I think a video game (or board game) could be cool, especially as an education tool? Something that helps people learn these subjects in a more interactive way.
I think there could be a real opportunity in two areas that matter a lot to people and where good guidance is still surprisingly rare: how we educate our children and how we think about long-term investing.
In both cases, there is already a lot of info. The real problem is making sense of it and turning it into better decisions.
A thoughtful approach to children’s education, but also in terms of judgment, discipline, curiosity and character would be incredibly valuable. The same is true for investing. There is endless noise, but much less clarity around how to think calmly, rationally, and with a long-term view.
It feels like both topics would fit very naturally with what Uncharted Territories
Reading the community and political impact sections reminded me of the social graph you built and shared. (I looked it up - gomeet.streamlit.app, back in Jan 2024). I remember signing up because it was exciting to not only know myself a little better through that tool but also understand who my cohorts were.
That tool already knows who the clusters are. What it doesn't yet do is give those clusters something to act together on. The gap between "here are the 10 UT readers in Copenhagen most similar to you" and "here are 10 UT readers who'd like to fund an article on Nordic Energy policy and are meeting next Thursday" is actually not that large technically, but it's enormous in terms of what it unlocks. The social graph can become the engine rather than a directory.
It also connects to the political impact section. UT doesn't need to take positions - it just needs to surface the clusters that already exist within its readership and give them the platform to self organize. The editorial can stay independent.
I'm also excited by your idea of cross-posting as it resonates most with me - I built something similar for my own Substack. Submitting an article link generates 31 pieces of content across 7 platforms, including a full Instagram carousel with CTAs and brand design consideration. I don't yet have a long span of data to call it, but surprisingly, image-first Instagram has been the boosting attention towards my Substack, while X has been the least impactful. Early days though.
I'm happy to share this is if useful (it's a Claude skill). I'm constantly inspired by UT, and it's the reason I launched my Substack. There's a lot more I've been doing that overlaps with your vision, which made me apply for the researcher/writer role. More at uncharted.rohitnalluri.com.
Love the idea of routinely introducing interactivity into articles! Some of the digital "experiences" I've had over the years really stuck with me, like a simple COVID transmission visualizer embedded in a NYT article, or an idle clicker game illustrating how an AI optimizing for paper clip production might destroy the world. Those helped me grasp the concepts in a tangible way that simply reading didn't accomplish, and made the information sticky over time.
If you're interested in creating interactive museum experiences that put the visitors 'in' historical events then I can recommend a visit to the The Hagia Sophia History & Experience Museum in Istanbul. It seeks to do exactly this and is a great experience alongside seeing the Hagia Sofia itself (they are on opposite ends of the square)
The new interactive bit opened in 2023 I think. Worth a visit, even if just as an excuse to go to Istanbul. Make sure to visit Çiya Sofrası whilst you're there. Their bozbash is bestbash.
What a wealth of interesting ideas. I’m most intrigued by a potential combination of multi-modal, personalized contents and interactivity. Being able to engage with content the way I’d personally like to (reading on any device, watching short or longer video, listening while driving, and being able to discuss with an avatar/voice companion and possibly get tested on it).
And re similar geo/history experiences: the most successful and engaging I have been to was an Egypt exhibition that provided the full breadth of experience at the time, ie, agriculture, architecture, art, clothes, household items, social elements, etc. Combined with the „why“ and interaction/AR, that would be really powerful.
Personally very interested in cracking the community nut (with levels of isolation and loneliness on the rise). As first thought: create a group for testing your ideas.
Agree re multi-modal/ omnichannel. It’s been an evergreen ambition in education for decades. No one has really been able to figure it out well, which could finally change now.
The exhibition already happened years ago in Bonn, Germany. It was very carefully curated, with much effort to bring all the different artifacts and information together. That level of effort and breadth of domains was what made it stand out to bring the full experience to life.
Re communities, I assume consumers of your contents have a strong interest in ideas and insights. How might you provide an opportunity to engage or contribute around a low threshold task, problem, or debate?
The unbiased media platform which plans to help get people elected and legislation pushed through?
