[SIC] 202: Back Tehachapi

Volume 4 Number 46

Hi all,

Hope you’re keeping (your) cool this week…. greetings from upstate.

As I alluded in Sunday”s newsletter (which I once again erroneously sent to everyone instead of just paying supporters, sorry…), as the start of the fifth volume of [SIC] Weekly approaches, I’m thinking through some updates to the format.

I asked not long after joining Substack: what's better for you, more links or more tight curation? Maximum links won out then - but today, what would you say? I’m interested in making this as useful as possible for everyone reading and sharing - but since twice as many people are here now, maybe the answer’s different.

Would love your thoughts. Reply directly here, DM me on IG/Twitter/LinkedIn (@dietznutz for all), or best of all, write in the comments.

Similarly, some more clerical questions: do you like to see the publishers named with each link, or does it not matter? How about the source that I discovered it through? Care? Or nah? What if the article has a paywall for some readers? Even if it’s one that’s easily navigable? LMK. (And s/o [SIC] Talks alum Darren Hemmings of Motive Unknown for that note).

Lastly, any sections you always skip? Any features you want? What about something like this?:

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Happy: Scott and Kara talk a bunch about Wegmans in Tuesday’s Pivot episode which made the Syracuse-an in me very happy (along with all the other smart takes) / Spotify

Sad: Desus and Mero are over. Love both these dudes, and feel lucky to have worked with them. Looking forward to what’s next / The Verge

Read: The Tanforan Shell Edition from Michael Grant at Why Is This Interesting about a plant-based gas station-slash-ongoing art performance / WITI

Dance: Ninetoes / “Finder” (Original) / Spotify

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Keen to hear your thoughts. Meantime, big up to Piers, Jason, Iolanda and Celeste for contributions this week. More please, everyone.

xo

Ben

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Situationist Impulses from the homies at Phoenix Rising at Man / Woman NYC this week

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The World

• Stop saying that hot drinks cool you down / Stuart Ritchie via Marginal Revolution

• How the jet stream connects to simultaneous heatwaves across the globe? / FT

• UK data centers are struggling with the unprecedented heat / Protocol

• Interestingly, heat is happening as the earth is greening--especially in China and India, both because of rising CO2 levels and increasing urbanization and agricultural productivity  / Nature via Marginal Revolution

• Related: cities could dramatically reduce peak summer temperatures by replacing hot, dark surfaces (streets, rooftops, playgrounds, parking lots) with cooler alternatives / Axios

• Since Roe was overturned, more Americans are moving to states that better match their political and social beliefs / Insider

• World chess champion Magnus Carlsen gives up / FT

• Also leaving: nurse burnout has reached a record high. 64% of nurses said they’re looking to leave the health care sector / Bloomberg via Morning Brew

• Hence, the ‘Me Giving Up and Walking Into the Ocean’ action figure’ Is the Hero for Our Times / Mel

• But seriously if you feel that way FR: 988 is a new number for mental health emergency calls / Morning Brew

• A Goldman legend, crypto star and top banker on the next big risk / Bloomberg

• And Tyler Cowen with reasons the US dollar is so strong / Marginal Revolution

• A Deep Dive into the "Buy now, pay later" industry / Axios via Morning Consult

• Corollary, from Jason Leavy: “Read this piece from Wired at the weekend and found it equal parts fascinating and disturbing in terms of the implications [Meet the Lobbyist Next Door]” / Wired

• America has an innovation problem. H-1B visa backlog is making it worse / Vox

• Tho, the US was the top destination of Indians who gave up citizenship / Quartz

• From Piers Fawkes: ([SIC] homie) Asmeret Berhe-Lumax and the One Love Community Fridge / Project of Energy

Trends

• Serious brands are dead brands and seriousness is the new provincialism / Sociology of Business

• Distributed Trust: The Future of Crowds & Honesty / Zine

• Related: The Black Market of BlkMarket/ Dirt

• Along those lines, I really love the wit and the look of Lordess Foudre’s work. Worth a follow. / IG

