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[SIC] 227: Sorted for Ease and Rizz
Volume 5, Number 19
The [SIC] newsletter on Thursdays is free, and will be forever, unless I change my mind. Unlikely.
But you CAN pay, if you want. I’m into it. Monthly or yearly, or founding support. Paid subscribers get an additional [SIC] Sundays newsletter each week. And founding supporters get invited to a dinner at my home in NYC with special guests.
Meantime, enjoy. Feel free to share, too. Here’s a button:
Corollary sources this week (all worth your review): Future of Transportation / After School / Marginal Revolution / Elevator / Scope of Work / Public Announcement / Forefront / Afridigest / Today in Tabs / The By-Product / NYT / Morning Consult / Ben-Evans / Jing Culture / Perfectly Imperfect / Dealbook / Exec Sum / The Micromobility Report / Roca News / Music Redef / Quartz / Strat Scraps / Carbon Almanac / Nieman Lab
Hi all,
At CES in Vegas RN - I’m rushing to get this out the door, to be honest, so this week is going to feel a little unkempt, punctuation and style-wise. Apologies in advance. I’ll go back and fix it in post. Figured I’d get this out to you now tho, before the day ends.
Thanks Celeste, Iolanda, Matt and Ken for contributions this week, and I wanted to send a special shout to my former colleague Alex Morris, who paid [SIC] a generous, unsolicited compliment in his excellent Strat Scraps newsletter, and drove a bunch of new readers here this week. Thanks Alex - and welcome, all. I love Strat Scraps for flyaway links he finds like Weird Tech Patents and how to think real good - but his ongoing analysis of what being a good strategist is sticks with me.
Besides that, this week’s edition was compiled listening to Noel Gallagher’s ‘Made in Manchester’ playlist, while awaiting De La Soul’s finally coming to streaming (sorry, I’m dusty, whatever). Highly recommended too. I got into a bit of a music rabbit hole this week courtesy of LCD Soundsystem, who made their video for a song from a Noah Baumbach video into an IRL interpretation of the final scene from Wes Anderson’s stop animation classic Fantastic Mr Fox.
That took me to Bobby Fuller Four’s ‘Let Her Dance’ live on ‘Shivaree’ (a vibe) Following further: The Clash’s cover of “I Fought the Law” - made popular by the Fuller Four - was the song that got me into punk rock. And just to close the loop, here’s The Crickets’ original version, recorded just after the death of frontman Buddy Holly.
And that reminded me of Buddy Holly ‘live’ as a hologram - I’ve seen this, and it’s weird. Liva Vas Legas.
Ben
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Zeitgest / Gestalt
79% of Americans say they think 2023 will be full of economic difficulty, gallup
2023 is the year of anti-nihilism; and why being cringe is the coolest thing you can do in the new year / Prospect Magazine, The Tab
Wealth across the generations: Millennials are roughly equal in wealth per capita to Baby Boomers and Gen X at the same age, while Gen X is currently much wealthier than Boomers were at the same age. Wealth has declined significantly in 2022, but the hasn’t affected Millennials very much since they have very little wealth in the stock market /Marginal Revolution
What do Triangle of Sadness, White Lotus, Squid Game and Parasite have in common? In the latest issue of her newsletter, [SIC] Talks alum Ana Andjelic writes about the other vibe shift, towards satirizing the rich as a way to regain identity and control / Sociology of Business
Meanwhile, Gen Z would rather participate in social media — recreating popular dance moves, for example — than just liking and commenting on posts
Ergo: the Instagram Reels Gold Rush. Influencers discovered they could earn tens of thousands of dollars on the platform by making simple reaction videos / The New Yorker
GOOGLE AND META’S ADVERTISING DOMINANCE FADES AS TIKTOK, STREAMERS EMERGE, wsj
Hence: Mr Beast will become the wealthiest person in the world /Zima Red
Though maybe The Creator Economy Was Way Overblown. We’re seeing the truth about one of the most-hyped sectors of the past decade / Big Technology
Why creators are in less of a rush to quit their day jobs There are benefits to traditional employment that are incredibly difficult to replicate when you’re out on your own / Simon Owens
Corollary, from Ken Miller: Why Your Friends Are Disappearing From Your Social Feeds / Bloomberg
From Celeste Blewitt: ’What It's Like To Retire In Your Early Twenties' / The Atlantic
Inflation is killing the first dinner date / CNN
The "stay at home girlfriend" trend / Twitter
Half of Disney Plus subscribers are adults without children. A word for 2023: ‘kidulting’. LINK
This Is How All The French Girls Are Wearing Their Hair Now / Vogue
Nostalgia Will Impact 2023 Tattoo Trends In a Big Way The '90s are back — for better and for worse /Allure
SEXY GRUNGE, MAXI SKIRTS AND TOM FORD’S GUCCI: THE TRENDS TIPPED TO TAKE OVER IN 2023, vogue.co.uk
Also: The 2023 Gorpcore Report / Sprezza
WHAT’S HOT FOR 2023? THE TRENDS TO KNOW NOW / The Times
Revenge travel: TikTok trends provide a picture of the forces reshaping the economy / NYT
Why Is This Interesting’s Monday Media Diet roundup is a great index of inspo sources / WITI
Stewart Brand’s forthcoming book on maintenance; one chapter has been released.
