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Hi all.
Getting this one in just under the wire for a Thursday send. I took Campbell to see Tony tonight on his last night in town before returning for his junior year, so forgive the delay. Good film. Go check it out.
Caught up this eve with Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick and Bobby Aaron Solomon, too, n town on their New York exploration from Barcelona. Kyle and I are going to be doing a live HIP REPLACEMENT recording at the Ace Hotel in Brooklyn on September 17th, so look out for more details on that. If you want to come along, sound off in the comments or send me a DM. The last two were really fun.
Prior to that, there’ll be a [SIC] pre-NYFW gathering, courtesy of Gordon Hull on September 8th in Manhattan. Same drill if you’re interested; would love to see you IRL.
Other than that, I’ll leave you to the dog days of summer. I compiled this one to an excellent playlist of Space Dust Disco Classics my brother Isaac Dietz put together a few years back. It’s a public playlist, and I would suggest you put it on for the next 8 hours. Or at least while you peruse the links.
[SIC] Talks #123: db Burkeman
As I originally noted on Tuesday, this week’s chat was with db Burkeman, the longtime figure of importance in downtown NYC culture. db was a DJ, A&R man, record label owner, proprietor of record store Breakbeat Science and BBlessing, the seminal boutique on Orchard Street, an art collector of note, and a general culture enthusiast of great repute.
More than that, he is just a really nice dude whose endless curiosity and continuous involvement in the kind of culture that matters to me is pretty admirable. We talked about physical objects in a digital age, the pleasures of cultural rabbit holes, his forthcoming rave flyer tome, and why the best books don’t need a coffee table.
Youtube link above and here’s the Spotify:
Pertinent to the conversation:
ILLEGAL: Rave Flyers of the 90s is a 500-page, encyclopedic collection of rave flyers from the dawn of rave culture in America (over at @raveflyerbook on IG)
totally timely: Huck Mag ran a feature today named Lost photos from the heyday of punk and new wave on DB’s own book, “Crash Bang: Pictures From a Punk”
The Human Sexual Response single “Pound”, as discussed.
Apropos of pounding: I’d take issue some of the inclusions in Pitchfork’s “The 37 Greatest Electroclash Songs of All Time” but since Philip Sherburne has a byline I’ll let it stand.
Genre-fit debates notwithstanding, Fischerspooner’s “Emerge” gives the whole movement life. And still destroys. One curious feature of the video is full film credits, which was extremely uncommon at that time.
As for 2020s answer: 9 Acts To Have On Your Radar According To Foundation FM. Looking forward to some of these ladies on the boards for the new Dua.
And despite DB not being a magazine guy… “Magazines are cultural artefacts”: magCulture’s Jeremy Leslie on the enduring importance of print
Case in point: The Shoreditch Twat, briefly encapsulated.
One of db’s @stuckupofficial sticker museum show panels; Banksy stickers in the bottom right. Photo his.
The Age of Quarrel
History of economic thought in one paragraph is the right rejoinder for this 40 trillion dollar Milestone week.
Speaking of as-yet-unresolved influences: The legacy of the “Hot or Not” website.
To that end: no, the pink-pill doesn’t exist. Abha Ahad on the bothsidesing of online gender wars and why the femosphere is a myth.
Related to that, doubtless: I’m a Psychiatrist. I’m hearing something new from Young Women. To wit: Young women who have never set foot in therapy are invoking therapy-speak, showing up to their appointments announcing their own diagnoses — ADHD, OCD, anxiety, depression — “almost before telling me their names.”
At least the young men are having ….A Sperm Race-cum-Party for the World’s Least Fertile Economy. [SIC] homie Patrick Kho once again goes balls deep into the dyamic in which a city spending billions to increase its birth rate [Hong Kong] takes fertility advice from a man named “Dick Gay.”
There’s a corollary in Quo Vadis, Hispania? Part One. More than perhaps any other European country, Spain is committed to countering depopulation through bringing newcomers in from abroad: and specifically, from outside Europe. Results are mixed, no pun intended.
So maybe we should consider Europe, the secret outperformer. Its cash generation, broader earnings and lower tech concentration deserve more respect.
Meanwhile, a decade on from Brexit, Old British shopping bags are suddenly in demand
And Almost half of the UK’s 40 best-selling fiction come from Japan…
But back in Co.JP Japan’s Gen X workers are struggling’ earnings haven’t caught up with that of older cohorts.That points to a looming crisis as they reach old age.
