[SIC] 184: A One-Person Language

Vol. 4, Number 28

FWIW, you don’t have to support [SIC] with a paid subscription. Everybody gets the same content. 

But you CAN pay, if you want to. Go right ahead. I’m into it. Monthly or yearly, or founding support (which includes a dinner at my house, if you’re in / can get to NYC). I’m open to offering other benefits, if you’ve got ideas.

Feel free to share, too.

---

Hi all,

Forgive the delayed delivery this week. With no [SIC] Talks and no “5 Questions For,” to prep, I got a little distracted. I’ve also had lots going on, hence the lighter-than-normal volume of links this week. Still, lots to dig into. Thanks to Diana, Madison, Matt, Celeste and Iolanda for sending contributions. More, more, more, please.

Um, I guess that’s it. Links follow, per usual.

Ben

A Sasquatch in Situ.

======[SIC] 184: A One-Person Language======

The World:

• THE AGE OF UNPEACE: Mark Leonard Explains How Connectivity Causes Conflict – and How to Cope / 032C

• From Diana Hong-Elsey: “Possible good reason for us to delete TikTok?” How China surveils the world / MIT Technology Review

• Meanwhile, the White House is briefing TikTok stars about the war in Ukraine WaPo via Public Announcement

• Related: why Artificial Intelligence Increases the Importance of Humans in War / Marginal Revolution

• It’s Nice That has compiled a great list of resources to help support the people of Ukraine via Blood & Champagne

• The Gritty Reboot of Gen X’s Nuclear Nightmares / Vanity Fair

• Airbnb enabled a movement to help Ukraine. Free housing is only part of it / Protocol

• From Celeste Blewitt: 'An in-depth description of the tools being used to save cultural heritage, historical art and the processes involved to ensure these are saved’ All Art Must Go Underground: Ukraine Scrambles To Shield Its Cultural Heritage' / WaPo

• Ray Dalio on Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order / YouTube via Zima Red

Trends

• 'No Code' Brings the Power of A.I. to the Masses / NYT

• While creatives are moving. Where are they going and why? / It’s Nice That via Public Announcement

• Related: the return of early web aesthetics. This vibe is coming back as a rejection of the minimalist web design from tech corporations. / Dazed via PSFK

• [SIC} homie The Cobrasnake’s Book portends more indie sleaze / Rizzoli

• And the rockstar girlfriend aesthetic is 2022’s latest problematic trend /THE FACE

• Meanwhile. what’s changed for Bimbos since Aqua’s “Barbie Girl”? / Mel

• Corollary: how the pandemic changed the way women watch porn / Inside Hook via Jimmy

• Also noted: the Sapphic Pop Boom Has Been a Long Time Coming / Them via Public Announcement

• And good God; Korn’s Having a Gen Z Moment. / Daily Beast via Music Redef

• Related? Meet music’s new outlaw: the online scammer.The Digital Antiheroes of 'Scam Rap' / NYT via Music Redef

• The precipitous rise and fall of ‘Pushin P’. Gunna, Future and Young Thug made the first great song of 2022. Then it went bad / WaPo via Public Announcement

• Dancers move to copyright choreography online / The Future Party

• Exercise Is Good for You. The Exercise Industry May Not Be / The New Yorker

• From Iolanda Carvalho: FTI's annual Tech Trends Report is a must-read for every industry. / Future Trends Institute

• Why you so obsessed with me? A semiotic analysis of Euphoria / We Are Social UK

• Phones can be addictive. Sports betting, too. Now we're combining them. / Recode

• From Celeste Blewitt: ‘Move Over, Tennis: How PIckleball Became The Favourite Sport Of The One Percent' / Town & Country

• The DTC craze is slamming into reality / CNBC via PSFK

• The World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2022. Innovation never goes out of style. via Elevator

• Tech companies are trying to disrupt the 9 to 5, beta-testing a four-day workweek / The Information

• The Meaning of a Stolen Diaper. The black market for baby products is part of a larger debate about how New York City handles low-level crime / The New Yorker

Style

• All hail the rise of bonkers denim / The FACE

• What Fashion Month Taught Us About Collaboration / Jing Daily

The Arts

• Why Museums Weathered the Pandemic Better Than Most — and Where They're Headed Next / Morning Consult

• The real problem with NFTs? They’re ugly / FT

• From ‘Celeste Blewitt: This is a poignant reading of the ways in which Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta describes the history of inheritance / London Review Of Books

• The Talks talks to artists Elmgreen & Dragset.

