Known Issue

In another special episode of Diminishing Return featuring Alex Brownstein, originally recorded in February 2025, we hear foreshadowing of things that have come to pass in the last year. Plus, a funny story about having a cold. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Allen & Whitney share details of how they became children’s book creators: their publishing journey for Mabee and the Gravy, the editorial, proofing, and book launch process, and how it feels to hand someone a physical copy of a thing you pour so much of yourself into. Then, a little behind the scenes on their experiences getting feedback on the book and what it means to press through the artist’s journey. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

The Known Issue podcast introduces a new recurring show, BOXES with Justin Vincent! In this inaugural episode, Justin waxes poetic about the evolution—or devolution—of LinkedIn, before the two discuss the future of work--which may or may not exist at all. Just like everything else! Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Question: Did that bar in the trash compactor in Star Wars, Episode IV ever stand a chance of saving the crew, or was their fate already in the hands of a feisty AI bot? This informs today’s topic: The Squeeze. Aging millennials are stuck right in the middle of…everything. Young kids, aging parents, and job displacement from AI. We’re looking for footing wherever we can find it. Uncertain about the future in a seemingly unprecedented way in modern society. So, what do we do about it? Then at the end, Kelly & Allen introduce a fun new segment called, “What Does It Look Like I’m Doing?!” Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Allen and Whitney ask and try to answer the question, “how did this all happen?”, share a mindfulness mantra, the failure to balance it all, the underlying and pervasive sense of failure that comes with the inability to ever achieve perfection, and why (at least we believe) we do what we do. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Allen and Alex use a few keywords with GPT to track down an old story, caution listeners not to confuse Oz the Mentalist with the HBO series, and discuss the pitfalls of a solo cross country drive with kids. No problems were solved. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Allen’s opening statement where he says it’s time to cut the bullsh*t. Then, a nice discussion with Kelly Garrett about the amorphous life stage known as Generativity, where it came from, and where it’s all going. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Whitney preps for Super Bowl ad season, she and Allen talk a little "micro"-economics, they discuss kids' story component recognition skills, grown-ups doing what they want (or not!), and try to come up with some ideas about "what to do". Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Hunter is back. A little New Year's talk followed by a lot of WTF. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Kicking off 2026, we welcome our friend, Kelly Garrett, LMHC to the Known Issue Podcast to discuss why we’re all “so busy" and what, if anything, we can do to slow it down and take a dadgum breath. Kelly drills down on a concept he calls the “Demand of Participation" -- or the cost of simply signing up to do any given thing. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the first episode of Diminishing Return! Friends from youth, Allen Rogers and Alex Brownstein, share a tale about a high school guidance counselor they never knew and a teen poem penned for the golden sibling of Pearland, Texas. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Allen and Whitney talk a year after their first episode and catch up on the process of completing Mabee at the Market. They also discuss balancing work work, creative work, and creative parenting as well as the foibles of large trucks and the perpetual state of getting the gimmies. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Allen Rogers & Whitney Hill (author & illustrator of the Mabee children's book series), briefly lament the results of our "Democratic" process before turning the conversation to the question on everyone's mind--how to basically survive adulthood re: getting & keeping work while raising littles and doing anything else (creative) at all. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Originally recorded in 2019, this episode of Known Issue explored what caused and drove the anti-vax movement for years. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe

Allen & Hunter debate the merits of college and what’s to come. Get full access to Known Issue at knownissue.substack.com/subscribe