[SIC] 203: Melted Donut

Volume 4, Number 47

Jul 28, 2022

Paid subscribers now get an additional [SIC] Sundays newsletter. And founding supporters get invited to a series of dinners at my house in NYC.

Feel free to share, too. It’s the 200th edition, after all.

Hi all.

I ran into [SIC] Talks alum Sam Valenti last night at a fundraiser for Plus Pool (a very cool community/architectural intervention), and as a corollary mentioned to him that the wildest story in a week of wild stories, for me, was Saudi Arabia revealing it plan to build a 100-Mile-Long mirrored skyscraper to house nine million people.

You read that right. Here’s the video on YouTube, which is pretty bananas. I showed my 12 year old daughter, asking if she’d like to live there when she’s older. An emphatic “yes,” until I pointed out it’s going to be in Saudi. Maybe not so much, then. But irrespective of the Kingdom’s very not kosher record on human rights, women’s rights, and all the other rights, the sheer ambition of the idea is pretty amazing.

Sam and I were talking about how non-American (not be be confused with un-American) that the Saudi project feels, and how that’s a shame. Considering the 100-mile-city plan vastly outstrips even the wildest builds of American *entertainment* properties like “Westworld,” it feels like there’s a inward-lookingness prevalent right now that’s going to be a problem later.

Apropos of that, last evening I also coincidentally ran into another [SIC] Talks alum, Eugene Rabkin, whose “Why the Yeezy Gap Collaboration is a Truly Historic Moment in Fashion” for Highsnobiety, represented a big shift in tone for him: suffice to say Eugene’s been hard on Demna (and Ye) in the past, but as he wrote yesterday:

“[Yeezy Gap] has broken all semiotic codes and definitions that surround fashion right now. It's too mass for the elite, and too elite, considering the difficulty of the proposition and the price point, for the masses. But most importantly, it's food for thought, and that's what good design should be.”

I appreciate the reassessment a lot. It’s easy to scan the headlines linked below and feel a sense of foreboding. Not Boring gets to that gestalt a bit with a post entitled “How the vibe shift to negativity is hurting progress, and what to do about it.” Hopefully the digest this week gives you some ideas on how to resist that shift, without glossing over it.

To that end, thanks to Isaac, Iolanda, David, Celeste, Jeremy and Johnny for contributions, and to Tim, Josh, Eli, Navaz and everybody who shared or commented last week in response to my questions. And welcome to all the new subscribers this week, however you got here. If I have a philosophy, this link via Marginal Revolution might sum it up. It’s a paper entitled “I Share, Therefore I Know? Sharing Online Content — Even Without Reading It — Inflates Subjective Knowledge." / SSRN

Couldn’t be me….right?!

Ben

Read [SIC] 203 on the web

Live from Peter Pan Donut Shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

======[SIC] 203: Melted Donut======

The World

Former colleague Harry Cheadle points out that More Americans Are Rich Than You Think. Key Quote: “This is not a country on the brink of revolution” / Life Inside the Bubble
Still, the Fed Is Struggling to Understand a Crazy Economy, because the models that economists have long relied on to analyze inflation have broken down since the coronavirus pandemic began / New Yorker
Also crazy: Living Through India’s Next-Level Heat Wave / The New Yorker
Hence: ten principles for designing cool spaces for hot weather / Dezeen
And, from Isaac Dietz: “Solar tower powers synthetic hydrocarbon conversion” / New Atlas
Elsewhere, the future is hempcrete / via Trends and Weak Signals
Meanwhile, high gas prices are fueling a surge in online anti-car groups / CNET
But high gas prices are not fueling a return of public transit ridership / Marketplace
So, Spain is making its trains fare-free. CNN via Reasons to Be Cheerful
Shorter flaps, thinner boxes, less color: Inflation is changing how products are packaged/ CNN via Morning Consult
And build-your-own-coffins now come in Ikea-style kits / Robinhood Snacks
The Chip Shortage Is Easing—but Only for Some/ Wired via Morning Consult
Related: tech bros prosper in New York, but won’t overrun it. As a capital of media, advertising and finance, Manhattan is an ideal place to create prop-tech, fintech, ad-tech and more / FT
But so why are Powerful Men More High-Maintenance than Ever? / Airmail

