[SIC] 295: Options Underwater

Volume Six, Number Thirty Five

This time: Another Culture Club Half Hour, plus the [SIC] Weekly digest of pertinent developments, compiled and published free on Thursdays to 5780 subscribers who’ve opted in. [SIC] is a one-person operation that grows exclusively by via word-of-mouth. Pass it along to people you like.

You can pay, too. Paying subscribers get an additional [SIC] Day microdigest of 10 links every Mon, Tues, Weds, Fri, and the [SIC] Sundays dispatch. And founding supporters get invited to dinner parties at my home in NYC, with special guests. Many paying supporters expense their subscriptions as research for their work in marketing, advertising, entertainment and tech.

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Corollary Sources for this week: The Future Party / After School / Blazer / Hubspot Trends / Jimmy / Public Announcement / Nieman Lab / Future Perfect / Roca News / TechCrunch / Dealbook

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Contributors this week : Iolanda Carvalho, Matt @The Technorati, Celeste Blewitt, Piers Fawkes, Mark Fleming, Dan Bradley and Aaron Stern. Contributions are invited from everyone. If you got ‘em, send ‘em.

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Hi all,

I’ve mentioned it before, but there are weird things happening in the media/publishing/ marketing world that I live in, which feel increasingly to me like they’re coming to an inflection point. There are lots of examples, but one I like to cite: I have unsubscribed to every single Vulture daily email I’ve received since February 13th. Every single one.

That’s 56 consecutive sends of the 5x weekly, roughly 5pm email that I’ve indicated to whomever does (or doesn’t) receive NY Mag / Vox’s subscriber feedback that I do not wish to receive the email any more.  At this point I actually look forward to its arrival so I can spin down to the bottom and click ‘unsubscribe.’

The whole situation is indicative: either a) nobody’s paying attention, or b) nobody cares, or c) they can’t afford to lose me and so refuse to let me leave. All are bad. But all are eminently possible given the way digital publishing has been parsed, disintermediated and outsourced. I’ve noticed similar patterns elsewhere too - I wonder if any of you have. LMK in the [SIC] chat, which I’m turning on today. Or, if you work at Vox …. help! Please?!

The bright side of that dark picture is there’s a bunch of energy building alternatives. See included stories on Beehiiv raising money, Mountain Gazette and Surfer’s Journal thriving, or consult the sudden ubiquity of [SIC] Talks alum Emily Sundberg, the expansion of Found to four new cities, or the flourishing community at PI.FYI, the social network extension of the oft-cited [SIC] source Perfectly Imperfect. I had a coffee with Tyler from PI yesterday, and I came away impressed by the possibilities. It’s gonna be a fun one to watch. Jeff and I talked a little about it yesterday on the May Day edition of Culture Club Half Hour, speaking of things you can subscribe to.

[SIC] Talks will be back next week. Speaking of - big shout to Drew Shannon and his compatriots at YouTube for helping me get @dietznutz back, after long ago losing access to the handle I use everywhere else.

In the meantime - you’ll find me live time at Aaron Stern’s Hard Copy Show tomorrow night at WSA in FiDi - it’s a collection of 20+ notable photographers whose work (some of it quite iconic) has been reproduced with permission on large-scale Xerox machines. I’m meeting up there with Elliot Aronow of Minor Genius (whose appearance in Zine’s ‘3 Trends” feature is below) - and anybody reading is welcome to hang with us too. Drop a line or leave a comment if you’re down.

Apropos of that - the Breakfast Clubbing newsletter also has news of places I’ll be weekly, at the open-invite weekly gatherings I started a couple years ago. Downtown Brooklyn is happening tomorrow, incidentally. And a Hamptons edition (!!) is doing its first pre-Memorial Day installment next week, if you’re out East then, or this summer.

Last thing: had some success with the limited time discount for paid [SIC] subscription, so I extended it for the month of May. Expense yourself a paid sub here and get credit for saving the company money.

OK, now the links.

