Tom White: Love For Language, Living with Tourettes, New York Isn’t Dead
New episode every Wednesday & Saturday
Welcome to Episode 20 of the Ben & Tony Podcast, where the world’s most interesting people tell their stories!
Tom White is a writing partner at On Deck, a content strategist, chief copywriter, investor, and startup advisor. He’s writes at the Observer Effect, and also his own publication: tomwhitenoise.com, and is equally comfortable at the whiteboard or on the podium.
He previously delivered a TED Talk about his life with Tourette syndrome, and graduated with a double major in Liberal Studies and Italian.
Some words that summarize Tom: integrity, hustle, resilience, and humour
Anthony’s Take:
Tom is a literary renaissance man. He’s a man for all seasons, whose energy for life will encourage you. Tom’s romantic notion of New York City can’t help but infect you with an appreciation for the city that doesn’t sleep. He made sure to remind us of that saying (which I agree with) - that East Coast people are kind, but not nice, while West Coast people are nice, but not kind. Tom doesn’t let Tourette’s stop him and you soon begin to realise that nothing will stop him from achieving his ambitions. He has taught me a lot about storytelling, writing, and resilience. Thank you Tom.
Ben’s Take:
“If language didn’t elicit pleasure, if it didn’t have its music, its juiciness or jouissance would we notice, or would always be destined to find pleasure in it because that’s a thing we humans can do? Out of the way we move we can make dance, out of the way we speak we can make poetry and oratory and comedy and all kinds of verbal enchantments. Cheese is real, and so it seems, is the pleasure of the language.” I thought it only suitable to quote Mr. Stephen Fry when introducing Tom White. Words jostle, tumble and turned through Tom, as he shared his rich tapestry of experiences growing up as a New Yorker, exploring the liberal arts, his relationship with the cardinal virtues, and what it means to learn to master language whilst living with Tourettes syndrome. Volume up.
What did we talk about?
Growing a love for language
Learning from everyone you meet
Learning to live with Tourettes
What it means to be a New Yorker
The fetishization of business majors and what liberal arts can teach you
The duty to speak openly about mental health
Breaking into tech
The joy of doing something for no reward
Spreadsheets and storytelling
Working at On Deck
How to build thriving online communities
Losing the quarantine fifteen(lbs)
The importance of the cardinal virtues
Tom’s favorite romcom
Advice from Winston Churchill
Find Tom Here: https://www.tomwhitenoise.com/
Find Ben Here: https://twitter.com/mrhartben
Find Anthony Here: https://twitter.com/AnthonyMcG2
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We hope you enjoyed this one & look forward to seeing you next time!
Your friends,
Ben & Tony