The Digestif, February 26th
One year since Russia invaded Ukraine. I have little to say that others haven’t said better, but I repeat this; Heroyam slava!
Recommended Reads
‘How to Be 18 Years Old Again for Only $2 Million a Year’ by Ashlee Vance (Bloomberg). I’m late getting to this, but it’s a seriously interesting, compelling piece. Do I think the guy is nuts? A bit, yeah; but cracking how to stop or reverse aging could be among the most important medical discoveries around; both in and of itself, but also for the things we learn along the way.
‘The Schools That Ban Smartphones’ by Mark Oppenheimer (The Atlantic). I’m biased as (A), I grew up without television, social media, or smartphones (until I was 15 or 16); and (B), Mark is a close mentor of mine, and altogether great guy — but this is a great piece.
‘It’s a chat bot, Kevin’ by Mike Solana (Pirate Wires). A fantastic response to Kevin Roose’s hyperbolic, stupid piece in the New York Times, interacting with Bing’s AI. I’m glad people like Solana are here to call out the deliberate ignorance of articles like these, but I’m pretty disgusted that this makes it into the Times.
‘Writers of the World, Denounce!’ by Jamie Kirchick (Tablet). Phenomenal piece by Kirchick on the absurd GLAAD vs NYT vs NYT reporting bullshit.
‘The Death of the Sex Scene’ by Sophie Gilbert (The Atlantic). Perhaps my most controversial opinion is that, rather than getting more degrading, extreme, and vulgar, mass culture has gotten more puritanic and boring; and the death of sex scenes is a clear example of that. Bring back the cinema of Fatal Attraction and magazines of old Vanity Fair!
‘A misguided jury failed to see the art in Mason Rothschild’s MetaBirkins’ by Blake Gopnik (Washington Post). I was initially dismissive and unreceptive to this case - the rip-off NFT space is as huge as it is void of creativity - but Gopnik makes a good (and compelling) defence. And even if you hate the art, I have strongly believe that copywrite protections are far too strong, and allow for the stifling of real creativity; a sub-topic within my recent piece on high-end replica Jordans in The Spectator.
‘Markets in fact-checking’ by Matthew Feeney (Works in Progress). As per usual, another fantastic piece in Works in Progress.
‘Bitcoin’s Future Depends on a Handful of Mysterious Coders’ by Paul Kiernan (WSJ). I hold the bullish-bearish crypto middle position, which is that Bitcoin and NFTs will be the future of the internet, the online economy, and much of the offline economy, but the current scaffolding is unstable to the point of imminent, inevitable implosion. This piece is a good example of all points.
And:
Wider Culture
Cars: China continued to impress with new electric cars; Maserati showed off more pictures of the ‘new’ GranTurismo (which everyone says is gorgeous, but I find quite plain and old-hat); Mercedes advanced their Lidar system; Peugeot unveiled their new 508 mid-size sedan and estate; and Bentley announced the death of their beloved (and ancient) V12.
Entertainment: Avatar: Way of the Water became the third-highest grossing film of all time; Hogwarts Legacy continued to prove that a vocal minority of loud-mouths couldn’t stop a seemingly great game from reaching many, many people; Spielberg announced he will be adapting Kubrick’s unproduced Napoleon script; and Scott Dilbert lost all distributors of Dilbert, along with all people who would defend such cancellation. Put frankly; I dislike a puritanical culture that can’t stomach enjoying the art of heinous people (see: Dahl, Weinstein, Polanski), but any reasonable company should disassociate with someone who says that black people are “a hate group” that white people should “just get the hell away” from.
Fashion: Daniel Lee debuted his first collection for Burburry, which was over-praised by most, but still a promising first step; Diesel used denim, and rubbers; and GCDS had the most underappreciated show of the season, with really fun, Virgil-esque playful details. Speaking of Vuitton: the house used Joan Mitchell’s art without permission, but will probably incur no meaningful penalties for doing so. ‘Tis the way with LVMH.
Technology: The James Webb Space Telescope found something that fundamentally changes our understanding of the history of the universe (and it didn’t make the front-page of any paper); Zucc announced paid verification and customer service access (a novelty given Meta’s custom service has been heinous, and their verification process among the most oblique); Meta accidentally reinstated the PornHub Instagram account, then re-banned it, having (moronically) banned it last year; and Coinbase announced that they will move their company to the blockchain, using their new Ethereum Layer 2 protocol, Base, which will also be easy for other developers to work on.
Most Important Story You Missed
If you are a rabid MSNBC watcher - god help you - this story has probably been screamed into your head so often and loudly that you hear echoes of it when you awaken. Among a certain economic, political, and social sector of American life, it was the second most important story this week; only surpassed by the President’s unjust restriction on their casual ‘necessary’ drug habit. The American upper-middle class runs on Fox mockery, institutional ascension, and amphetamine abuse*; the dream.
(*and listen, I have no problem with it: I’d give adderall a try if I could afford to and had the access, but alas. Tucibi is higher on my ‘to try’ list anyway)
However, I am not part of this ilk - nor (do I expect) are most of my readers - and the very fact that this story was so important to the MSNBC viewers of the world makes many of us reflexively dismiss it. However, it’s hard to state how utterly damning these texts are. Yes, these hosts are obviously insincere, cynical mercenaries of the culture war, but you don’t expect to see it put so plainly.
Bravo to Dominion for exposing this stuff; and I don’t have a sufficiently creative or polite way to express how much I loath the hosts in this story, I won’t say anything, aside from noting that, which I think says enough.
Best Tweet
This is straight out of The Office; I literally cried from laughter
Recommendations
App: SponsorBlock (Chrome Extension). One of the most underrated, useful extensions you can find. TLDR: it automatically skips the in-built ad-spots in YouTube videos.
Book: Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis. I’ve never done financial reporting/writing - though, I have two pitches filed which may change that - but I’ve always been a huge fan of the genre, and had long meant to read this book. It’s a quick, easy, witty read, whether you’re interested in the culture of 80s investment banking or not.
Film: Infinity Pool. If you don’t like gore, body horror, and surreal horror films, this isn’t the film for you. But, if you get a cineaste erection on hearing ‘Cronenberg’, know the son is almost as impressive as the original, and you have to watch. Compared to his other films, it’s better than Antiviral, but not as good as Possessor; but is still fantastic. Let’s Go Brandon*! *Cronenberg
Music: GLOW by Wesley Joseph. Fun, cruisy rap EP by a really talented artist. None as good as his 2022 single, Cold Summer, but still great stuff.
Podcast: ‘Astor Chambers' Game-Changing Work With Pharrell, Nike, and Adidas’ on the Complex Sneakers Podcast. If you’re interested in street-fashion history and influencer marketing, this is a truly great listen; particularly as Astor Chambers is a deeply compelling conversationalist.
TV: Mad Men. Yes, I know, you’ve all seen it; but I hadn’t, and have been loving it. I’m a nut about 60s American fashion - particularly the changes in menswear, which Mad Men doesn’t demonstrate as well, but still - and the costume design here is stellar.
Video: surprisingly interesting video
That’s all folks! No articles out this week, hopefully one out next, but many in the works. Enjoy your week!