[SIC] 272: Weazer Beetles

Volume Six, Number Twelve

Ben Dietz

Nov 16, 2023

The [SIC] newsletter on Thursdays is free, and will be forever. But you CAN pay, if you want. I’m into it. Monthly or yearly, or founding support. Lots of people expense their subscriptions as research.

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Corollary sources this week: Nieman Lab / Morning Consult / Dirt / Champion Weekly / The Trend Report / After School/ Patent Drop / The Micromobility Report / Brendans Communication Miscellany / Courier / Politico / Morning Brew / Quartz / NYT / The Future Party / Public Announcement/ Ben-Evans / The Rebooting / Future Perfect / Marginal Revolution / The Future Party

Hi all,

Update: the subscriber purge of last week was medium successful. Meaning, open rates are up (a bit) - but not as much as I thought they might be. Maybe it’s the content, then? Or maybe, as Matt Karolian suggests, we’re in ‘newsletter winter’, in the first link after the jump.

Either way, trying something different. Longtime [SIC] subscribers will remember its original incarnation of as an exquisite corpse-y run on of associative thoughts. I added section headings to help way-finding, but every now and then I like to free-style it. The problem is that it takes longer than I want, hence the late send today. But maybe you prefer to receive Thursday afternoon? LMK in the comments.

The co-flow style does bring up one point; how to read [SIC]. There are over 130x links below. I don’t expect you to click them all. You can just read the ‘narrative’ flow of the ordering and you’re 85% there. Then you can just click a few things that really stand out. It’s what I would do if I were you. So you should too.

Apropos of that, thanks to Mason Lopez, James Friedman, David Bloom, Celeste Blewitt, Iolanda Carvalho, Molly Raskin, Piers Fawkes, and Jeff Johnson for the inspired (and inspiring) links this week. You all rule.

Speaking of Inspo, Sami “SNAKE” Reiss’s ingenious first pod The Collectible Beanie Baby Market that Isn’t inspired me big time this week. Have a listen. It sounds terrible but that doesn’t matter, the subject is genius, and I can immediately imagine a bunch of other “unreal markets” to check out, too. And it reminds me I need to bring back [SIC] Talks post haste.

On that note, [SIC] Talks alum Ilirjana Alushaj wrote to say her (excellent) publication The Pop Manifesto has just launched a limited run tee to celebrate the first issue, and I have to say it’s great. I’ve had jazz on the brain lately, having joined the board of advisors for The John & Alice Coltrane Home, the birthplace of A Love Supreme and recording location of five of Alice Coltrane’s amazing, slightly-slept-on records. Matter of fact, I’m hosting a fundraiser for the home tonight at my house. It’s sold-out, but if you wanted to support with a donation of any size, there are another $1000 or so dollars in matching funds available, so your money will go twice as far. I’d be very flattered, too.

Ok, now the links.

What the hell is going on here?