• Fragmentation as a Queer Artistic Strategy. What becomes of the body in the work of artists who challenge cisheteronormative frameworks? / Hyperallergic

Entertainment + IP

• Spotify Who? Musician's Earnings Go From $300 to $60,000 in Web3. A savvy cadre of recording artists has been using the new, blockchain-based digital frontier sometimes known as web3 to do what they've always dreamed of: Making money by making music/ Bloomberg

• Hence, Lupe Fiasco and Gucci Mane Are Selling Tickets to Their Upcoming Concerts as NFTs using the NFT ticketing platform DeFy. / Hypebeast

• Samuel L. Jackson is “The Guy Who Says Sh*t That’s on a T-shirt”  / Airmail

• Ergo: It's Time to Rethink What Success Looks Like for Small Movies / IndieWire

• Per Today in Tabs: “Desus & Mero spent twenty minutes with Denzel Washington and it’s one of the best interviews I’ve ever seen” / Youtube

• The Women Behind the Major-Label Web3 Push  / Billboard

Platforms & Influencers

• Job’s a good’un : how Linkedin transformed itself into a Gen-Z friendly social media contender. / Guardian via After School

• A Complete Guide to Spotify Recommendation Algorithms Music Tomorrow via Public Announcement

• “This is an interesting feature! And a way to credit the creators of trends, who are often Black creators. This is clearly a jab at TikTok.”  Instagram to curb 'inequality in creator ecosystem' / NBC News via Trend Report

Marketing & Advertising

• A Silicon Valley company called Tortoise has introduced a remote-controlled robot that can sell a varied inventory — chocolates, AirPods, knee socks — from tap-to-pay containers on its back. The first remote-controlled store on wheels / Axios

• Coooooool…. 🤦‍♂️ This Kelis video is sponsored by Kraft. / YT via Lorem Ipsum

• While Campari, Drizzly target the newest drinkers: Gen Z / Mediapost via After School

• PSG asks, can a Football Club Become a Luxury Brand? / BoF

• Elsewhere, formula 1 Fandom in the United States Is Up 33% Since 2020, Thanks in Part to Netflix Series Morning Consult

• The Metaverse Multiverse: How Companies Are Navigating a Virtual Wild West / Adweek

• The Modern Billboard sells NFTs that represent ad space on promising sites. / Mirror.xyz

• RGA CEO and [SIC] homie Sean Lyons: ‘Flexibility and empathy have to be demonstrated by leadership’, explains the agency’s evolved approach to Human Resources / Digiday

• Warby Parker and The Black List want to find the next great screenwriters and playwright / Fast Company 

Media Business

• From Madison Odenborg: “This is a good read. Philosophy first, company second!” [Substack’s Philosophy] / Every.to

• Corollary: “Nilay Patel interviews Matt Mullenweg. Lots of good stuff re Wordpress, Tumblr, etc” / The Verge via Public Announcement

• Why Overtime's Elite basketball league is using social audience interest to find a live TV rights buyer / Digiday

• How Bloomberg Media beat the pandemic blues with explosive growth / Poynter via Nieman Lab

• The kids’ podcasting business “has absolutely exploded” during the pandemic / Hollywood Reporter via Nieman Lab

Metaverse & Web3

• “The world’s first dating app for NFT enthusiasts (so like Raya but much much worse)” is … the Lonely Ape Dating Club…. / Screenshot via After School

• Katie Chiou of Coinbase Ventures and FWB dives into the current state of DAOs, and warns of the threat of their current limitations. The Future of DAOs Beyond Tokens.. / Station Mirror via Forefront

• Shake Shack is partnering with Jack Dorsey's Block to offer a bitcoin rewards program

• From Matt Lucero: The 2731 person effort to build NYC in Minecraft / Curbed

• But Not Everyone Wants NFTs to Be the Future of Gaming / Wired

• S/o [SIC] homie Stefano Rosso: Diesel drops first NFTs on Rarible 👖, debuting its own collection of NFTs. / Coindesk

• Are chief metaverse officers the newest executives to join the c-suite? / Wunderman Thompson

• Discord Grinding has become an active sub-economy on freelance work marketplaces like Fiverr. For as little as $5 hr freelances are offering to help you earn whitelist spots by leveling up your discord account / Decrypt.co via Zima Red

• Shopify gets in on the Web3 and AR markets / Future Party

• And of course they are: NFTs Are Coming to Instagram /Bloomberg

• Why community is the hardest thing in Web3 / Maven 11 via Inside Cryptocurrency

• Mixed media and NFT artist Jen Stark on the nft now podcast / NFT Now

Food & Drink

• Inevitably, Mike Tyson’s got ear-shaped weed gummies  / Frank 151 via IG

• Can the McPlant burger convince the entire world to eat less meat? / Fast Company

Miscellany

• 3D-Print a House In Less Than 24 Hours / Hypebeast

• Deep learning is hitting a wall. / Nautilus via Morning Brew

• Giant spiders to drop from sky across the East Coast / Axios

• You Don’t Know GIF/ blog-darrien-dev via Public Announcement

Things to Do

• The Magnum Square Print Sale is back on. / Magnum Photo

• Bode’s National Quilting Day activation / IG

======[SIC] 184: A One-Person Language======