[SIC] 301: Common Parliaments

Volume 6, Number Forty One

Ben Dietz

Jun 13, 2024

This time: The [SIC] Weekly digest of pertinent developments, compiled and published free on Thursdays to 6026 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.

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Also if you’re in NYC (or a breakfast person), Breakfast Clubbing is a [SIC] sister newsletter tracking the free, open-to-everyone breakfast events I started, now happening around the world. Everyone’s invited, especially you.

Corollary Sources this week: Declarative Statements / The New Statesman / The Morning / 1440 / Dealbook /Feed Me / After School / Champion Weekly/ Nieman Lab / Affadavit / Found NY / Semafor / Marginal Revolution / Who Do You Know / Medium Rare / Beats and Bytes /Elevator / Garbage Day / Brendans Communication Miscellany / The Future Party

Thanks to all the contributors this week: David Bloom, Piers Fawkes, Iolanda Carvalho, Celeste Blewitt, Molly Raskin, Evvie Crowley, Syd Allen-Ash, and Rob Hubbert. And a special shout to Mike Klein for the title this week.

Contributions are invited from everyone. Send ‘em any time.

Hi all,

Regular readers have heard this before, but indulge me in this story that exemplifies the absurdity of the modern condition. Four months ago (Feb 13th) I started unsubscribing to every consecutive send of the Vulture email (because I don’t like it particularly - Dinner Party is the one I want. All of which have been unsuccessful - which makes 76 unsubscribe actions, and 76 confirmations (including yesterdays) that I (to quote Vulture” “have opted out. You will no longer receive any emails from Vulture Daily. To resubscribe, click the "Opt Back In" button below.” And, importantly, 76 opportunities to not opt back in.

This is the media conundrum in a nutshell. Outsourced vendors, non-existent customer service, a desperate, irrational adherence to vanity numbers (ie subscriber count), and backward economics. It needs to stop. But, how? My action as a consumer isn’t working. Any suggestions? Any higher ups at Vox reading this? Or brands who integrate with Vulture. Help. FR. ‘

And - it should go without saying - if you ever feel like that about [SIC], please do us both a favor and unsubscribe. 🙏

Ok enough of that. But - speaking of subscriptions I *do* want - a couple from friends arrived this week. From Evvie: “I recently launched a newsletter called Surf City about internet culture/recommendations.”

And From Syd: “Hello! Potential submission for SIC, though it is [NSFW] so you be the judge. THROAT is self-published serial that I am writing. A new instalment comes out every week or two.”

it’s also Cannes Lions this week. I’m breaking with tradition and staying home, but I thought longtime [SIC] Homie Rei Inamoto’s The Evolution of Marketing made good points on whether the creative is a necessary part of ‘creativity’ in Marcoms these days. Have a scan..

And speaking of Cannes Lions: new buddies from my trip to C2 Montreal Iain S. Thomas, (‘Chief Visionary’ of Sounds Fun) and Jessica Gibbons from C2 are doing a debate about if Robots Dream of Electric Campaigns? next Tuesday the `18th. I ‘m staying in NY this year, but if you’re in Cannes next week, it’ll be fun. RSVP here

Also happening with my blessing but no corporeal presence from me: Breakfast Club Cannes (on Weds). Everyone’s invited, especially you.

Last event recommend if you’re upstate, Corners Friday Friends in Livingston Manor should be fun. Corners is rad. I’ll be home in Brooklyn chaperoning a senior prom afterparty, so let me know what it’s like if you go.

The little video precis I did for the quick-hits section last week got a good response, so here’s round two. It’s no [SIC] Talks but it’s definitely me talking…. lmk thoughts. This one required a few takes

Apple is far behind in the AI race. But that’s ‘entirely on brand, leads into, from Celeste, How Siri Made Apple Cautious About AI. Conservatism makes sense since, per Ryan BroderickL: Apple is a country club . But wait, actually ”Apple” is a song about … the airport, from CHARLI XCX’s “EVEN BRATTIER” deluxe version. Apropos: Grace Gordon guests with Unpacking "Brat": A 4-month exercise in IRL to URL energy marketing & being outside and speaking of: Charli XCX curated a movie series for The Roxy Cinema. And a limited edition merch capsule for Spotify. Hence, from Molly: Every pop girlie wants to be Charli XCX, but only Chris Black gets What Charli xcx Has That Everybody Wants. Which is uncapitalized initials? Anyway, related to that Billie Eilish Delivered A Superfan Masterclass. Corollary to which: Ted Gioia on The Strangest Hit Songwriter in History (whose big record isn’t strange today, by any means). Strangely predictable: Sabrina Carpenter Announces ‘Espresso’ Ice Cream for Summer and from David: Musician Don Toliver Is Launching His Own Game Within Fortnite . Last one here, from Piers: “Makes me wonder, are writers writing SIC-style bullets as their headlines?” The Cool New Modern Wine Bar Is Where We All Hang Out Now.

