In this newsletter, I compile and curate exciting things I come across along with some cultural insights —data, information, or knowledge that tells us something about the moment we live in and the spirit of our time. Here, you can find general or niche content that has something that sparks my brain and feeds my curiosity—aka brainsparks— or links I find from the serendipity of my content-filled journey, IRL or online. From music, technology, art, and pop culture to frameworks, tools, articles, and recipes. From Brazil (where I’m from) to the Netherlands (where I live) or elsewhere, I want to bring you bubble-bursting links to break away from the sameness of a world ruled by algorithms. Along the way, I’ll also share some tips on filtering, finding, analyzing, and organizing your content, which is part of my daily life as a forecasting researcher. Sign up now, and I hope you enjoy it 👇
🤔Wait, WTF is a Nexialist?
The science fiction writer, A.E. van Vogt first coined the term “nexialism” in his 1950s novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle (which years later inspired Star Trek). The main protagonist of the novel, Dr. Elliott Grosvenor, is the only Nexialist onboard -- someone who was trained in “applied whole-ism” or “integrated science and thought.” Though initially looked down upon by his specialist crew member as being “non-scientific,” he slowly became the go-to person to solve problems bringing improbable areas together.
Since I first heard this term in 2015, I immediately identified with it personally and professionally as I am more on the generalist side of things. It made me look at things from different perspectives and see more value in this skill that somehow I had more ease with. It made me understand its innovative power in the fragmented and complex world we live in. Now, it’s time to channel my nexialist aspiration into this personal project and share it with you.
✅Some tips
To make the most out of this (and other newsletters), you can access the full archive, use the search engine with your terms of interest and access past issues. If you would like to start with some past content, here are the yearly flashbacks I have done, which condense my favorite links from each year separated by category:
🎊✨The Nexialist #0204 - flashback 2024 - pt.i : top brainsparks that imprinted in me | ai & tech | culture and trends | nature & climate | lgbtqi+, masculinity and relationships | mental+health stuff
🎆✨The Nexialist #0205 - flashback 2024 - pt.ii : music & artistry | screen stuff | arts & fashion | words & concepts | brazilian stuff | dutch stuff | naked stuff
🎄✨The Nexialist #0152 - flashback 2023 - pt.i : thank you! | my favorite nexialists of the year | content that stayed with me | paradoxes | culture, tech and futures | ai | reports
🥂✨The Nexialist #0153 - flashback 2023 - pt.ii : gender, masculinity and sexuality | language | music | amazonize the world | dutch | weird stuff
💯✨The Nexialist #0100 - flashback 2022 - pt.i : thank you | albums that gave me goosebumps | videos i had on repeat | TV, series and films | musical discoveries | experiences | my favorite nexialists | extra: recipes
🍾✨The Nexialist #0101 - flashback 2022 - pt.ii : articles that stayed in my mind | words, terms and ideas | futures literacy, trends and tech | decolonization and circularity | tools | favorite newsletters
🔁✨The Nexialist #0050 - Flashback 2021 - pt.i : things that changed my life this year | futures thinking | ancestrality and decolonization | digital culture | concepts | tools
🎇✨The Nexialist #0051 - Flashback 2021 - pt.ii : mental & emotional health | LGBTQ+ | Love, Sex ft. Relationships | Music | Fashion | Vocabulary
🫀Elsewhere
The Nexialist has been featured/mentioned in other newsletters and projects
Float Vibes newsletter, and again
Thomas Klaffke’s Creative Destruction : Rabbit Holes 🕳️ #36 | Amazonizing the World
🔌Let’s Collab?
I truly believe innovation comes from bringing improbable areas together, and that’s why I called this project The Nexialist. Some sectors are known to be self-referencing and hermetic. Sometimes teams are on autopilot mode, focused on the daily grind, which hinders innovation. As a Nexialist, I like to burst these bubbles, bringing references from different areas, and maintaining teams inspired and connected to the Zeitgeist.
I offer inspiration sessions called Brainsparks, creative desk research (Zeitgeist Boost), Plug’n’Play deals for workshops and sprints, and other bespoke formats. If you want to know more about this, send me an e-mail with your challenge(s) and we can figure something out together. Check out my website and some work I’ve done below:
🦦About Rodrigo Turra:
No, I will not do this in the third person nor I’ll talk about my work. I’m a curious soul that gets excited about learning new things and getting better at them. I’m trying to get more in touch with my intuition, and I think we miss that kind of connection. I’m also tired of letting fear and paralysis stop me from creating, and this project is a result of this.
