![[SIC]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/e_trim:10:white/e_trim:10:transparent/h_72,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47cac4ef-6754-41d4-875b-2afe993c2ae8_1588x342.png)
![[SIC]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,h_36,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feb417c97-4abd-4e64-9e0c-fa062e3f3534_874x874.png)
[SIC] 317: Uncommonly Delicious
Vol. 7, No. 7: [Almost] Every [SIC] Talk Ever. Intro to Erewhonworld. Breakfast Clubbing. And 100ish Links to Win the Conversation over Dinner With. Open in Browser for Ideal Viewing.
The [SIC] digest of developments is published free on Thursdays to 5327 subscribers.Paying subs also get the [SIC] Day dispatch on M/Tu/W/F & the [SIC] Sundays minidigest. It's $8 a month, or $80 a year. Many paying supporters expense their subscriptions as research for work in marketing, advertising, entertainment and tech. You can too. Trust me. Hi all,
There’s been a lot of eating this week. Depending how long you’ve been hanging around [SIC] dispatches you might have seen me reference the weekly Breakfast Club that I host in Brooklyn on Wednesday mornings, or the corresponding Breakfast Clubbing newsletter that I send on Mondays. It’s been going on for three years as of next week, and it feels like its found a new gear of late; friends have kicked off their own local versions in over 25 cities around the world, and over 200 people came thru to 15 separate events last week, including three in NYC, two in LA, a Paris Pop up and an Amsterdam debut, among others.
I bring it up for two reasons. One is to remind you that if you’re convenient to one, you’re invited to join sometime. Like [SIC], it’s free to join, freeform in its spirit, and generally really fun. Speaking for myself, anyway.
The other reason is that it’s a great source of discussion and opinion for me - the conversations always veer wildly and weirdly (check yesterday’s report for example) and I come away with new insight every time. Case in point - Eastside LA co-host Michael Miraflor’s positing that Erewhon Membership is The Future of Credit Card Perks in his Third City ‘sletter came up - and sent me down a rabbithole that deepened after Lori Krauss forwarded Succession, With Smoothies: Inside the Erewhon Dynasty, the Antoci family story of ‘transforming a gloomy L.A. health food store into the world’s trendiest and most extravagant market, just as Erewhon launched kids meals in partnership with Postmates, a “new, limited-time only collaboration [that] addresses parent’s desire to easily provide picky-eater kids with healthy, delicious meals.” For a mere $20. Fascinating state of modern affairs, or the absurdity of the modern condition, depending on how you read it.
That phrase - the absurdity of the modern condition - is one I attribute to last week’s [SIC] Talks guest, Jesse Pearson. And since I both failed to manage a new talk this week AND failed to upload our conversation to Spotify, I’m revisiting it this week. Here’s the pod. Do yourself a favor and listen sometime. And then come talk about it with me at breakfast sometime.
Ok, now the links.
[SIC] 317: Uncommonly Delicious
Fits and Starts
Why It's Hard to Argue about “Cultural Stasis” / Culture: An Owner’s Manual
Is Social Media Becoming 'Hollow Media'? Reflections on the future of social networks / In Bed With Social
A Land Without Giants. There’s a clear and present need for new archetypes leading next-gen institutions. We are in need of a great debate about the future! / Product Lost
Hence: Everything is Fornite Now. More than a game, it's the single most important influence on popular culture / Sherwood
Also debatable? What does slow AI look like? / Sublime
Marques Brownlee called out companies for using an AI clones of his voice to push products.