This plan to move from two quality pieces a week to "flood the zone" is deeply unattractive to me. I will unsubscribe when the researched pieces start being replaced by AI enhanced comment section slop.
The quality should never shrink for UT. It should increase, just as it has been increasing so far.
The idea is not to flood the zone with crap, but rather the opposite: To have more depth and breadth. Depth as in a better understanding of the world. Breadth as in more topics covered, in different ways.
It will be a good starting point to get mone recognition, which in turn will can be levarage into merchandizing, books, paid engagements and product placements.
There are several channels that started in “niche” areas that have grown to be very successful. They found something that was very interesting to say and that could be understood by large segment of the general population.
I would check veritasium, specially this video where is shows how it grew and became monetized https://youtu.be/piHGnG4LsmQ?si=pUNwQA4Za0ThK72N. It also is a good example as how to grow with support of other people so that it does not take all of your time.
Other specialized channels that grew are
MentorPilot
Practical Engineering
Production cost could be a lot more managable. Feedback is more immidiate that writing a book.
I think a video game (or board game) could be cool, especially as an education tool? Something that helps people learn these subjects in a more interactive way.
Indeed! And with vibe coding, it might be easier than we think
A beautiful GeoHistory book please !!
That was my first comment in Uncharted Territories years ago, before I even subscribed :)
I think there could be a real opportunity in two areas that matter a lot to people and where good guidance is still surprisingly rare: how we educate our children and how we think about long-term investing.
In both cases, there is already a lot of info. The real problem is making sense of it and turning it into better decisions.
A thoughtful approach to children’s education, but also in terms of judgment, discipline, curiosity and character would be incredibly valuable. The same is true for investing. There is endless noise, but much less clarity around how to think calmly, rationally, and with a long-term view.
It feels like both topics would fit very naturally with what Uncharted Territories
Ambitious!
Reading the community and political impact sections reminded me of the social graph you built and shared. (I looked it up - gomeet.streamlit.app, back in Jan 2024). I remember signing up because it was exciting to not only know myself a little better through that tool but also understand who my cohorts were.
That tool already knows who the clusters are. What it doesn't yet do is give those clusters something to act together on. The gap between "here are the 10 UT readers in Copenhagen most similar to you" and "here are 10 UT readers who'd like to fund an article on Nordic Energy policy and are meeting next Thursday" is actually not that large technically, but it's enormous in terms of what it unlocks. The social graph can become the engine rather than a directory.
It also connects to the political impact section. UT doesn't need to take positions - it just needs to surface the clusters that already exist within its readership and give them the platform to self organize. The editorial can stay independent.
I'm also excited by your idea of cross-posting as it resonates most with me - I built something similar for my own Substack. Submitting an article link generates 31 pieces of content across 7 platforms, including a full Instagram carousel with CTAs and brand design consideration. I don't yet have a long span of data to call it, but surprisingly, image-first Instagram has been the boosting attention towards my Substack, while X has been the least impactful. Early days though.
I'm happy to share this is if useful (it's a Claude skill). I'm constantly inspired by UT, and it's the reason I launched my Substack. There's a lot more I've been doing that overlaps with your vision, which made me apply for the researcher/writer role. More at uncharted.rohitnalluri.com.
Comic book style/animated and a simplified/non-intimidating version for different learning/interest levels.
Birthright changed my life. It was a trip focused on education that taught me more than any book or podcast could.
I'd like to see you design IRL excursions for 10-20 people ($$$) and then doubly utilize them to create 20-30 minute episodes for YouTube.
I've done some of these. They are indeed exceptional. Interesting
Love the idea of routinely introducing interactivity into articles! Some of the digital "experiences" I've had over the years really stuck with me, like a simple COVID transmission visualizer embedded in a NYT article, or an idle clicker game illustrating how an AI optimizing for paper clip production might destroy the world. Those helped me grasp the concepts in a tangible way that simply reading didn't accomplish, and made the information sticky over time.
It's one of my most exciting topics I think!
Would love to see these relatively easy expansions:
- Audiobook level narrated UT articles
- More youtube adaptations of the best UT articles
- A big merch store as that might help with income
EDIT:
- Books! yes that seems a great idea too, might need some rewrites but if you bundle some articles, you make some great books
- Netflix show, that would be huge, I'd watch, have you perhaps considered a Nebula show first?
