99.9% of the people in charge do not care why or how a solution works.

they just need one IMMEDIATELY: branding and explaining and being first is everything

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WHAT FU MONEY WAS MADE 4: SAVING A MANHATTAN PROJECT

WHAT FU MONEY WAS MADE 4: SAVING A MANHATTAN PROJECT

The AI Safety and First Amendment cavalry is not coming. 

But to win, we only need a college, a government agency, and a couple of companies. Since we built this for comedians, that‘s easy. 


But we have to move really fast.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP

  • DONATIONS
    DONATIONS
  • HIRE US TO JUST TEACH YOU THIS SHIT
    HIRE US TO JUST TEACH YOU THIS SHIT
  • VOLUNTEER (OR LEND US YOUR BRAIN FOR A SEC)
    VOLUNTEER (OR LEND US YOUR BRAIN FOR A SEC)
  • PODCASTS / MEDIA BOOST
    PODCASTS / MEDIA BOOST
  • AGENT STUFF: BOOK + PODCAST + MULTI-INDUSTRY PLATFORM
    AGENT STUFF: BOOK + PODCAST + MULTI-INDUSTRY PLATFORM
  • WHAT FU MONEY WAS MADE 4: SAVING A MANHATTAN PROJECT
    WHAT FU MONEY WAS MADE 4: SAVING A MANHATTAN PROJECT
  • FUCK IT, LET'S JUST GIVE AMERICA WHAT IT WANTS: THE NORM MACDONALD INSTITUTE FOR COMEDY, LITERATURE, and DIGITAL HUMANITY
    FUCK IT, LET'S JUST GIVE AMERICA WHAT IT WANTS: THE NORM MACDONALD INSTITUTE FOR COMEDY, LITERATURE, and DIGITAL HUMANITY
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  • WHOEVER "ALIGNS" AI FIRST WINS / DEFINES THE 21ST CENTURY.

    COMEDY IS A LOGICAL "FIRST" INDUSTRY.

    Comedians need more protections (set good guardrails for everyone),

    Comedians are already aligned with the correct/rhetorical theory/Constitutional way to do this,

    Comedians are a legit legal/political bloc with unique needs
    (seat at the table),

    Comedians have the money/ability to mobilize public support
    (i.e., strategically be assholes).

  • AND THE FIRST ONE IN W/ A MANHATTAN PROJECT SETS A LOT OF TERMS, BASELINES, AND PROCESSES.

    All the governors know they need to align/network a college (ahem; see The Norm Institute below), k-12, their Bar Association, and industry.


    So you need all that shit I built on the backend.


    Use your imagination re: why the ROI is potentially fucking gross and why we want it in a non-profit or B-corp for the public.

  • After we get you all square, who cares what real estate agents and dentists work out because we already set the guidelines for the guidelines (Which is all the tech bros want.)

    So our focus -- for that state -- becomes:

    education:
    For your industry, the schools (since they can use our curriculum,
    and the public (use comedy to get digital/civic/AI literacy up,

    pr/advocacy:
    i.e., comedians getting cancelled, damage control on deepfake du jour,

    winning this fucking disinformation war and reuniting the country.

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Step #1:

We Saul Goodman / Caddyshack this shitshow to SLOW EVERYTHING DOWN

(#mothjokeguerillalaughfare)

to buy the actual experts some time to rally and get the correct (Constitutional and comedian-based) ai/free speech/disinformation/privacy guardrails in place

  • the "podcast"

    The last two schools eventually figured out that we were actually creating a not-fucking-around combo ACLU, non-partisan Brookings Institute, military-grade civilian disinformation fighting system, online university, and PAC in their basement. 

    And that we could network / train/ strategically coordinate an army of millions of students, teachers, lawyers, citizens, journalists, and comedians.

    And that – by turning higher education into comedy shows and comedy shows into actual political advocacy/education – we were effectively launching a PBS (media network) and a ”post-digital political entity” with comedians coming out as a viable voting bloc, untapped lobbying coalition, and stakeholders in key industries affected by AI and the First Amendment. 

