We Networked Ideas: Eric Pachman Returns To JUST PRESS RECO

This is kind of what Just Press Record is really about. Like, in its entirety. Random networking with surprising results.

I brought Eric Pachman back on for a special “Oh snap, guess what I saw episode.” I had this clip that - it was about serendipity. And that made me think of him because his entire life is full of crazy twists and turns, from how he ended up in Ohio, to the company he started taking on prescription drug pricing after losing his mom to cancer.

He’s just a man of making meaning out actions, even when those actions aren’t in his control.

Eric Markowitz and Elie Jacobs, in their Just Press Record, went deep on serendipity, accidents, and how random circumstances have shaped their entire lives, to a degree where they deliberately look to add elements of serendipity in.

Along comes Eric, who is on record as not believe in serendipity.

Naturally, I had to show him the clip.

And there was a shift. That I didn’t quite expect.

He doesn’t believe in serendipity - as a label, anyway.

Eric believes he’s living serendipity in real time, all the time.

No more, no less.

And on top of that, he’s especially humbled with the idea that everybody is living it, in real time, all the time, no more and no less, too.

Which means he’s extremely fortunate to be in a place, like Eric and Elie, that most accidents have the optionality to turn into something good.

Most people - they don’t have that. Eric went into those differences. Where a lot of his research is living today, on how lots of humanity is born into circumstances where accidents become opportunities versus circumstances where accidents become obstacles.

So now he’s building data tools to make that more visible. He’s looking at the paths and accidents and outcomes around SNAP programs. Poverty data. The stuff nobody wants to look at but everyone needs to understand.

We pressed stop and I sat to write this and - this is the whole point of the podcast.

What happens when you throw stuff in the blender and let it collide because there’s now ay it’s just going to happen on its own. It’s a tiny, forced accident in a way. Finding those unexpected connections.

Showing people reflections, including me, that maybe I didn’t even realize I needed.

I feel Eric’s definition of all serendipity all the time too. I feel the weight of why it’s meaningless and how, multiple times in life, I was a little more bad luck away from having a totally different life.

He triggered a lot of stories and memories here that - you need to hear this. Notice what it triggers in you too. And, I have a small string of this theme coming into the holidays, and it feels extra important.