Mike Rugnetta of Never Post Discusses Creative Insights and the Importance of Consistent Power Supply
Mike Rugnetta is a multifaceted creator—writer, podcast host, producer, audio engineer, educator, musician, sound designer, and father. He’s the co-creator and host of the acclaimed podcast Never Post, which dives deep into internet culture, and he also runs Fun City, a TTRPG podcast where he takes on the role of GM. Additionally, he has hosted two different Crash Course series and PBS’s Idea Channel.
With such a packed schedule, we were curious about how Mike maintains his focus and which tools he finds essential. What we discovered was a treasure trove of insights about the creative process, the importance of reliable power, and his thoughts on the headphone jack’s disappearance as a sign of societal decline.
**What is your most indispensable tool?**
Initially, I’d say my audio interface. It’s the first piece of gear I power on each day and the last to shut down. I use an RME Fireface UCX II, which is incredibly reliable—second only to my headphones. I’ve had my Sony MDR-7506 headphones for about 20 years, using them daily. I trust them more than some long-time friends. They’ve just started showing their age, but I think I can repair them for a few more years of use. Some folks claim you can’t mix on headphones, but I love mine and mix nearly everything with them. Andrew Scheps agrees with me on this, although he replaces his headphones more often—maybe I should consider that too.
**Which is the most underappreciated?**
Reliable power is the unsung hero. My studio landlord and I are currently in a drawn-out struggle with Con Edison over the building’s inadequate power service. After a series of heavy snowstorms this winter, we lost power for over a week. When it returned, it was still in near-brownout conditions, with dangerously low voltage. Normal service is around 122V, but my power conditioner is showing 114V, often dipping to 107V. This creates all sorts of issues, and while I have workarounds, my minisplit can’t operate at such low voltage. I’ve resorted to a window unit that’s loud, inefficient, and connects to the internet even when I tell it not to, turning on and off randomly. It’s a frustrating situation, reminding me of the printer tweet; I really don’t want to have to buy a handgun.
**What is the first app you install on a new phone or computer?**
For both, it’s Firefox, specifically Firefox Focus on my phone. If that’s too mundane, I’d add Signal and Bandcamp as my next go-tos on a new phone, since I use them constantly. On a new computer, after installing Firefox, I download Alfred and Max simultaneously.
**What is one thing you wish you could change about your phone?**
If I had a “particular set of skills,” I’d take someone close to whoever is running Apple this week, and my ransom would be to bring back headphone jacks in iPhones. The 3.5mm jack is one of humanity’s greatest inventions, and its absence from some of my favorite devices makes me feel like society is crumbling. While some people rant about birthrates and immigration, they overlook the real issue: the loss of ports.
**What sites do you have pinned to your tab bar?**
I have three email accounts for work, followed by my personal calendar and the production Airtable for Never Post. I used to have more exciting things pinned, like forums and my OldReader account, but I found that keeping those pinned meant I read them less.
**How many tabs do you have open right now?**
Eighteen, but that’s only because I opened them to answer these questions. Typically, I average around ten tabs; twenty feels excessive. I’m not a “ton-of-tabs” person.
**Which social media platform do you use the most (if any)?**
Being in my 40s, you can guess that I’m on Bluesky.
**What is your happy place online?**
Without a doubt, it’s Bandcamp. A fun tidbit: years ago, I had coffee with my college computer science instructor, who mentioned he was involved in a startup selling digital music. He asked me not to laugh when he revealed the name. I believe my Bandcamp fan account is #4, the first one not belonging to someone at the company. I want to love Bandcamp unconditionally, but recent business moves suggest that its owners may have successfully busted a union. There haven’t been any updates from Bandcamp United since 2023, and the union’s FAQ states that the current owner has not recognized it.
**What is your favorite gadget you’ve ever owned?**
There are a few gadgets that made me think, “Oh! Everything is different now!” The iPhone was one, and the Switch was another. But nothing compares to the original gadget for me: the first Game Boy. Much of what we consider central to device design today seems to have been prototyped in the original Game Boy. Plus, I still have mine, and it works; my wife has hers too. I can’t say the same for our first couple of iPhones.
**Which was the most disappointing?**
The happiest day of the last five years was when my daughter was born. The second happiest was when I traded in my Touch Bar MacBook Pro for an M1, which I’m using to type these answers. The Touch Bar MacBook Pro is a reminder that the powerful often escape accountability for their missteps, no matter how egregious.
**What game do you have the fondest memories of?**
The summer after Super Metroid was released, I was living on Cape Cod and don’t think I went outside once.
**Which tech trend do you wish would go away?**
I’m generally not a fan of technofascism.
**What creation are you most proud of?**
I love all my creations equally.
**Which are you least proud of?**
I dislike all my creations equally. More seriously, I’ve made hundreds, if not over a thousand, “creations” (counting individual episodes of ongoing shows). There are many I look back on fondly, but just as many where I see room for improvement. I’m proud of all of it. Creating is hard work, and sharing it with an audience can be both joyful and challenging. That said, I think Float City (20 episodes, fully sound-designed superfuture TTRPG narrative with some wild unplanned twists) is particularly good.
