[SIC] #104: By The Laptop Light

September 4, 2020

Hi all, 

A long weekend (here in the US anyway) calls for a short intro. Hope you enjoy this week’s selection. Thanks to Kevin and Dom for suggestions - they’re always welcome. And thanks to Imran and Beckett for the link to what The Auxillary is up to, in continuing to counter COVID19through education and community action. Have a great end to the week all - and a relaxing Labor Day, for those in the states.  

x

Ben  

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Start Here: 

GARAGE co-signs: “This week, we are collectively co-signing donating to the following places, if you are able”

Jacob Blake's GoFundMe

Milwaukee Freedom Fund

Nuevayorkinos Back to School Drive

Unbothered and Target are bringing you The Black Women Is Essential, a series of virtual masterclasses covering the essentials of building a business. (Refinery29)

Visual Capitalist really did it this time: an animation showing the most popular websites over time. Hypnotic and fascinating. 

And, via The Media Nut: Here’s a nifty tool to see if you (or a loved one / family member) live in or near a news desert. (Tableau Public) 

Electioneering: 

Old Navy Is Paying Its Employees to Work the Voting Polls on Election Day (Adweek)

The Biden campaign launches official Animal Crossing: New Horizons yard signs (The Verge)

Brand fun-ded:

BTS made a new song /Hyundai commercial (Billboard)

And Matthew Dear made a song out of electric Mustang sounds for Ford. (Pitchfork)

Business life hack: Brands are increasingly turning their employees into models. (Fashionista)  

From Kevin Johannessen: “You've probably seen this [Ben & Jerry’s is launching a podcast with Vox about racial injustice] by now, but sending just in case you haven't. Interesting that we couldn't get them to sponsor the B&B Forum, but 7 months later they are tackling white supremacy head on. Can't believe that culture has moved that fast…”

Via MAEKAN: The Ikea Catalogue Museum (Ikea)

The Atlantic Festival is coming Sept 21-24. It’s free. (The Atlantic)

AR? Ayyyyyy!:

Nina Chanel Abney is the latest to launch an augmented reality project, with Acute Art (Instagram)

While from Dom Delport: “Pokemon Go” creator Niantic Labs is launching a 5G AR Alliance. (Niantic)

It’s Not a Game:

Bud Light launched an e-sports tournament (Digiday) 

Via Distracted: Katy Perry launched her new album with a video game that highlights the artist’s mental health advocacy. - built by Double A Labs.

Fashionable Choice: 

Jonathan Anderson of Loewe / JW Anderson on defining the future of fashion (Soho House) 

Sandrine Charles from the Black Fashion Council on holding brands accountable (Soho House) 

Tommy Hilfiger is going circular - will it work? (Vogue Business)

High Snobiety’s Jeff Carvalho on Digiday video, talking how luxury has tipped toward accessibility . 

Via The Future Party: Nike releases first-ever maternity line (CNN) 

Mediatitus:

ESPN and competitors ditch their 'stick to sports' mantra. Politics is now fair game (CNN)

Is “Movement Journalism” what’s needed during this reckoning over race and Inequality? A movement journalist examines what it means to engage with communities and challenge the status quo (Neiman)

Related, also via Nieman Lab: Objectivity Is a Privilege Afforded to White Journalists (The Walrus)

Who Says Streaming Platforms are Un-American? 

TikTok Teens Are Exposing Brutal Conditions for migrant farm workers (VICE) 

While Netflix has taken some of its best-known Originals out from behind the paywall (Techcrunch)

Re-Tales

Via Piers Fawkes’s Distracted: this new Amazon store is the evolution of Voice in the aisle. We saw voice-tech being explored in this way a few years ago but it didn’t really go anywhere. Now Alexa’s parent wants to show the world how to do it well. (Retail Detail)

While also via Distracted: LG are taking a sneaker-based approach to the aesthetics and form of electronics (Fast Company)

The City, Stated:

Quartz created a fictional city called Leeside to explain how municipalities will have to change to accommodate climate change. 

Meanwhile, Akon City starts construction next year, with the aim of creating a “home back home” for Black Americans, with 2024 as the projected completion year for phase one.(Hypebeast)

Corollary: Why ‘super apps’ are proliferating across developing markets (Afridigest)

Musical Moments:

The Auxiliary, a new creative services agency dedicated to fighting COVID launched an anti-COVID gospel-rap music video designed to combat misinformation in the public housing community of Albany, GA. (YouTube)

The Jazz Collective drowning out far-right rallies with terrible music (VICE)

I really love steel drums. NTS has got a vid on how steel drums get made. (Instagram) 

The strange bliss of the mashup era. Milkman’s ‘Algorithms’ and its ilk brought with it maximized enjoyability through someone else’s playlist. (VICE)

For the Art of It:

Art Basel Miami Beach has canceled their December show and will host an online viewing room instead. (Hyperallergic) 

The Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art A Beautiful Night for All the People

starts Sept 11th and there’s a Virtual PreviewStreaming Live on YouTube starting Tues September 8 at 12pm ET, 5pm GMT, 7pm Moscow time. 

Bits & Bobs:

"Contactless delivery" comes to drug dealing (Drugs & Hip Hop) 

Alphonso Davies is rapidly becoming a huge star in global football, winning a ‘treble’ championship with Bayern Munich this year.  VICE’s profile as part of “the 16 project” in 2017 was an early introduction to Davies story. 

Corollary: Via Lean Luxe: Soccer’s all-time worst kits. (ESPN)

Via @billions: Sun Tunnels (Instagram)

L.L. Bean CEO says demand for snow shoes, sleds already spiking (CNBC)

The 20 hour Party Train and How Mullets Saved a Town (VICE YouTube)

Via @mattleines:”@fantagraphics is publishing a new monograph of work from the brilliant Matt Furie.” (Instagram)

Syd Allen-Ash made a pod about running (Instagram) 

Via Public Announcement: SAFE Acoustics Listening to the sounds of the animals: A research project applying cutting-edge engineering and machine learning to automate biodiversity monitoring in the tropical forests of Borneo. (Safe Project)

Finally: Via Office Hours: the Clance Impostor [Syndrome] Phenomenon Test 

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