Well, Marques: You may not want to become an A.I. chatbot — but there’s little you can do to stop others from making that happen / Wired
Tho?! "I can navigate to places that I'm not supposed to go”. Elan Ullendorff wants to know how you found him / Embedded
Ullendorf publishes a newsletter about taking control of our attention and finding a more human side of the internet / Escape the Algorithm
Meantime, The internet is obsessed with watching pretty girls eat / Ad Hoc
Also not stopping; Shoplifters Gone Wild. No One Knows How to Stop Shoplifters / The Atlantic
In contrast: After an 18-hour bender the "beer fear and anxiety" got too much, and she had to quit drinking / BBC
And California Takes Step to Ban Kids from Riding E-Bikes / Micromobility Report
Corollary: protesters in Spain told tourists to ‘go home.’ Instead more arrived / CNBC
Speaking of ironic: Artists Are The Worst Direct-To-Consumer Brands On The Internet / Rob Abelow
Tina Brown, the queen of legacy media, is starting a Substack / NYT
Jane Pratt’s Substack is fully populated with like dozens and dozens of articles already—very old school website launch style - but she hasn’t sent any of them via email?!/ Jane Pratt
The first woman on the moon will wear this Prada spacesuit / Vogue Business
TLDR
Sleeping Beauties. A glimpse into ideas in science that languish in obscurity before eventually gaining recognition / Scope of Work
Corollary: Thinkers like Gilles Deleuze and Susan Sontag shaped interpretations, but Do Philosophers Understand Contemporary Art? / Frieze
Do They Really Believe That Stuff? According to a new book, America’s political derangement has psychological roots / The New Yorker
Hence? The Associated Press will have more than 5,000 people working on election night / Axios
Apropos? Inside the Violence and Radicalization of America’s Neo-Nazi Youth. White supremacists and right-wing extremists are doing time for increasingly serious crimes. And prison is breeding more of them / Vanity Fair
Ta-Nehisi Coates on complexity, clarity, and truth / Vox
But also? Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Temptations of Narrative In “The Message,” Coates counsels against myth but proves susceptible to his own / The New Yorker
You Become What You Measure. The Art of Defining Success / Unorthodox Blend
Corollary: Why the “Psychedelic Renaissance” is just Colonialism by Another Name / Doubleblind
How ‘shoe doping’ changed marathon times forever – in ways we still don’t fully understand. The story of how the marathon has changed, told by some of the people behind the technological revolution / The Athletic
Inside the Carjacking Crisis / The Atlantic
Also, There’s a gigantic vibrator at the Louvre, and it belongs to Maude. / IG
Indicative of?! A Hedgehog, a Centrifuge and Other Millennial Life-Improvement Splurges. Placing a high value on personal growth, millennials and Gen Z appear more likely than older generations to make hobbies and nonessential purchases a spending priority / NYT
The Case for the 1990s, Not 1890s, as a Better Choice for Peak America / American Enterprise Institute
Do Liberal Arts Colleges Pay Off? What the Data Say / American Enterprise Institute
But at least it’s not The Downward Spiral of the Chinese Economy / YT
Apropos: Did China just rehearse a Taiwan invasion again? / Global Times
Activist Investors Are Podcasters Now. Everybody has a podcast / Money Stuff
Nine Predictions: What the Music Industry Will Look Like in 10 Years / An Honest Broker
Then again, It’s not easy to see time. Is time hiding from us, or are we deliberately ignoring it? / Seth Godin
Related: The ‘Beautiful Confusion’ of the First Billion Years Comes Into View. Astronomers are reveling in the James Webb Space Telescope’s discoveries about the formative epoch of cosmic history / Quanta Magazine
NASA launched a mission to find aliens on one of Jupiter’s moons / Bloomberg
[SIC] Talks
Past Talks in reverse chronological order. Some big names herein. Taking guesses on which one(s) have been viewed most in the comments. Prepare to be surprised.
