It’s been quite the week for the doomsday curious.

One tweet from a whistleblowing AI boffin has managed to reverberate through the social strata and get absolutely everyone talking about the previously rather distant concept of apocalypse.

Of course, we’ve long been tossed about already courtesy of the move-fast-and-break-things approach to unchecked frontier tech development, but a neat ‘10% chance within 10 years’ of this wilful disruption culminating in actual Armageddon seems to have finally cut through.

We don’t know yet whether history (assuming we have much of it left) will look back upon this collective moment of sharp focus as the much needed wake-up call, or just the latest irresponsible thinking-out-loud from a tech bro class unable to comprehend how their profit-hungry battles layer anxiety and uncertainty upon millions of people, who are really just trying to get on with having a half-decent life.

The unsettling sci-fi storylines impact everyone, but if you’re leaving a school system still largely rooted in Victorian industrial values and conformities, it’s a particularly nihilistic landscape to then be spat out to navigate.

The natural optimism of youth is in danger of being suffocated by confusion over what on earth is the best direction to take, compounded by the gloom of helpless adults who don’t know how best to advise. Thankfully, in steps Calypso Rose (pictured above) to bring a much-needed refocus to this complex picture.

She’s a serial big, creative, ideas person, having founded - and recently sold - experience-led gift service, The Indytute, and has teamed up with her friend John Gordon, who’d also recently sold his successful ‘big thinking’ events business, the How To Academy. They’d both identified the precipitous challenges facing young people entering the workforce today, but also the potential for a new approach to finding work that can bring joy as well as income.

They came up with the concept of Offscript, a summit of inspiration to be held at Town Hall by Bottaccio all day next Sat 26th Sept, which forms the youth centrepiece of the inaugural Vision Festival across the neighbourhood.

With King’s Cross not only the home of the summit and the festival, but also much of the UK’s AI tech innovation too, it feels like an ideal opportunity to wrestle some positivity back into the global dialogue, here on our doorstep.

So, below the advert ⬇️ (which you’re welcome to click on to find out about improving your inbox privacy, while supporting this newsletter 😉) today’s Guest Editor, Calypso, is here to tell us more.

There’s a massive problem today of young people feeling lost, helpless, even fearful of the jobs market. It is really difficult. So, John and I thought it would be good to put on an event filled with workshops and talks that are fit for today’s world of work and today’s young people: the Offscript Generation.

We piloted a small test event at the start of the year, and now we’re back with the first annual Offscript Summit, where we’re expecting 1,200 young people coming to hear from 66 different organisations across 53 different sessions.

The whole premise of Offscript is to have a lot of short talks to expand your thinking and mindset, so we've got 15-minute sessions from brilliant people ranging from Baroness Martha Lane Fox to Hackney’s Deputy Mayor Dylan Law, (who is only 20 and already an absolute legend). We've got tech education leader Kathryn Parsons talking on AI, and then Jordan Schwarzenberger, CEO of the company behind The Sidemen.

We believe that entrepreneurship is now a life skill. You're going to need an entrepreneurial mindset in the world we're going into, so it’s important to hear about the qualities that these entrepreneurs have used to get on in their own careers, no matter their age.

Then we've got lots of practical workshops, and a careers section as well, where you can pop in and hear very latest advice in one-to-one sessions. But what I loved most about the pilot was creating plenty of opportunity throughout the day just to have random conversations.

This is every attendee’s chance to start building their network - speak to the speakers, say hello to that person looking a bit lost in the corner, and just get yourself out of the comfort zone. Putting all those things together brought huge optimism.

It’s not just young people tending to feel lost and hopeless, though. A lot of their parents and teachers are still processing these big changes as well. I equally want as many carers and educators to be in that room, too, so that they’re getting the most up-to-date information and can spread the word about all they've heard, and challenge the negativity.

