[SIC] 275: Space Investors

Volume Six, Number Fifteen

Ben Dietz

Dec 07, 2023

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Corollary sources this week: NYT / Elevator / Morning Consult / Public Announcement / Today in Tabs / The Cadence / Cultique / The Whippet / Storythings / Semafor / Marginal Revolution /Politico / Garbage Day / Network Notes / The Unskippables

Hi all,

As threatened, [SIC] Talks is back. Highsnobiety Co-founder (and my Culture Club Show co-host) Jeff Carvalho joined me to ressurrect the franchise, which heretofore I’m gonna try and do as a companion to the newsletter. LMK if you have suggestions for people I should talk to. The archives are all over on my IG @dietznutz - but going forward I’ll embed here, and upload to YT and streaming audio. Links to come in future editions.

The big topic Jeff and I returned to several times was Sean Monahan’s new report (my #1 recommendation for the week), but we also touched on Miami Art Week, NPC bombing, Riches in Niches, Michael Stipe x Jack Antonoff, whole songs vs. snippets, edit culture, comic strip tiers, Spotify and the dynamism of formats, accumulating vinyl, and favorite pens - including “the nurling on this TWSBI”. It was fun, and hopefully you’ll like. Presented without edits here:

[SIC] Talks #59: Jeff Carvalho. Note to self: learn to edit thumbnail images.

Also since last [SIC] Weekly: I caught some quotes in this Adweek piece about the whole Sports Illustrated fake AI-writers scandal that [SIC] homie Foster Kamer’s Futurism team uncovered. Reprehensible deception aside, what struck me about the whole debacle was its overlap with how as affiliate marketing gets competitive, a new brand playbook emerges. Because What’s really driving actions like SI’s is a drive to *making* money, not saving it.

That’s important because publishers increasingly need incremental dollars from commerce, and while most readers want publishers to label AI-generated articles — but trust outlets less when they do, in a separate study people expressed no aversion toward AI-generated content when they knew how it was created. Anyway, thanks to Mark Sternberg for thinking of me for the piece.

Corollary, before the jump: My Kouch Culture compadre David Bloom flagged a corrollary: “Love this column [Welcome to Our New ‘Bespoke Realities] about the creation of a profusion of interlocking conspiracy that have led to what the Stanford Internet Observatory calls “bespoke realities” and what it all means.” As the column asserts: algorithms have become far too good at telling us what we think we already know.

Thanks David for sending that. And thanks also to Peter Spear, Piers Fawkes, Kevin Johannesen, Celeste Blewitt, Iolanda Carvalho, Geoff Renaud, Marc Santo, and James Friedman for contributions this week. Everybody, if you got ‘em, send me.

Ok - year-end trend roundup and then the links. Enjoy.

The Year on Tiktok. The 2024 Instagram Trend Talk. Looking forward: Pinterest predicts 2024. The 2023 Most Contagious Report. From Iolanda: The Marketing Week Year in Review. YouTube chooses the freaky Skibidi Toilet meme as its top trend of the year. Also v. freaky and very apropos: is “103 Fever” the 2023 “Too Many Cooks?” And from Piers: “I took all of those reports that the folks were kind enough to gather -and put them in a [Trend God] bot.”

