Damns Given with Nick Richtsmeier
(formerly Working/Broken)
Brains On. Hearts Open. Forward Motion... for the Post-Digital World.
The world has gotten very good at telling us what’s broken. Platforms. Politics. Power. Business. Culture. Every feed reminds us we’re smaller than we thought, and that the real decisions are being made somewhere else.
When that message sinks in deeply enough, disengagement, even nihilism start become the default position. Businesses holding out for "someday." Ideas in limbo. Fear run amok. Our ability to make the world a long lost fantasy. We become spectators in a life we’re supposed to be living.
Damns Given is a show for those who refuse to surrender their agency.
Hosted by strategist and author Nick Richtsmeier, Damns Given is a forum for
Nick and his guests fight back against the "it-is-what-it-is-isms" of our day and the abandonment of agency that the algorithmic systems have demanded of us, calling us forward into a post-digital world where we are free again to ask betting questions of:
- How the internet has trained us to think algorithm-first and self-second
- Why our attention is our most powerful (and misdirected) asset
- What happens when leaders disconnect from real human scale
- How to build a meaningful life and business without waiting for permission
- The small decisions and risks that actually move the world forward
The premise is simple:
We already know what’s broken.
Now we ask:
How do we show up anyway?
No doomscrolling disguised as insight. No performing for the feed. Just honest conversations with thinkers, builders, and leaders who are navigating this moment with clarity — and giving a damn about the future they’re helping shape.
Because the game isn’t over. And the people who still care will decide what happens next.
You can find additional resources at DamnsGiven.com.
Damns Given with Nick Richtsmeier
Digital Minimalism and How to Make the Apps Afraid
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In this episode, Nick Richtsmeier launches the pod into its second season with with guest Jose Briones, a digital minimalism strategist. They discuss the importance of digital minimalism in recovering balance in a technology-saturated world, the decline of trust in institutions, and why we can't all just go buy dumb phones and quit the internet. They explore the need for a low-tech life, the skills we are losing as humans, and the role of AI in degrading not just connection but intellectual capacity and curiosity. The conversation emphasizes the importance of skepticism towards technology and the need for local engagement to foster community connections.
A must listen to for leaders who are trying to build anything grounded in trust and for all of us who find ourselves wanting a more analog and less algorithmically defined existence.
Takeaways
- Digital minimalism is more than just a fad..
- Trust in brands, institutions and people is correlative to the rise in digital dependency.
- Digital fatigue is setting everywhere, undermining our ability to think clearly.
- We are losing essential human skills due to technology reliance.
- AI can facilitate tasks but cannot replace human skills.
- Local engagement is vital for community improvement.
- The "enshittification" of tech platforms and apps is intentional and extractive
- But app makers are notice, not just in the discourse but legally as well
- The rise in AI is part of the fear in Silicon Valley trying to maintain control
References
Enshittification by Cory Doctorow
Moving Offline Substack by Jose Briones
Low-Tech Life by Jose Briones
Trust-Made Growth®
Leaders who want to understand how to reformat their growth strategies to address trust decay should explore more at CultureCraft.com
Independent Professionals can join the free community exploring how to return trust to our commerce and our communities at trustmadegrowth.com
Have a business topic you want us to decide if it's working or broken? Have a question about the episode? You can email us at podcast@culturecraft.com.