And now, the rest of the links.

[SIC] 301: Common Parliament

The Macro Narrative

The Immigration Story Nobody Is Talking About. The United States does need a more orderly border. It also needs more immigrants, who are critical to the country’s economic strength / The New Yorker
So … Let’s Talk About Trump’s Gibberish. Rambling about shark electrocutions is not normal / Atlantic
Lot to talk about here: Consumer Report Trends 2024 / Forerunner Ventures
What to expect in the second half of 2024: Expert predictions for the workplace trends / Charter
Related: 10 big things Vox thinks will happen in the next 10 years / Vox
Meantime, McKinsey, Accenture and other big employers are increasingly looking beyond prestigious “target schools” like Harvard, Yale and Stanford / NYT
More hunting: The Valley. Searching for the future in the most American city / The Atlantic
Related: Is Silicon Valley Building Universe 25? How a creepy experiment from 1968 is eerily relevant today / An Honest Broker
And further: How to Game Reality. We can learn things from games that can make us better at life / / The Atlantic
Ergo: Recession TV: How Reality Shows Built Our Relationship With Money / YouTube
Wait, actually?! The U.S. Economy Is Absolutely Fantastic. No, really / The Atlantic
Apropos: An illustrative analysis of the US economy / USA Today
Shoppers are increasingly hitting up multiple grocery stores to save money and find exclusive items / Axios
Like ? GM is ‘bullish’ on selling EVs — because of Costco / Quartz
Corollary: Asda now most expensive supermarket for fuel / BBC
Related: IKEA is paying employees more to stop them from quitting / Quartz
Hence: Cut the Check. Big commission checks should be fun to write/ Mostly Metrics
Also hunting-related? The Sickly Rise of ‘Twee Misandry’ / Dazed
Blame it on Algorithm-Based Character Development / Salieri Redemption
Using Harmony Korine’s EDGLRD and ChatGPT, The Weeknd interviews a younger version of himself / Ssense
Corollary, from Rob: “Good Read” Culture is an Ecosystem: A Manifesto Towards a New Cultural Criticism (3) / Culture: An Owner’s Manual
Related: “Our attention patterns haven’t just got shorter - they’ve got longer as well.” The Attention Pattern Spectrum / Storythings
Hence? From Celeste: The Humble Email Sign-Off Is Not What It Used To Be / FT
Also not like it used to be: How the Loss of the Landline Is Changing Family Life / The Atlantic
But at least? From Piers: We’re So Back: East Village Dollar Slice Joint Is Back to Selling 99 Cent Slices / Hellgate
Also back! Lazarus, Come Forth! Jesse Pearson’s Apology Magazine returns / Apology

Generationations

How Fizz, an anonymous messaging app for Gen Z tore a high school apart / Business Insider
In contrast, still holding strong: In a new study, male sperm counts are not dropping. It seems this has been a myth all along / University of Manchester
Which is good since many young liberals’ idea of success in their 20s — having a college degree, a fulfilling career and a romantic partnership — leaves little room for having children / NYT
Platformations
How Americans get news on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram / MATSA
And, apropos: how YouTube’s recommendations pull you away from news / Nieman Lab
From David: TikTok users and why the 'digital guillotine' is blocking celebrities / USA Today
Hence? Announcing the fellows of Substack Creator Studio / Substack
YouTube creators Colin and Samir interview Instagram head Adam Mosseri / YouTube
So What is Cara, the Instagram alternative that gained 600k users in a week? / Creative Bloq
We’ve heard it before, methinks: BeReal is being sold to VooDoo Games for $500M / The Verge