Jesse Pearson // Ochuko Akpovbovbo// Austin Tedesco // Brynn Wallner (2nd Appearance)// Foster Kamer // Julia Harrison // Ryan Babenzien // Kareem Rahma // Evan Armstrong // Sara Fischer // Adam Faze // Aaron Stern // Heather Pieske // Noah Brier // Emily Segal // Casey Lewis (2nd Appearance) // Jacob Donnelly // Ted Barrow // Tricia Romano // Emily Sundberg // Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick // Jason Kreher // Ryan Broderick // Daisy Alioto // Caitlin Thompson // Aaron Rose // Sami Reiss // Jeff Carvalho // Joy Howard // Mark the Cobrasnake // Sam Valenti // Gutes // Eugene Rabkin // Darren Hemming // Justin Staple // Recho Omondi // Ben Pruess // Thobey Campion & Benjamin Palmer // Davide Baroncini // Ana Andjelic // Ilirjana Alushaj // Matt Hranek // Michael Williams // Jian DeLeon // Ryan McGuinness // Sam Bompas // Andrea Hernandez // Ariel Wengroff // Brynn Wallner // Casey Lewis // Avery Booker // Noah Wunsch // Paul Munford // Mecyver // Matt Klein // Camella Ehlke // Cheryl Dunn // Elva Ramirez // Ken Miller // Josh Peskowitz // William Strobeck // Walter Schriefels // Diallo Riddle // Stephen Van Asco // Pia Baroncini // Chris Black // Jon Wexler // Ruba Abu Nimah // Matthew Davis // Theo Keetell // Steph Simon // Piers Fawkes // Corinna Freedman // Alyse Archer-Coite // Jauretsi Saizarbitoria // Jeff Kling // Thalia Mavros // and Ricky Engelberg
Other Conversations
The Women the Internet Loves to Hate (with Caroline Calloway) / Chaos World
A Norwegian journalist has gone viral for her awkward interviews with Blake Lively and Anne Hathaway. She says there’s more where that came from / NYT
TLDR Live with Matty Matheson / Spotify
Macy Callaghan And Brydie Watson’s Guide To Fun In California / Monster Children
Joe Freshgoods Inc.’s Joe Robinson on Finding Creative Success / BoF
Idea Generation sits down with Fear of God designer Jerry Lorenzo about his ascension in the world of streetwear / Bloomberg
Wendy Red Star on the Power of Indigenous Art. The artist discusses family bonds, Native history, and how studying sculpture inspired her genre-defying photography / Aperture
The Unsettling Presence of Francis Bacon A packed survey at the National Portrait Gallery in London reveals an artist who was the architect of his own myth Frieze
Style
At Sunset Boulevard’s new kiosk, you’ll find far more than just the latest newspapers / Monocle
Elsewhere in LA: California's new law targets fashion waste / The Carbon Almanac
The Evolution of the Artist’s Studio over the past century prioritize flux and dialogue over tradition / Frieze
How the Century-Old Cartier Tank Became a Contemporary Icon / Cool Material
After 60 years of making outdoor footwear, Red Wing Shoes has decided to sunset Vasque, its struggling hiking-focused footwear brand.” / Gear Patrol
Decades of formerly classified Army photographs get the fine art treatment in a new book, “Fashion Army.”/ NYT
And Rings get bigger as lab-grown diamonds catch up to naturals / Axios
Breaking Down a Long-Awaited “Men Gala” / Show Notes
Elsewhere: Slipping sales at LVMH spell trouble for luxury’s biggest group and the sector at large / Business of Fashion
So… Could Shushu/Tong be China’s next megabrand? / Vogue Business
China’s niche fragrance boom defies economic slowdown / Jing Daily
A First-Hand (Foot?) Review of On Running’s 3D-Printed Shoe / Wired
When is a bathrobe not a bathrobe? It’s fashion’s coat of the season / Guardian
Screen Time
Making phone photography dumb again A new feature on the camera app Halide allows you to take pictures without Apple’s A.I. optimization / The New Yorker
Crappy Cameras are so back / The Verge
How Digg helped invent the social internet / The Verge
WSJ profiles Charli XCX about everything that influenced Brat / WSJ
Corollary: How Much of the Dare Is Enough of the Dare? / The New Yorker
Meet YouTuber Brandon B, who believes agencies shouldn't worry about AI / Digiday
Google shakes up shopping with generative AI, adding AI-informed product recommendations alongside a design-heavy personalised feed / Vogue Business
Xbox Cloud Gaming Will Let Users Stream Their Own Games / Hypebeast
Instagram rolled out a new feature that allows users to share what are essentially digital business cards / TechCrunch
Advertising on platforms is becoming a bit of a magic show, courtesy of AI. TikTok is the latest to join the spectacle. / Digiday
Less magical: Inside the Tiktok Documents: Stripping Teens and Boosting “Attractive People.” According to a “trove” of secret documents, TikTok executives were aware that users can be “addicted” in under 35 minutes or 260 videos/ NPR