  • legislation/litigation

    depends, again, on specifics of incorporation. but our first moves would be strategic class action lawsuits for comedians and pushing for comedian-based legislative guardrails on AI.

    (Call it the NORM Act or NORM standard, or whatever. That branding would work, btw.)

  • public education/pr

    as weird as y'all want to make it. we're also good at this on our own (and design our PR campaigns to be strategically curated and crowd-sourced).


    which is where our ability to train/network/coordinate
    lawyers, profs, teachers, artists, programmers, scientists, high school/college debaters
    along with
    as many funny assholes, dirtbags, delinquents,
    (as you want to pay us to manage #organictrollfarms)
    comes in handy.

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Step #2: The Actual Ghostbusters Strategy


Sell shitloads of shit to everyone as quickly as possible.
And position ourselves as the AI / First Amendment refs.

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Merch Table for an AI Apocalypse

CURRICULUM / PLATFORMS / STUDENT THINK TANKS and ORGS /
WORKSHOPS / SPEAKING EVENTS / CONSULTING and AUDITS

We already teach this with comedians.
We could fully rebrand it very fast.

Market for 3rd party education (non-ideological) on First Amendment, AI, disinformation,
civics, and privacy is enormous.

CONSULTING / COACHING / AUDITS
SCALABLE GOVERNANCE PLATFORMS

Want me to get some of the smartest nerds in the world
-- and a few hundred high school debaters --
cranking out Norm-based academic/legal research?

(We're also writing a book. Y'all are already in it.)

STRATEGIC PR / MEDIA CAMPAIGNS / CIVIC EDUCATION/ ART EXHIBITIONS / SCALABLE SOLUTIONS

Catalyzing allegedly impossible bipartisan and cross-cultural
coalitions and civic community conversations.

Or riling up an army of highly excitable Kat Williams and Larry the Cable Guy
fans when they are both being fucked with by AI.

The key to winning this ballgame
-- and making the AI and each other less dumb --
is to train everyone to be better rhetorical (i.e., comedy) critics.

That's what my art critic teams (and super nerds) do.
(We also have an internationally-recognized art collective.)

VIIST THE IAA

  • why the bang for your buck

    Since our primary "product"
    is training and education

  • we organically grow/scale highly-skilled teams
    (from any industry)
    in weeks, and then train them to do the same.

    you might, totally hypothetically, call it evangelizing.


  • (and those evangelical kids might have,
    totally hypothetically,
    used their team's strategies to scale this thing the first time,

    which was pretty cool of them, right? )

Step #3: There are a couple of ways to structure a spin off.

  • The first serious supporters/partners/non-profit "investors" get a lot of say (just pragmatically) on how we do this.

    But it has to be for everyone. That's my only caveat; otherwise I'd just try to sell it to Silicon.


    This solution will 100% work -- we planned it for 20 years -- it's just a question of scale and speed.

    p.s. there is (obviously) a lot about the backend politics (on both sides) and what i'm up to that i cannot discuss publicly. it would be way saner to have someone meet with me.

  • Establish AI isn't Funny as a trade-focused non-profit
    (a la an American Cancer Society or whatever)

    For a lot of folks, I'm guessing that's the end of the involvement, but we'll set it up (board, etc) so the Comedy Industrial Complex can be as involved as they want.

  • Which means "members" (or whatever) get benefits, stuff to play with, trainings, policy updates (etc., if they are into it)

    plus we can coordinate and network you all for advocacy initiatives.

  • And we can even offer coordinated pr defense/offense (depending on how we structure this)
    if comedians start getting fucked with

    AND IF THINGS GO HAM (AGAIN) WE KNOW HOW TO NETWORK EVERYONE.

