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[SIC] 8.6.26
Many Metrics, Rave New World, Nature Healing, Democratic Socialism as Punk Culture, A Million tons of Burned Books and all the science links you can click.
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Hi all.
I’ll confess to never having been one for granular metrics autopsies, but now that I’m back in the saddle with [SIC], I do feel compelled to make this more “successful,” so to speak. And given last week’s influx of new paid subscribers, all of whom seem to be expensing their subscriptions, I thought I’d take a look at what’s working.
I’ve always thought of [SIC} as a wide-ranging and largely creatively-focused endeavor, so it was a little bit of a surprise that the most clicked links last week were nearly all science or economics related (peptides, GLPs, Oasis index, aliens, cucumber consciousness, billion dollar vaginas, etc)
If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. Lots more of that below, arranged exquisite corpse style this week, in the habit of this newsletter’s earliest incarnations.
But first, the return of [SIC] talks. Here’s my conversation from last Friday with Michelle Lhooq, which was published to paid subscribers that day and released this afternoon on YouTube and Spotify for everybody
[SIC] Talks #120: Michelle Lhooq
Michelle is a former colleague of mine when she was the features editor at Thump (rip), VICE’s electronic music vertical. She’s now major domo behind Rave New World, which is one of my favorite newsletters and gets deep into nightlife, dance music, drugs, counterculture, and access to scenes that I very much envy but no longer possess in my advanced age. Michelle’s in LA and she just got her neighbor to turn off his leaf blower especially so we could record. Listen in.
All the VICE chat in our convo drops us right into the link of the week for me, which Iolanda Carvalho sent along, writing, “You probably subscribe to [Mike] Solana’s [Pirate Wires], but just in case...” Inside the Coke-Fueled Rise and Fall of VICE.
It’s a doozy. I have lots of thoughts, but the main one is that author of the piece Mitchell Jackson (nee Sunderland)’s has landed in the right job as a PR. Guy has a knack for self-promotion, at least.
By way of ‘fact checking’: Mitchell (Sunderland)’s output while at VICE.
Not written by Mitchell, but in keeping?!
Playboy Undercover: I Went to a Secret Celebrity Orgasm Doctor
Matte of fact: Gregg Araki Says Bad Sex Is “a Part of Growing Up”. Ahead of “I Want Your Sex,” the filmmaker sits down and goes deep with Playboy.
Also not having sex: A startup created two allergen-free beagles using CRISPR gene-editing technology
On the topic of workplace relationships: Ozempic is causing weird work conversations. Miracle weight loss drugs are creating HR nightmares and clashes between coworkers.
But Nature is Healing! (Rivers at least?!)
Or… maybe not? Romanian naval forces blew up part of the drought-hit Danube river to channel water towards a nuclear plant. The Danube has fallen to record lows after successive European heatwaves, wreaking havoc on both Romanian and Hungarian reactors that rely on the river for coolant.
Data centers in the US directly use approximately 17.5 billion gallons of water annually—a fraction of the water used each year by other industries. By comparison, maintenance for residential lawns and turf uses 3.2 trillion gallons of water, and California’s almond industry uses 1.3–1.6 trillion gallons of water annually. AEI’s Daniel Lyons clarifies, “The concern over electricity use is more significant. Data centers are tremendous consumers of electricity, requiring utilities to build new generation facilities and upgrade existing infrastructure.”
Also spawning weird work convos: Harry Cheadle wrote, then deleted, then wrote again that Everyone Better Hope the Centrist Theory of Politics Is Wrong. The future of American democracy could hinge on progressives being right.
Unless maybe you’re Lefsetz on Democatic Socialism:
‘democratic socialism is punk, a reaction. To take it all seriously is to miss the point’
Also punk in a weird way: Boy Throb Had To Go Viral To Get Its Fourth Member a U.S. Visa.
Back to nature: Enter the bee vet. Bees are vital for agriculture. They’re also increasingly under threat from parasites and pathogens.
Kill the Ticks. America needs a bigger plan to control its tick problem.
Right-handedness might be dominant in humans because it gives you an advantage in hand-to-hand combat (!!)
Speaking of feets: Satisfy Is Running an Entirely Different Race. The cult French label’s fashion-brain take on running gear has changed how the sport looks, and now everyone wants to log miles.
Since we’re talkin’ ‘bout brands…
The Ordinary’s VP of Brand, Amy Bi, on a decade of ingredient-first communication. I love how Highsnobiety makes b2b conversations like this into edit, but it does beg the question: is it paid placement?
