ACFM Trip 59: Hobbies

In this episode of ACFM, Keir Milbin, Nadia Eidel, and Jeremy Gilbert engage in a rich, interdisciplinary exploration of hobbies, interrogating their definitions, historical evolution, and political significance within capitalist and gendered structures. They begin by unpacking the Oxford definition of a hobby as a self-directed, non-compulsory leisure activity for pleasure, interest, or self-development, immediately problematizing its assumptions about autonomy, time, and seriousness. The conversation traces the etymology of 'hobby' to the 'hobby horse'—a symbol of childishness and unseriousness—highlighting how the term has long carried connotations of triviality. Drawing on sociology, history, and personal experience, the hosts examine how hobbies function as identity markers, social connectors, and even spiritual practices, blurring the lines between leisure, work, and activism. They discuss the gendered nature of hobbies, arguing that historically, women's 'hobbies' were often extensions of unpaid domestic labor, while men’s were valorized as independent, public pursuits. The episode also delves into the capitalist colonization of leisure, from the 19th-century distinction between amateur and professional sports to the modern platform economy, where hobbies are monetized through side hustles, influencer culture, and algorithmic optimization. The hosts reflect on how apps like Letterboxd and Strava can both enhance and colonize leisure time, and they conclude with a utopian vision: a world where universal basic income and AI-driven labor reduction allow everyone to live in a state of perpetual, unalienated hobby—free from the tyranny of work and the commodification of play.