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[SIC] 295: Options Underwater

The Macro Narrative

• The Culture is Changing at Warp Speed. Ted Gioia’s latest briefing paper on arts, media, tech, and society / The Honest Broker

• Hence: The Battle for Attention. How do we hold on to what matters in a distracted age? / The New Yorker

• Corollary to that: Nowhere Fashion Bible. A TikTok trend premonition from the Nineties / 8Ball

• Related, and as mentioned above, [SIC] homies Elliot Aranow and Matt Klein on Sarapocial Relationships, Senseless Data + Boy Talk / Zine

• Of a piece? Lifestyle gyms are embracing Ozempic / Quartz

• Related, from Celeste: “Listening to this, I had to take notes, such a broad ranging conversation… the economic changes this has made to Denmark, plus what the future looks like for the Ozempic pharmaceuticals of the world.” [Why Weightloss Drugs Will Reshape The World] / The Economist Podcast

• Sorry, all: America Is Nowhere Near Peak Stuff / The Atlantic

• Related? From Piers: “No real surprises here but kinda funny they did the survey” [THC users are more likely to order from these online retailers…] / Chain Storage

• Tho Cannabis firm MedMen files for bankruptcy / Retail Dive

• Just as the Justice Dept. Recommends Easing Restrictions on Marijuana / NYT

• Related: While psychedelics' role in treating a range of addictions and mental health disorders is entering a broader new phase / Axios

• Corollary? Meet the Men Who Eat Meat (and Only Meat)/ NYT

• In contrast? Are White Women Better Now?  / The Atlantic

• Because? Women Are Flocking to Male Strip Clubs for 'Divorce Parties' / AskMen

• More making it rain: Young Americans’ Wealth Has Soared Since the Pandemic / Axios

• And yet: The American dream is increasingly out of reach / Semafor

• Hence: Boston is in the vanguard of cities trying to coax developers to convert office buildings to apartments, offering deep tax discounts as an incentive / Axios

• But Can Turning Office Towers Into Apartments Save Downtowns? / The New Yorker

• In the meantime, Grocery store hopping is the new national sport / Morning Brew

• While Walmart to close health centers due to ‘lack of profitability’ / Retail Dive

• Corollary: the Strong Dollar Becomes a Global Problem / Semafor

• IE: The yen fallen to a decade’s low. What does it mean for Japan’s economy? / The Guardian

• Back in the USSA: Progressive Groups Endorse Campus Protests / Semafor

• While Universities are asking: What makes a protest antisemitic? / NYT

• Why Are Prestigious Colleges Blowing Up? Perhaps Because Students Are Bored. / Forbes

• Related: Everything’s a cult now. What the end of monoculture could mean for American democracy / Vox

• 'There is no freedom without culture and no culture without freedom', says president of Georgia at  the Tbilisi art fair / The Art Newspaper

• Why are politicians so negative? (Hint: It’s a media problem) / Nieman Lab

Generationations

• Gen Z is Obsessed with Sleep. The Travel Industry is Here for It / Skift

• But while they’re awake? Gen Z loves the newspaper (on TikTok) / Embedded

• From Piers: “Not scary at all ‘For you’”: Teens like how social media algorithms mirror themselves, study finds / Fast Company

• Hence: Gen Z has allegedly ditched “YOLO” for “DIFTP” (“do it for the plot”) /NY Post

Platformations

• Creator economy startup funding has rebounded / The Information

• Beehiiv raised $32M to make its newsletter publishing platform more sticky  / TechCrunch

• While Substack now lets writers paywall their “Chat” discussion spaces  / TechCrunch

• Instagram is changing its algorithm to give creators a higher chance of going viral on Reels / TechCrunch

• YouTube is revolutionizing podcasts… by popularizing vodcasts (video podcasts) / NYT

• From Iolanda: The TikTokification continues... "On its latest earnings call, [Spotify’s] Ek highlighted that not just music videos but short-form clips would be “a big focus” for the company in 2024" / The Media Leader

• A TikTok ban could also end short-form video as we’ve come to know it” / WaPo

• And yet Publishers aren’t ready to change social media strategies as TikTok ban looms / Digiday

• And Universal Music Group announced a new licensing deal with TikTok, ending the label’s monthslong boycott of the platform / NYT

• While fashion and beauty brands are going all-in on TikTok marketing even though the app may not be available to American consumers / BoF

