Long time... Random Show, New Digg, Big Updates 🙏

An exciting new year ahead, let's dive in with all the updates!

Friends,

Clearly I was serious when I said I didn’t want to overwhelm your inbox with too many emails. It’s been a few months since my last update, but I’ve got quite the action-packed one for you.

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Project updates —

It’s never been a better time to build in tech. My toolkit keeps getting better — ChatGPT 5.2 and Gemini 3 just dropped, and combined with my daily drivers (Opus 4.5, Cursor 2), I’ve finally become a productive nights-and-weekends engineer. So, what am I up to? A lot.

🪏 Digg Rebooted

Justin continues to lead Digg’s day-to-day operations as CEO and has assembled an exceptional team. They are progressing rapidly toward launching open communities early next year. That will mark the beginning of the real creative phase — when the more ambitious ideas that set Digg apart can come to life. By early next year, we will finally be positioned to answer the key question: “How is this different from Reddit?”

🧪 Digg Labs

My nights and weekends are spent prototyping the wilder side of community formation and sharing, rethinking everything from the ground up. This is our tiny skunkworks lab (just two of us), with the goal of testing new types of trusted social interactions. Early next year, we will unveil an early alpha of a fun idea around micro private communities. In a world where AI slop takes over social, this will be a very protected and private space. I plan to test this as a replacement for the Circle community that I currently have — alpha invites coming your way soon 💥.

🍁 Oak Is Back

Some of you may remember Oak, the meditation and breathing app I built years ago. With close to 2M downloads, 30k reviews (4.8 stars), and after five years without updates, it’s been looking for some love and needs to be rewritten. The buddy who took it over many years ago has returned it to me, so I’m back at the wheel. The plan: new breathing exercises, a social gratitude journal, a couple of Henry Shukman meditations, and more.

If you’re a mid-to senior-level React Native or Flutter engineer — ideally based in LA or willing to relocate — I’d love to hear from you. You’d be working out of my incubator space alongside me. AI-first (you live in Cursor) is a must. This isn’t a remote gig; it’s a build-together opportunity. Reply to this email with your X handle/GitHub/LinkedIn if that sounds like your kind of thing.

🔮 The Next (Next)

I’m thrilled to tease a new project I’ve been quietly building: a live technology interview show called The Next (Next). If you remember my old Foundation series, this lives in that spirit — conversations that go deep, but with a different focus. Rather than only spotlighting household names in tech, The Next is about showing you the upcoming trends, emerging founders, and the technologies worth paying attention to before they become the next big thing.

I’m currently building out a new studio (mine, as you may remember, burned down in the LA fires), with construction wrapping up in early January. More details soon.

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🍻 Life Update: 6.5 Months of Sobriety

I recently completed a little over six months of sobriety. It was an experiment I’d been wanting to run for a long time — mainly to understand what life felt like without alcohol as a default social lubricant.

It was a wild road, actually much harder than I had anticipated. The first few weeks were the honeymoon period; then the “I made it to a month, you deserve a drink!” feelings crept in. What’s interesting is exploring who it is that’s saying that. Who is saying I deserve a drink — and to whom? And more importantly: How far can you trace that congratulatory chatter? What relief is it looking for?

These are deeper questions, but they dovetail nicely with my meditation practice, so I enjoy exploring them. After the six-month mark, I decided to break sobriety at a nice dinner with friends. The verdict? Alcohol unfortunately isn’t as much fun as it once was. Even a couple of drinks dramatically change my sleep, mood, and meditation practice.

So, I plan to return to that sober life, but without making alcohol my enemy. There’s a quote from Anthony de Mello that has stayed with me throughout this process:

“When you fight something, you’re tied to it forever. As long as you’re fighting it, you’re giving it power.”

I don’t want to define myself by what I’m against. I want freedom — the kind that comes from indifference, not resistance.

A note of caution: Many people can’t come to a place of indifference, and the daily struggle is real. I have several sober friends who have found freedom and clarity through committed 12-step programs. If you find yourself in this boat, please look into these — there is great wisdom in many of these organizations.

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The Random Show with Tim Ferriss

We’re back! Topics include building with AI, holiday gift guides, sober life, Tim’s new girlfriend, and more.

That’s it for this newsletter.

Thanks for being here and reading this far. In a world of infinite scroll and constant distraction, the fact that you signed up to receive words in your inbox still feels like a small miracle.

More soon, and wishing you fantastic holidays with your loved ones.