[SIC] 163: Fake Allergies

Vol 4, Number 7

Oct 21, 2021

Barring that, take a sec to pass it along to your smartest colleagues, your business crush or your favorite widely-read Tweeter. They’ll probably thank you. - Ben

Hi all,

Getting this week’s edition out a little earlier than normal, which feels great. Hope a little extra time with it is useful to you. LMK. Lots of great submissions from friends and subscribers this week; thanks Iolanda, Ben, David, Geoff, Isaac and Celeste. Everybody, send em’ if you got ‘em. And thanks to the new subscribers who opted to throw a little money [SIC]’s way this week. Sincerely appreciated.

I messed up in the ‘sletter last week and wrote that my [SIC] Talk this week was with Recho Omondi, your designer of Fashion’s Only Fashion podcast, On The Cutting Room Floor. Turns out that’s actually NEXT week, the 28th. Sorry for the confusion.

But don’t fear. AContinuousLean major domo Michael Williams stepped into the void to save me - so he’s my guest today. Aside from being a blogging legend, Michael’s an inspiration for the attention and care he gives to his subjects; American manufacturing, style, the business of brand-building, heritage and craft to name a few. I cite ACL frequently as a [SIC] source (you should subscribe!) and his podcast “The Contender” with David Coggins is also a good one to check out.

I’m talking to Michael at 4p ET / 1p PT on IG Live @dietznutz today - come check it out. Reminder - watch/listen on your computer. That way you can multitask, if you want. And if you miss any details (or the whole thing), it’ll be in my grid thereafter.

OK. Now the links. Enjoy.

Lea Colombo’s White Light Protea Fade Orange Red, 2021

=====[SIC] 163: FAKE ALLERGIES=====

Trending.

Trendspotting tips from trendspotters including [SIC] Talks alum Matt Klein and [SIC] homie Katelyn Donnelly. (In Bed With Social)
Who wants to live forever? Big Tech and the quest for eternal youth. (The New Statesman)
Via Maekan: How Our World Runs On Memes. (Every.to)
Via After School: the word “cringe” means something different to Gen Z. On Goddddd. (Bustle)
Via Lindy Letter: the critic Dean Kissick writes about content, brands and millenials in the cheerfully titled “The Downward Spiral.” (Spike Art)
Kyle Chayka on Raya and scaling (to a point) intimacy (New Yorker) Key Quote: “The future may look more like hundreds of Rayas, each with its own paying members and rigorous community regulation.”
Also future: the smart city comes of age. (Axios)
Related? Via 1440: Welcome to the age of holo-portation. (Axios)

Styling.

How Topshop’s Business Model Cannibalized Youth Culture. (Frieze)
Hence, why Digital Reinvention Is Luxury’s Next Big Game Changer. (Jing Daily)
Shoe GOAT the Penny Loafer is 85 years old, per Hypebeast.
From Iolanda Carvalho: I want this!!!! "Most of the designs are surprisingly subtle, giving Reebok’s ethos for clean and wearable looks a chance to shine here." [Keith Haring x Reebok]
Elsewhere in 🔥 Collabs: Chinatown Soccer Club got themselves a slides sponsor in Strange Paradise. (Instagram)

Artsing.

[SIC] Talks alum Ryan McGinness released a collaboration with Wave Riding Vehicles to raise money for the Virginia MOCA exhibition and education programming.
The Inexorable Pull of Lisa Yuskavage’s Paintings. (Hyperallergic)
This is super cool: Solange’s creative agency Saint Heron launches its free archive of rare books on Black art and design. (It’s Nice That)
To Evade social media algo-censors, Vienna Museums Pivot to OnlyFans, showcasing works by Egon Schiele, Amedeo Modigliani, and Peter Paul Rubens. (Hyperallergic)

Wayne Thiebaud “Tomato Bowl” 2003

Entertaining.

Meet the New Owners of the Wu-Tang Clan’s One-of-a-Kind Album. (NYT)
Via Music Redef: 12 eerie predictions for the future of music. (Culture Notes of an Honest Broker)
Most people agree that Spotify should pay songwriters more. But where’s this money going to come from? (Music Business Worldwide)
Andrew Savage from Parquet Courts gives Perfectly Imperfect his low-down of cool guy cool stuff.
While, not to be outdone, bandmates Austin Brown and ([SIC] Homie) Sean Yeaton hold divertingly forth How Long Gone. (Spotify)
Big shout to [SIC] homie Caramanigawd for documenting the samples on Pink Pantheress’s debut mixtape in his NYT review. They were driving me nuts.
Speaking of throwbacks, via DJ Small Change: the first TV coverage of house music in Chicago, from 1986. (Instagram)

Platforming & Influencing.

From Ben Pruess, via In Bed With Social: Minus is an experimental social network launched as part of an art exhibition, with a special twist: you can only publish 100 messages during the lifetime of your account. (Minus.social)
Via Beats & Bytes: Cash App announced Cash App Studios, a new program to bankroll artists and other creatives. It’s an invite-only initiative where artists maintain ownership and don’t have to pay back any funds. (Trapital)
While TikTok launches ‘Discover List’ to spotlight conversation-starting creators.The new feature includes top creators in 5 categories: foodies, icons, changemakers, innovators, and originators. (Hypebeast)
And Snap Details its New Slate of Snap Originals. (Adweek)
Simultaneously, the olds get paid, too. From Iolanda: "For the first time, TikTok creators will be able to officially soundtrack their videos with 36 of The Beatles’ most popular songs." (Variety)
Via Motive Unknown: Roblox expects to pay out $500m to its game makers in 2021. (Musically)
From David Bloom: “Big changes coming to Roblox experience. A couple of keys, I think, are the ability to have much more evocative avatars, with layered clothing (I’m sure the luxury brands are happy to hear this) and heads/faces that change expression in line with what they’re saying.” (The Hustle)
And Instagram will let users co-author posts and share likes. (The Verge)
Like the platform itself, the first novel written in Slack is apparently not very good. (Axios)

