My attempt at re-creating Golden Age Greece, Renaissance Florence, Enlightenment Athens, or Ptolemaic Alexandria with apartment parties where you get drunk on ideas.

Every Tuesday night, for about two years, 30-50 curious, ambitious people would show up at my UIUC apartment, leave their phone at the door, and talk about ideas with strangers for about 5 hours. Completely sober.

People like Chaz, Austin M, Luna, Mitchell, Ian, Casper, Ron, Cara, Grant, Diya, Rohan, Eileen, Faraz, Anya, Aidan, Sammy, Austin K, Sam, and JD.

They would go on to do some pretty amazing things together.

Things like: building rockets, joining the Peace Corps, dropped out to start companies, joining said companies, becoming full-time writers, etc.

When I reminisce on this time with people, it feels like there is so much magic in the air. You know, and you look at the impact it has. It's probably the most impactful thing I did during my time on campus. And yet it was also the easiest.

Here is the story.

How it all began

In 2022, I moved to Madrid. During the first few weeks, I heard smooth jazz music at night in the room below us. One day, my roommate ran into our downstairs neighbor, Ricardo. Ricky invited us to come by sometime and check out his speakeasy — “El Noviciado.”

Later that night, I nervously walked into the club’s “Jam Sesh.” But right when I walked in, my anxiety flushed away. I was welcomed by friendly smiles, passionate jazz riffs, and a warm atmosphere. As the night progressed, I became increasingly entranced. Every person I spoke with was kind, curious, & fascinating. I left inspired, racing back to my roommates to give them the rundown.

Throughout the semester, El Noviciado became a second home to me. Every time I went, I left more energized, positive, and connected to those around me. It helped me open up into my truest and most authentic form. A few months later, I left Madrid to go home. I was sad to say goodbye. But, I knew I wanted to replicate its atmosphere in The States.

I started simple. I wrote down a list of my kind, curious, & fascinating friends. And then every time I had a conversation with a stranger, whether it'd be at a bar, class, gym, or on the street. I'd get their number, I'd write their name down on the list, and text them an invitation the following week. Thus, jam sessions are born

And thus, the jam sessions were born.

What are jam sessions?

Jam sessions started as an excuse to hang out with my friends and create a space for people who I think should be friends, to become friends.

They’re apartment parties are where you get drunk on ideas. They're a hangout where you don't. Where you forget your phone is on you. And where smooth jazz lets you sink into the couch and get more comfy

like a casual apartment party with no phones and smooth jazz, filled with curious + ambitious people. Good conversation flows naturally (covering everything from art to rockets).

they're a space where strangers are seen as potential new friends. There's no expectations or requirements. Come for 20 minutes or stay for hours. If the conversation is boring, you can pretty easily work in to a new conversation. If you want to sit back and relax, people are more than happy to let you talk.

Really, it's just a nice weekday social out there that costs nothing. But over time, and after hosting about fifty, I saw that they turned into something a bit more powerful.

People would leave both inspired and a bit smarter. This was a place where their ideas were actively questioned, but their hopes and their belief in themselves were added to those sails.

now, I think right now, environments like these are especially important. Because here's the thing: with the advent of widespread internet, social media, smart phones, AI, & more — society’s pace of change has been dizzying. The future these technologies create could be unfathomably awesome. We could solve most problems that ail us today — disease, poverty, climate change, maybe even mortality itself.

But, the same technology that has made our world magical has also opened a large number of Pandora’s boxes: rapidly advancing AI, cyber warfare, autonomous weapons, and nukes, to name a few. The future these technologies create could be unfathomably catastrophic.

Our responsibility is immense.

If we can figure out how to get this right, our descendants could live high up on that mountain in what would seem like a magical utopia to us. If we get this wrong and stumble off those steep cliffs, this might be the last page of our story. With the stakes this high, we’d want to be our wisest selves.

Which is unfortunate, because in recent years, society is acting like a poop-pantsed four-year-old who dropped its ice cream. 

• Tribalism, political division, & strong opinions with weak foundations are on the rise.
• Trust, the critical currency of a healthy society, is disintegrating.
• On top of that, we’re more lonely, depressed, & isolated than before. We have drifted away from nuanced, thoughtful discussion; and away from genuine human connection.

That’s where jam sessions come in.

How jam sessions help people

on a very micro scale, Jam Sessions helped to fix this:

1. They push people to have thought-provoking conversations. Jam sessions are an intellectual gym where you can test your ideas without hurting your ego. They inflict humility on you rather than breeding unearned conviction. You can play verbal ping pong with others to solve problems in your life or society.
2. They provide a space for people to form a genuine, human connection with each other. Jam sessions give you the space to be your true self. They cultivate that feeling when you flow in conversation with no awareness of time, how you’re sounding, or what you’re saying. Your sense of self collapses and you’re just two humans exchanging energy, ideas, and attention in an open, warm space (thanks Isabel). That feeling of true human connection.

At a time when society needs it more than ever, jam sessions help people grow more wise & connected.

and if you can find the people who have the potential to have a large impact on society, then those people becoming more wise and more connected can have exponential positive effects

The magical secret sauce

In addition, jam seshers are low-ego & truth-seeking. They don’t care about your sex, age, race, gender, job, or anything else. They simply care about the quality of your character, the thoughtfulness of your perspectives, and the openness of your mind.

Everything else falls into place. I simply send out a text each week with a time, location, & optional conversation starter. People who want to learn and meet curious folks show up and start chatting. That’s it.

It’s beautiful.

I plan to create jam session environments wherever I go, and I hope you do too. All it takes is three curious friends and an invite to hang out. That's it.

If you have any ideas (or have yet to come), shoot me a text or DM on Twitter.

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