Happy New Year, everyone—

Towards midnight, 20 something of us, some friends and some strangers, gathered on my rooftop. My friend Kyle guided an exercise of letting go and looking ahead—golden circle of fireworks surrounding us, a sense of something moved down my spine.

There’s a great deal to embrace in 2026: the launch of call-to-arms books and national organizing efforts—citywide summer festivals in the works—and, with countries like France eyeing social media bans, a global movement to save youth from the apps that hijacked it.

But that rooftop feeling stuck with me as we moved down to dance. My best words for it so far: all we really have is NOW. I think fairly often about a moment in Just Kids, where Patti Smith recalls her mother saying that what you’re doing on new years is how you’ll spend the year. It’s a strange superstition, but there’s something to it.

So much work is cut out for us in this fight to re-center life away from soul-draining technology—this fight for the right to use tools on our terms, for fuller lives. The beginning rumbles of our movement have, understandably, kicked up confusion. Yesterday in its predictions for life in 2026, the New York Times questioned the point of trying different hardware today—will it catch on, they ask? Is it just a fashion fad?

Those of us in this community know better. The world is waiting eagerly for something MORE. We can predict and plan what that looks like—but we need to keep moving, finding ways to be offline that feel true to us, in real time.

I’m scrawling this intro in the intermission of the Poetry Project marathon. (If you’re in the area, stop by for the second half that’s just beginning!!!) Terrance Hayes read a “Review to Remember” for 2025, in which he cherished those days where the phone is left plugged in another room, where he's free from the nebulous state of a screen against his face, prizing his attention.

From the inauguration on Broadway up to St. Mark’s, New Yorkers ALL DAY are talking about this same thing—the role of tech in the year ahead. A renaissance of attention is non-negotiable—and dare I say, it’s INEVITABLE.

So let us keep finding each other, keep moving closer to the MORE we know is out there in 2026.

To another full year together—

—Nick

★ ★ ★

January Events, so far

Thurs., Jan. 1 | Poetry Project New Year’s Day Marathon @ 1 p.m. to midnight, St. Mark’s Church

The The 52nd Annual New Year’s Day Marathon. One of New York City's most iconic and longest-running annual cultural events, the New Year's Day Marathon is an experiment in poetry and performance, maximized. As our biggest annual party and fundraiser, the Marathon is a celebration of and recommitment to what it is that we actually do here at The Poetry Project: make poetry, which is to say life, or at the very least a kind of life, more possible.

Full schedule and details on the Poetry Project website.

Fri., Jan. 2 | Poster Party BROOKLYN @ 7 p.m., telos.haus

The SoRA community is bringing the message of ATTENSITY out into the public.

Here’s the plan–
7pm: We meet at a starting location. We eat, talk strategy, and hand out supplies.
8pm: Pairs walk to different spots in the neighborhood and flyer.
10pm: Everyone meets back up at a second location—a local bar—to share stories.

ONWARDS, one neighborhood at a time.

Questions—nickplante@proton.me.

Sat., Jan. 3 | New Year’s Delete Day @ 3 p.m., Fort Greene

Start the new year off right in a cozy setting by deleting that social media account that you waste all of your time on and you do know better but you can't help it. Let 2026 be your year of digital autonomy and agency!

Hosted by Dan Fox, who's deleting his Instagram for good. Email danmaxfox@gmail.com for address.

Sat., Jan. 3 | Wolf Moon @ 7 p.m., Park Slope

Celebrate the full moon in a community ritual. Please bring an offering of an object that represents something beginning for you~

Hosted monthly by Kyle Barnes. Email kyletuhr@gmail.com with questions.

Mon., Jan. 5 | Month Offline Begins! @ Baby’s All Right

No worries if you missed this round. Sign up for the March cohort is now open.

Diversify your hardware with a flip phone for 30 days, and join a cohort of neighbors for weekly meet-ups, creative challenges, and digital accountability.

Wed., Jan. 7 | SoRA Attention Lab STUDY @ 6:30 p.m., DUMBO

The new SoRA trimester resumes with this Wednesday evening attention lab.

Learn more and register here.