• So, is this the end of ambition?/ The Guardian via After School

• Or just the Shift to Vibes? Key Quote: “You may at this point have become aware of a tangle of related signifiers like “Vibe Shift,” “Dimes Square,” or even the “Hipster War.” If you are little more terminally aware you may have heard of “Remilia Collective,” “Miladys” “Wet Brain,” or “Angelicism.” Once again, after a long period of cultural stagnation, something is supposed to be happening downtown: a cultural shift, a new aesthetic orientation, a new avant-garde” / Unpopular Front via Public Announcement

• Hence: Everyone’s hot now / NYT via After School

• And nobody wants to be in the Office on Fridays / WaPo via Elevator

• Tho "It is an incredibly exciting time to be in the cat litter business" / Axios

• And rugby is having a moment / Sports Illustrated via Elevator

• And the tennis aesthetic is all the rage right now (It’s all mostly fashion (over performance)) / FT via Lean Luxe

• Because nobody Wants to Be in the Office on Fridays / WaPo via Elevator

• Especially the Haves and the Have-Yachts / The New Yorker

• Corollary: Virgin Atlantic to Trial Flying Taxis at London Heathrow /Bloomberg via Morning Consult

• Rishad Tobaccowala on the future of the Internet / The Future does not fit the containers of the past

• Related, from Iolanda Carvalho: “Sending this for ‘THE SPECULATIVE FUTURE’, it's my favorite, ahahahah [5 things to look forward to in the future - according to 1,000 experts] / World Economic Forum

• “And This for "MEDIA HAPPENING" [The Evolution of Media: Visualizing a Data-Driven Future ]

Style

• [SIC] Homie, VICE’s Taji Ameen revisits his skate past / Jenkem

• While The Vogue Business launches the TikTok Trend Tracker / Vogue Business

• Are Luxury Brands Pushing Out The Middle Class? / Jing Daily

• From Celeste Blewitt: “A wardrobe staple, a style piece which never ages, the breton. Not only a style staple, this article delves into Armor-Lux, the outfitter stepped in history and an original maker of the mariniere. A light piece for those currently not in Europe… “/ FT

• ‘I said, Don, it’s time for you to reveal’: 50 years later, the truth behind 'American Pie’. In an expansive new documentary, Don McLean talks about the much-discussed meaning of his enduring hit. / The Guardian

• Welcome to socially conscious trash TV. With a cast clad in eBay hand-me-downs, Love Island UK is encouraging viewers to embrace sustainable glamor. / Reasons to Be Cheerful

• How Ewen Spencer’s iconic photos of the Skins cast encapsulated a generation / It’s Nice That

• Dezeen's guide to deconstructivist architecture / Dezeen

• Paging Bryan Ferry: The Suit Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Sexier / Mr. Porter via Blazer

• Style Strategies with [SIC] Talks alum Jian DeLeon / Valet via Blazer

The Arts

• RIP Claes Oldenburg / NPR via 1440

• Also RIP: Massive NYC Gallery Opening Draws Crowds and Cops in "Fuck-You" to Landlords. The artist-run East Village gallery O'Flaherty's exhibited all 700+ artists who submitted work for its final show / Hyperallergic

• Henri Cartier-Bresson:  Principles of the Practice / Magnum Photos

• What is generative art and why does it matter? / The Art Newspaper

Entertainment + IP

• Bob Lefsetz on The Decline of New Music / Lefsetz Letter

• Why Mood Is The New Musical Genre / apropos of Major Labels / Substack via Motive Unknown

• Sasha Frere-Jones discusses Ghostface Killah’s Supreme Clientele on the Dad Bod Rap Pod / Spotify via SF/J

• Corollary: Turntable Lab’s got GFK’s “Ironman” on Blue+Cream double vinyl / Turntable Lab

• Penguin has launched a Marvel comic collection / Design Bloq

• Faze Clan is a public company: the rewards are just as big as the risks / Digiday

• IE: spending on video games was down 10% through the first half of 2002/Axios

• to say nothing of Gaming’s diversity problems / Axios

• From Piers Fawkes: “In a subculture that thrives on spontaneity and obscurity, Sunny Singh’s video library stands out as a lovingly curated record. [How Hate5six Captures the Hardcore Universe]” / The New Yorker