======[SIC] 275: Space Investors======

The Macro Narrative

Great news — social media is falling apart / Business Insider
Ergo? How to win friends and de-influence people / Embedded
Related: ‘I’m not buying new stuff any more:’ the young people getting into ‘degrowth’ / The Guardian
Corollary from Celeste: “An intriguing deep dive into stolen wine…perhaps it goes with the aspirational living' trend that is working through new and established tech platforms.” The Hot New Heist: Would You Believe It's Stealing Wine?/ Town & Country
A whirlwind package of deals this weekend “may be the single most important day in the history of COPs,” as one observer put it / Semafor
Zeihan on The Problem with the COP28 Climate Change Conference / YT
China’s credit outlook was dropped to negative by Moody’s, the ratings agency, which cited concern over rising debt and the cost of possible bailouts / NYT
It me? Rise of the news DJs. For an increasing subset of readers, ‘articles’ will be as invisible as CSS code / Nieman Lab
Elsewhere: Reasons to Love New York Right now / NYMag
While the UK economy has a ‘sprained ankle’, not a broken leg / FT
From Peter: Sandra Wolen on the rise of stoicism and turning to the classics / The Conversation
Apropos: New Ways of Seeing. Franklin Sirmans and Pete Scantland In Conversation / Affadavit
Hence? the Flight to Niche - Narrowing Focus Isn’t Narrowing Ambition / The Rebooting
Case in point: Pink Plays Stadiums / Lefsetz Letter
From David: “Not sure quite what it says about us all that the trailer for the upcoming videogame Grand Theft Auto VI, with its celebrations of crime and violence, has broken a viewership record on YouTube” / TechCrunch
Corollary somehow, from Piers: When Your Friends Throw You a Fake Funeral / NYMag
Related: the Wikipedia editor who first noted Henry Kissinger’s death has become an “instant legend” / VICE
Also on the subject of death: How the Litigious Wrath of Taylor Swift Could Spell the Death of Deuxmoi / Daily Beast
Very weird, very long piece on the Taylor Swift media economy [Taylor Swift Does Not Exist]. He eventually starts writing in Aramaic / Sam Kriss
[SIC] homie Bobby Hundreds with another Essay about Taylor Swift (but this time it's about the rest of us) / Monologue
From Peter: Athena Jones on a new vocabulary for resilient / Zeus Jones
Under-resilient? Nearly everyone gets A’s at Yale / NYT
Apropos, from Peter: A lovely specimen : The Wrong of Bullshit / TandFonline
Elsewhere, Noise is the new censorship / Medium
But what if I told you podcasts aren’t doomed? / Slate
From Piers: What Can Musical Monuments Achieve That Physical Ones Can’t? / The New Yorker
Apropos of replacements: A factory planning to pump out 10,000 two-legged robots a year to help Amazon and other giant companies with dangerous hauling, lifting and moving / Axios
While Bots are becoming the first-class citizens of the crypto economy / W3B
Hence? Brooklyn’s Crypto-Hipster Hotspot Gears Up for an NFT Rebound / Bloomberg

Generationations

Tiktok is the career coach of choice for gen z. Is that really a good idea? / Fast Company
Cause, like, Gen Z is Opting Out of Working For the Man / Insider
Algorithms Hijacked My Generation. “I Fear For Gen Alpha. Algorithms act as conveyor belts, transporting girls to dark and extreme places” / After Babel
Gen Zers are 1,338% more likely to stream “heartbreak” playlists, while millennials are 357% more likely to listen to music that projected positivity / The Future Party
Related: Is Millennial "Mom dread" a cultural problem? / Vox
How getting older disturbs “sleep architecture” and makes a good night’s rest more elusive as we age / Salon

Platformations

Ten strategies for replacing Twitter from people who used to work there / Platformer
For instance? From Kevin: “For your consider for this week’s SIC:” [Faze World Raises Seed Round] / Axios
X said that it’d focus on attracting small businesses / TechCrunch
Advertising on X right now might not be all bad – for some. Less competition for ad inventory means lower prices / Digiday
Also dangerous: Why Tiktok is dangerously good at making you spend money / LA Times
From Piers: TikTok and ‘deal’ mentality: What’s driving demand for advent calendars / Inside Retail Asia
Tiktok’s recent court victories show just how hard it might be to ban the app / CNN
Inside the arms race between YouTube and ad blockers / Engadget
From Iolanda: "Eh ehehe" Facebook remains the most-used app for Boomers, but TikTok has become the fastest-growing social media / WARC
While Strava is taking one big step closer to becoming a true social network / TechCrunch
But Why isn't Twitch a better website? / Garbage Day
Tiny Letter is shutting down and taking its archives with it. So if you still have your data on that, now’s the time to export it all / MailChimp
Or it’s The ghosts of websites past for you… / Discourse Blog

