The Learning Curve from Cut Off the Spigot

[PREVIEW] The Learning Curve EP3: What It's Like Being a Neurodivergent Entrepreneur

In this episode of The Learning Curve, I spoke with Debra Ha, the founder of Sōtō Naturals, the first self-care brand built by and for neurodiverse life. Born from her own five-year journey out of AuDHD burnout, and the late diagnosis that revealed her life’s purpose.  We discuss: * Our AuDHD journeys & experiences, including: * Later in Life Diagnosis * Testing & Diagnosis as a woman  * Finding happiness post-diagnosis  * What it’s like to build a business as a person with neurodivergence * What the benefits of being a neurodivergent entrepreneur are    * Why self-care matters so much for neurodivergent people & what self-care actually is  * What Plantwork, Soto’s main product, is and how it caters to neurodivergent skin care needs * Why diversity and following your own path is so important  Sōtō Naturals Links Use promo code COTS20 for 20% off your order! * Website [https://sotonaturals.com/] * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@sotonaturals] * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sotonaturals/] Links to Items Discussed * Flesh World [https://jessicadefino.substack.com/about]: a Substack from Jessica DeFino, an award-winning beauty journalist who realized the absurdity of the beauty world after being enmeshed in it for years. She advocates for simple solutions to skincare, relying on your skin and body’s natural processes instead of replacing or disrupting them with unnecessary products.  * Worldwide Fungal Network Map [https://www.newscientist.com/article/2530122-global-map-reveals-the-vast-scale-of-underground-fungal-networks/] * Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs [https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.0jGRcK5W2SN3XDeC7zjqwQHaFm%3Fpid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=93a1446cc6210319070fb4de6a4858814da1eb7a6083da08450cb90e8f07c8d1&ipo=images] * Yoga Nidra [https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-yoga-nidra] * Mast Cell Activation Syndrome [https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/mast-cell-activation-syndrome] * Knicks in Five! [https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/i/201810694/whats-bringing-me-joy-lately] Neurodivergent Research Shared Research led by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/04/autism-women-men-diagnosis-childhood-adulthood] scrutinized the diagnosis rates of https://www.theguardian.com/society/autismautism [https://www.theguardian.com/society/autism] for people born in Sweden between 1985 and 2020. The research calculated that in childhood, boys were diagnosed on average nearly three years earlier than girls – the median age at diagnosis was 15.9 for girls, but 13.1 for boys.  Overall, boys were three to four times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism under the age of 10, although girls were found to “catch up” by the time they were 20, owing to a rapid increase in autism diagnosis during adolescence. From Autism.org [https://Autism.org] and Dr. Hannah Belcher, author of Taking Off the Mask (link [https://autism.org/gender-differences-in-diagnoses/]) “Autistic females present as much more social than their male counterparts, which contrasts the idea of autism as a “social disorder” Masking significantly predicts suicidal behaviors in autistic individuals and positively correlates with depression and anxiety. Belcher describes how relentless self-monitoring (conscious or not) and adapting to social situations with different people all day is exhausting and leaves little time for self-expression or care.”

[PREVIEW] The Learning Curve EP2 Audio-Only: Starting a Social Media Co-Op Ain't Easy (But It's Worth it!)

In this episode of The Learning Curve, I spoke with Daniel Bingham, the founder of Communities. Communities [https://communities.social/about] is a new social media platform, similar to Facebook, for building and organizing community. Daniel is building it into a multi-stakeholder co-op model, where users and employees will have a voice in platform decisions.  We discuss: * What Communities is, why Daniel started it, and what he hopes to build with it * What the Fediverse is and Mastodon vs. Bluesky * Limitations of the Fediverse & Bluesky * Check out my Social Media Alternatives article [https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/i/185592771/bluesky-and-apps-built-off-of-blueskys-at-protocol] for more information on Bluesky, their AT Protocol, and Blacksky, Skylight Social [https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/i/185592771/built-off-of-blueskys-at-protocol] (platforms built off of Bluesky’s AT Protocol) * Why starting a Tech Co-Op from scratch is hard * How tech funding typically works (I learned a lot!) * Building out the Democratic Economy through co-ops  Through our conversation you can hear the huge amount of thought, dedication and work Daniel has put in to create a co-op social media platform, despite being on "legendary mode" to start a tech co-op.   Communities Links * Website [https://communities.social/] * iOS App Link [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/communities-cooperative/id6751424847] * Android App Link [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=social.communities] * Ways to Donate & Contribute [https://communities.social/about/contribute] * Contact Daniel [https://communities.social/about/team] Links to Items Discussed * Facebook & Instagram Content Moderator Abuses in Africa and around the world:  * Kenyan sub-contractors working for Meta suing for better labor protections [https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/4/1/african-workers-are-taking-on-meta-and-the-world-should-pay-attention], April 2025 * Institution for Human Rights and Business [https://www.ihrb.org/latest/content-moderation-is-a-new-factory-floor-of-exploitation-labour-protections-must-catch-up] article on Meta’s worldwide labor abuses, June 2025 * Sama, Meta’s contractor, lays off 1,000 staff in Kenya [https://apnews.com/article/kenya-meta-facebook-sama-content-moderators-902716b8037bc4063dd1101e2dbd4c3a], April 2026 * 99% Invisible podcast episode [https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/service-request-01-311/] on NYC 311 System * REI Union & Boycott [https://www.ourrei.com/boycott] * Andor: Nemik’s Manifesto [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoJILDr94qc] * Enshittification [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification] Wikipedia Overview, the book Enshittification by Cory Doctorow [https://bookshop.org/p/books/enshittification-why-everything-suddenly-got-worse-and-what-to-do-about-it-cory-doctorow/d3f8483b158906ce?ean=9780374619329&next=t] For more information about co-op structures across the economy, check out Episode 1 with Matthew Epperson (Video [https://www.patreon.com/posts/155796914], Audio [https://www.patreon.com/posts/155799010]).