**What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?**
I’ve heard respected individuals say, “No one will take your life seriously for you.” Often, life advice assumes perfect agency, which isn’t the case for everyone. Student loans, caregiving responsibilities, and varying abilities mean that telling someone to “just get out there” or “bet on yourself” can be unrealistic. Sometimes, the most helpful reminder is that you do have agency in your life, even if it feels distant or underdeveloped. I see this advice as a prompt to identify the ways I can exert control over my life to serve my goals. For me, that’s what “taking life seriously” means; it’s something only I can do.
**What is your current obsession?**
Aside from the usual (synthesizers, post-structuralist theory), I’ve just wrapped up designing and building some “problem-solution furniture” for my studio, which was incredibly satisfying and cost-effective. The results aren’t perfect or pretty, but they’re mine, and I expect to use them for at least a decade. One piece is even a redesign of a problem-solution item I built back in 2010 to hold records; now it holds synths! But maybe that’s not current enough… I’m also preparing a Never Post episode about Doom, so I’m diving into all the beloved Doom and Quake mods/WADs/TCs, and it’s a blast. The recent Quake Brutalist Game Jam is possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever seen; I’m definitely obsessed with it.
**What do you do when you need to focus?**
Ninety percent of my job involves sitting quietly, either writing or mixing/editing/scoring, so I’ve honed my focus skills and structured my life around getting “in the zone.” The only notifications on my phone are for texts, emails, and work Slack. My studio is tucked away in the back of the building, away from the street, under a big tree, and it’s separate from my apartment, which is crucial. Since all my clients and coworkers are remote, it’s usually just me (and sometimes my dog) during business hours.
The biggest challenge I face isn’t focus but motivation—especially with clerical tasks like emails and invoices. To kickstart these tasks, I usually just need some music; right now, I’m listening to a compilation of Italian electro-acoustic music. The latest release from the English kraut/post-rock band Gnod has also been a great motivator.
**What do you do when you’re feeling stuck?**
When I get stuck, it’s usually for one of two reasons: I’m trying to force a project to be something it’s not, or I lack sufficient input. Sometimes these issues are intertwined. One persists as long as I deny the need to fix whatever’s in front of me. Maybe a piece of writing isn’t leading where I thought it would, but I keep trying to steer it back. Or perhaps a sound design task is yielding only terrible results, but I stubbornly believe it should be different. Addressing these issues often means going back, but that feels like a step backward, which can seem impossible or irresponsible. Ironically, it would be quicker to start over than to hack through the overgrown wilderness I’ve found myself in.
I think of each creative endeavor as having a kind of momentum. Ideas, sounds, images, or shapes suggest one another in a sequence within each work. Responding to this momentum is central to the intuitive process most creators follow, whether it’s an essay, painting, movie, or song. As artists, we often negotiate with that imagined sequence, affirming or subverting expectations multiple times within a work. While creating, a piece may “suggest” something unexpected, pushing us into unfamiliar territory. This is how we can be surprised by our own creations; they seem to demand certain directions. People often say a piece “wants” to be something, and sometimes what it “wants” isn’t what we want, leading to a subversive relationship with our work.
Being creatively stuck often results from resisting the next idea suggested by the piece’s momentum. Working against that momentum or refusing it can slow progress, leaving you struggling to find a coherent way forward with work that has become uninteresting or difficult. It can take time to acclimate to this new territory. Distance can help immensely; if possible, just walk away for a bit. But if that’s not an option (which is often the case for those of us who create for a living), you may need to find a different path or hidden exit. This brings us to the second type of being stuck.
Most often, I feel stuck because I can’t envision what comes next. The momentum is gone, or it’s taken me somewhere I don’t trust for my goals. What then? Where to next? I find that the quickest way to resolve this is to entertain myself. It feels similar to going back—sitting down with a book or movie while I should be progressing on a project feels irresponsible. But to know your options, you must understand what’s possible. The best way to gauge possibility is through the work of others.
**When was the last time you went somewhere without your phone?**
This morning, while walking the dog.
**What’s the last piece of physical media you bought?**
I attended the Brooklyn Indie Comics Showcase this weekend with my daughter. We picked up some cat stickers for her and a zine art book from my friend Jeff Thompson for me. The more expected answer might be: EMG & Battista, The Bridge EP, TTT034 (12”, 2015)—fantastic, distorted, leftfield techno from the mysterious London label Trilogy Tapes. I grabbed this while visiting family in London earlier this month.
**What do you think is worth splurging on?**
Anything you’ll use for a long time! I firmly believe in spending a bit more to think less about the objects in your life. This applies to boots, furniture, studio gear, kitchen tools, etc. If we’re talking about an unjustified expense, I can tolerate extremes for the perfect jacket or sandwich.
**What would the tagline for your biopic be?**
“Words, and sounds, and the sounds of words.”
**What’s the last GIF or meme you used?**