Abu Dhabi’s getting a Sphere / Hollywood Reporter
The Vergecast explores the history of the “podcast” and where the industry is heading / Vergecast Pod
Corollary? In praise of Megalopolis / Compact Mag
The Marketplace
The last full-size Kmart in the continental U.S. is about to shut. Shoppers reminisced about the store that once sold everything, everywhere / NYT
Victoria’s Secret Returns to the Catwalk With a New Attitude / WWD
Victoria’s Secert could be the next brand Gen Z brings back from the dead/ Business Insider
Nike remains the top brand among teens, but it’s losing share. New Balance, Adidas, Birkenstock and On are gaining traction with Gen Z / Retail Dive
Luxury brands face new low-growth reality in China / JIng Daily
The head of Sony Music Group said live shows are now much bigger profit generators than streaming, citing the touring show MJ: The Musical as a “gold mine.” / YT
Diehard Game of Thrones fans bid on hundreds of props from the HBO series, combining to spend over $21 million at the auction / AP News
Forbes is launching its own “upfronts” event specifically geared toward creators; basically an opportunity for creators and marketers to get in a room together and forge ad partnerships / Forbes
Hell Gate NYC doubled its subscription revenue in its second year as a worker-owned news outlet / Nieman Lab
What should a music magazine be in the TikTok era? Pitchfork alumni have an idea./ NYT
How the hell did Mk.gee get this big? / Hearing Things
Also big: Why Men’s Retail Is Booming in Manhattan / BoF
Foot Locker expands NBA focus with Chicago Bulls partnership / Glossy
Glossier launched a swing state ad campaign / BoF
Brands let the DE&I fire burn out. Can the Heinz controversy reignite it? / The Drum
Do Brands have to get freaky to stand out on social media? / The Drum
Spotify is paying hundreds of millions to audiobook publishers on an annualized basis / Axios
Peter Zeihan on how A Small Town in NC Could Disrupt Global Semiconductor Production / Y
Sustenance
Ten-second ‘micro-walks’ may lead to better health. Very short walks lasting 10-30 seconds burn a surprisingly large number of calories, a study finds / The Times
Gen Zers are splurging on their grocery-store hauls to signal luxury, go viral online, and of course, treat themselves / Business Insider
How One Indian State Went 100% Organic. Fundamentally altering how food is grown is not easy. The state of Sikkim took the slow and pragmatic route — and it has paid off / Reasons to Be Cheerful
An interim restaurant critic for The New York Times, reviewed every Carbone in America / NYT
The 25 best restaurants in Portland, Ore / NYT
Three-ingredient avocado chips / The Takeout
How to correctly shuck (and eat) oysters / The Takeout
Friends Section
Your Favorite Skater’s Favorite Photographer: Atiba Jefferson / YT
The hard truth about journalism, from Eugene Rabkin. [SIC] Talks alum and the founder of StyleZeitgeist spills the tea / NSS Magazine
Getting Rec’d
My pick as an alternate: Wax London Cozi Fleece Jacket (I’m a medium since you asked haha) / Nordstrom
Your Art-Filled Itinerary for This Year’s Open House New York: behind-the-scenes tours of historic landmarks, award-winning architecture, artists’ studios, and more / Hyperallergic
Art Basel Paris 2024 cheat sheet / Vogue Business
Hauser & Wirth Romanticizes Los Angeles in New Group Show / Hypebeast
Playlist
Courtesy of Ben Pier: Photographer, Toy Machine founder and bona fide skateboarding royalty Ed Templeton picks out his favourite musical moments from the annals of skate video history / NTS
Dookie “Demastered” — Green Day’s classic album, but on Game Boy cartridges, piano rolls and Teddy Ruxpins / dookiedemastered
Wisdom of the Crowds
From Aaron Stern:
Have you listened to this? Wild story. Thought it might be good for your stack. There’s a line where a teller says “we need to handle this lol” that made me lol / [The Money Laundering Behind TD Bank’s $3M Fine] / Spotify
From Gordon Hull:
my god I love that Austin restaurant story [featured in [SIC] Day 217] reminds me of what Kellogs Diner was doing during the pandemic. its an old story but one of my favorites of recent memory / Eater
From Iolanda Carvlaho:
Control everything... 😉[YouTube is getting more granular playback speed controls and a sleep timer] / The Verge
An essay by Sequoia "The Agentic Reasoning Era Begins" [Generative AI’s Act 01] / Sequoia Capital
From Molly Raskin: hiya, been a minute! hope you’re well + apologies that this is coming to you so late!