======[SIC] 272: Weazer Beetles======

The newsletter winter is coming: There’s too much of everything, and a rationalization of the “newsletter space” is overdue. People building real brands will diversify from email as a delivery vehicle / Matt Karolian
Related: The state of subscription / CJR
Corollary to that: Karlie Kloss has acquired i-D Magazine from Vice Media Group / BoF
Also? Will G/O Media be dead soon? / A Media Operator
Maybe, maybe not. Unexpectedly strong Q3 earnings in the media sector leave some wondering whether the industry hurdles are smaller than many feared / Variety
So… Why Are So Many Actors Launching Their Own Businesses? / LA Times
Maybe b/c Patti LaBelle's Popular Food Brand Has Reportedly Generated $200M Since Its Launch? / AfroTech
Speaking of artists: Meet Nightshade, a new tool empowering artists to fight back against AI / The Markup
And speaking of bonkers: Inside Giorgia Meloni’s Hobbit world: a look at the far right Italian Prime Minister’s obsession with Lord of the Rings / Politico.EU
Somehow related? Has Alcohol Left Humanity Better or Worse Off? / The Atlantic
From Mason: “Here’s a link to the story I mentioned at the end of our conversation — I think you’ll really enjoy it.” [‘As We May Think’ by Vannevar Bush]
BTW…What Happened to the New Internet? / Bryan Lehrer
And Where Do We Go from Here? Social media hasn't changed. But social media changed us / Monologue
Corollary to change: to understand luxury economics, study psychology /NYT
Ergo: The lie of de-influencing. Influencers will never influence us to buy less stuff and it’s not going to change. In fact, it’s going to get much, much worse / Vox
Hence: A Musical About Gwyneth Paltrow’s Ski Collision Trial Is Coming To London Next Month / SecretLDN
But is there A CURE FOR ‘INTERNET BRAIN’: How Creativity Could Be The Antidote To Tech Burnout / Service 95
Then again, Do people really hate their phones and want to spent less time online? Not really, no / Threads
Speaking of: Is Threads winning the war with X? / The Verge
Meantime, from Iolanda: "TikTok was the most popular app worldwide by downloads in 2022, maintaining its title for the fourth consecutive year." - And placed in the Entertainment group, not in Social, finally.” / Visual Capitalist
And from David: “Especially for younger viewers, TikTok is where they go for entertainment. Now, media companies are pondering approaches like putting their shows there legally.” [TikTok Is the New TV] /Wired
Related: The Cut looked back on a year of trends and drama on TikTok / The Cut
From Iolanda: “Here, we explore eight of the most hotly anticipated trends for 2024 based on the insights of industry experts" / Creative Boom
Related: Sign of the times. Having tried to chase trends, storied fashion houses are now looking to their past to succeed in the future / Monocle
Related, from Celeste: Is Reebok Having A Comeback Season? / GQ
Irrespective: 2024 will be GenZ’s year to change work as we know it / Insider
And … On TikTok, 2024 starts … Now/ NYT
So Who Are the Up and Coming Artists of 2024? So who are the up-and-coming artists of 2024as curated by Vevo’s ‘DSCVR Artists to Watch’ program?/ Digital Music News
One thought? From Molly: Why Is Gen Z So Obsessed With Fran Lebowitz? / Cultured Mag
Oh and Slowdive: how GenZ became obsessed with the 90s shoegaze legends/ Standard.co.uk
Also, What's with Gen Z's infatuation for Y2K tech? / Creative Bloq
And does it explain the rise in US home schooling / Axios
JK obvs not but programs teaching children how to be YouTubers are popping up everywhere, including at Summer Camp / WaPo
Also at home: Blu-rays and DVDs are primed to have their vinyl moment — “old school” physical media surging in sales despite a predominantly digital landscape / The Future Party
Speaking of educating: JPMorgan Chase wants to make data science more accessible to the tech novice. The company filed a patent application for a system to provide “automated data science as a service.”/ USPTO
But …"Data replicates the existing systems of power" says Pulitzer Prize-winner Mona Chalabi / Dezeen
OpenAI will now let you create your own personal chatbot / Quartz
Related: As a History Professor, This Is How I Use AI in Class Instead of assigning my routine Gladiator review, I asked students to query ChatGPT about the film’s historical inaccuracies / Hyperallergic
Hence conversations on AI and the future of writing / The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past
And Who is allowed to have an opinion online? / Embedded
Oh, and How to Maintain Hope in an Age of Catastrophe / The New Yorker
Apple is paying $25 million to settle claims of shutting US jobseekers out of some jobs / Quartz
Thai Food Near Me is a small but powerful symbol of Google’s far-reaching impact and the lengths businesses will go to try to optimize their operations for the company’s platforms. The Restaurant Nearest Google. / The Verge
Notable, then: How media agencies are preparing for Google's third-party cookie to go away – actually this time / Digiday
Apropos of future tech: Singers and other creators are dabbling with AI-powered translation tools, opening up content to new audiences around the world / Semafor
While Warner Music is using AI to generate an Edith Piaf animated film / The Future Party
Meantime, SiriusXM is launching a Spotify competitor to go chase GenZ streaming spend / PYMNTS
Related: global music copyright (recorded + live + other) is now worth $40bn annually. So, roughly the same as Amazon’s new ad business / Pivotal Economics
Speaking of the ‘Zon: Prime Just Got Cheaper Healthcare / Business Insider
Which is good because In his latest video Sam Pilgrim tests a bike made out of the headboard of a bed frame. It’s pretty sketchy, but he sends it anyway / YouTube
Also sketchy: Casey Neistat and his vintage Boosted electric skateboard became the new face of Lululemon sweatpants / YouTube
Liberty Media seems to have majorly overshot demand for the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix / AP News
While across the strip UFC Set To Host First Sports Event At The Sphere / Front Office Sports
Related: To appeal to Gen Z, Coca-Cola took over the Sphere and 'co-created' a futuristic flavor with AI / Digiday
And Related to that, from Molly: The Sphere and Our "Immersion" Complex / The New Yorker
Speaking of immersive environments: the impact video games has on culture is subtle and atomized because there’s no center, no mass experience. The rolling failures of eSports highlights this, and makes the dynamics a harbinger for the overall media industry / Decrypt
But meantime, For NBA 2K gamers, the court is fake but the trash talk is very real / WaPo