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AGAIN, THIS IS NOT OUR FIRST RODEO


thank you to our partners and clients from across the aisle


  • EDUCATION : COLLEGE/GRAD

    OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
    MCGRAW-HILL
    HAMLINE UNIVERSITY

    UNIV OF WISCONSIN:
    LA CROSSE
    HAIFA UNIVERSITY
    CREIGHTON UNIV
    INDIANA UNIVERSITY
    NORTH CENTRAL UNIVERISTY

  • PROFESSIONAL TRAININGS

    AMERICAN BAR ASSOC
    IOWA BAR ASSOC
    NEBRASKA BAR ASSOC

    MN HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER
    MN EQUAL JUSTICE CENTER

    TRANSATLANTIC DIALOGUE ON AI AND HUMANITY
    OSTROM WORKING GROUP (INDIANA UNIV.)

  • fallback text for an image

    EDUCATION K-12 and COMMUNITY ED

    ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
    CODED BIAS (NETFLIX)
    LITTLE EARTH NATIVE
    HUD COMMUNITY
    BYTES MEDIA
    CIVIC NEBRASKA

    TULTAIN VALLEY CREATES
    MN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
    NEWS ON PURPOSE
    OUR BLACK NEWS
    DIGITAL ARCHIVE OF LITERACY NARRATIVES
    (GEORGIA STATE, PORTLAND STATE, OREGON STATE)

  • BIPARTISAN AND MULTI-FAITH CIVIC COALITIONS

    ACLU MN
    ASEMBLIES OF GOD
    RECLAIM THE BLOCK
    SAFETY NOT SURVEILLANCE

    MN SECOND CHANCE COALITION
    URBAN EDUCATORS
    ACLU NE
    NORTH SUBURBAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS


    GUNS DOWN, LOVE UP
    RESTORE THE 4TH
    FREE SPEECH SOCIETY
    (OMAHA ELECTORAL VOTE SWING DISTRICT)

  • fallback text for an image

    SPECIAL THANKS: LAWMAKERS and INFLUENCERS

    SEN. SCOTT LUCERO
    (R-MN)
    COUNCILMAN TRAUTMANN
    (D-RICHFIELD)
    COUNCILWOMAN VETAW
    (D-MINNEAPOLIS)

    COUNCILWOMAN YANG
    (D-ST. PAUL)
    COUNCILMAN FLETCHER
    (D-MINNEAPOLIS)
    SEN. PEGGY SCOTT
    (R-MN)
    COUNCILMAN WARSAME
    (D -MINNEAPOLIS)
    SEN. SCOTT JENSEN
    (R-MN)

    CATHY O'NEIL
    (SHAME MACHINE)
    ELIZABETH ADAMS (FORBES TOP 50 IN AI)
    DR. MARK BERKSON
    (FIRE'S AWARD WINNER)

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for real folks:
we have three open lanes
that no one else has.

we spent 20 years anticipating
(and building a bipartisan counter for)
Project 2025, the college free speech/DEI clusterfuck,
and AI insanity

  • The first open lane is the IDH's "Manhattan Project"

    which, for a thousand complicated legal and nerd reasons --

    and the simple fact that we took zero partisan/DEI/MAGA dollars --

    is now most likely the last nationally-scalable, bipartisan (and sane) "Manhattan Project" -- for AI, disinfo, privacy, free speech, and the college DEI mess-- still standing.


    that was not easy to get /keep
    (for anyone, in all of the ways).

    Manhattan Project Specs 

  • The second open lane is the IDH's Education Division:


    Because what the fuck can Project 2025 say about something already adopted by 2 Big 10 universities, the wokest school in America, and a MAGA-adjacent Bible college?


    (and that fixes postmodernism correctly, shits money as an AI alignment strategy for schools/states, and is the only free speech org dealing with DEI/AI not-insanely and as a win-win for everyone.)


    wooo! 
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  • And the third, and most important lane, is you clowns.


    God bless 2025.