Thanks!
Why Nebula? I don’t know them much.
I just know the geohistory youtube channels I watch are all on Nebula:
History & Geopolitics: RealLifeLore, The Great War, Real Time History.
As well as Practical Engineering and Half As Interesting
Not that Nebula is better than Netflix, getting on Netflix would still be huge, but Nebula for sure is very realistic.
Thanks!
I think it's because all these creators are co-owners?
If you're interested in creating interactive museum experiences that put the visitors 'in' historical events then I can recommend a visit to the The Hagia Sophia History & Experience Museum in Istanbul. It seeks to do exactly this and is a great experience alongside seeing the Hagia Sofia itself (they are on opposite ends of the square)
Interesting. I haven’t been in 30 years!
The new interactive bit opened in 2023 I think. Worth a visit, even if just as an excuse to go to Istanbul. Make sure to visit Çiya Sofrası whilst you're there. Their bozbash is bestbash.
Political impact - this is very visionary but makes absolutely sense. LOOOOOVVVEE that idea!
What a wealth of interesting ideas. I’m most intrigued by a potential combination of multi-modal, personalized contents and interactivity. Being able to engage with content the way I’d personally like to (reading on any device, watching short or longer video, listening while driving, and being able to discuss with an avatar/voice companion and possibly get tested on it).
And re similar geo/history experiences: the most successful and engaging I have been to was an Egypt exhibition that provided the full breadth of experience at the time, ie, agriculture, architecture, art, clothes, household items, social elements, etc. Combined with the „why“ and interaction/AR, that would be really powerful.
Personally very interested in cracking the community nut (with levels of isolation and loneliness on the rise). As first thought: create a group for testing your ideas.
Interesting ideas. Would love to hear more.
The omnichannel thing is really intriguing
What's the egyptian exhibit?
What would you do exactly for the community?
Agree re multi-modal/ omnichannel. It’s been an evergreen ambition in education for decades. No one has really been able to figure it out well, which could finally change now.
The exhibition already happened years ago in Bonn, Germany. It was very carefully curated, with much effort to bring all the different artifacts and information together. That level of effort and breadth of domains was what made it stand out to bring the full experience to life.
Re communities, I assume consumers of your contents have a strong interest in ideas and insights. How might you provide an opportunity to engage or contribute around a low threshold task, problem, or debate?
Yeah we’re converging again into the decision-maker idea. Interesting.
How the “geological” layers work in the video…. It’s almost A.I. in itself.
It’s all just like the sand is too perfect 😂
Playing with A.I. I just wonder if I’m playing with the matrix.
It's a sensor and a projector from above, they measure height and project the colors accordingly!
But yes, we're entering an interesting world!
Ahh that makes much more sense!
Courses & Merch!
Education, YouTube and Series are my first favorites.
The unbiased media platform which plans to help get people elected and legislation pushed through?
This plan to move from two quality pieces a week to "flood the zone" is deeply unattractive to me. I will unsubscribe when the researched pieces start being replaced by AI enhanced comment section slop.
You should!
The quality should never shrink for UT. It should increase, just as it has been increasing so far.
The idea is not to flood the zone with crap, but rather the opposite: To have more depth and breadth. Depth as in a better understanding of the world. Breadth as in more topics covered, in different ways.
I would recommend the Youtube route.
It will be a good starting point to get mone recognition, which in turn will can be levarage into merchandizing, books, paid engagements and product placements.
There are several channels that started in “niche” areas that have grown to be very successful. They found something that was very interesting to say and that could be understood by large segment of the general population.
I would check veritasium, specially this video where is shows how it grew and became monetized https://youtu.be/piHGnG4LsmQ?si=pUNwQA4Za0ThK72N. It also is a good example as how to grow with support of other people so that it does not take all of your time.
Other specialized channels that grew are
MentorPilot
Practical Engineering
Production cost could be a lot more managable. Feedback is more immidiate that writing a book.
I saw that video!
Yes, absolutely, the video is going to happen