Following the release of his work, The War of the Worlds Did Not Take Place, Nick Susi joins the pod to unravel the real War of the Worlds myth: not alien panic, but a battle between newspapers and radio that manufactured mass hysteria. Phillip, Brian, and Nick explore how narrative form shapes collective memory, why brands weaponize conflict for attention, and what happens when everything becomes participatory fan fiction.

Behind the Curtain of Inherited Myth

Key takeaways:

• Structured narratives outlast formless truth in collective memory.
• Brands now weaponize conflict and controversy for attention economics.
• Everything is becoming participatory, co-created, and infinite fan fiction.
• "The War of the Worlds is not actually a war between humans and aliens. It's really this war between mediums." — Nick Susi
• "We've entered the phase of the attention economy where the game is attention at any and all costs." — Nick Susi
• "People don't want to share the thing. They want to share their experience of the thing." — W. David Marx (referenced)
• "Awareness does not decrease manipulation necessarily." –– Brian
• "We've become much more aware of the act of storytelling as a culture, like we see the artifice of storytelling and we appreciate the act of it itself." –– Phillip

In-Show Mentions:

• The War of the Worlds performance piece and publication by Nick Susi
• Order The War of the Worlds Did Not Take Place on Metalabel
• Blank Space by W. David Marx
• Insiders #196: Time After Time by Brian Lange

Associated Links:

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube

• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

‍

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!