Trends

“I can’t afford what I used to”: How the cost of living has changed streaming habits / The Guardian via Nieman Lab
Hence: welcome to the age of micro-subscriptions. / Protocol
So is Selling Shares in Yourself the Way of the Future? / New Yorker via Morning Consult
For creators, community is the new follower count / WaPo via Morning Consult
That in spite of social networking as we know it being likely on its way out / Fast Company via Morning Consult
Back IRL: live music is way too expensive right now / The FACE
Hence: Both Gen Z and Millennials claim to be “going out less,” / Mixmag via Motive Unknown
Or maybe young people are just becoming more miserable relative to older people? / Twitter
Still, Gen Z Thinks ‘The Money Will Come Back’ / Bloomberg via After School
Meantime, young people are side-hustling their way out of the cost-of-living-crisis/ The FACE via After School
From Celeste Blewitt: “So interesting, it feels as though even culture is turning back to the 90's/00's rockstar dirtbag-eqsue types. [’The Dirtbag Is Back’] / Atlantic
C’est Le Deeev....Dimes Square’s cool is evolving apparently… /WWD
Get lit! It’s officially P.G. Wodehouse Summer / Blackbird Spyplane

Style

Is the Yeezy Gap collaboration a corporate-creative cautionary tale or a model for fashion? / NYT
NO: Fashion Brands Need a Cultural Transformation, and Collabs Aren’t the Cure-All. Challenging the industry's reliance on oversaturated collabs. WWD via Jing Culture
Irrespective, here’s a collab that we ride for: Pats Pant x Ginos Chinos /IG
Related: s/o [SIC] homie Heron Preston for this one: Everyone's wearing NASA-branded clothes / CNN via Morning Consult
How LVMH Dominates the Luxury Business / BoF
But does it have competition? The Apple Watch “Bro” is coming… / Design Bloq
Also en route: Logomania Is Coming for Sustainability / Vogue Business
While Mushroom Leather Is already Here. Will Shoppers Care? / Bloomberg via Retail Dive
And more importantly: where to Buy Nathan Fielder’s Laptop Harness / NY Mag via The Trend Report

The Arts

More Than Hype: Virgil Abloh’s Enduring Legacy / Jing Daily
More legacy: Tom Sachs, Rocket Man To Renaissance Man / NYT via Jing Culture
Related: just As Web3 Is Propelling Art, So Art Is Powering Web3 / Jing Culture
Hence, Marina Abramovic charges into the metaverse/ Frieze
While the Getty Museum and Apple team up to recreate William Blake's terrifying visions in augmented reality / The Art Newspaper
Corollary: Art history as a sitcom: Jayson Musson serves up satire and nostalgia in Philadelphia exhibition / The Art Newspaper
Epic interview with fave gallery Public Access owner and downtown legend [SIC] homie Leo Fitzpatrick / Serving the People
China’s zero Covid restrictions have had significant impact on country’s commercial art scene / The Art Newspaper
While Seattle museum cancels 'Amazon vs Microsoft' after backlash / Geekwire via The Trend Report
Elsewhere, Climate Change Activists Glued Themselves to a Priceless Botticelli Painting / Hyperallergic

Entertainment + IP

“The Bear:” how a show with no sex got the internet so horny / The FACE
How Gen Z became obsessed with subtitles / Telegraph via After School
The euphoria of stumbling on weird cover songs on Spotify / Gawker via Garbage Day
Miles Fisher wrote about deepfakes and what it’s like when everyone thinks you are Tom Cruise / Hollywood Reporter via A Continuous Lean
To Reach Gaming's Massive Audience, Brands Go Bespoke / Adweek via Morning Consult
How Electronic Arts Tries to Make Diverse Video Games / Wired via Morning Consult
“Rockstar Games Cleaned Up Its Frat-Boy Culture — and Grand Theft Auto, Too” / Bloomberg via Dealbook
Vinyl fantasy: how gamers fell in love with records / The Guardian via Motive Unknown
And how records fell in love with games, from Iolanda Carvalho: “I’m sure you have it already, but... 😉” The MTV VMAs are embracing the metaverse with the new 'Best Metaverse Performance' category for the 2022 VMAs. BTS, BLACKPINK, and Charli XCX are among the nominees / Mashable
The 50 Best Cartoon Characters of All Time / Paste via Elevator
200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time / Rolling Stone via Elevator
Another sign of the “times:” How Gen Z turned Rap Emo / Rolling Stone via After School
Related: Hip Hop, Crime, and Free Speech. Many American entertainers make art about violence, but rappers are largely alone in facing prosecution over their art / Slate via Music Redef
More politics: After Roe's Fall, They Turned Their Songs Into Abortion Fund Donations / Rolling Stone via Morning Consult
A James Murphy Q&A with the Yale MFA of Photography, is delightfully process-focused / Youtube via Unskippables
“Mad Men”'s Smoke and Mirrors Have Aged Like a Fine Whiskey / Vanity Fair via Morning Consult
Also aging really well, from Celeste Blewitt: “Kate Moss, what a legend and an icon. A great listen, name-dropping without even meaning to and the stories of times past, it's brilliant. [Desert Island Discs- Kate Moss]” / BBC