More looming crises: Democrats Are Failing the Waymo Test. Cities that say no to driverless cars are blocking a technology that would change their residents’ lives for the better.
While at the same time Pangram Says Ro Khanna’s Posts Are AI-Generated.
Also disputed: The Contentious History of a Lost Cave House in Mexico City. The destruction of “Casa Cueva,” one of Juan O’Gorman’s last architectural works, pitted two great artists against each other.
Just a reminder, y’all: Chivalry isn’t dead: Inside the world of modern jousting
AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
From Celeste Blewitt: And the ever present AI discussion….it’s not gong anywhere, but the rogue agents sure are! A long read in the FT, but a tad nerve wracking, yet insightful…. [AI Hasn’t Gone Rogue. It’s Worse Than That]
AI was supposed to win people over by now -- it hasn’t. As AI becomes harder to avoid, consumers are growing more wary of the technology — and Silicon Valley is discovering that widespread adoption doesn’t necessarily lead to acceptance.
Evidence for why: We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility.”
More on that note: Amazon caught destroying rare books to train ai.
Interesting corollary: Reddit Vanished From ChatGPT an 86% citation collapse, and nobody sent a memo.
Maybe because? Everyone’s Using This A.I. Dictation App That [Amy X. Wang Wants] to Murder With a Hammer. Disclosure, I use Wispr to compose parts of this newsletter.
So then like… Can AI Replace Editors Like Me? What would you do if your boss said he wanted your help to automate away your job? [SIC] homie Kate Lee , the editor in chief of the AI-related publication Every talks about how here Kat boss, Dan Shipper, has proposed just that.
Shipper gave his side of the story to Casey Newton
From Iolanda Carvalho: AI in Media and other stories…[AI in media: The biggest developments of 2026 so far]
Apropos of that from Jason Leavy: “When you mentioned recently that your most-clicked links were science-related I thought it was worth sending you this recent edition of my newsletter.” [Are You A Cognitive Athlete?]
Speaking of: I used Claude to help write this. It’s still mine. Right?
Given the ease of creation: Is AI Entering Its NFT Era?
8-Ball shrugs and points to: The Home Slopping Network. A new channel on Roku’s TV service offers all-you-can-eat AI programming.
Arts and Designs
New Museum’s NEW INC announced its Year 13 Incubator Cohort
Latin Empire. which posits that New Aesthetics will come from Hispanoamerica
Meantime, the Aesthetic Study this week is Tray Service.
Functional decor corollary: IKEA’s most recent collection is an “entry point” for young design fans, launching the limited-edition Konstrunda collection, an assortment of furniture and homeware objects
Apropos of entry points: Harriet Richardson on life after design. She’s really into her new hairstyle.
Also self-conscious? The Embarrassing Secret of Kareem Rahma’s Success
Maybe also embarrased or something? Jordan Wolfson Is Opening a Major Show at Gagosian. He Does Not Want to Talk About It
Automatonic corollary to Wolfson: Mattia Balsamini subverts sci-fi cliches of robotics with striking portraits of mechas and mechanical dogs
Elsewhere, The Talks Talks to NIEVES GONZÁLEZ (she of the women in puffer coats paintings)
The EU’s new packaging laws are another nail in the coffin for small/DIY artists
On the subject of packaging: Noted by [SIC] Talks alum Avery Trufelman of Articles Of Interest ,“Danielle has figured out how to make almost any article of clothing without leaving any leftover scraps. Join me in helping her get the word out “
Generations
How Teen ‘After-Prom’ Kings in LA Monetized the High School Rager The West Coast house-party scene has long been iconic. For these young, tech-savvy entrepreneurs, it was also inspiration for MyPlots, a party-promotion empire.
Gen Z’s latest insult is “polyester.”
Platforming
DiVine, Vine’s spiritual successor, won’t rule out ads. The app has a strict ‘no AI content’ rule, and company isn’t ruling out advertising.
Spanish midfielder Rodri got a warm welcome from FC Barcelona fans — on Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram account. Rodri is IG-less, so fans took to the popstar’s page to welcome him.
Can AI save tourists from the TikTok herd? Some fear that chatbots will lead everyone to the same places. In fact, they may do the opposite
Reddit is testing a new feature that turns regular text threads into AI-powered vertical videos.
The Shape of K
Prada Court and the rise of a new kind of everyday luxury. Sneaker expands Prada’s product universe and the ways consumers experience the brand.
