[SIC] 206: Ready or Bot

Volume 4, Number 50

Aug 18, 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. Next one’s in September.

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Hi all,

No flowery intro this week - I got an oyster happy hour to get to. LMK if you wanna meet me at the next one. Meantime, thanks to everyone who sent feedback and thoughts in response to my cues last week, appreciate them. You’ll see reflected in Volume 5 starting Sept 8, (and a little below). Thanks also to Matt, Piers, Iolanda and Celeste for suggestions this week. I really do appreciate (and learn) from those. Welcome and invited from everyone.

Leap to the links below.

Ben

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======[SIC] 206: Ready or Bot======

The World

How Salman Rushdie Presaged Our Age of Violent Extremism / Vanity Fair
The mirrored megacity planned for the Saudi Arabian desert will "revolutionise our current way of life", be net-zero over its lifetime, and set a new standard for life in urban areas, argues executive director for urban planning Tarek Qaddumi in this exclusive interview / Dezeen
Fact check that with this: the Encyclopedia of Sustainable Building Materials / Endeavor Centre via The Carbon Almanac
The bicycle: humanity's most underrated invention? / The Economist 🔏
Also underrated: Gen Z is turning its climate anxiety into climate optimism / Wunderman Thompson
Case in point: A 17-year-old has created a motor that might just make EV manufacturing more sustainable / Quartz
Speaking of sustainable: Biofilm has been developed to power wearable electronics with sweat / Dezeen
Corollary to the sweatiness: mapping the coolest spots inside the world's hottest cities / Bloomberg via FoT 🔏
And how America’s First ‘Heat Officers’ Are Cooling Miami and Los Angeles / Reasons to be Cheerful
To wit; LA has painted one million square feet of playgrounds, roads, and parking lots in a solar-reflective paint that’s already lowered surface temps by 10 to 12 degrees / Fast Company via Future Party
Related: Africa’s Cold Rush. For the developing world, refrigeration is growth. In Rwanda, it could spark an economic transformation / The New Yorker
Less encouragingly, Google searches for "firewood" have soared in Germany / Newsnet Daily
Also bad: Cable news has a much bigger effect than social media on America’s polarization / Nieman Lab
Corollary: Gen Z doesn’t remember when American politics worked / Atlantic via After School
So TikTok will ban content creators from posting paid political messages on the video platform in prep for the midterms / Reuters via Morning Consult
TikTok is also launching its “election center,” where users can get “authoritative information” on the election in 45 languages / TikTok via Protocol
Not to be outdone, Meta updates political ads policy ahead of midterms, too / Axios via Morning Consult
The next advance is on the way: AI video generators / Creative Bloq
How to tell if you're talking to a deepfake / Creative Bloq
The greater use of GPS, the greater decline in spatial memory over time / NCBI via FoT

Trends

Is Bleak the New Look for a TikTok Childhood? / Hyperallergic
How gray became the king of color / Fast Company via Morning Consult
Corollary from Piers Fawkes: “Beige flags” are the TikTok dating trend that could ruin your love life / Mashable
And corollary to that: The Last Place Left Online for Real Conversation. In the apocalyptic landscape of algorithmically juiced culture wars, a group chat is a refuge / NYT via Morning Consult
Elsewhere, has Everyone Stopped Drinking? And what are the non-drinkers drinking? / Vogue
Asking for this non-alcoholic beverage retailer, which wants to be the Sephora of booze-free drinks / Ad Age 🔏
Can people still afford to be anti-work? Inflation, falling real wages and turmoil in financial markets may reluctantly push many back into the work force /FT 🔏
Hence, nearly 1 in 5 people who quit during the Covid pandemic have already gone back to the job they left, and 40% wish they’d stayed / UKG via CNBC
Hence: The Rise of the Side Startup / Vox via Elevator
And the rise of the worker productivity score / NYT
So let’s discuss what is 'quiet quitting'? Gen Z is ditching hustle culture to avoid burnout / Fortune via Morning Consult
The Career of the Future Needs a Portfolio Approach / Charter
What will the future of post-office, remote and hybrid work look like? There is an immense opportunity to leave the dysfunction of broken office culture behind and rethink not just where employees work but also how / NYT via PSFK
Related: Rishad Tobaccowala on De-bossification / The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past
Then again… a new Study Shows Gen Z Doesn't Live Up to Its Reputation on Valuing Brand Purpose and Sustainability / Adweek via Morning Consult
Which isn’t a surprise given Gen Z has 86% less purchasing power than baby boomers did in their 20s / Fast Company via After School
Oh and also because in the past year, Gen Z credit card debt has jumped up 30%, while everyone else saw it increase by an avg of 11% / Business Insider 🔏
Meanwhile American households face a $7.1 trillion retirement-savings shortfall. Half of households will have to reckon with lower standards of living when they leave the workforce / Bloomberg 🔏
Persuading people to worry about the long term is harder than you think. Not of all us feel that we owe a great deal to distant generation /FT 🔏
Still, Google thinks Gen Z is the answer to its green text woes /Gizmodo via After School
While elsewhere, Boomers are all the rage / NYT via After School