Platforms & Influencers

Kyle Chayka’s oft-cited “The Age of Algorithmic Anxiety" asks if we want what the machines tell us we want? / The New Yorker
Related: From David Bloom: “This would be Conversation No. 1 if we were non-summer [Kouch Culture] mode. That Gen Z is more targeted in what social-media platforms they use, and how, and the resulting impacts as everyone tries to evolve their platforms to bring those kids back, is a fundamental conversation for marketers, brands, media companies and way too much else“/ The Future Party
Sam Lessin does a decent job of breaking down the past, present and far future of the platforms/ Twitter via People vs. Algorithms
While in the present, Instagram's pivot to Reels has (surprise, surprise!) tanked engagement / Input via Lean Luxe
Instagram admits it’s “not good’ after Kardashians beg it to stop copying TikTok / Motherboard via Nieman Lab
But as TayLo notes, Instagram knows you don't like its changes. It doesn't care / WaPo
Corollary: Kobalt is pulling its 700,000 songs off Facebook and Instagram. Is the music biz headed for a historic bust-up with Meta? / Music Business Worldwide via Motive Unknown
YouTube has 'obvious math' problem as growth slows dramatically from pandemic highs / CNBC
Also a problem: TikTok to provide researchers with more transparency as damaging reports mount / The Verge via Morning Consult
TikTok is not the enemy of journalism. It’s just a new way of reaching people / The Guardian via Motive Unknown
Ergo: Brands need to act like publishers on TikTok / AdWeek via 2pm
Where Meta is with their NFT product strategy: a pretty good summary / Social Media Today via Patent Drop
Baron Davis on Why Sports Will Lead Web3 / YouTube via NFT Now
Why Big Tech Is Making a Big Play for Live Sports / NYT via Morning Consult

Marketing & Advertising

Companies cannot win America’s culture wars / FT
Apropos: The Early Majority podcast with Miranda July, wherein [SIC] Talks alum Joy Howard and July “talk about choreographing a real-world version of Open Palm. Plus, chip-on-your-shoulder energy, the downside of being a woman in power within a patriarchal system, Roe v. Wade, sleeping in the park, and becoming incarnated after 40” / thEM
Notable, given The Best Advertising Is an Act of Cultural Production / Adweek via Morning Consult
Why? Because creative ads make you forget boring ones. A new study has confirmed that watching creative ads makes people less likely to remember non-creative ads / Contagious
Hence a Coors Light gimmick turns your beer into a mosquito trap. Mischief created the 'Thirst Trap' to lure bugs into your can and away from you / Ad Age
And a surreal new Spotify campaign is animated by Gen Z’s most promising artists / It’s Nice That
How Chipotle is using crypto and gaming as gateways to loyalty /Digiday
Glossier’s entry into Sephora marks the end of the golden age of direct-to-consumer brands / Vogue Business
Why George Washington is now looking the other way on the quarter (and how that ties to logo design trends) /Fast Company via The Art of Noticing