Stylistics

Did micro-trends kill the trend cycle? / Vogue Business
Americans are buying Hermès products as its bags have become a coveted status symbol / WaPo
Hence: A new Real Real exhibition on the corner of Broadway and Canal Street is meant to draw attention to the prevalence of “superfake” handbags / NYT
While Adidas’ Yeezy Boost and Campus 00s were the most faked sneakers received by resale platform / Fashion Dive
Anti Social Social Club is collabing with 24 Hours of Le Mans, the infamous French endurance car race, on a 20-piece fashion capsule / Hypebeast
Jackson Wang collaborates with Pharrell Williams’ Joopiter / Jing Daily
Hay teams up with ASICS on pastel-coloured Skyhand OG trainer / Dezeen
Ten scene-setting independent design studios in Los Angeles / Dezeen
From Piers: Why are watch designers so drawn to brutalism? / Wallpaper
Margaret Howell on pioneering handicraft, androgyny and constancy in fashion / Vogue Business
Leads us to LA Lessons with Davide Baroncini. A trip to Pasadena to meet the [SIC] Talks Alum and philosophical founder behind Ghiaia Cashmere / Drakes
And a conversation with Bijan Shahvali, founder of intramural shop. Key quote: “The much better advice is to skate when you're younger. Go to shows. Watch movies. Be a nerd and research stuff. Go outside and see what people are into. Have great conversations.” / Sprezza
Elsewhere: The glow down is the new glow up / The Cut
And Dad pants are the new boyfriend jeans / Glamour
Related: Perfectly Imperfect: Aaron Levine is quintessential cool dadcore / Perfectly Imperfect
From Celeste: All The Cool Kids Are Playing Golf. Are You Up To Par? / FT
The DTC Brands Driving the Men’s Loafer Boom / BoF
Also corollary, From Molly: How Abercrombie came back from the dead / Business Insider
Apropos of focuing on voice: The Palace Product Descriptions Edition On talking like yourself, dialed-in founders, and using all of the space / WITI
Skate corollary: Don Luong on Toy Machine’s "Real Life Sucks" and making skate videos with heart / Simple Magic
A24’s How Directors Dress uses clothing to tell exciting new stories about directors, their lives, their movies, and the times / A24
From Celeste: Scannable QR codes within the rings, diamonds and diamonds a plenty for one of a kind rings to mark a championship win.Miniature Secrets Of Championship Rings / NYT

Culturations

Sony Pictures acquires Alamo Drafthouse / Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood vets and Biden alums launch super PAC to shore up his youth vote problem / Politico
Corollary: The Unspoken Truths in Jenny Holzer’s Truisms. Gaza is everywhere across the artist’s Guggenheim show, but you wouldn’t know it / Hyperallergic
People think this is the American Dream. Conner O'Malley on making the best comedy special of the year so far / Blackbird Spyplane
Snow Strippers are living the American dream. The gun-toting, weed-smoking, EDM-loving duo were born and raised in cities you’ve possibly never heard of. Now they’re the hottest new band in New York City / The FACE
Corollary: Affadavit interviews [SIC] homies Andrew Kuo and Ben Detrick of the cult podcast Cookies Hoops/ Affadavit
More interviews: Hiroshi Sugimoto on Photography as a Form of Timekeeping / The Slowdown
And The Talks talks to Maya Hawke / The Talks
Primary Information Brings Art to the Masses. How a book publisher placed 1970s conceptual art into the hands of a new generation / Frieze
Ergo? The recent adventures of Ye and his house on the Pacific / The New Yorker
Speaking of ‘Ye’, From Celeste: “What an excellent cultural backstory into a genre and culture of French pop music that carries over. [Francoise Hardy: France's Gurlish Ye-Ye Star Was A Groundbreaking Musical Artist]”fds / The Guardian
Speaking of art for the masses: Are art fairs the next hotspot for lifestyle retail? / Vogue Business
Elsewhere: Robert C. Morgan on Larry Poons: One for Baby / Brooklyn Rail
Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s Best Vintage Bookstore Is in His Home / NYT
Ren Faire director Lance Oppenheim talks Midnight Cowboy by Poly High-School Band, Google Reviews, Cold Emails, and more / Perfectly Imperfect
And spits game on How Long Gone / Spotify
More recos: Diplo’s guide to Jamaica / NYT
Not recommended, from Molly: The Tao of ‘Smooth,’ Rock’s Enduring, Inescapable Earworm / NYT

Technopolis

First Came ‘Spam.’ Now, With A.I., We’ve Got ‘Slop’. A new term has emerged to describe dubious A.I.-generated material / NYT
Not slop: Uncovering Black History with AI / Axios
Nor this: [SIC] Talks alum Noah Brier on Brand & AI / That Business of Meaning Podcast
Related: Creative AI Experiments with Jenny Nicholson / BrXnd Dispatch
Apropos: In a strange twist, a real photo just won an AI photo contest / Android Authority
Elsewhere: How top brands are saving more time and money with generative AI / Digiday
For instance? Apple Isn’t Paying OpenAI For ChatGPT Partnership / The Information
Hence? Danish media outlets are threatening to sue OpenAI / Wired
While Buzzy AI search engine Perplexity is directly ripping off content from news outlets / Forbes
And The New York Times’ source code has been stolen using an exposed GitHub token / Bleeping Computer
But? Perplexity plans a revenue-sharing deal with media publishers / Semafor