Style

Glossary of biker slang / Axle Addict via FoT
GQ’s Hype List: The Buzziest Things in the Culture Right Now. “A tightly curated compendium of everything—from cars to booze to books—worth caring about right now” per Will Welch’s gang / GQ
Hodinkee goes full '90s with their new lookbook / Hodinkee via Lean Luxe
The importance of clothing to artistic practice and identity. How Sartorial Choices Shape the Artist/ Frieze
Corollary, from Piers Fawkes: ‘The Bear’ created the best fictional menswear icon in a decade / Glossy
Meanwhile, IRL menswear icon Sid Mashburn has an advice column / Sid Mashburn
And Woolybubs baby shoes dissolve in boiling water (to save waste) / Dezeen
Another from Piers: Unpacking fashion’s current obsession with mythical beasts / i-D UK
Why Luxury Sneakers Are The New Social Currency. Execs are ditching their dress shoes for luxe sneakers /Jing Daily
More shoes, kinda, from Iolanda Carvalho: “A walk in the metaverse…” [Surplex wants to bring body-tracking shoes to virtual reality] / Input
Related: Snap Launches New Bitmoji Fashion Collection from Carhartt / Social Media Today
But are Web3’s Digital Twins Necessary? Luxury brands are betting on a phygital NFT strategy, offering digital goods with IRL counterparts. Is this the answer to fashion's overproduction problem? / Jing Daily
Unfolding the work of Issey Miyake (RIP) / Hidden RSRCH
From Celeste: “Loved this piece about Issey Miyake, all that he innovated and created” [Why Steve Jobs Chose The Designer's Turtlenecks] / NYT
[SIC] Talks Alum Chris Black manifests his fascination with Graydon Carter’s Airmail into a gig interviewing Salie 66 founder James Shalom for it / Airmail

The Arts

The Value of Criticism with fave photog Jerry Hsu / Say You Swear via Serving The People
Also critical: It’s Nice That launched an “Us vs. Them” guest column feature with Civilization co-founder Richard Turley / It’s Nice That
Joan Didion's collection of art, books, and other personal items are headed to auction / Hyperallergic
While “Black is Beautiful” is an NFT art project co-created by Ja Rule and artist Nick Davis depicting black life in America. / Open Sea via The Drop

Entertainment + IP

What Desus and Mero represented / Mic via Lean Luxe
How N.E.R.D.’s Debut Brought the Dawn of a Boundless Era / Rolling Stone via Motive Unknown
Why are people in their 30s giving up on music? / The Guardian
All 241 recommendations Sasha Frere-Jones has written for Shfl in the last 12 months / Shfl via SF/J
Solange’s new venture: The pop star will compose her first ballet score for the Fall Fashion Gala at the New York City Ballet / NYT
By using AI and huge databases to analyze scripts and audiences, Corto AI hopes to bring science to the movie business/ Bloomberg via Morning Consult 🔏
Icons Willem DaFoe and Isabella Rossellini catch up on the a24 Pod / Spotify
Robert Longo’s MTV Spots / Vimeo via Public Announcement
From Matt Klein: “Figured you'd enjoy: [What Makes This Song Stink Ep. 6 - Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California”] / YT
Converserly, doesn’t stink: A guided tour through the past, present, and future of Kenyan music / Get Pocket via Motive Unknown