• While new Shudder documentary “This is GWAR” celebrates the most chaotic, devil-may-care heavy metal band that’s ever existed / Daily Beast via Music Redef

• Pavement talks time, TikTok and horse racing / Loud and Quiet via Music Redef

• Chloe Cherry talks bongs and curating her “Niche TikTok Hour” / Cash Only

• While Lil Uzi Vert changes pronouns on Instagram / CNN via Morning Consult

• Private equity firm EQT Partners has made a strategic investment in UTA, the talent agency / Hollywood Reporter

• And Trapital opines on the future of the artist deal / Trapital

• Warner Music becomes the first major label to sign on to Soundcloud’s user-centric royalty model / Billboard via Music Redef

• Corollary: How much is Kate Bush making on “Running Up That Hill”? / Quartz

• A History of Chopped and Screwed in Ten Tracks / Resident Advisor via Music Redef

• How Bankhead became a hip-hop landmark /Atlanta via Public Announcement

• ALD’s new store playlist dropped / AimeLeonDore

Platforms & Influencers

• Playboy’s new creator chief on future-proofing the brand through influencers, to compete with the likes of OnlyFans / The Drum

• Social media revenue growth expected to slow as TikTok, Apple compete / Reuters via Morning Consult

• Hence, Layoffs have come for TikTok / Insider via After School

• While TikTok Owner Spends Record $2.14 Million on US Lobbying / Bloomberg via Morning Consult

• Snap launches Snapchat for Web to bring the app’s core features to desktop / TechCrunch via Motive Unknown

• And [SIC] homies Bullish Studio announced the debut of Scamdalous, starring New York comedienne Serena Shahidi, on Snapchat Discover / Snap

• Meanwhile, Discord voice chat is coming to Xbox/ The Verge via Morning Consult

• And Instagram’s new payments feature lets users buy products via DMs / TechCrunch via Motive Unknown

Marketing & Advertising

• WTF is MER? As marketers adapt to new data privacy changes, the industry looks for new, ways to report metrics and customer interactions / Digiday

• Is the climate cost of digital billboards too high to justify? / The Drum

• Fintech startup (and [SIC]’s bank) Mercury launched Meridian, an “independent magazine covering the people shaping and being shaped by the tech industry.” / Mercury

• The New Yorker has Jill Lepore out here writing about the new VW bus / The New Yorker

• Meanwhile VW's new all-electric brand is OG SUV marque Scout / Axios

• And Peter Saville redesigned the Aston Martin logo / Dezeen

• Skincare brands find an eager new customer in China: Men / Vogue Business

• Apropos of new customers: how can marketers Win Over Gen Alpha? Internalize millennial values and find creative ways to connect with kids / Adweek via Morning Consult

• Corollary: The brands betting on nostalgia to win over Gen Z / Fast Company via Thingtesting

• Ergo?! Mattel to Reintroduce Dormant Brands Major Matt Mason, Big Jim and Pulsar / NYT via Retail Dive

• Mattel is partnering with SpaceX to make rocket toys / Fast Company via Dealbook

• And adidas brought in Rick and Morty to promote new soccer boots / The Drum

• Advertisers were locked out of Netflix for years. Now They Have Big Plans / WSJ via Morning Consult

• Meanwhile, Netflix to Hollywood: We don't need your content for our ad-supported plan /Protocol via Morning Consult

• How to spot the warning signs of a toxic creative relationship / It’s Nice That

• Related, from Celeste Blewitt: 'Netflix Acquires Animation Studio Animal Logic' / Deadline

Media Business

• From Piers Fawkes:  Creatively pitching The New York Times / Cherry Flava

• How Time is leading legacy media into the NFT future / CNBC

• Media Companies and the Metaverse Paradox / Morning Consult

• How Vox became the most successful news outlet on YouTube / Press Gazette

• A year and $1 million later, most of the Substack Local newsletters are not sustainable — and some are shutting down / The Fine Print via Nieman Lab

• So can a national nonprofit news “utility” — funded by taxing Big Tech — help save local news? / The Markup via Nieman Lab

