☀️The Weekstarter: Weird Futures
Links for your week. CONTEXT COLLAPSE! 102
Hello, internet friends.
It’s been a ridiculous week. On the plus side, I shipped out a very large project to a grateful client and got some extremely nice thank you letters from clients who I recently worked on projects with.
On the minus side, the toddler’s sick. He had a fever earlier this week and now, though fever-free, has a lingering cough and is sneezing out industrial quantitites of snot. One of the positives of running my own business is that I can stay home to watch my kid easily and then work on projects once he’s asleep. It’s pretty awesome, honestly (apart from the lack of sleep, but that’s a story for another time…). Three cheers for flexible work schedules and having control over your own time.
Meanwhile, the Harvard Law Bulletin just wrote quite a bit about my work with Disinfodex. Google Alerts also tipped me off that Robert S. Ehlers Jr. and Patrick Blannin referenced one of my old Fast Company articles in an article called Integrated Planning and Campaigning for Complex Problems.
Although I haven’t worked in journalism for quite a few years, it’s always interesting to see how the reporting I worked on ended up having a substantial long-tail afterlife. I’m very curious to see early ‘10s tech journalism will hold up after 2025—and if it will even be freely available online or will be hidden between a paywall, a walled garden, or something else altogether.
Now on to the links.
New Futures:
The New York Times editorial board tries to explain why intelligence agencies think the future is bleak.
Amazing charity RIP Medical Debt is buying and discharging $278 million of unpaid American hospital bills.
Michael Waters and The Atlantic discuss the very long history of gender-neutral pronouns in English.
The events industry is booming as pro sports, live musical, festivals, trade shows and all sorts of IRL things return after an awful 2020.
Advertising/Marketing/PR:
Facebook is going all-in on advertising inside virtual reality.
Uber-lobbyist Rick Berman appears to be tied to a Critical Race Theory astroturfing campaign involving NYC private schools. (And in more astroturf-y news, look how easy it is to set up fake left-wing groups on Facebook!)
United Airlines with fandom marketing awesomeness in their new Star Wars-themed jet.
Erin Griffith at the NYT looks at Lionness, a PR/comms firm specializing in helping people navigate speaking out against workplace mistreatment.
There’s a reason why home shopping channels have survived decades; now internet DTC companies are discovering livestreaming.
Convenience stores and drugstores are about to do a big push for installing advertising screens on refrigerators.
Big brand safety news in YouTube banning election, alcohol and drug ads from their masthead. They will be allowed elsewhere.
Of course oil companies are hiring Instagram influencers.
Media:
Smart read on how YouTube’s employees built ties and backchannels with the music industry.
TikTok apparently changed the shape of some users’ faces in videos to make them look more “beautiful” without notifying them.
Ernie Smith on Apple’s moves around email marketing tracking.
The Wall Street Journal is clamping down on reporters getting book deals from their coverage.
Automattic, which is quietly (and smartly) buying every blogging platform, just acquired Day One.
Spotify just acquired podcast discovery platform Podz, launched a Clubhouse-like live audio tool called Greenroom, and inked a deal with podcast “Call Her Daddy.”
Still working my way through the absolutely bonkers Los Angeles article on Yashar Ali, one of Twitter’s best known personalities.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri just wrote a very long blog post about how Instagram’s discovery algorithms work. Separately, the Facebook-owned social network announced new monetization tools for brands, retailers and influencers.
Twitter’s unveiling new privacy functionality including the ability to delete strangers’ @ mentions of you.
American Airlines is shutting down in-flight magazine American Way; Delta and Southwest recently killed their magazines as well.
Peloton is hiring a small army of television and film industry types to work on their classes and make sure users watch their fitness videos.
Tech:
The Wall Street Journal’s guide to all the big Apple changes coming up.
Oldie but goodie: Nilay Patel and The Verge’s guide to confusing tech ideas.
Another oldie but goodie: How Yuri Milner became one of Silicon Valley’s major investors.
Things I’ve Enjoyed Lately:
Charlie Warzel on Bo Burnham and the online condition.
Rick Webb’s internet utopian mea culpa.
Discussing Duolingo’s Yiddish course and American Judaism.
Adobe’s new logos for every zodiac sign.
Samsung and Edelman’s redesign of the Save File icon.
The Onion’s (satirical, obviously) tips on building the ultimate bug-out bag.
Edwin Dorsey’s advice for creating a profitable subscription newsletter.
Pixar’s guide to storytelling.
Comic book writer J.M. DeMatteis’ tips for freelancers Twitter thread.
Bayeux Tapestry going down the pub.
Tim Ferriss and Elizabeth Gilbert discuss book writing and creativity.
Ali Spagnola’s NFT odyssey.
And, last but not least, learning about fast food in ancient Rome.
What I’m Working On These Days:
I’m helping clients put together case studies, write white papers, and launch a podcast series.
I have availability to take on new projects starting in July; email to learn more.