Listening to a podcast the other day had my blood boiling. The guttural fury that enveloped my otherwise sunny autumn stroll took me quite by surprise.

It wasn’t the latest barrel-scraping deportation posturing by another moral-free rightwing-nut, but rather Silicon Valley’s depressing ambition for the next evolution of digital media.

I’ve previously expressed my hope that a deluge of AI rubbish might lead us away from the doomscrolling, as social networks simply become too clogged with synthetic dross to be useful.

But it seems, far from fear this as risking the end for their attention-sapping business model, the bros behind the AI tools are leaning more heavily in to the slop.

Open AI’s Sora 2 and Meta’s Vibes are brand new social networks where nothing is real - you just stick your image into ultra-processed, super-fantastical visual settings and enjoy a mind-numbing video entertainment experience without any human input in the ‘creative’ content it spits out.

Rather than rail any further at this ‘sloptimised’ vision towards even greater levels of lowest common denominator distraction, or how getting us hooked on using powerful AI for compulsive entertainment is driven by the financial realities of megabucks investments (that may yet crash the global economy), I’ll focus on the positives.

And… breathe.

These tools assuredly can and will be used to produce many great things, too.

People with a love of genuine human creativity will be stimulated and empowered in the very process of kicking back against such cynical use of this tech - and come up with some far better ideas.

Talented real storytellers will also rise from the short-form video shallows, harnessing the best features of the tech, but leaving the rest behind to their viral bottom-grubbing frenzy.

And as ever, the fightback surely begins when we drop the quest for virtual viral validation and bring connection back down onto our doorsteps, not languishing in soulless, purely digital spaces.

The economics might be devilishly hard right now, but there’s so much appreciation for all things artisan, analogue, IRL and craft, and a lurch towards synthetic media only makes that desire stronger.

Nearly five years ago, when Camdenist was a new local title trying to find it’s place in a landscape turned upside down by Covid, we began a series of projects in partnership with the proudly Camden-based giant, Google, to help local small and creative businesses use tech to grow.

Some of it already seems almost quaint now, with the speed at which all things digital have developed, but the genesis of the work came from questions over how to innovate, post-Covid, in the capacious planned ground floor retail space running the length of King’s Boulevard, under Google’s rising new ‘landscraper’ HQ.

With the building finally nearing occupation, a new outreach process has begun, Open to Interesting, and it will be fascinating to see what kind of operators, designers and makers end up finding a home there. I suggest all ambitions local retail business-owners take a look.

The eventual local ecosystem of shops and public spaces will hopefully point towards answering a few global-sized questions around the future of high streets in our digitally disrupted times.

I’m feeling less incredulous about the synthetic social network news for now, and far more motivated about all the ways local-level people, left to their own devices with the phenomenal tools available, can lead the charge in creating the lovely things and brilliant experiences that real humans actually want.

Read on for loads more of those.

PUBLIC ART: 🧑🏼‍🎨 Painted pavements are having a bit of a moment, with two brand new commissions debuting in the last week alone. Pictured above is Gatti Park, the new public park off York Way in King’s Cross. Co-designed with local young people, it has space for skating and basketball, ideally not at the same time, but that could be fun to try, too. The railway tunnels beneath have been turned into a feature with terraces steps to sit on and watch the action.

Then over in Camden High Street, last night saw the launch of subSTRATUM, the meanwhile civic square, which replaces the former traffic with fractal patterns underfoot, large planters for a spot of urban rewilding, and regular events, such as the ceilidh that went down atop the colourful paint as darkness fell.

Such work certainly has the power to brighten up our abundance of hard tarmac, but a cautionary tale emerged from Bristol this week, where an even bigger pavement commission, known as Our Common Ground, was already making local headlines for looking worn and scruffy soon after completion. Such spaces need ongoing love and attention to fully deliver their optimistic remit, no matter how bold and bright the ideas.

DRINK: 🍻 Help Werewolf Beer celebrate four years making great beers at their taproom, tucked under the Camden Road arches across three days and nights, Fri 31st Oct - Sun 2nd Nov, where you can expect Halloween-themed live music, DJs and special pumpkin spice beer.

FESTIVAL: 💀 There’s so much Halloween-themed in our events inbox at the moment that the solution to the overload seems to be to swerve the tacky gore and microplastic cobwebs and instead settle upon the more classy Mexican Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), which is being honoured at Camden Market on Sat 1st Nov with a parade, giant skeletons, Mexican art workshops, food, live music and rituals at a special altar.