• Related: “Arts, crafts and sewing” sales went up 27% from 2023 to 2024, the highest growth of all major Amazon product categories

• Apropos, from PIers: careful what u scan: [‘Out of control’ Amazon UK accused of deploying QR codes that cancel fulfilment centre workers’ union memberships] / Retail Tech Innovation Hub

Stylistics

• Architecture and Fashion. How Clothing and Buildings work together / Articles of Interest

• Related: "Dark Romance”-ing Decor / For-Scale

• And dark staining? From Piers: JordanLuca's Pee Stained Denim Is All the Hype Rn / Hypebae

• More hype: Padel Is Luxury’s New Favourite Sport / BoF

• Sneaker Brand On to Launch New Line With FKA Twigs / BoF

• And FKA Twigs Developed Her Own Deepfake / Hypebeast

• From Iolanda: “Sure you've seen this, but hey... - what a beauty... 💙” [Slawn x Rolex Datejust] / Highsnobiety

• Montblanc asked Wes Anderson to direct its ad. He did – and designed a pen / Vogue Business

• Elsewhere: Nike will redesign its controversial new MLB uniforms for next season / NYT

• Also controversial? Vogue wrote a guide about how to “Travis Kelce-fy Your Boyfriend in Four Easy Steps.” / Vogue

• From Celeste: “Tenniscore is really having a moment… a great overview of the ways in which tennis is moving and has continually moved in pushing sports chic” [Tenniscore: Centre Court Chic Smashes It This Season] / The Guardian UK

• Related? What Gucci needs now / Jing Daily

• LVMH is maybe exploring a sale of Marc Jacobs / Bloomberg

• But LVMH denies it / Reuters

• Ganni is not a sustainable brand / Futurevvorld

• To that end: From Shrimp Leather to Synthetic Dye, Are Biomaterials Finally Ready to Scale Up? / Fast Company

• And This is the Future of Material Innovation From seaweed-derived plastics to biomaterial leathers, wetland-regenerating insulation to plant-based faux fur / Futurevvorld

• Case in point: Nicole McLaughlin is Taking Upcycling to Another Level / Futurevvorld

• Corollary: A Colorado Hippie Supreme and the Psychological Shopping Hack of the Ages / A Continuous Lean

• From Celeste: “Jo Ellison, always a great read, loved this piece on small talk, impromptu discussions and the ever present 'what doI say next?' moments.” [How To Start A Conversation] / FT

• 10 years of Pop Trading earns it a book (and three questions) / Monocle

Culturations

• The Rap Beef Apocalypse. Every rapper is mad at every other rapper and now we are mad at each other / Nersey

• “At The Cindy Lee Show, Making Sense Of The Hype”/ Stereogum

• Elkka can make you dance / The New Yorker

• How 'Go,' the craziest, druggiest, horniest cult movie of 1999 got made (and almost didn't) / GQ

• From Piers: A Planet of the Apes promo freaked out people in California / Quartz

• “Wordle-for-cinephiles” game, Cinematrix, is becoming a viral sensation / Fast Company

• Also sensational:Wrexham’s Hollywood-Like Plan. Lights, Camera, Premier League / Front Office Sports

• The Comfortable Problem of Mid TV / NYT

• In contrast: The Godfather of American Comedy. The funniest people on the planet think there’s no funnier person than Albert Brooks / The Atlantic

• Should Marina Abramović exhibitions be rethought for the 21st century? / The Art Newspaper

• Corollary: Faith Ringgold Paved the Way / Hyperallergic

• The painter Walton Ford on what keeps him coming back to Lions: The Art Newspaper

• “The Art Was My Escape”: Lee Quiñones Gets the Mega-Monograph Treatment / Vanity Fair

• Alain Levitt’s NYC 2001-2005 Photo Book is out now / IG

• Another reco: Roald Dahl’s Twisted, Overlooked Stories for Adults/ The New Yorker

• Also worth a look? A secret society that meets to stare intently at works of art / The New Yorker

• Corollary: 10 Exhibitions to See in Upstate New York This May / Hyperallergic

• While back in the city: A 65-Foot Wiener Lands in Times Square / Hyperallergic

• The Monocle Pod Dispatch from Venice / Monocle

• What does reality look like? / Seth Godin

• Submersive is a spa in Austin that mixes wellness with video projections, AI, and plenty of lasers / Fast Company

