This is a housekeeping newsletter, which I send roughly once per year. It includes details of upcoming plans for this space, an invitation to a new book club and virtual salon (this time, with me—and open to everyone), and a request to let me know where you are located so I can begin to organize in-person meet-ups.

I’ve been on a college campus for the past few weeks. The importance of personal encounters—the incarnational kind—has been at the top of my mind. I see a new a level of energy and excitement in students (and faculty) that I haven’t seen in nearly three years. It’s invigorating. It’s life-giving.

I tell you this because I’ve been thinking about introducing in-person meet-ups for subscribers—among many other things I have in mind. (More on those things below.)

My hope is that new relationships form among people here—people who, on the whole, I have found to be extremely thoughtful and kind, and to have a genuine interest in escaping from (and/or building something better than) the small-spirited hell of social media and consumerism, the stale state of mimetic politics, and the humdrum of mediocre Content that is the equivalent of soul-killing Muzak in a decaying shopping mall.

For starters, I’m sharing my upcoming travel for the month with you. As many of you know, my primary home is in Washington, DC. I also spend a lot of time in (West) Michigan. Over these next five weeks, I’ll be on the road in the following places:

• Dallas (Sept 29 - Oct. 1)

• Miami (Oct. 4-6)

• Austin (Oct 7-9)

• NYC (Oct. 11-14)

• Nashville (Oct. 23-26)

I have a busy schedule, but I’d love to meet a few of you.

Whether you live in one of the above places or not, please use this form to let me know where you live (this is for me only; I will not be sharing with anyone else) and whether or not you’d be interested in hosting or attending an in-person meet-up.

If I notice a large cluster of people in the same place—and if you’ve opted in, of course—I’ll reach out to you separately to see if we can make something happen.

For paying subscribers only, I’ll be hosting a book club on René Girard’s Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World later this year. Follow the Book Club section for an update on that. (And paying subscribers will get a special email invite.)

I’ll also be hosting a new Anti-Mimetic Salon on October 10 at 5pm EST. There is no special guest for this one—it’ll just be me and you. This particular event is open to everybody (usually, for paid subscribers only); however, attendance is limited to the first 100 people who sign-up. Please grab a spot on Eventbrite if you’d like to join us.

I ask that if you sign-up, you show up—otherwise, your spot would be wasted on someone else who might really like to attend but saw this too late.

My plan is to talk a bit about the Book Club, have a general conversation about any topics you’re interested in (I’ll send a form to registered attendees prior to the call), and also give you my perspective on core motivational drive (which I write about in Wanting) and its relationship to mimetic desire, taking that conversation a layer deeper than the session I hosted with Dr. Joshua Miller earlier this year.

Lastly, I am going to ditch Discourse, the platform I’ve been using for subscribers to interact on. I don’t like the user experience or the aesthetics, which has meant that I spend less time using it than I’d like. It also doesn’t support all of the other things I plan to do here, from book clubs to courses and educational forums. I’m looking for a very robust community app to migrate to, and I’ll gladly pay a premium for a great one. So, included in the “tell me where you’re at” form (above), I’ve also asked you an optional question about whether or not you have any recommendations for a good community platform.

Lastly, this is my annual appeal for your support. I want to add many more resources here, including an editor and additional writers. (If you’re interested in writing, you know how to find me.)

If you become a paying subscriber of Anti-Mimetic, you will receive:

• All posts and access to the full archive

• An invitation to the book club

• An invitation to the new community app (which used to be Discord, but something much more robust in the coming month)

• Invitations to all Salons and in-person meet-ups

• A free videobook of Wanting, which I just wrapped up filming with several special guests

• An 80%+ discount for the online course I will be offering in the summer of 2023. It is an adult adaptation of the class I will be teaching in the spring to undergrads called Entrepreneurship 491: Psychology, Desire, and Human Dynamics. Think of it like a crash course MBA combined with philosophical anthropology, Girardian cuts, and even some creation theology. I have to cap enrollment at a relatively small number in order to deliver the best experience.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you. Paying subscribers can AMA on the latest app thread here. Otherwise, I hope to raise a glass with you.

Luke

P.S. The hero image on this post is a scene from the film La Grande Bellezza, by Paolo Sorrentino. If you haven’t done so yet, do yourself a favor and watch it. It’s in Italian with English sub-titles, and I realize that’s not for everyone. But I suspect you’ll like it.