Thurs., Jan. 8, 15, 22 | SoRA Attention Activism 201, "ORGANIZING" @ 7 p.m., online

ATTENTION ACTIVISM is the collective movement to push back against the commodification of human attention—what we call "human fracking"—and create, space by community space, a world where we can flourish. In this training, we will explore practical strategies for ATTENTION ACTIVISM, drawing on texts by bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and Deva Woodly. In the 201 training, we will focus on developing the organizing, facilitation, and movement-building skills required to build groups for ATTENTION ACTIVISM. The bulk of the course will be dedicated to supporting participants toward an organizing project in their own communities.

Completion of our Attention Activism 101 seminar is required for participation in our 201 training. Participants who complete Attention Activism 201 will be eligible for inclusion in our national organizing coalition.

Brand-new course! Sign up here.

Fri., Jan. 9 | Poster Party MANHATTAN @ 7 p.m., Forum at Columbia

The SoRA community is bringing the message of ATTENSITY out into the public.

Here’s the plan–
7pm: We meet at a starting location. We eat, talk strategy, and hand out supplies.
8pm: Pairs walk to different spots in the neighborhood and flyer.
10pm: Everyone meets back up at a second location—a local bar—to share stories.

ONWARDS, one neighborhood at a time.

Questions—nickplante@proton.me.

Fri., Jan. 9 & 23 | Action Potlucks @ 7 p.m., Crown Heights

We'll come together over shared food to discuss what is important to us and how we can address it collectively. We'll rebuild a muscle of exerting agency over the state of our shared worlds and combat the passivity our technology habituates us to.

Email Connor for a spot—griffin75006@proton.me.

Sun., Jan. 11 | LETTING GO @ 11 a.m., Bushwick

M.A.G.L.A.R.O!, or Marginal Alternatives to Guided Learning Analog Ready & Offline is a social experiment where we learn outside of conventional institutions and devices. This month, we will think about what we want to let go of in the new year.

We usually enter the new year thinking about what we want going forward. But what about letting go? When a relationship, or period of our lives is over, what do we do with ourselves? We will read and do activities surrounding detachment.

BRING SOMETHING TO LET GO OF.

Email knavehaven@pm.me for a spot.

Mon., Jan. 12 | All Tech Is Human: Responsible Tech Mixer @ 6 p.m., P&T Knitwear

All Tech Is Human (ATIH) takes a whole-of-ecosystem approach to tackling thorny tech & society issues, shaping the Responsible Tech movement, and aligning our tech future with the public interest.

This evening features a discussion between Hilke Schellmann, Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University, and Jennifer Strong, audio journalist and creator and host of the SHIFT podcast, about Schellmann’s book The Algorithm.

ATIH is a great starting place for networking with others who desire better tools. RSVP to this fireside chat and mixer here.

Thurs., Jan. 15 | Design It for Us: Monthly Coalition Call @ 5:30 p.m., online

Design It for Us (DIFU) is a community of young people (26 and under) from around the world fighting to hold Big Tech accountable and improve our digital ecosystems.

Members are encouraged to attend monthly calls to learn more about state and federal tech policy, join campaigns, and directly advocate for legislative change.

Join here.

Thurs., Jan. 15 | Offline Book Club: Hum @ 6:30 p.m., Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) 4th Floor, Room 405

SNFL’s Offline Book Club is a space for in-person conversation about the role technology plays in our world. Each month highlights a different book on the topic of technology’s impact on our individual lives as well as society as a whole, followed by an open discussion to share recent experiences and observations.

This month, we’re focusing on Hum: A Novel by Helen Phillips (2024) → a work of speculative fiction that explores parenting and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and dehumanizing technologies.

Walk-ins welcome, but priority will be given to those who register in advance.

Sat., Jan. 17 | ATTENSITY! Flash Mob @ 2 p.m., Wash. Sq. Park

We're planning a large cross-community activation in the lead up to the Attensity! launch. It will be something of an attention “flash mob,” attention to attention for all eyes to see.

More soon. To stay in the loop, email nickplante@proton.me.

Sun., Jan. 18 | Appstinence ‘IRL Office Hours’ @ 2–5 p.m., telos.haus

Appstinence is doing our first IN-PERSON office hours this month!

Come by for FREE personal guidance on reclaiming your life from persuasive platforms. Get the low-down on de-platforming and using alternative devices; discover how to fill newly won free time (yay!), and learn ways to talk about all this with your friends and family.

Email henry_m@appstinence.org if you're interested in joining—or feel free to drop in day of.