How the Marijuana Green Rush fell apart / Twitter
Cash Only went to EVERY Unlicensed Weed Shop in NYC’s Lower East Side. A night visiting every single bodega, smoke shop, grey market dispensary, and exotic snacks purveyor in downtown Manhattan / Cash Only
While Max Read collected the year in stupid futures / Max Read
Hence: As Silicon Valley Retrenches, a Tech Talent Shift Accelerates / NYT
World Order
Billionaires Are A Security Threat Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover is a case study in destruction. It doesn’t have to be this way /Wired
2023: Cheers to a New Year of Disruption, says Peter Zeihan / YT
The number of new U.S. citizens hit its highest annual mark in 15 years /NYT
Corollary: from Matt @TheTechnorati: Donald Trump’s Final Campaign. Inside his sad, lonely, thirsty, broken, basically pretend run for reelection. (Which isn’t to say he can’t win.) / New York Magazine
The annual cost of detaining an inmate in New York City, for example, is over $500,000
Is New York City facing a 'doom loop' scenario? / Gothamist
eBike ridership in the U.S. has almost doubled or more every year since 2015
Tel Aviv—where 16% of the population already uses micromobility as their main form of conveyance—is a microcosm of urban transportation’s future
Japan will offer families up to $7.5k (1M Yen, ¥) per child to leave Tokyo /
SpaceX has reportedly clinched $750 million in new funding at a $137 billion valuation, led by the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz / CNBC
How 'Internet in Space' will transform the satellite imagery industry / Joe Morrisson
The Great Carbon Con Is Coming to an End No more fluffy climate goals and emissions offsets. Businesses will soon be expected to show real progress / Wired
Meanwhile, Effectively $0.00 of every VC dollar invested globally goes to Africa / Afridigest
Niche is the next big thing: Why VC's obsession with big TAM is a big mistake
I love how this sub-head makes it sound like the Bad News Bears are trying to convince us to be healthy…. The Case for Wearing Masks Forever A ragtag coalition of public-health activists believe that America’s pandemic restrictions are too lax—and they say they have the science to prove it / The New Yorker
The Speculative Future
Building The Everything App: Fat Applications vs Fat Protocols. /
Binance is a black box with red flags all over. LINK
GPT, make this story better / Nieman Lab
Corollary: Teachers are on alert for inevitable cheating after release of ChatGPT / WaPo
People are flocking to ChatGPT for mental health advice.
And the Biomimicry Institute’s list of the Best 50 Examples
The Top Web3 Luxury Fashion Predictions For 2023 / Jing Daily
NFTs: what’s in store for the once-buzzy art medium in 2023 / Hyperallergic
Pop Cultures
What 2022 Taught Us About Brand Collaborations. Navigating the avalanche of brand collaborations that came in 2022, our Collabs & Drops newsletter became a comprehensive, weekly highlight for China and beyond. Here’s what we’ve learned / Jing Daily
Last Year Was Brutal for Hollywood. Will 2023 Be Any Better? / Bloomberg
Fans Search for Coveted Film Merch—Five Decades After a Movie's Release / WSJ
Inside a warehouse that handles returns for fashion brands /
the legacy of Shaker culture, whose proto-minimalist approach becomes trendy “during tumultuous periods.”
From Piers Fawkes: [SIC] Talks Alum WILLIAM STROBECK’S FILMS SHOWCASE THE ART OF SKATEBOARDING / Cool Hunting
An oral history of Vivienne Westwood’s complicated relationship with punk / Far Out
The anatomy of Andy Spade's style / Sprezza
Watching a Girl’s Life Change on the Lower East Side. In “Glendalis,” the photographer Angela Cappetta captures the day-to-day of a Puerto Rican family on Stanton Street in the nineteen-nineties / The New Yorker
Document Journal published an amazing recount of New York City and its drag culture, and it is worth pointing out, even though it is an old post. #iykyk The Genesis of East Village Drag: An oral history of the Pyramid Club / Document.
