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Luddites are BACK: This Time They’re Spoiled Rich Kids with Artisan Websites
Description
In this Based Camp episode, Malcolm and Simone Collins dive deep into the modern Luddite movement — from NYC’s “Summer of Ludd” festival (complete with puppet spokesfrogs, offline flirting workshops, saddle-stitching classes, and panels that somehow turned into “how to build your own website” tutorials) to the surprising privilege, aesthetics, and contradictions behind today’s anti-tech trend.We compare Gen Z and millennial “Luddites” (flip phones, Moleskine notebooks, and performative offline living) with the original violent 19th-century machine-breakers, explore why deep, hours-long online friendships often feel more meaningful than awkward park conversations, and critique the expensive ecosystem of minimalist phones and typewriters. We also highlight more practical approaches from Mennonite communities and make the case for Solar Punk — using AI and technology intentionally to reclaim traditional skills, build sustainable futures, and live better rather than rejecting progress altogether.
Show Notes
“The Summer of Ludd”
* A cultural high point for the movement’s analog/anti-alienation wing.
* An eight-day (June 28–July 5, 2026), mostly offline festival and series of events in New York City
* Centered on Tompkins Square Park and Lower Manhattan
* It features over 120 free, public, participatory activities like:
* Workshops (e.g., saddle stitching, shortwave radio, mending, flirting/dating offline).
* Talks and panels (e.g., on indie web alternatives, privately owned public spaces, fighting data centers, “Google in Real Life” human Q&A).
* Gothamist: “At a Monday panel discussion on NYC event calendars, an array of neighborhood characters, older punks, fresh-faced flip phone users and various others packed the stone steps of East Village community garden La Plaza Cultural to discuss ways to learn of IRL happenings without social media.”
* “Overall, the evening was largely a technical discussion on how to build and maintain your own website or newsletter. It never got particularly ideological.”
* ““It’s not a digital versus analog thing. It’s a question of who controls how your community operates itself. Is it Mark Zuckerberg or you?” explained Thomas. “You are not an idle passenger of history. You get to control the impact that technology has on you and your society.””
* Cultural events: Plays recreating Luddite history, concerts, film screenings (analog/16mm), zine-making, rituals, and phone-free dance parties or jam sessions.
* Orgs represented:
* NYC Off Tech NYC events to connect outside of big tech
* Unplatform: The definitive guide for escaping social media (and joining the indie web.)
* Red Cal: Posters of offline events
* Nonsense NYC: Nonsense NYC is a discriminating resource for independent art, weird events, strange happenings, unique parties, and senseless culture in New York City.
* Technoqueers: Technoqueers.com is the home of “Techno Queers,” a weekly email newsletter and community focused on techno/club events, culture, and queer nightlife, primarily in New York City.
* Moon Bulletin: events and happenings in (mostly) nyc, according to moon cycle