[SIC] 194: Eloquent Listening

Volume 4, Number 38

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Hi all.

This newsletter is not an expression of my politics, nor a place I use to vent, cry or complain. It’s beyond my capacity to add meaningfully to the discourse around Uvalde, except to say as a parent and an American it’s very, very depressing. Rusty Foster from Today in Tabs captured it. And The Onion did too (again…). Check those out and share with somebody.

Contrary to all of that: I’m grateful as always to my friends and contributors for sending stories in. Piers, Celeste, Iolanda and David - thanks! Submissions are always welcome, whether you’re a longtime friend or a first time reader. Feel free to reply directly to this email if you have something you like I’ll find interesting.

On the subject of longtime friends, here’s something: [SIC] Talks returns today with old buddy Mark “The Cobrasnake” Hunter, whose new book of photos from the halcyon days of indie sleaze, “Y2k Archives” is out June 7th from Rizzoli. Mark and I met with he was a teenager shooting parties in LA, and after a long and extremely productive careers as an image maker he’s back en vogue as Gen-Z discovers the pre-social media world of nightclub abandon he grew up in. Join me in pre-ordering the book and then join us on IG Live at 4p ET today (or in my grid @dietznutz thereafter.

Ok, now the links.

IDK, just a street scene.

======[SIC] 194: Eloquent Listening======

The World

• Really worth a listen (it’s LONG but fascinating): Peter Zeihan talks to the Eisenhower School about energy at the end of the world with a intro to the Russian geography and resources driving the Ukraine war/ YouTube

• An interesting new idea for governance, Interland takes the intersection of the law codes of a large group of nations. This will produce a minimal reasonable set of laws which is highly resistant to lobbying and growth / Maximum Progress via Marginal Revolution

• Britain isn’t working. The UK has the most persistent post-pandemic drop in employment of any G7 country / FT

• Related, from Celeste Blewitt: “An insightful read into the world of long haul trucking, Brexit, Europe and the processes and systems that go with it.” [The Truckers Who Keep Our World Moving] / FT

• Tony Fadell talks building world-shifting products with The Slowdown / Spotify

• Corollary: A low-cost gel film is capable of pulling water from desert air; prototype device produced one-and-a-half gallons of clean water per day in environments with less than 15% humidity / UTexas via 1440

• Less encouraging: Good Times for the Consumer Economy Come to an End / Bloomberg

• Because: Inflation Takes a Toll on Spending Habits, Regardless of Income or Wealth / Morning Consult

Trends

• As discussed in last week’s [SIC] Talk with Sam Valenti: The Amateur Archivists Streaming Old VHS Tapes Online / Input via Elevator

• Related? In defense of being cringe /Dazed

• From Piers Fawkes: “Newsletter fodder” [Trends aren’t dead, they’re more powerful than ever] / We Are Social

• The Future of Work kind of looks like a Starbucks / Axios via Future Party

• As Travel Booms, Fashion’s Hospitality Ambitions Heat Up / BoF

• NYC’S cool kid are ‘here for the vibes’ at this crypto dating show / Input via After School

• Requiem for the viral internet challenge / The Atlantic via Nieman Lab

• The Rise of the Social Vampire/ GetPocket via Motive Unknown

• It’s Normal to Get Into Fortnite as an Adult, Actually / Input via NYT

• The crypto crash shows how hype fuels dangerous trends🔥 Hypebeasts of the internet age / The Swaddle via Probably Nothing

• Brands are reinventing the shower / Thingtesting

• “Thermalism is the point where vintage provincial France, health issues, and Wes Anderson aesthetics merge / The New Yorker

• How Pornhub changed the world / Mashable via PSFK

Style

• Big Spyplane surveys the Fred/Ronald diaspora of inept dorks and paths to greatness / Blackbird Spyplane

• Balenciaga Walks Into a Bear Trap / Bloomberg 

• Chanel to Open Private Stores for Top Clients / BoF

• Would You Buy a Mushroom Handbag? / Vogue Business

• eBay unboxes a sneaker shop in L.A. that will lower prices for customers who wear their purchases out of the store.  / Fast Company via Future Party

• And Clarks enlisted influencers to bring users into its metaverse / Digiday

• H.B.C.U.s Have a Spirit All Their Own. Pop Culture Is Paying Attention. / NYT

The Arts

• 50 years of John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” / Frieze

• Elsewhere in Johns, John Waters is “tired of being accepted” and is only getting grosser / Buzzfeed via Elevator

• The Oral history of the Simpsons “Flaming Moes” episode includes the deeply unhinged and depressing Cheers theme parody made for it / Mel Magazine via The Unskippables

• Designing for social justice: What does it mean to create radical posters for the 21st Century? / It’s Nice That

• The artist encouraging New Yorkers to empathise with their trash / The Art Newspaper

• While an exhibition superimposes works into Ikea catalogue / The Art Newspaper

• Unrelated: The Talks talk to industrial designer and artist Ini Archibong / The Talks

Entertainment + IP

• The Future Music Industry/ Cassandra via Beats & Bytes

• How Rappers Are Trying To Lead Innovative Ways Of Distributing Music / Okayplayer via Motive Unknown

• Lupe Fiasco to teach a rap course at MIT this fall / HipHopDX via 1440

• Investor dollars have dreams of Hollywood stardom / THR via Future Party

• How NFTs Are Shaping the Way Music Sounds / Pitchfork

• Bob Lefsetz on The Halsey TikTok backlash / Lefsetz Letter

• While Self Esteem criticises social media pressures on musicians / Music Ally via Motive Unknown