Media Business

Mel Magazine folded again…. / Observer via Today in Tabs
Corollary: the rise and fall of Deadspin: How a few “jerks in Brooklyn” changed sports journalism / The Guardian via Nieman Lab
The New York Times is dipping a toe into live audio / NYT via Nieman Lab
ACast revolutionized podcast advertising. Now they’re coming for subscriptions / Digital Content Next
How the wealthiest 0.1% view the media (and why it matters) / Nieman Lab
The explosion of web comics has been driven by tapping into an audience the industry had long overlooked: young, female readers and their preferred top-to-bottom format / NYT
Iconic rock mag Creem announces return with wild guessing game film. Campaign from indie agency Fable.works brings back Robert Crumb-conceived mascot Boy Howdy and features dozens of music industry Easter Eggs / AdAge

Metaverse & Web3

Crypto enthusiasts want publishers to move into Web3 with DAOs, but it's not yet a successful business model / Digiday
The First Feature Documentary Made Entirely in Virtual Reality is on HBO Max now / Hyperallergic
Old Navy and BAYC partner for new Bored Ape t-shirt line / GQ
While BAYC parent Yuga Labs, faces a potential lawsuit for using celebrity endorsements to boost crypto assets / Blockworks via Inside Cryptocurrency

Food & Drink

Chicken nuggets are the new fast food battleground. “Since the pandemic, more consumers in general are snacking and looking for those easier-to-eat, smaller bites" / Axios
Impossible Foods’ future may rest on the fate of this tiny molecule / Protocol via Future Perfect
So maybe It’s Time to Put Actual Veggies Back Into Veggie Burgers / Eater via Public Announcement
Could grasshoppers replace beef? / BBC via 1440
Germany has made itself an outlier in global meat consumption by embracing plant-based food and politics / Vox
While farmers upstate are turning mushrooms into bacon / Axios
The Spectacular Comeback of the American Farmers Market / Reasons to Be Cheerful
While A Seaweed Farming Boom Is Preparing Maine for Life After Lobsters / Reasons to Be Cheerful
And Australia’s ‘avo-lanche’ forces farmers to look to Asia and UK for sales / FT
Eco-companies are pumping out cups, spoons and straws that you can eat after you use them / Axios
Forget the “Dirty Shirley;” the real drink of the summer is canned cocktails / AdAge via After School
The man reviewing historical sandwiches on TikTok / Atlas Obscura via The Profile
From ‘Celeste Blewitt: “A fun piece about buffet breakfasts, travel and seeing the world. Buffets, there's something about them, and interesting hearing the way they are changing, moving forward or perhaps even staying the same. [The Hotel Buffet Breakfast Is An Underrated Way To See A City’] / Bon Appetit

Miscellany

From Jeremy Toeman: Pretty funny... [You can name a black hole after someone who sucks] / BoingBoing
Also funny, but doesn’t suck: It’ll be like Skate 4 IRL in MTL: The Dime Glory Challenge returns / Thrasher
Paleontologists discovered a fossil suggesting that ancient fish once walked on four limbs, but then decided they liked water instead / New Scientist via Quartz
Corollary: The unsinkable potential of autonomous boats / Recode via Future Perfect

Things to Do

Tonight in LA: The Steve Keene Art Show Retrospective
& Book Launch is FREE. RSVP NOW / Eventbrite
While in NYC, tonight’s the Why I make art group show from [SIC] homie Brian Alfred / IG
Tomorrow in Aspen, [SIC] Talks alum Ryan McGinness’s new exhibition: kraftworks is Baldwin Gallery (here’s a PDF of all works)
And speaking of Ryan, it’s never too early to plan ahead (or buy me a gift) with the The 2023 Calendar To-Do List Pad / Amazon
And from From Johnny Sosnowski: “The workout program I follow and evangelize any reasonable chance I get…The fitness ladder is structured to be as easy and as simple as it gets to start and stick with a workout plan, which was exactly what I needed in that area of my life, and the case may be the same for someone in your readership?” / Fourmilab

====== Book of the Week=====

Can’t recommend this one enough, if only for provoking a reassessment of what “worldview” is / can be.

Noah Brier’s “Language Limits” edition referenced it this week, pointing out the challenges of expression where we don’t have words / Why Is This Interesting

Case in point: Rob Walker points to the (possibly made up?!) word “noticient” — “a sentient noticing.” Key Quote: “It begins with noticing, then becoming conscious of the senses or intuitive sensations. It is a state of being.” More here. / Claudia’s Many-Worlds Vision via The Art of Noticing

Ed Yong “An Immense World” / Goodreads