Life Abundant in an Artificial Age
You're invited to the 3rd annual Cluny Conference: ZOË
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” — Daniel 12:4
Dear Readers,
In July 2026, I’ll be hosting ZOË—an anti-mimetic gathering in Napa, California—one I’m thrilled to finally announce.
Our moment can feel like it’s oriented toward death—suicides and overdoses, debt and cynicism, depression and anxiety, ugly aesthetics, endless discourse. Across politics, geographies, and ideologies, there’s a growing sense that life together is getting thinner.
ZOË, the theme of the gathering, is against death. In the New Testament Greek, zoē (ζωή) refers to abundant life—not mere survival (bios, or biological life), but a human being fully alive.
ZOË will be a three-day gathering convening leaders from Athens (arts and philosophy), Jerusalem (faith and religion), and Silicon Valley (technology and venture) to ask the most basic—and urgent—questions:
What is life?
What does abundant life look and feel like now?
Who embodies it—in people, companies, institutions, craft, and culture?
What can businesses and leaders do to build things, both products and institutions, that support abundant life?
Why “fertility” is Not Enough.
What practices, architectures, and economies actually fortify life?
What are signs of contradiction in the modern world?
And more…
This gathering isn’t just about ideas—it’s about living well, in the flesh, in this moment we find ourselves.
You won’t find any panels on A.I. or attempts to chase the mimetic stream. What you will get is fresh, raw, and real—and the people who come will be, too.
This special event has been nearly two years in the making. For those who attended Novitate and/or Metanoia, the first two iterations of Cluny Conferences, you will find both continuity and newness in ZOË.
It will be our largest gathering yet—and the most participatory. Set at a resort rather than a university, it’s designed for deeper connection: late-night fireside conversations, impromptu vineyard visits, and encounters that past gatherings didn’t easily allow.
The full conference website is now live here. Please visit to learn more.
As is our practice, we’re not naming any speakers until most or all tickets have sold out. And in the past two years, they have sold out extremely quickly. Thank you in advance for trusting me and the Cluny team to curate the best possible group. You’ll encounter a diversity of voices you won’t find anywhere else.
This year we’re launching a custom networking app that opens to all ticket holders three months before the event—so we can start connecting, planning meet-ups, and shaping our time together in the Bay Area.
The conference is limited to 250 participants. Today I’m opening up 50 tickets reserved exclusively for you, my readers, at a 20% discounted rate (for either General Admission or VIP tickets)—if you secure a spot before Nov. 10. Use the coupon code “antimimetic” at checkout to redeem.
This code will be valid until Nov. 10, or until the first 50 tickets are sold—whichever comes first.
I hope to see you in Napa—where we’ll gather, together, against death.
Eyes up, rise up.
Thank you, as always, for reading. I’ll be back to more of my regularly scheduled essays here soon now that I’m almost done putting the finishing touches on the next book. More on that later.
Yours, Luke
A special word of thanks to The Catholic University of America, the Busch School of Business, and the John Templeton Foundation for making this event possible.