• Or, DIY? After being put through the wringer of New York City media, five journalists created Hell Gate, a blog-style news site run on their terms. / NYT

Metaverse & Web3

• META is suing Meta (caps possibly the other way around?!) / Meta.is

• Muslim consumers are calling for spaces in the metaverse that respect and represent their faith / Wunderman Thompson

• From Jason Leavy: “Thought this was a solid overview from the guys at Future, the publishing arm of A16z: [Crypto and Web3 so far in 2022]” / Future

• Corollary: Sam Bankman-Fried Turns $2 Trillion Crypto Rout Into Buying Opportunity”  / Bloomberg Businessweek

• Ignoring the rout a second: How NFTs fit into loyalty programs and first-party data for brands / AdAge

• Hyundai launched their second official NFT collection to acts as an access pass to their upcoming metaverse / OpenSea

• And Tommy Hilfiger will simulcast NYFW show in Roblox / The Future Party

• But Minecraft says it doesn’t want NFTs. Parent company Mojang said they’re "inconsistent with the long-term joy and success of our players.” / Protocol

• Related: Why Many Gamers (Rightfully) Aren’t so Game on NFTs / NFTNow

Food & Drink

• Ten food innovations to reduce the carbon impact of our diets / Dezeen

• Ice cream is suffering from two scoops of inflation / Axios via Morning Consult

• Related: Costco’s inflation-proof $4.99 rotisserie chicken, explained. What the retail giant’s poultry staple says about and future of factory farming / Vox

• Meanwhile, M&S to remove ‘best before’ labels from 300 fruit and veg items to cut food waste / The Guardian via Retail Innovation Week

• Traditional Cheesemaking Is Restoring Bosnia’s Landscapes and Livelihoods after decades of war / Reasons to Be Cheerful

• While turning invasive lionfish into high-fashion jackets and handbags is saving the Caribbean’s coral reefs /The Guardian via Reasons to Be Cheerful

• Authorities found an illicit vodka pipeline on the Ukrainian border. In the Soviet era, smugglers used pipes like this to transport cheap vodka into neighboring Moldova / Quartz

• W. David Marx and Roni Xu used DALL-e to generate imagery of the absurd cuisine from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s 1932 The Futurist Cookbook / Dirt

Miscellany

• One unusual bird has forced biologists to question evolution's fundamental character / The New Yorker via 1440

• NSA Security Posters from the 1950s and 1960s released in response to a Freedom of Information request in 2018 / Government Attic via The Whippet

• From Celeste Blewitt: “As a non-sports fan, this is a great read on sport, the paths to stardom and professional sport and the history is one which is well worth the long read. Also an interesting take on fame, fletting as it is with sport and the comparisons to art and culture fame over time. [Lancelot Vs Galahad]” / London Review Of Books

Things To do:

• Today!! Fly down to Vacation’s Key West Party at Sloppy Joe’s for their 41st Annual Hemingway® Look-Alike Contest

• Tonight closer to home: the Graffiti show at fave gallery Public Access (which includes [SIC] homie Maggie Lee among a great bunch of others) / IG

• Or head to Jayson Musson’s “The History of Art” show at the Fabric Museum in Philly / IG

• Sunday, Friends from New York brings Frankie Jackson’s Soul Kitchen back for one night only / IG

• [SIC] Talks alum Noah Wunsch’s Ruby Hibiscus is hosting a screening of Spaceballs out East in Amagansett / IG

Book of the Week

I should hasten to say I have been a big Ottessa Moshfegh fan since she was writing short stories for Vice Magazine and especially since the release of “Homesick for Another World,” so reading Lapvona for me was a completist thing, first and foremost. There was a lot of attention about the “Praying for Us” review in NY Mag about how the new book missed the mark; IDK, thought it was just pretty good, tho it’s definitely NOT cheerful. Good for a wallow, I guess.

Separately, I also liked her surprise turn as a magazine journalist profiling Brad Pitt [Brad Pitt Opens Up His Dream World / GQ].

======[SIC] 202: Back Tehachapi======