Sun., Jan. 18 | An Evening of Music Presented by Andy and August @ 7 p.m., TJ Byrnes

Original music into open jazz jam—join for a phone-free evening to start your week.

Hosted by tech resistance activist August Lamm and artist Andy Henley.

Tues., Jan. 20 | ATTENSITY! Launch Party @ 7 p.m., Judson Memorial Church

​Join D. Graham Burnett, Alyssa Loh, and Peter Schmidt of the Friends of Attention for the launch of their new book, ATTENSITY! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement (Crown), “a stirring battle cry on behalf of our shared humanity against the forces that seek to diminish and degrade it" (Chris Hayes, author of The Sirens’ Call).

In a highly experiential evening, drawing on the work they do at their acclaimed Strother School of Radical Attention in Dumbo, Brooklyn (featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, on The Ezra Klein Show, and beyond), the Friends will lead the audience through exercises designed to help us reclaim our attention from the dehumanizing forces of brute instrumentalization—and re-enchant the world.

All the Friends' proceeds from the sales of Attensity! directly support the non-profit work of the Friends of Attention coalition and the School of Radical Attention.

Wed., Jan. 21 and Fri., Jan. 23 | Zing Beta Events

January 21, 6:30 p.m.—Zing X Verci Phone Free Cafe Night at Verci Flatiron

Included: Short talk on the science, philosophy and practice behind intentional disconnection—"Zinging," cool disconnection experiences and an option to join the Zing Beta.

Free entry!

January 23rd, 6:30 p.m.—Zing X telos.haus: Taking a Stand for Phone Free

Included: Live on stage interview with the founder of Zing, audience Q &A, cool disconnection experiences and option to join the Zing Beta.

Free entry!

More to come in the mid-month email!

★ ★ ★

Weekly resources

Every Sun. | CIRCLE TIME (Parallel Play) @ 4 p.m., Bushwick

You always want to ask people what they’re working on at the cafe? NOW YOU CAN! This is Circle Time. Sundays, BYOPP (bring your own passion project) and prepare to share.

Format: Intros → Focus Time → Optional show & tell

Hosted by Rebecca Lipsitch, who curates connection through public-space events and play with groups like How Do We Play and Street Lab.

Email rebecca.lipsitch@gmail.com for address and more info!

First and Third Sun. | Date with Détournement @ 9 p.m., Various Locations

Join public art projects that push back against alienating tech.

First and third Sundays.

sighren.ludd@proton.me if you want in.

Every Mon. | Awareness-Building Meditation @ 7 p.m., Greenpoint

We live in an era where everyone is categorizing each other, and themselves. And it’s not just the algorithms. It’s something inherent in our nature that has been amplified, that has existed for a long time within any human interaction. We want to understand ourselves, the moment we’re in, and we have so many people with “solutions,” “answers.” So why are we still lost? Maybe we aren’t asking the right questions.

I (Phil) ask: What does it mean to be connected in these times?

Spending less time scrolling is just a small piece of the work we need to do. Our meditation group is cultivating a richer sense of awareness together—space and clarity between thoughts, which leads to deeper connections and higher agency. We meet every Monday at 7 p.m. Join for one session or for all of them—email Phil: nguy.philip@gmail.com.

Every Tues. | Technocritical Writers Room @ 7 p.m., Brooklyn

Logan Lane of the Luddite Club is Launching writers room for techno critical writers to talk about different approaches with the intention of writing in as many literary languages as we can.

Email loganlane1@proton.me to join.

Every Tues. | Event Facilitator Training @ 5 p.m., 222 Bowery

STARTING 1/27—Do you have a phone-free event in mind but don’t know where to host it? Do you have an event that’s just not attracting people like it should? Do you want to do more hands-on organizing in the tech resistance movement?

Email cowboyscience@proton.me for more.

Every Thurs. and Sun. | Appstinence Office Hours, online

Drop in for FREE personal guidance on reclaiming your life from persuasive platforms. Get the low-down on de-platforming and using alternative devices; discover how to fill newly won free time (yay!), and learn ways to talk about all this with your friends and family.

Thursdays at 7 p.m. & Sundays at 1 p.m. EST: http://www.appstinence.org/appstinenceacademy.

To get on the list, email henry_m@appstinence.org.