Boo Baskets Are Haunting Parents / The Cut
How the WNBA Became the Most Fun, Complicated, and Exciting League in Sports / GQ
in audio: Why Was 1999 the Best Movie Year? / NYT Pod
The Latest Hot Item on Wedding Registries? A New House / NYT
We're about to enter the Digital Dark Ages / Business Insider
The Transparent Cruelties of Diddy’s Entertainment Machine / Atlantic
For the reporters of Hell Gate, heaven is covering Mayor Eric Adams / WaPo
The rise of DGAF brands / Fast Company
Bronny James Shoots His Shot / Men’s Health
Why Are People Wearing Bedroom Slippers on City Streets? / T Magazine
From Celeste Blewitt:
This week, taking a breath after a giant week - we've just finished up hosting artist/ photographer in residence, Hugh Stewart, internationally acclaimed, (he was THe photographer who shot Leo Di Caprio for Romeo and Juliet with the hawaiian shirt....) and now in his down time between shoots, he takes people's portraits, such a treat to have him in the office.
Now back to regular programming and here's an edit of my reading and listening this week.
'The Sperm Donor Bros Of Tech' Given Elon and all the rest of the tech bros donating sperm, this is intriguing to read of the growth of this. Thoughts include - what does the future look like given this is a growing trend amongst Silicon Valley types. Perhaps a study in ethics and what the future holds - many thoughts / FT
What's Wrong With Effective Altruism? And leading on from Silicon Valley, tech bros and sperm donation, we move ont a podcast on philanthropy, charity and effective altruism. Solid listen with ethical discussions on the model of effective altruism and where it leads. / The Economics Show - FT
The Wellness Industry Is Manifesting A Quantum World. What a fun article, yet interlaced with scientific and tech discussions on the rise of quantum physics. Apparently quantum woo is all the rage, with quantum physics and the giant wellness movement now being drawn together. Worth a read / The Atlantic
How Lore Segal Saw The World In A Nutshell . A heartwarming article on Lore Segal, her writing and the art of people watching. A brilliant reminder to read, engage and discuss, with empathy and fuelled with storytelling / The Atlantic
Three Of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's Coats Are Going up For Auction At Sotheby's Next Month. I had no idea there are only around 100 photos of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in existence, a reminder of pre social media times. Her style is one which truly epitomises the revolving moments of trends and style. Plus let's not forget that these items will be in Sotheby's in a moment / Tatler
Rufus Du Sol, Dom Dolla, Flume, Fisher: Inside Australian Dance Music's Global Boom. From The Presets and Cut Copy via Modular records to the now hugely popular Australian acts in Rufus Du Sol, Dom Dolla et al, there truly appears to be huge growth in Australian dance music. From what was once more underground, these sounds are now global, what a sound, what a sight. Although I'll always reminisce on Cut Copy and the Presets from back in the day / / The Guardian
Corollary Sources this week:
WNYC Weekly Brief / Elevator / The Future Party / International Intrigue / Public Announcement / Axios/ Deez Links / Way to Go / The Honest Broker / The Material Review / The Deep Dive / Beats and Bytes/ User Mag / As Seen On By Ochuko / Feed Me/ The Unskippables / Fashion Matters
[SIC] 317: Uncommonly Delicious