Apropos of trash-talking from Jeff: Al Pacino chimes in with florid NFL opinions / NFL Weakly
ESPN launched ESPN Bet in 17 states hoping to break through the already crowded sports betting market / ESPN
More betting: Bleacher Report’s next big bet: athlete-led video podcasts / Hollywood Reporter
How Social Media Turned Athletes Into Fashion Marketing Machines / BoF
Ergo: The Glorious Comedy of Victor Wembanyama / The New Yorker
The Man Who “Completed Football”. Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, a central midfielder for Luton Town F.C., is the first player to rise from England’s lowest tier of professional soccer to its highest with a single team / The New Yorker
Football related: A cure for VAR woes – give managers three challenges per game / The Athletic
Because it’s too late to save football from VAR / The New Statesman
2023 Gen Z’s Top 25 Most Magnetic Brands Report /DCDX
Related, from Piers: “v sic” [Our Merch, Ourselves]. What do the bands and brands whose merchandise we buy say about who we are and what we value? / NYT
Perception is everything: Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup is essentially just canned béchamel sauce/ Salon
Corollary to that: How luxury’s relationship with food is evolving and what it tells us about where marketing might be headed next / Vogue Business
Hence? McDonald’s Growing Appetite for Fashion: Crocs, Moschino and More / NYT
Kraft Real Mayo launched a campaign to make "moist" — a word that many people famously hate — the Word of the Year/ Marketing Dive
Also famously disliked: 100 years of Vegemite / NYT
And also an acquired taste? Dry-aged sushi, anyone? Meet the LA-based fishmonger who says ‘fresh is boring’. 🍣 / IG
From Celeste: Also Aussie: 'What's So Controversial About Australian Sushi? / Grub Street
Possibly fresh: Foot Locker launched “The Heart of Sneakers,” a global platform celebrating sneaker culture but nobody seems to know what that actually is… / Marketing Dive
While Doritos devised an AI-powered ‘crunch-cancellation’ tech for gamers / Marketing Dive
Also for the children: Taco Bell brings back Live Mas scholarship, with $10M up for grabs / Media Post
Speaking of scholarships: Telfar is debuting a new shopping concept called “Gifted” — buy one of its in-demand bags, get one free after you submit a video of why you want to gift it to someone you love/ Hypebeast
Tesla is rapidly constructing a planned 1950s-style diner and drive-in movie theater in Hollywood that will also be a Supercharger station / Axios
From Piers: “Not quite typical SIC but might be interesting for the audience / reassuring” [To Lead Digital And AI-First Transformation,CIOs Must Think Like CMOs] / Forbes
Speaking of marketing challenges: Does the metaverse still hold promise for retail brands? / The Drum
Apropos: There’s a new NFT trading platform coming soon… Disney is partnering up with Dapper Labs (the creator of NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties) to launch Disney “Pinnacles”/ CoinDesk
And Digital fashion is alive and well for Gen Z / Vogue Business
So… could crypto come back around to another bull market / TechCrunch
Meantime: The Surprise Fanatics for Meta’s VR Headset? Your Mom’s Facebook Friends / The Information
Three from Piers: Berlin’s answer to the throwaway society: the zero waste future festival begins / CeeCee
And: “I got sucked into this piece because it’s a great glimpse into to the history of electronic / synth music.” Vince Clarke, a Synth-Pop Mastermind,on His Unexpected Solo Album/ NYT
And: "Maybe just maybe more interesting that synth pop.” Punk Bands In 1970s London: Rescued And Never-Before-Seen-Photos / Londonist
Also interesting: [SIC] homie Devon Turnbull is fashion’s go-to sound guy. The co-founder of former streetwear label Nom de Guerre has a following in high-end audio / FT
Speaking of high-end, quoth Piers: ‘It’s about owning and projecting an aesthetic’: the rise of the stealth wealth shelf / The Guardian
On the topic of wealth: Rob Harvilla on The Rich History of the Rock ’n’ Roll Sellout / The Ringer
Related, from Molly: “Hello! what's good? consider this week my tribute to Rob Harvilla: Rob Harvilla, ‘90s Authority, Picks the Best Rock Year of the '90 / GQ
And “More Harvilla-mania”: The ’90s Were a Golden Age of Novelty Pop Hits. We Did Not Appreciate How Good We Had It / GQ
Corollary to that: Linder Sterling: “Each generation has to look out for itself” / The FACE
Good lookin’ out, from Piers: “Cam’ron and Mase: how two rap legends became US sports’ unlikely hit “/ The Guardian
Tho… Lil Yachty Says 'Hip-Hop Is in a Terrible Place' / Complex
Hence?! From James: “Check the track list at the bottom 👀” André 3000 reveals why his new solo album has no bars, no boundaries / NPR
From Celeste: “Accents are always tricky, but it certainly seems like Troye Sivan has leant into it all. TikTok, Instagram handles and all the rest" [Timothee Chalamet Can't Do An Australian Accent, But Can Play Troye Sivan Anyway] / Vulture
Speaking of terrible places, from Molly: Tumblr Is Always Dying / Wired
Also always in flux: The rise and fall of Chimerica / NYT
While Nepal banned TikTok, saying the app disrupted the country’s social harmony / AP News
On the topic of big social days: Singles’ Day 2023: The big results for luxury, fashion and beauty / Jing Daily
Tho back home, Private sale week is more important than Black Friday / Magasin
Not on sale: Lisson Gallery puts Ai Weiwei London show on hold over Israel-Hamas war tweet / The Art Newspaper
While Richard Prince Stalks the Image World Like a Vampire / Frieze
Image world add, from Piers: “eternal sunset” / Funwebsite
Also eternal: Coyote vs. Acme movie dodged the fate of becoming a $30 million tax write-off / Quartz
Denver's first-ever Psychedelic Cup was a rousing success — for fungi and the public. The sold-out event, coordinated by the Psychedelic Club of Denver, drew more than 400 attendees, plus local and out-of-state growers who were awarded for their mushrooms' psilocybin levels / Axios
The Department of Veterans Affairs says it's committed to studying whether psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin are effective treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder / Axios
While Pet psychics are entering the mainstream / WSJ
So… WTF is a K-Hole? We Asked Experts… / Double Blind
Errol Morris talked to Monocle about his John LeCarre doc / Monocle Pod
And Dua Lipa interviewed …. Tim Cook? / Service 95
David Fincher's new movie 'The Killer' is sigma cinema for the “loser internet” / Max Read
Photographing the modern-day Dolce Vita / In Sam Youkilis’ debut book, Somewhere, the photographer dials up the realness of everyday Italians in all their bronzed glory. The FACE