Stylistics

Documenting fall fashion on the streets of Tokyo / NYT
A$AP Rocky Staged Paparazzi Shots for Bottega Veneta’s Latest Campaign / GQ
‘Virtual bling’: Photoshopped Chanel, Hermès Birkin bags are China’s latest social media trend / Jing Daily
Anti Social Social Club and True Religion Come Together for "Self Indulgence" / Hypebeast
Emilie Hawtin Is A Master of the White Suit / The Melt
Ralph Lauren has kicked off its “Artist In Residence” program with textile artist Naiomi Glasses, who specializes in traditional Navajo motifs / Hypebeast
While Blackbird Spyplane names The Pants of the Year / BSSP
And Dezeen designates the top 10 staircases of 2023 / Dezeen
Meet Kind Regards, the versatile workwear brand for millennial women / Vogue Business
Tinx Talks Burning Love And Becoming The Internet's Confidant / Byline
In the same issue: Maya Man Is Escaping The Instagram Identity Crisis / Byline
Speaking of inescapable: Kim Kardashian Turned Ubiquity Into $4 Billion / Backstage
Related: can Lululemon maintain its momentum? / Retail Dive
Are Tiger Woods and Nike Splitting Up? The Move Would Change Golf / Front Office Sports
JanSport Rethinks Gen Z , One Backpack At A Time / Mediapost
Teens need malls. Malls need crowds. Why are they pushing kids away? / The Guardian

Culturations

Stone Crab Dreams… Advice and confessions from Art Week regulars such as… Adam Abdalla, Annie Armstrong, Nate Freeman, Patton Hindle, Sarah Levine, Azikiwe Mohammed, Thomas E. Moore III, Esther Park, Chana Sheldon, András Szántó, Christian Viveros-Fauné, Marcella Zimmermann on Miami Art Week (now that it’s basically over) / Affadavit
Related: Selling Art to the Rich, Famous, and Inebriated / The Atlantic
While in contrast: Platform Sells Artists’ Pieces You Won’t Find at Art Basel / NYT
“Miami English” Phrases to Know During Art Week/ Hyperallergic
Simultaneously, Maude unveils exhibit at Museum of Sex in Miami / WWD
Apropos of that: Inside One of the Largest Collections of Sex Artifacts / Hyperallergic
So, like? “A Fitbit for the clitoris. A Clitbit” / 404 Media
Corollary? From Geoff: Some gems in here [The Top 100 BBC Performances Ranked]/ The Guardian
From Marc, via James: “I published[a book] about Liquid Sky. It's primarily an art book, full of old photos, ephemera and Rey (the co-founder's art work). It also contains interviews with Chloe Sevigny, Moby, DB and a lot of the people involved in the scene from 1989 - 1995ish” / Liquid Sky Book
Is it time to give up vinyl records in the name of climate change? / The Guardian
Have Labels Hit a Breaking Point With Data-Driven A&R? Analytics can predict hit singles, but skeptics say it's far less effective at identifying enduring artists / Billboard
Because, for instance… Algorithms are ruining Spotify Wrapped / Embedded
From Piers: “Unsure if many people agree but then again iconic and about 3 quid a ride (with a oyster card).” [How London Underground Became The Coolest Brand In The World] / The Londonist
How David Hockney’s Early Experiments Shaped His Iconic Style / Hyperallergic
Related: A brush with... Urs Fischer / The Art Newspaper
Elsewhere: Three generations of Godzilla suit actors. Extremely charming 10-minute clip from the documentary "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size" / YT