Technopolis

• “My Dinner With Andreessen” / The American Prospect

• Touch Screens Are Ruining Cars / The Atlantic

• AI could help make on-demand manufacturing a reality / Vogue Business

• Can AI do the unthinkable and make the voice assistant cool? / NYT

• Meanwhile, stock photographers are awaiting extinction by AI / WSJ

• Apropos: How to Worry, Not Panic, About Artificial Intelligence / National Affairs Podcast

• From Dan: “This Web3 startup called TITLES that I'm an advisor to is launching a ability for artists, IP holders, and creators to train models on any collection they've created“/ Titles  

Media-tions

• The Financial Times inks new licensing deal with OpenAI / Nieman Lab

• While Eight prominent U.S. newspapers are suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement / Axios

• And the Condé Nast Union Threatens Strike Ahead of Met Gala / BoF

• But hey, all? Magazines aren’t dying—just ask these indie publishers / Fast Company

• Related: The Revenge of the Home Page. Consumers of digital journalism are seeking out an older form of online real estate / The New Yorker

• The case for and against organic social / Digiday

• Bullish Media CEO (and [SIC] homie) Brian Hanly was on the Invested pod/ YouTube

• From Iolanda: “With this 2024 edition, subtitled “Back to Balance: A Year of Prudent Economic Expectations,” our focus shifts to the media sector’s recovery and stabilization following a challenging economic year in 2023" / Ad Little

• From Matt: Why I'm Resigning From The Intercept / Ken Klippenstein

Market / Influence

• The minimalist Deutsche Bank logo has a surprising meaning / Creative Bloq

• The iconic Kellogg's logo is now a whole typeface / Creative Bloq

• Speaking of scripts: the Bic pens CEO is betting on tattoos to win over customers / Fast Company

• Meanwhile Creative Shops are Relabeling. [“Agency” is the ad industry’s latest dirty word] / Ad Age

• Walmart rolled out a new premium brand called “bettergoods” [no caps], its first “private brand” launch in 20 years / Walmart

• From Piers: news fodder [An inside look at the innovation of Campbell Soup’s $1B Goldfish crackers brand] / Food Dive

• Poppi Won Coachella / Linkedin

• Nordstrom debuts online marketplace / Retail Dive

• Walmart puts its IRL product shelves in the metaverse / The Future Party

• From Mark:As a part of the conversations as a part of our 24th, we had a conversation with one of our old friends Dean Evans, [who’s] been in the gaming industry for years working on some epic titles / Unorthodox Blend

• The Best Marketing a Brand Can Do is “Be Human” / IG

• Stanley is becoming an accessories brand / Retail Dive

Eats, Drinks and Ephemera

• Food production is an ideal place to start rethinking how we design/ Dezeen

• From Celeste: “An excellent breakdown on coffee, pricing, shortages of coffee beans and ..the world today in terms of Brexit and the economy” [The £5 Coffee Is Coming - But Should We Swallow It?] / The Guardian UK

• And another from Celeste: “This week, I'm loving Ruth Reichl on Taste 'The Paris Interview with Ruth Reichl' / Taste Podcast

The Natural (?!) World

• Researchers developed a biodegradable form of plastic / Semafor

• And The future of farming is high-tech / The Walrus

• Hence? The Disco Clam Edition / WITI

• But…. From Iolanda: “!?!??!?! "China has reportedly developed a brain-computer interface chip called Neucyber that allows a monkey to control a robotic arm with only its thoughts" / PC Mag

• That in mind … How far should we carry the logic of the animal-rights movement? / The New Yorker

• Cause, like Gardens can be evil or good: [but] We need gardens that cool cities and provide a corridor for wildlife, Olivia Laing writes / NYT

• Ergo: Less Mow May Burgeons / Axios

• Unrelated: Dice furniture changes function depending on how you "throw" it / Dezeen

• An underwater sinkhole near the border of Mexico and Belize is so deep scientists haven’t found the bottom / Quartz

[SIC] 295: Options Underwater