$500 Counterfeit Rolex So Good, Even Rolex Didn’t Spot It. The replica watch industry is in its “super clone” era.
Corollary to that: There’s No Reason to Buy a New Phone Anymore. Consumers are ditching the hype cycle and buying used devices in unprecedented numbers. Joy Howard please sound off in the comments.
Related to that: Boom boxes, instant cameras, and even landlines are making a comeback.
But does anyone need the Verner Panton chair in Gold we’ve been waiting for?
Or the Jack White ’sculptures’?
Marketizing
R.I.P. Columbia House: Here’s How It Improbably Survived This Long. It wasn’t music streaming that killed it, because it pivoted. Gizmodo’s obituary for the 12-CDs-for-a-penny empire — the negative-option billing, the bankruptcies, and the zombie afterlife that finally ended.
Speaking of killing it: I mentioned on Tuesday how much I liked NYC streetwear brand Fugazi’s reaction to their Vans project being canceled, as explained in this Fugazi IG Ad.
And hearing More details thereof makes me like it even more
there’s a link somewhere in this link from Iolanda Carvalho: “And also this - merch marketing...” [Lufthansa puts unspoken dos & don’ts of flying on cheeky ‘Travel Etiquette’ apparel line]
Speaking of negging: Nike is quietly closing its localized neighborhood stores. Including, to my surprise, Williamsburg, which I noticed riding by yesterday.
Even as they bring on influencer / actress Quen Blackwell as the latest face of the swoosh.
Curios timing given The Influencer Follower-Count Era Is Ending the number at the top of a creator’s profile no longer tells brands what they need to know — and what’s replaced it.
And Creators are moving into brands’ AI search playbooks. As brands race to show up in AI-generated answers, creators are becoming part of the strategy.
Thusly: Mattel is turning UNO into a competitive streaming event with the launch of the UNO Championship Series, which will air live on Twitch.
In a recruiting push, the US Army is offering soldiers 4 days off to play GTA 6 once it’s released.
Meantime, Netflix has acquired The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable, a documentary about Wu-Tang affiliate Cilvaringz and the creation of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the one-of-a-kind album famously sold for $2 million to Martin Shkreli.
Not to be outdone?! Amazon MGM accidentally leaked its new Jason Statham movie, Mutiny, on Prime Video ahead of its theatrical release.
Mediatations
Sherman’s March: How Fashion Learned to Fear a Newsletter. We’ve always had a love-hate relationship with our most celebrated purveyors of gossip. Lauren Sherman, author of Line Sheet, is the latest inheritor of the mantle.
Corollary: How to Sell Nothing and Win. How ‘Inner Scarcity’ is becoming fashion’s newest weapon.
Therefore: MS NOW will launch a paid membership program for “super fans”
Speaking of “super”… fans….Doxy Magazine advocates for the Working Girl
Discovered via artist, writer, sex worker, and founder and editor of Doxy CELINA REBOYRAS’s feature on Perfectly Imperfect today
Also hardworking (this week at least): CHANTY BELUGA picks on PI.
Eats
Where’s The Beef? The lab-grown-meat revolution that wasn’t.
Related: The Meat Glue Moment. Cake Zine takes us back to the mid 2000s, when the often-villainized invisible glue became a molecular gastronomy darling.
Also taking us back: Inside The Mind Of Chef Daniel Watkins from the early-1990s rave scene to fronting London’s plant-based restaurant Holy Carrot.
From Celeste Blewitt: “I found James Ramsden’s piece in The Fence on opening and closing restaurants and the rollercoaster of success to be such a heartening conversation. The art of business…”
Another from Celeste: “Caroline Chambers has built the recipe Substack that everyone seems to go to… intriguing to hear the background.” [Caroline Chambers on the This is Taste pod]
Also intriguing? World-class wine is being made in Skane, a region in southern Sweden, sometimes referred to as the “Nordic Tuscany” and promoted as a tourist destination for foodies.
Acting Natural
How to be irresistible on dating apps, according to science. It’s not what you share, but how you share it.
Irresistibility corollary: today was World Mosquito Day, which marks the discovery that mosquitos transmit malaria between humans. A new device employs AI and a microscopic laser to zap them right out of the air.
HIP REPLACEMENT EP. 70 Denayja Reese
In which the LA-born-and-based “connector of people and things” (her term) joins us to talk Gen Z fashion (or lack thereof), the new Troye Sivan, and why the DSA is and isn’t working. The takes abound. Watch above or listen here:
[SIC] 8.20.26
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