Marketing & Advertising

Via After School: Gen Z TikTok users are fueling nostalgia for millennials' heyday (from lowrise jean skirts to wired headphones to, well, A&F), driving a whole new throwback economy. (Axios)
Peak 90s nostalgia: big[head] strikes again! There’s the metaverse and then there’s the Maddenverse. (Instagram)
Kenny Scharf On Brand Collabs and What Basquiat Would Have Done. (Jing Daily)
Elsewhere, the Ringer on Blink-182’s "What’s My Age Again?" and the art of selling out. (Spotify)
SFMOMA and The North Face Team Up To Build The Brand’s First Digital Archive. (Jing Daily)
Meet the new agency that knows you hate ads. (AdWeek)
Snapchat's new branded studio, called "Arcadia," focused on building out augmented reality advertising programs for brands. (TechCrunch)
Extra chaos! A new video-conferencing platform called OOO transposes faces randomly on backgrounds such as classic DVD covers (with your face replacing ones on the cover), a scrolling 8-bit video game, or floating above a bonfire. (Fast Company)
Also chaotic, via Dealbook: Drinking and self-driving. Tesla copryrighted ‘Gigabeer’ for some reason. (Teslarati)

Media Businessing.

How MEL tells fascinating, male-focused stories. (Forbes)
Franchise Mag made Season Tickets free for all. (Substack)
Mariah x Winklevii = Financial Empowerment, or something?! (Rolling Stone)

Metaversing & Web3ing.

From Geoff Renaud: “There are some good ones in here” [21 best NFT accounts to follow]. (The Drop)
S/o [SIC] Talks alum Jeff Carvalho, whose Burrato.io launched to make sense of the Metaverse for brands.
Cheese, trees: what the internet can learn from trees. (unfinished)
The Path to Metaverse Will Go Through Videogames. Companies aiming to build the new virtual communities known as metaverses will first have to master all aspects of videogaming. (WSJ)
The Drop drops a list of Women Led NFT Collections.
How NFTs are creating a generational divide between platforms. (Platformer)
Via Beats & Bytes: The Promise, Pitfalls & Possibilities Of Web3: Case Study Music. (Music X)
What's the deal with fictional influencers on TikTok? A slate of scripted influencers, each with their own storylines. But how is anyone supposed to tell the difference between what's real and what isn't? (Vox)
How to Govern the Metaverse. (Wired)
From Isaac Dietz: “Dang, wtf is that! Shill your NFT all day on your physical self.” (LinkedIn)
Via Michael Miraflor: Sotheby’s Dives Deeper Into NFTs With Ethereum ‘Metaverse’ Marketplace. (Decrypt)

Fooding & Drinking.

Snaxshot’s “CaaS” thesis takes the logical plunge with a drop of Snaxboxes. ‘
Via TechCrunch: Allplants wants to make all-plant TV dinners (TechCrunch)
Via Lean Luxe: A lifelong vegetarian tries meat. (Bon Appétit)
[SIC] Homie Jason Evans’s “end of the season” film about mushrooms looks appetizing. (Instagram)

Miscellanying.

From Celeste Blewitt: “Stories of Our Times and Pivot both discussed this earlier in the week in their podcasts, it's a hot topic. Here in Australia there have been various postal freezes over the last month or so. Purchasing from Harrods in the UK via DHL can often arrive quicker here in Melbourne than purchasing from Sydney and receiving it via Australia Post.” "Those Gifts You Want for The Holidays? Don't Wait Too Long." (NYT)
What is going on in this Malaysian-Chinese libertarian video of the year? (Marginal Revolution)
Devil’s night accessory: this “Hooligan Forced Entry Tool” (WTF?!) in Titanium is only $29.95!!. (CountyComm)
Via the Lindy Letter: Nokia is releasing a new version of the classic 'brick phone' for its 20th anniversary, replete with “Snake.” (Daily Mail)
Blink 182 again, via Marginal Revolution: 7. UFOs and the import of Blink 182.
Via Future Perfect: These weird virtual creatures evolve their bodies to solve problems. (MIT Technology Review)
Meanwhile via Maekan: Your Neck's Failure To Evolve Could Be Causing Sleep Apnea. (Salon)
Via Stereogum: the paradox of Ted Nugent, according to his ideological opposite, Ian MacKaye. (Instagram)
Via Berrics: This just in: @victor_on_tv is officially the sickest live TV news reporter in the business! (Instagram)

Things to Doing.

NYC Tonight: Scream Screening co-hosted by Ruby and [SIC] Talks Alum Brynn Wallner. (Screenshot above)
Via Erik Foss: Moosey London's group show opening looks cool. (Instagram)
NYC: [SIC] homies Friends from New York are dance partying Friday night. (Google)
Online, via It’s Nice That: Pick up a photo print or two to benefit homeless youth in London. I bought Lea Colombo’s White Light Protea Fade Orange Red, 2021 (Pictured at top). (Art for Homeless Youth)
Meanwhile the Magnum Square print sale is back on, through the weekend. (Magnum Photo)
Via Jeremy Dean: LA, Mark your calendars for the House 33 show at Subliminal Projects. (Instagram)
Finally, Get tickets (NYC IRL or virtual) to Meme In the Moment 2: Make it Spoopy, next Weds. (Caveat)