Related: What Art Spaces Can Learn From Berghain. ‘Art institutions should stop looking to museums or theatres as role models and, instead, learn from nightclubs’/ Frieze
David Shrigley Releases His Largest Book to Date / Hypebeast
Celine Dion Fans Troll Rolling Stone for Leaving Her Off ‘Greatest Singers of All Time’ List/ Glamour
While Kate Berlant gets The Big Spyplane Interview / Blackbird Spyplane
Media Happenings
A Media Operator Looking Ahead to 2023 has some juicy VICE and Buzzfeed predictions (that are probably right IMO) / A Media Operator
Twitter is now showing everyone how many views your tweets get / The Verge
And TikTok creators will be able to limit shortform videos to adult-only audiences / The Verge
Vox Media “formalizes” its ban on fossil-fuel ads / Marketing Dive
The Great Podcasting Market Correction. With hiring freezes, smaller upfront payments and fewer acquisitions, the podcast boom is feeling like a thing of the past / Bloomberg
BTW, What happened to The New York Times’ media column? / Vanity Fair
Market-ations
From Iolanda Carvalho: “Super Interesting” 2023 Cocktail Trends Report. Looking towards forecasting the key trends for cocktail consumption and the spirits business in 2023, Bacardi commissioned The Future Laboratory to produce a new foresight report, sharing the newfound undertones that will impact cocktail culture / The Future Laboratory
The pandemic didn’t kill retail the way some predicted it would, but changes in the retail sector have outlasted the pandemic and may be here to stay / The Future Party
‘The duopoly has been disrupted’: Why 2023 could be a huge year for retail media / Modern Retail
How much will commerce media grow for media agencies in 2023? Holding companies and independent agencies have rushed to build up commerce media units — it’s a new vein of revenue that takes advantage of the surge of new retail media networks and e-commerce companies / Digiday
Cultural Appreciation Vs. Appropriation: Navigating Luxury’s Cultural Marketing In China / Jing Daily
Tiffany Ad Covers The Front Of The Louvre / MediaPost
Related: JEWELRY BRANDS CASH IN ON THE INSTAGRAM BLING-A-THON. These days, fine jewelry brandsdon't need “exorbitant marketing budgets, Madison Avenue boutiques, or a long list of affluent contacts.” They need an engaging, blinged-out Instagram fashionista
From Celeste Blewitt : “it's about engagement and what will translate to purchasing’ 'Will YouTube Shorts Become Fashion And Beauty's Top Platform' / Glossy
Meanwhile: Kohl's TikTok response to a NSFW video is part of larger brand trend Raunchy content can be an opportunity for brands to attract younger customers / AdAge
An experience ‘without the laws of gravity’: How teen brands are making the metaverse part of their retail strategies / Modern Retail
Chipotle to debut wellness-inspired AR Snpachat lens on 'Quitter's Day' / The Drum
As metaverse hype subsides, in-game advertising companies are focusing on their gaming roots / Digiday
BMW taps Coinweb and BNB chain for loyalty program will use a blockchain-based rewards scheme to incentivize BMW Group customers / Cointelegraph
While for its latest phygital NFT drop on January 5, Prada will offer a limited-edition shirt designed in collaboration with the artist Enzo Ragazzini /
China is launching its first state-backed NFT marketplace, a sign of embrace of crypto after the industry has occupied a legal gray area within the country’s notoriously strict regulations
Superficial Interest
To come up with more creative ideas, try talking to a stranger / Quartz
Sweat / Saturday Evening Post
Slow and steady really does win the race. Running at a slower pace may actually have a bunch of benefits / Slate
Running with the pack: the rise of canicrossing Where and how to partake in this joyous and exhilarating fitness craze where your four-legged best friend sets the pack /FT
A California company is creating plastic-free faux leather out of mushrooms / NYT
Related: So much for Dutch cheer: Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, will be banned in the Netherlands / Quartz
The buzz about bus shelters Across the UK, bus shelters will be buzzing with bees and butterflies. The roofs of the shelters are being converted to green roofs, with curated plants designed to attract these pollinators.
Dogs in Nahant, Massachusetts are donning metal spikes. Owners are buying the armor to fend off coyotes
Food / Drink
What Is A2 Milk, Anyways? This milk is on the rise thanks to its tummy-friendly reputation / Bon Appetit
From Celeste Blewitt: “Intriguing look into the history of soda and companies which produced these, the glass bottles and the home deliveries. Not only does this delve into the background of the big brands, but also the backstory of soda. Fascinating.” [Beyond Cola: The Strange Flavours Of Soft Drinks' ]/ BBC
How Is Mezcal Made? From plant to production, let’s learn all about it / Bon Appetit
Everyone on TikTok Loves Vintage Pyrex, / Bon Appetit
Useful Diversions
Read: Alissa Bennett’s “I’m a clubber”, as recommended by Lena Dunham / Big Window
Listen: Fletcher C Johnson’s history of Williamsburg pod / IG
How Kareem Rahma took over your feed / Brooklyn Magazine: The Podcast"
The Art of Noticing’s Rob Walker made a nine-hour, 21-minute Spotify playlist of his favorite songs from 2022
Do: NYC: Here’s where (in Brooklyn) to get your dance on in 2023 / BK Mag
Your Concise New York Art Guide for January 2023 / Hyperallergic
And Your Concise Los Angeles Art Guide for January 2023 / Hyperallergic
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