Technopolis

The Panel Reacts: Google Introduces Gemini, Its Answer To OpenAI’s GPT-4 / Big Technology
AI created by DeepMind has identified 2.2M new types of crystals / The Times
Liquid AI, a new MIT spinoff, wants to build an entirely new type of AI / TechCrunch
Because, like? AI systems turn out to be helpful for… breaking AI systems / Wired
An AI-generated Jimmy Stewart voice can now read you to sleep / NYT
How AI-generated customers can help brands learn more about real consumers. Digital twins of consumers are the next frontier for testing new products and personalizing advertising / Ad Age
The Rise of Temu’s Chinese Parent Will Reshape E-Commerce. PDD, the owner of fast-growing Temu, is muscling into the U.S. in a way Alibaba never did / WSJ
Hence? Amazon Slashes Seller Fees on Cheap Apparel / The Information
The Future of “High-speed” Rail in America?/ The Points Guy

Media-tions

Global Advertising Growth Is Expected to Slow in 2024, Excluding Elections Spending / WSJ
News outlets turn to Reddit as Musk’s X descends into chaos / WaPo
Meanwhile Reuters and The New York Times top the list of the fossil fuel industry’s favorite media partners/ Drilled

Market / Influence

The first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer might be gaming's biggest marketing moment of 2023 / Digiday
While in staying small: Context Collapse’s Neal Ungerleider launched a new LinkedIn newsletter, the Small Agency Journal / Linkedin
Rishad Tobaccowala ruminates on Four Strategic Mistakes / The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past
For instance? Unilever’s new CEO plans to stop “force-fitting” purpose / The Drum
Apropos? CAA has launched an “agency-wide, cross-department” initiative to drive more opportunities to its Latino clients / Deadline
Mountain Dew is using facial-recognition tech to identify and pay people who are drinking the soda on Twitch livestreams / AdAge
While from Piers: Domino’s is Plowing For Pizza / Dominos
More than half of e-commerce Cyber Week sales came from mobile / Modern Retail
The bigger airlines get, the worse they become / NYT
Ergo? Delta Air Lines is testing new paper cups that it says will help it shed 7 million pounds of single-use plastic waste annually / Axios
Meantime tho? The overhead bins are empty. Why do airlines make you check your bag? / WaPo

Eats, Drinks and Ephemera

From Piers: “A reminder to get your holiday drinks in before they ‘water’ them down next year.” Bartenders are using this trick to save cash on cocktail-making / The Business of Drinks
Panera is facing another wrongful death lawsuit after a second customer is said to have died after consuming its caffeinated lemonade/ CNN
You Can Order a Single Chicken McNugget at McDonald's in Switzerland Now / Muse By Clio
While France is going bananas for Krispy Kreme / NYT
The Year Celeb Meal Deals Got Weird / The Cut
From Celeste: “The Aussie pub, is like no other, similar to the notion of the British pub. These pubs are far far away, in middle of nowhere locations, with a revival of sorts that is drawing people to partake. Pus a few stats on the trends of camping and RVs.” [Queensland's Bush Pub Revival] /FT
Another from Celeste: “Nostalgia hit when listening to this interview of high school years running for the train.” The Voice Of Flinders Street: Melbourne Train Announcer Goes Viral / ABC
Behind the scenes at the world’s largest hot-air balloon festival / NYT
BTS: Behind the Snax with Off Limits. "Boxes are for cereal" -not people / Snaxshot
Rene Redzepi tells Monocle Radio’s The Stack about Noma in Kyoto, what inspired the magazine and his new-found love of the editing process / Monocle Pod
S/o [SIC] homie Hugue and Sara: The New Must-Have for Every Stocking: French Canadian Meat Pie! / NYT

The Natural (?!) World

Farmers are now turning to drones to apply pesticides, drop seeds and more / Axios
Oysters that will save New York: checking in on a local effort to build oyster reefs on a river floor / NYT
Happy Hour at Essex Pearl is the greatest.