Platforms & Influencers

• How much longer can Google own the internet? / Recode 

• On Discord, music fans become artists’ besties, collaborators and unpaid interns / Pitchfork via Public Announcement

• In China, film, TV, and most streaming programs are tightly controlled so short-video social apps have become key platforms for those trying to becoming rich and famous. / Rest of World via Retail Innovation Week

• Ergo: TikTok is officially getting into the livestream subscription game / TechCrunch via Future Party

• And TikTok is planning a ‘major push’ into gaming / via After School

• But strangely, Twitch Is 'Absolutely Dominating,' Says TikTok Star Josh Richards / The Information

• Snap believes interactive AR lenses are games / The Drum

• From David Bloom: “Interesting to see Amazon make another run at retail, very different from the previous iteration of bookstores and tech showcases. We’ll see how this one appeals to customers.” / WWD

Marketing & Advertising

• The Fractional CMO is en vogue, and making everybody nervous / AdAge

• Live Nation announces ‘next gen’ program to help young people into the music business / Variety via After School

• From Iolanda Carvalho: Been there done that... 😉 / Marketing Dive

• Shout out [SIC] Talks alum Jian DeLeon: Why Are Nordstrom and Ralph Lauren Winning as Walmart Slides? Bloomberg

• Related: [SIC] homie and Kouch Culture progenitor Drieke Leenknegt talks collaborating, brand purpose and strategy for Timberland / Cap Gemini

• More collabs: Kanye x Muji x McDonald’s makes fast food aesthetic / It’s Nice That

• While Mattel x BAPE x Mercedes comes through with a gullwing you can afford / Mattel

• Corollary: Why free streaming channels like Pluto TV and Tubi have viewers watching commercials again / LA Times via Nieman Lab

• 50 years in: Nike's game plan for winning with women / Retail Dive

Media Business

• Woo is a new Gen-Z focused media brand backed by ITV with stories on culture through the lens of “wellness” / Woo

• Condé Nast isn’t a magazine company anymore / Spotify

• Meanwhile, retail media is HUGE. The Commerce Media LUMAscape graphs it / Luma Partners

• Conversely, Fox is moving into lifestyle content  / Axios 

• Podcasters are pitching longer, more lucrative ads. Ad buyers prefer shorter, cheaper spots / Digiday 

• The 2022 Podcast Trends Report / SXM Media

Metaverse & Web3

• Designing Token Economies / Not Boring

• The future of crypto trading is futures / FT

• Related: this headline is hilarious: “Sam Bankman-Fried Described Yield Farming and Left Matt Levine Stunned”  / Bloomberg via WITI

• Also stunning? The idea that NFT Culture: A Diverse, Equitable, And Inclusive Future? / NONFUNGIBLE via Jing Culture

• Don’t worry. Goblins are the new Apes / Coindesk

• Pokémon Go-creator Niantic is laying the foundation for an AR world / The Verge

• But, but … Web3 is still elusive. Web2.5 may be a safer option Vogue Business via PSFK

Food & Drink

• Scenius! [SIC] homie (and founding supporter!) Colin Nagy on the Noma Diaspora / WITI

• [SIC] Talks alum Andrea Hernandez goes deep on the state of big food in 2022 / Snaxshot

• Kim Kardashian named Beyond Meat’s ‘chief taste consultant’ / The Drum

• Is the business lunch off the menu? “If anyone takes me to a chain restaurant, you can’t trust their judgment on bigger issues” / FT

• But, can't get a dinner reservation right now? There's a reason why it's so hard / WSJ via Lean Luxe

Miscellany

• NY State is giving out hundreds of robots as companions for the elderly / The Verge

• How Mammals Conquered the World after the Asteroid Apocalypse / Scientific American

• Corollary: the myth of white male genius and why its time is up /The New Statesman

Things to Do

• Support Angel and Z’s pod fundraiser with Snow Peak and Arcteryx / IG

• As teased in my [SIC] Talk with Gutes, TDC’s BOTB at TFF / Tribecafilm

======[SIC] 194: Eloquent Listening======

Nike ad from a vintage copy of 1984 Interview Magazine, found in JCrew Williamsburg

======Off Cuts======

These are links that didn't make the newsletter. Rather than discarding them, here they are, in no particular order.

• Bicycles have evolved. Have we?/The New Yorker

• Last year saw more pedestrians killed on US roads than any year since 1982 / Popular Science via Micromobility Report

• The kids are loving themselves some kratom right now. /NYT via Lean Luxe

• Dezeen’s guide to deconstructionist architecture / Dezeen

• The Dennis Hopper Photograph That Caught Los Angeles / New Yorker via Motive Unknown

• In The Que is exhibition of previously unseen work by renowned British fashion photographer Terence Donovan capturing the hedonism of Birmingham’s ’90s techno scene / via Service95

• Harry Styles wrote an album to sound more appropriate in sushi places / Dirt

• And he covered Wet Leg / IG

• Hotels Using NFTs to Create a StubHub for Lodging Reservations  / WSJ via Retail Innovation Week

• Office snax will become a thing of the past as companies cut perks / via Snaxshot

• So maybe just eat Carrot Dogs, the plant-based hot dogs made with carrots / Thingtesting

• Surfing the unsurfable / The New Yorker

• This subreddit, r/cutawayporn / Reddit via The Whippet