[PREVIEW] The Learning Curve EP1: Shared Ownership Models (Audio)

Listen to THE FIRST EPISODE of The Learning Curve! I spoke with Matthew Epperson, a solidarity economy practitioner, educator, and community organizer by passion and by training, on shared ownership structures. We discuss shared-ownership models like Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP), worker and consumer co-ops, different company examples, how employee ownership works with unions, and what is giving us hope in the shared ownership space. Join Matthew on Zoom April 29th at 2 pm EST [https://luma.com/1b9t985g?tk=85kLQm] https://luma.com/1b9t985g?tk=85kLQmfor the Boston Impact Initiative's Advancing Regenerative Capital (ARC) fellowship showcase! He'll be presenting for the Hive Mind Community Investment Cooperative, a multistakeholder cooperative permanently affordable housing fund focused on housing historically marginalized folks in the Deep South. Resources & Ways to Connect * Matthew Epperson’s https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewepperson/LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewepperson/] * Employee Ownership Centers [https://www.eoxnetwork.org/statecenters] by state * Local Co-Op Development Centers [https://cooperationworks.coop/member-locator/] affiliated with CooperationWorks! * I also recommend searching for “co-op development center [your city/town]” to find those unaffiliated with CooperationWorks! * US Federation of Worker Cooperatives [https://www.usworker.coop/directory/]: Co-op directory to find ones near you * Co-Op Development & Work Resources [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xwc7LoG14h2MLzPHEKlfRj4QyIMvTwg_lKpUjwuMSVc/edit?usp=sharing]: job-finding, professional development, training and education, and connection among the co-op and solidarity economy sector. * Union Toolkit for Cooperative Solutions [https://slu.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/28283961_Union_Toolkit_final_11-2021.pdf]: report from CUNY (City University of NY) School of Labor & Urban Studies on strategies used by labor unions to support shared ownership like co-ops and employee-owned businesses.   Links to Items Discussed: Companies:  * Mondragon [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation] * Resonate [https://cutoffthespigot.com/articles/?e-filter-565cd8f-category=spotify]: Note, Resonate seems to be defunct/not accepting new members, but https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/p/co-op-non-profit-and-other-alternativeSubvert [https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/p/co-op-non-profit-and-other-alternative] is a similar music streaming co-op.  * FairBnB [https://www.instagram.com/fairbnb.coop/] (Website seems to be down temporarily) * Driver’s Cooperative [https://drivers.coop/] (NYC)  * New Era Windows Cooperative [https://newerawindows.com/Content/newerawindows.com.html] * South Mountain Company [https://southmountain.com/] * Apis & Heritage Capital Partners [https://www.apisheritage.com/]  * EB PREC [https://ebprec.org/] (East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative) * Walmart & other major national chains [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/04/workers-medicaid-snap-low-pay]’ employees requiring government assistance.  * More info on https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/p/winter-is-here-and-so-are-shoppingREI, Patagonia [https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/p/winter-is-here-and-so-are-shopping].  * Room & Board [https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/p/take-advantage-of-4th-of-july-sales] * Bob’s Red Mill [https://cutoffthespigot.substack.com/p/alternatives-for-everything-you-need]  * Correction: Joann’s Fabrics https://finance.yahoo.com/news/joann-fabrics-went-cult-favorite-080000161.html?guccounter=1article [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/joann-fabrics-went-cult-favorite-080000161.html?guccounter=1] Media: * The Take [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Take_%282004_film%29] documentary * “From Founder to Future [https://abramsangell.com/founder-to-future]” by John Abrams  * Margaret Mead Quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Notes on Production This is my first time making a podcast, let alone a video version! I produced and edited it myself, so if there are some minor audio issues I apologize. I am learning, and while there are always ways to improve I'm really excited with how this first episode turned out. I also made the theme song myself! I hope you like it, it's the first piece of music I've published and I'm quite proud of it too :) Feedback: I'd love to hear from you on the episode content - was it helpful, clear, or felt like something was missing? (Please be nice - I'm aware that I say "um" too often, I'm working on it for the next one!)