Platforms & Influencers

BeReal and the nonstop urge to constantly contentify our existence / THE FACE via Lean Luxe
Corollary: have we hit peak influencer brand? / Vogue Business 🔏
Interestingly, a new survey shows Gen Z is more willing than ever to indulge in hours-long video content on topics close to their hearts / Google via After School
Hence, YouTube is in talks with various streaming services to be included in their upcoming “channel store” / WSJ via Protocol 🔏
Meantime, Gen Z TikTok creators are turning against Amazon /WaPo 🔏
While Amazon is internally testing a TikTok-style photo and video feed to allow shoppers to like, share and purchase/ WSJ via Morning Consult 🔏
Same same: TikTok launches new suite of ad tools, including shopping videos, catalog listings, and live shopping / Fast Company
Airbnb is deploying anti-party technology / Fast Company via Dealbook
TikTok rolls out text-to-image AI generator / TechCrunch via Trapital
Microsoft and Sony are going to war over Call of Duty / Protocol
Privacy is coming to the internet and cookies are going away - but we don’t know what happens next, we don’t have consensus on what online privacy actually means, and most of what’s on the table conflicts fundamentally with competition / Ben-Evans
Mozilla gave 18 out of 25 reproductive health apps a “Privacy Not Included” warning label, meaning that these apps collect tons of personal data and then share it widely /Mozilla via Protocol
What an Apple bank might look like / Unit via Ben-Evans
The Cyberspace Administration of China released a list of 30 algorithms used by companies including ByteDance and Alibaba, along with a brief description of each algorithm’s purpose / Protocol
Can Niche build the next decentralized social platform? / Digiday

Marketing & Advertising

'Art direction is a flat circle': Why all advertising, branding, and marketing are starting to look the exact same / Eye on Design via Lean Luxe
From Celeste Blewitt: “Great read and conversation from Vacation Inc. on how they continue to sell out of sunscreen, the inspirations behind their advertising and branding and how the brand has grown. [The Weird Wacky World Of Vacation Inc]/ Glossy
From Piers Fawkes: Accessories brand Herschel Supply aims to assist emerging artists who need a boost to get their careers off the ground with a “bank” that Lends Materials and Mentorship instead of money / Surface
adidas releases solar-powered headphones with speaker brand Zound Industries / Dezeen
Calvin Klein recently let artists loose on its iconic ‘CK’ monogram logo / Design Bloq
Will Banana Republic ever be forced to change its name? / Fast Company via Morning Consult
Naomi Osaka has signed five college athletes to promote her suncare brand KINLÒ / Front Office Sports
Omnicom Group launches gaming unit for in-game advertising, influencer marketing / Ad Age 🔏
Lil Miquela becomes the digital face of PacSun / Input via Future Party
How Miquela is leading the way for virtual influencers / PSFK
Brands Are A Big Part of the Musician's Paycheck. Streaming, show and sponsorship dollars all rely on a robust brand ecosystem / The Cadence
Kendrick Lamar Links With Billionaire Ray Dalio for New pgLang-Produced Video Promoting Financial Literacy for Cash App/ Complex
How Agencies Pick the Perfect Song for Their Ad / Adweek via Beats and Bytes
IYKYK: an oral history of the parties The Barbarian Group threw at SXSW 2008-2016 / Digiday via Context Collapse

Media Business

IAC says that good old-fashioned paper and ink magazines are now a “luxury good.” / THR via Future Party
Conde Nast's turnaround continues to be impressive, and it's a reminder that not all "pivots to video" were a failure / Axios via Simon Owens
Ergo: VICE World News is launching a news channel on Twitch with live shows airing twice a week / Deadline via Future Party
Morning Brew is signing custom deals with creators that allow them to maintain a level of independence. Simon Owens’s take: “This is the future: media companies will increasingly operate more like talent agencies” / Axios via Simon Owens
Elsewhere: Ben Thompson has a long interview with New York TImes CEO Meredith Levien / Stratechery via The Rebooting
And The Rebooting’s Brian Morrissey hosts “5 Questions For” alum Dan Runcie to discuss how Dan’s building Trapital into an essential resource for anyone interested in the intersection of hip hop and business / Spotify
“Call it a self-imposed term limit”: Why media critic Margaret Sullivan is leaving The Washington Post / WaPo 🔏
A reminder, perhaps that as Brian notes: “The longer you go in your career, the more you’re in sales” / The Rebooting
So, some tips on Pitching & Effective Communication / All the Hacks