We’re bombarded with stories in the press about people applying for 200 jobs and not getting any replies, but that’s because it's never been easier to apply for a job. Blanket applying for loads saying ‘I've got great interpersonal skills and I'm a good team player’ isn’t a good strategy.

You need to spend time researching employers on LinkedIn and connecting with their team direct, or spotting a customer complaint and saying ‘I’ve come up with a solution to that, and I just built the demo on Loveable.’

AI means that, yes, a lot of traditional roles are going, but there are a lot of new jobs being created, so many of our speakers talk about being more human. That is our superpower now. Don’t send out hundreds of generic application just because with AI you can.

Managerial positions at Nandos regularly get deluged with 70,000 applications, but there are loads of lesser-known startups and scaleups out there that need people, even if you have to volunteer at first – you just need to go out, find out about them, then connect with them.

I’m launching my new book at Offscript, too called, provocatively, ‘Please Don’t Pick A Sensible Career’, which is about breaking out of the old job-seeking mindset to create your own opportunities. Not everyone wants to become an entrepreneur, but it shows that you do need to think like one.

So the book has interviews throughout, from Firebox and Calm app founder Michael Acton Smith to advertising guru Rory Sutherland, taking in everything from resilience to optimism, with lots of practical tips and also lots of stories about people fucking up, plus 10 chapters of big ideas to work through to help you flex your entrepreneurial mindset.

My message to young people feeling lost right now is that you do have a network. You might not feel like you’ve got anyone helping you, but there really are always people you can find, if you go looking for them. One of the main tips in the book is to make sure to go to events you’re interested in.

For example, we’ve just launched something called Hustle Club, also held at Town Hall by Bottaccio monthly. It’s a free gathering where everyone has a chance to simply pitch the audience with what they’re up to, or would like to do, and everyone looks at ways to help each other.

I really look forward to seeing what successes emerge from our first Offscript Summit, so I hope anyone interested in this new world of work can join us. Even if you can’t, we’re making videos of all the 15-minute talks available free to schools up and down the country, too.

FESTIVAL 🎛️ Last year’s edition of the AVA London Festival demonstrated to me how this Belfast-born org can drop a truly credible 3-day/night series of electronic music events in the centre of London, discussing culture, creativity and art, meaningfully. They’ve since taken techno and fine dining to the Serpentine Gallery and return to the British Library next Thurs 25th Sept, with the likes of Moby, Oklou, The Avalanches, teamLab, No Tags, FLOHIO, Footsie, Jamz Supernova, Shy One, Tim & Barry, ELKKA, Fabio & Grooverider stepping up to speak. See you there…

COMEDY 🤣 Head to the basement at Never For Ever for their next Slap & Giggle night of quality stand-up on Wed 23rd Sept.

CONSULTATION 🗺️ The latest proposals for the 15-acre Murphy’s Yard site are on display on Sat 26th Sept at Shed 3, on the site itself, and the consultation is also offering tours if you register your interest in having a nose around areas of NW5 that have not been open to the public for decades.

EAT 🥕 It’s Kentish Town Vegbox’s apple pressing & conker tournament at Octopus Community Plant Nursery in Tufnell Park next Sat 26th Sept, which is going to be totally lovely, though we did also have a laugh at local Guardian journo Rhiannon Lucy Cossett’s gentle takedown of the mental tyranny of all those parsnips, squash and knobbly Jerusalem artichokes in the paper this week too, here.

MUSIC 🎼 Polygon Portal is the 360 degree audiophile experience taking place inside the quirky All Is Joy on Dean St from Oct-Dec 2026 with immersive playbacks including De La Soul’s majestic hip-hop opus 3 Feet High and Rising and Pink Floyd’s 50th anniversary of Wish You Were Here kicking things off on the opening.

FESTIVAL 💡 As ever, you’ll find me up at Kenwood for the always-amazing HowTheLightGetsIn festival all this weekend. And while full passes are now sold out, use the code CAMDENIST20 at the checkout to get 20% off remaining day tickets and evening party passes while they’re still available.