aliens or global cooperation? I was particularly struck by the theory that UAP cover-up is the result of not a lack of evidence, but the shame around merely recognizing the evidence’s existence.

• I met a mom who is secretly “training” their kid’s TikTok algorithm, quickly skipping and reporting “the bad” and staying on “the good,” ultimately influencing what her child sees later. She’s reporting successful results.

• Lime (the scooter company)’s biggest challenge lies not in solving a transportation problem, but in solving a status problem. Lime is a case study in “Behavioral Market Failures.” The rational economic benefits of convenience and affordability are being completely upended by the far more powerful aversion to status loss, supporting once again that our cares around how we’re perceived is far more influential than a more basic decision like how efficiently we move around. Vespas managed to make strides here, so what in the world can Lime do to not make you look like an absolute doof?

• I came across KiTbetter, a start up out of Seoul, blurring physical and digital media. Their collectible artifacts (tiny-CD-esque cases with nothing inside) release a high-pitch frequency when near a phone, unlocking a playable album inside their app. It’s a reincarnation of HitClips (for any 90s kids). The business pitch is noteworthy as it’s addressing fans’ desires for ownership of collectable memorabilia, and artists’ desires for bigger streaming and merch rev shares. I’m interested in the applications here beyond music, yet frustrated over the company’s desire to keep all “unlocks” inside their app.

  The 13 remaining bits are for paid supporters as a ‘Thank You.’ Consider upgrading to access the rest of the debrief + all other ZINE pieces + the 02025 META Trend Report.