The [SIC] homies at ESPO’s Art World are deinstalling some of the signs on the outside of the shop - If you are interested in acquiring them, here is a PDF, and you can email them at espoprints@gmail.com for more information / Dropbox
The Sunday Zine Fair is taking place at the Brooklyn Museum this Sunday, November 19th. The Fair is free to attend and runs from 11am–6pm / Sunday Zine Fair
The Democratic Power of the Risograph; the handmade aesthetic has become associated with posters, broadsheets, zines, and pamphlets, and has been embraced by small publishers. / Hyperallergic
“Metal for Orcas”: Sailors are blasting a special playlist to keep whales from ramming their boats / NYT
While elsewhere in the ocean: A volcano is forming a small island off the coast of Japan. The tiny mass is a real-time view of how places like Hawaii came to be / NYT
Speaking of climate action: The Lego-like way to get CO2 out of the atmosphere / WaPo
While Climate activists crashed Christie’s Auction, chanting “No art on a dead planet” and demanding an end to fossil fuels / Hyperallergic
Related: two companies have unveiled battery-powered locomotives to decarbonize their freight operations/ Axios
Corollary: The width of traffic lanes can save lives. The skinnier, the better / NPR
European Space Agency’s Euclid Telescope delvers stunning images of the "dark universe” / Hyperallergic
Chile is known for its wines, but in recent years the country has turned to gin / NYT
This New York City restaurant charges $32 for a lobster roll. The owner explains why / NYT
Hence, from Molly: Welcome to the New Economics of Tipping / NYT