At scale, any of our orgs look like this:

  • ILLUMINATI

    Executive Dir
    Associate Dir

    Head writer
    Head of brand
    $/hr person


    this is the 'bare bones' -- but self-sustaining by year two
    (i fucking hate fundraising)
    -- operation, how it gains 'employees' via a multiplier effect,
    and this can run/produce everything
    yer seeing.

    paid and salaried staff are in bold.
    "lw"     are staff paid a living hourly wage.

  • RESEARCH DIVISION

    Director

    Associate Dir


    = up to: 20 interns/research assistants

    w/ 4 research associates (lw)
    = up to 60 interns/research assistants

    ROUND TWO:
    FIRST ROI SCALE UP

    w/ Assistant Dir
    = up to 12 research associates =
    180 interns / research assistants

  • EDUCATION DIVISION

    Director
    Associate Dir


    Since the ED Division scales via teachers -- and partnerships -- it can go big very fast (and the numbers depend on the clients).

    Historically

    2 Assistant Directors
    and 50 teachers

    can network thousands of students fairly easily.

    And teachers know how to teach each other very fast.

  • PRODUCTION DIVISION

    Executive Producer
    Executive Director


    = up to: 20 interns/production assistants

    and a shitload of contracted work.

    w / 4 assoc. producers (lw)
    = up to 60 interns / production assistants / artists

    ROUND TWO:
    FIRST ROI SCALE UP

    w/ Assistant Director
    = up to 12 assoc. producers
    180 interns / production assistants / artists

  • CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
    DIVISION

    Executive Director
    Associate Director


    = up to 20 interns/pr assistants

    w/ 4 pr associates (lw)
    = up to 60 interns/pr assistants

    ROUND TWO:
    FIRST ROI SCALE UP

    w/ Assistant Dir
    12 pr associates (lw)
    = 180 interns/pr assistants

    Civic Impact:
    Community content curation (and workproduct creation) is already in the thousands at round one.

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PRICE TAG / BUSINESS MODEL

THE BUSINESS MODEL:
50% of Associate Director time (and 25% of all Director time)
is on the monetizable assets.

  • This is a market evaluated at hundreds of billions of dollars. Just our white labeled education shit can by resold by clients for $30k a pop.

SALARIES and OVERHEAD

  • Competitive for the five directors (averaged out with benefits, etc.) is about $1M/yr
  • For the associate directors (using our internal talent) its about $500k.
  • (if you wanted to poach , like, top people in the world for the directors, add $500k)
  • Head writers, and the people who make sure people get paid, and the staff on living wage (we use a lot of them) just doing shit, and just the shit you have to pay for is another $500K, put a little more not to worry about it
  • and everything after that just makes shit go faster/bigger/cooler.

But given the speed of the 2025 clusterfuck -- and the opportunities --
you'd ideally want to give every division a dedicated sales/marketing person (Pete Campbell), and then someone working the phones/email (Willy Loman).

SO PRE 2025 PRICE TAG TO BECOME SELF-SUSTAINING: $2M

(i.e., we were in negotiations where someone ponies that up, we make shit for them, they more than double their money in 3 years, we stay open, etc.)

2025 GO FAST PRICE (W/ THE ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL): $2.5ish

TO ADD A SIDE OF "'FUCK LET, LET'S POACH THE TOP PEOPLE FROM THE BIG DOGS": $3Mish

TO SCALE FAST AS FUCK?
SKY IS THE LIMIT. BUT WE'RE THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK.

(AND, OBVIOUSLY, TELLING START UP EMPLOYEES THAT THEY ARE GUARANTEED 18-24 MONTHS OF EMPLOYMENT, VERSUS 12, HELPS. BUT -- GIVEN THE EASY LAYUPS ON ROI -- WE CAN MAKE IT WORK EITHER WAY.)

P.S. We're going to need some version of one of these anyway...

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FUCK IT, LET'S JUST GIVE AMERICA WHAT IT WANTS: THE NORM MACDONALD INSTITUTE FOR COMEDY, LITERATURE, and DIGITAL HUMANITY

Sale Sold out
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Back to the AI Isn't Funny backstage entrance.

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