[SIC] Day 7.28.26.

🔓 Rocking on their dime again: the brands are getting back into underwriting the culture, and bringing us along for the ride.

Hi all.

Welcome to the first paid subscriber post of [SIC]’s new incarnation. I’m still working out the kinks, so expect form factors and subject matters to change as we go, but I’m working on this one, creating in a style similar to what I have been intending.

The idea is that Tuesday’s and Sunday’s paywalled posts will aggregate recent developments with commentary, while Thursday posts will be free for all, and function more like a magazine. Fridays will capture my weekly [SIC] Talks conversations.

To that end, I appreciated [SIC] Talks alum Reggie James’s RULES FOR RECORDED CONVERSATIONS post today; it’s more of a guideline to how interviews ought to be conducted, but it nonetheless had some good reminders in there for me. Reggie has been quiet of late but has come back strong in the last week; I featured this one too:

A NEW NARRATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR DATA CENTERS

Apropos of this data center discourse: Japanese vending machine manufacturer SDRS has developed “Human refrigerator” to provide escape from deadly heatwaves amid the increasingly sweltering summers.

While we’re talking refrigeration, CNN’s got this interesting piece on “What a $15 pint of ice cream says about the economy,” Which gets to the K-shaped economy, but also just the fact that people make irrational choices when it comes to treats.

Kelefah Sanneh notices a similar thread in this piece on The myth of the food desert for Yorker, which notes that the phrase, which is not generally accurate, was actually imported from the UK.

More grocery store imports, more K-shaped behavior: NYC sees discount grocery renaissance with new stores from [German chains] Aldi, Lidl.

Given the price of food, then, not surprising that we’re seeing innovative marketers figure out ways to both give back and to sell in. Frequent fave A24’s upcoming Anthony Bourdain biopic, “Tony,” will screen for free for hospitality and food-service workers in 25 cities on August 3rd.

While, hot off the press: Google’s launching an AI residency at WSA ostensibly aimed at helping creative types incorporate the robots into their output.

Meantime, back in Google’s hometown, Gap Inc. opens creator program to employees. Corporate, distribution and store staff can now apply to be influencers for the retailer’s brand portfolio, almost a year after the program’s launch.

it’s clever, honestly, since A new middle class of content creators is quietly quitting the 9-to-5; culture savvy companies are going to use their platforms to both reward and incentivize their employees, as well as retain talent.

And why would they not?! Creators Are the New Media Channel of Choice

[BRW for those taking notes:] Kai Cenat’s Streamer U was a ‘masterclass’ for brands looking to tap content creators.

Hence, as Brian Morrissey notes, we’re seeing the rise of practitioner media. experts are increasingly using their acumen to broadcast and find favor with audiences. Guilty as charged.

More evidence: Europe got its own TBPN-style live show

While continuing its evolution, the excellent independent news source Roca Daily consolidated their two daily newsletters into one.

In contrast: against smart brevity? The Monster Children Guide To WRITING For Monster Children.

"You have to either be a real idiot, really naive, or a real son of a bitch to work in freelance journalism, but those tend to be our sort of people anyway, so we are glad you’re here. We are wide open for your ideas, keep 'em coming. However, we’d like to offer a bit of guidance as to the scope, style, and format for pitching us on your wild and strange proposals. If you’ve got a great idea, of course we want to hear it, but before you open your mail app, give this a read."

More brevity: People Around the World Are Talking Less. A recent study found that people spoke fewer words a day in 2019 than in 2005.

Interpersonal relationships corollary” Dating Apps Left Me Wondering: Do Men Not Want to Have Sex? Not me, you understand, but a reasonable question nonetheless.

Which gets to a question whose answer seems to be hiding in plain sight: Could our preoccupation with mental health be part of the problem?

Ergo, ennui: I Have 61,966 Unread Emails—and I Don’t Care

The good news may be that we have started turning the corner, as evidenced by how things like Light’s Nostalgic Flip Phone [are] ‘Designed to be Used as Little as Possible’

Brand Value Corollary: The Strategist and [SIC] Homie Katie Dreke’s STANDARDS & SIGNALS measures brands by what they refuse to do.

Returning to Indy Mags for a second, the excellent London-based culture pub Huck made a running package with Nike called “NO NOISE: Stories from Running Obsessives”

Which dovetails into this interesting WWE story about Nike’s pricing policies: A Nike Air Max Was On Sale For Over A Year. Was It Ever Truly On Sale? The swoosh continues to struggle.

Elsewhere, high-profile struggler and [SIC] fave Charli xcx Steps Behind the Lens In Her New Single “Camera,” to make hay out of her trials and travails as an artist on the most recent single from her solid, if unshowy new album.

Seems to be working, in any case?! Charli xcx image by Harley acquired by London’s National Portrait Gallery

Continuing the thread of unsuspected industry imagery: The Criterion Closet Visualization: A walk-in closet of 1,327 real Criterion editions, shelved in spine-number order — exactly as a true collector keeps them, (at least according to the Collection).

Less canon, perhaps: The genius behind “Jackass”: what makes Johnny Knoxville tick

Speaking of seeing visions, Regular readers will know that I am fascinated by psychedelic therapy, so this piece from Doubleblind was pretty interesting : Music Is the Real Medicine in Psychedelic Therapy, New Research Suggests

Directly corollary, both in terms of music and metaphysics: Blackbird Spyplane’s Summer Songs Supermix 2026 is accidentally about time melting.

Also genre-bending, Two Shell’s “Infinite Now+” which sounds a little like a Craig David record recorded by AC Cook. I’m sure my younger readers will take issue with that description, but what can I say? I’m old.

speaking of what the kids are into, if you are looking for an update on a little bit of contemporary marketing vernacular, have a squiz at OK Cool’s annual “What Are You Feeling RN” survey

And finally: Lou Koller, a Hardcore Punk Hero and Free Speech Champion Remembering the lead singer of Sick of It All. RIP.

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