Media-tions

From Celeste: Media Monday: The WaPo Wars' / The Powers That Be - Puck Podcast
Speaking of the ‘third newsroom:’ The New York Times knows that the right beauty affiliate writer can keep their lights on / NYT Jobs
Case in point: Popsugar relaunched as PS and will be much more focused on health and wellness / Popsugar
Cause, like, “I Used to Run a Popular Newsletter. Then Things Started Getting Weird.” / Slate
Related, from Iolanda: "Following concerns that generative-AI summaries could negatively affect publishers’ traffic from search, AI integrations into email are now placing publishers’ newsletter strategies at risk too”/ The Media Leader
The Sidemen wrapped up their first-ever reality show, Inside…and it reached over 38 million views on YouTube in a week / YT
United Airlines unveils a new targeted advertising network / Monocle
And You can now shop New York Times Cooking recipes with its Instacart tie-up / AdWeek
While from Piers: Games Are Proving Their Pull on News and Tech Sites / NYT
Mike Nouveau, announced his own platform to buy and sell watches called PUSHERS / IG
Truly unrelated: Ramdane Touhami’s magazine Useless Fighters is dedicated to raising the profile of the world’s mountainous regions / Monocle

Market / Influence

It’s Pride Month. Have brands gone back in the closet? / Vogue Business
Corollary: Everything That Went Wrong With Bumble’s Rebrand / Marketing Brew
From Molly: The World’s Richest Family Is About to Remake the Olympics. Here’s How / GQ
A new startup imagines a world where sports fans can invest in their favorite athletes and buy shares in their future earnings/ Axios
Butt in the meantime, from Molly: Hey, can I have your username? Despite account transfers being against the rules of most social-media platforms, the practice is widespread — and lucrative / Sherwood
Meanwhile, Chinese youth have a new zoo fascination and brands like North Face, Samsung, and Judydoll are eyeing the attraction to create unique collabs / Jing Daily
While Saudi Arabia has used its vast wealth to become a major player in professional golf and soccer. Now, it wants to take over boxing /NYT
The Tribeca Film Festival is collabing with influencer-marketing firm Whalar Group to launch a creator-focused vertical at the fest / Tube Filter
And hot off the Tribeca presses, Starbucks is launching a film studio / Starbucks
Ryan Reynolds pitches the company’s new AI platform, MNTN Matched, which connects brand advertising with targeted, individual consumers on streaming platforms / Fast Company
Trust in advertising is on the rise. Per new research advertising is no longer the UK’s least trusted industry / Creative Brief
Also not necessarily trusting this: Adidas’ $20K Roblox necklace marks new era for fashion and gaming / Jing Daily
Tho on the topic of new frontiers: Prada’s ‘Luna Rossa’ to carry Unesco’s message across the seas / Jing Daily
And - I mistook this for a Shake Shack collab and got all excited … Vacation’s Shake Shake / Vacation
Clark’s Olympic Snub Ignites Debate, Reveals Complexities Beyond Court / Front Office Sports
What’s Up with Tiktok’s beef with Chipotle? / NYT

Eats, Drinks and Ephemera

Continuing with that .. ‘Chipotle boys’ are rampant in NYC / NYPost
Hence? The ‘Loneliest Generation’ is Transforming the Dinner Party / Bon Appetit
Also transforming parties: How to Eat Cicadas Safely / Yahoo
Corollary: Is sotol the next mezcal? / Wine Enthusiast
Restaurants are placing big, experimental bets on robots / Axios
From Iolanda: [The “World’s 50 Best Restaurants] “Disfrutar in Barcelona takes the top spot, while Spain’s Asador Etxebarri and Paris’s Table by Bruno Verjus round out the top three" / Eater

The Natural (?!) World

Mycologists and hobbyists keep finding new species of fungi / NYT
Elsewhere: Scientists found a tiger shark that regurgitated a whole echidna / The Guardian
Meet the most endangered marine mammal. The vaquita porpoise / NYT
The latest critters invading New York: mitten crabs / CBS
And also giant yello spiders / Scientific American
But maybe that’s good given the Tiger mosquitoes behind Europe dengue fever rise / BBC
Rescuing baby Puffins in Iceland / NYT
Also rare: From Piers: Foraging on Public Lands in the US Is Becoming More LImited / NYT
Meanwhile, in Sweden: Gustav Edén on Love (Park) Malmö Why is there a section of Love Park in Malmö? / Monster Children
Which leads us to conclude with Behind the Privet Hedge — a surprisingly radical history of suburban gardens / FT

[SIC] 301: Common Parliaments