Metaverse & Web3

From virtual land experiences to job hirings for Web3 roles—a regularly updated list of Metaverse marketing / AdAge
Related: over the last 9 months, 40 of the top 100 public companies have invested ~$6b into web3 companies. Google led the way in total funding (~$1.5b). Samsung made the most investments (13) / Block Data via Milk Road
Fox is investing millions in NFTs. The media company launched a dedicated Web3 and NFT division last year, and now wants to build a blockchain-based business / Variety via Protocol
Web3 companies are experimenting with new ways to go beyond blockchain-savvy audiences to entertain, educate and sell physical products and experiences / Digiday
Case in point: A VR exhibit beams visitors aboard the International Space Station / Fast Company via Morning Consult
Ready or bot, here comes Web3: how the internet's next evolution Is Shaping Hollywood's Future / Variety via Morning Consult
Related: how Quentin Tarantino's Battle to Own 'Pulp Fiction' Exposed the Digital Rights Minefield / Variety via Morning Consult
Elsewhere in ownership: Open Sea will now require a police report regarding NFTs that are reportedly stolen/ Decrypt via The Drop
NFTs use 'smart' contracts—but what exactly are they? / The Art Newspaper
Noah Davis on Beeple, CryptoPunks And The Comfort Of Knowing Nothing / The Observer
Corollary: Troy Young interrogates “Community” as a catch-all / People vs. Algorithms
Per Tim O’Reilly: ‘the metaverse is not a place’ / O’Reilly via Ben-Evans
And yet Taco Bell has filed for a new trademark to be a metaverse venue for wedding ceremonies / Twitter
Avatars need their nails done too. Enter the metaverse side hustle / NBC News
After all, people expect to spend at least 4 hours a day in the metaverse /Quartz

Food & Drink

From Celeste Blewitt: ‘Fascinating discussion into the issues around this, the history of Dijon and why the shortages’ [Why There's No Dijon In Dijon Mustard] /BBC
Spaghetti Sauce Is Under Threat as Water Crisis Slams Tomatoes / Bloomberg via Morning Consult 🔏
Velveeta is staging a comeback / CNN via Morning Consult
The Carbon Footprint of a Cheeseburger / Six Degrees News via The Carbon Almanac
From Piers Fawkes: A Dive Bar You Can Eat: Miller High Life Creates a Beer-Infused Ice Cream on a Stick / AdWeek
Master P and Snoop Dogg want to take over the breakfast cereal aisle with Snoop Loopz / Fortune via Morning Consult

Miscellany

Can a Neighborhood Be Instagrammed to Death? / NYT via Lean Luxe
A team of artists and architects have teamed up to envision what a house for Mars may look like, and have created a prototype that has landed on Bristol’s waterfront / Hypebeast
Scientists vow to bring Tasmanian tiger back from extinction. US biotech behind project to recreate woolly mammoth turns attention to thylacine / FT 🔏
New "Brain Painting" Tech Promises to Cure ADHD / Hyperallergic
The Long, Strange Relationship Between Psychedelics and Telepathy / Motherboard via Scope Creep
At Diggerland U.S.A., children can experience the thrill of operating real construction machinery. (Adults like it, too.) / NYT

Things to Do

Order yourself a copy of HAMBURGER EYES No. 53: The Continuing Story of Life on Earth for $18 (cheep!) / Hamburger Eyes
Watch [SIC] homie Ryan Duffy’s Untold: “The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist” on Netflix/ IG
All timers board design contest /IG
ComplexCon tickets go on sale this Friday at 12 PM PST / ComplexCon
Send SIC Talks alum Matt Klein to Texas in 120 seconds by voting for his ([SIC]-endorsed) panels to be added to the lineup at SXSW 2023 / SXSW

Book of the Week

I found this one via Bob Lefsetz, of all people. I’m ~ 100 pages in. Enjoying so far. Interested to know what y’all think, too.