MUSIC: 🎺 Duck down the nicely salubrious passage of Hanway St to find the No Room for Squares Jazz Club at Helen of Troy, where this Sat 1st Nov you’ll encounter vinyl-spinners Greg Boraman, Strutter, Scott Charles and guests Rhys & Sam from Here on Earth until late.

EXHIBITION: 🗺️ The British Library always delights with its thoughtful and thought-provoking shows, and the new one, Secret Maps, looks like no exception. It reveals how maps from the 14th century to today have been at the heart of the control of knowledge, offering us precious insights as well as willful deceptions, a very pertinent framing in today’s political climate. Runs to 16th Jan.

PARTY: 🍺 After a million quid spent on a makeover, Urban Pubs & Bars’ newly acquired St John’s Tavern reopens today to serve the good people of Archway and surrounds. Junction Road’s underrated Victorian boozer is going to be big on food (look out for £2 oysters every Thursday) so make sure to stick yourself down on the list for the launch party on Fri 7th Nov where you’ll find tasters from both the food and drinks menus.

STAGE: 🎭 There are 110 shows to catch over three weeks of panlingual (70+ languages!) and migrant-led performances (450 artists!) being staged across eight venues, starting this Sun 3rd Nov to the 23rd as part of the Voila! Theatre Festival.

DJS: 🎧 The 3 Locks Beer taproom have put out the call for all budding bedroom DJs and aspiring turntable maestros to drop in and register for the first of a new weekly community open decks night, starting Wed 5th Nov. You get 20 mins to shine on their decent Pioneer kit and it’s happy hour drink prices for you and your crew.

DRINK: 🍷 I love a narrowboat for a memorable, always amusing and effortlessly intimate location for a few bevvies, and while chuntering along on a summers eve is dreamy, hunkering down under twinkling lights during the winter has a charm all of its own. Tapping in to this are the classy boat tours people at The Copper Quay, who have just moored up at the Granary Square steps for a season of Floating Mulled Wine pop-ups. They only have a few tables, so book dates up until New Years Eve now.

COMEDY: 😂 Beloved backstreet King’s Cross music pub The Harrison is also the home of stand-up night, Comedy Freaks, and this Sat Nov 1st sees Joe Bingham, Nicole Harris, Ken Grinell and Timóteo Kiss Freitas take to the mic.

LEARN: 🧠Last week’s partners, the Knowledge Quarter’s Future of Knowledge: From Vision to Impact conference, taking place at the stunning Town Hall events space on Tues 25th Nov, are offering a heavily discounted community ticket just for Camden locals.

I went ‘back to school’ last week, a simultaneously familiar and disarmingly alien experience.

William Ellis is a rare non-denominational, voluntary-aided all boys state school. I’ve hardly returned in decades, but its newly invigorated Trust is embarking on an ambitious repositioning of how the school operates and reaches out to its communities - past, present and future.

Helping launch this new era, former parent, good neighbour and unexpected political podcast sensation, Alistair Campbell, had agreed to field questions from current pupils representing various years.

Despite his globetrotting profile, Campbell does a lot of school talks, and his polished introduction, full of advice for the pupils (and indeed their parents) on never ‘getting old’ in your outlook, or falling into the trap of feeling that politicians are ‘all the same’ hit all the right notes with the home crowd here.

Sitting down on stage with the students, the students raised topics from career advice to opinions on Trump and the voting age, with plenty of questions thrown out to the audience for a show of hands, (potentially a deft way of dealing with any difficult answers, too).

The complex experience of being a young man today is central to the pastoral role that a school like this has found itself playing as societal pressures overlay education. Much has changed culturally since my years spent withing its walls, visibly for the better, and the pupils spoke eloquently and thoughtfully about their own views, with Alistair pointing out some of the huge wider challenges that remain.

As birth rates and young families able to put down roots in London continue to dwindle, schools like WES need to face existential reinventions of their own purpose, too. The Trust is currently working on how to redevelop and rethink the playground as a community asset, fundraising while keeping one eye on this changing role.

The evening certainly demonstrated all kinds of positive momentum, and it was inspiring to hear from the speakers of all ages, then chat with the enthusiastic Trust members afterwards.

None of this stuff is easy, from growing up to managing a school in a rapidly shifting environment, but everyone in the room was reminded of why it feels so vital to try and try again.

The internet was supposed to make it easier to build and connect. Somewhere along the way, we lost the plot.

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The premise of these regular mailouts is simple - what can I do to make the most of London this week without blowing loads of money. They have a knack of uncovering some fantastic events and offers, and are kindred spirits of Camdenist in promoting the idea that going out and having fun in the city really is for everyone, no excuses!