Corollary: The Verdict on Sydney Sweeney’s Great Jeans, One Year Later What does the data say about American Eagle’s Regressive Nostalgia-coded campaign? TLDR: It didn’t work. But you should really read the piece, which ANU put together using data from Tracksuit, who sponsored it.
On the topic of projecting reality: Video Games And Real Life Are Becoming One. to wit:
“Games Have Become Cultures Most Flexible Reality Engine. Real life now feels increasingly mediated, curated and algorithmic, while games feel strangely alive: social, expressive, imperfect, playful and full of objects people actually care about.”
Compulsory AI Section:
Things [Noah Brier] Think[s] [He] Think[s] About AI (2026 Edition). Revisiting AI harnesses, top models like Fable, and agent-first workflows reshaping the field.
On that note: Ontologies Are So Back: Why AI Agents Are Reviving the Semantic Web. AI engineers are rediscovering ontologies as a way to keep probabilistic agents inside deterministic boundaries.
But like… I’m Begging You: Never Write With A.I.
Because? Who needs consultants in the age of AI? Getting a company to implement recommended changes is a contact sport that only humans can play
Maybe?! From Iolanda: The Clicking Dead. It Seems a Lot Like Dead Internet Has Actually Come True
More mess: These Employees Like Their A.I. Boss. Its Shop Is Kind of a Disaster. A new study of a bot running a first-of-its-kind San Francisco store finds it is really friendly, but not very smart.
More disaster: AI Worms and Viruses Are Coming. Chinese researchers have shown that AI models have the capacity to act like aggressive and adaptive computer viruses.
And…. the recent spate of fully autonomous cyberattacks raises perplexing questions about who should take responsibility when AI models go rogue.
Like, for instance Should AI labs be treated like the owners of dangerous animals?
And China’s open-source models are taking off across Africa.
Musical Youth
Country music is finding new fans in Kenya.
While back home country songs claimed the top five spots of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time ever.
I cannot tell you how long it’s been (never?!) since songs on an NYTimes playlist escaped me, but all ten of these did. Reggie Ugwu’s Lizard Season. As to how I like them…
The Cramps introduced the world to “psychobilly” and turned Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye into fans. Now the DC hardcore legends are part of an effort to bring the music back.
On the topic of cult musicians: Topdown Dialectic Is Real. A candid interview with the artist behind one of dub techno’s most cryptic entities.
We Are Entering the Age of Intentional Music Listening. After a decade dominated by passive playlists and algorithmic discovery, listeners are becoming far more deliberate with how they consume music.
Why are vinyl albums becoming so different from their digital versions? After Olivia Rodrigo, Charli xcx and more sent out incomplete or unfinished vinyl versions, fans are feeling shortchanged.
Speaking of artists doing the most (and maybe not the best?!):
The latest outpost of a fashion retailer born of a musician’s side hustle. Step into Sorasak ’House’ Chanmantana’s multi-label Bangkok shop Onion.
Platforming
Whatnot is preparing a new funding round at a $20 billion valuation — double what it was valued at last year.
Track Star Is What a Media Company Looks Like Now. The creator-founded network, infused with a new round of cash, has set its sights on being the MTV for this generation—but it must button up and scale first.
A select batch of TikTok creators will be granted access to Disney’s most cherished characters and I.P. The resulting content will live on both Disney+ and TikTok.
Reddit is rolling out a video-first version of the platform that will also let people listen to posts.
BrooklynVegan laid off nearly its entire staff this week at the behest of … Good Charlotte?!
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison wants you to know that he’s going to take very good care of CNN.
TV isn’t dying. It’s moving into high-impact third spaces
Happenings Mostly.
Are We Facing a Cultural ‘Turnover Pulse’? “Turnover pulse,” a term from paleontology [describes] moments of dramatic species extinction.
Evidence thereof?: Museums Are Teaming Up to Buy Art
Island-Hopping Through the Aeolians, the Maurizio Cattelan Way
Artist Willa Nasatir has a show up in the windows of Zuckerman Drug in Brighton. The guerrilla-style windows-only gallery is called Drugs Brighton Beach and it’s “Open 24/7 [at] Brighton Beach Ave and Brighton 7st.”
New Museum’s second Members-only Bowery Bash, with a special guest performance by the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra is August 19 at 6:30p
Elsewhere, [SIC] homie Sami Reiss interviewed Willo Perron in Highsnob’s print edition
Print corollary: BOMB’s Small Press Flea 2026 is an all-day market dedicated to supporting over thirty independent publishers and small presses from across the US at Amant, the contemporary art center in Brooklyn, Saturday August 15
Important b/c around a million tonnes of old books are destroyed in the USA every year.
Corollary, courtesy of Nick Catchdubs: How to Spend a Bookish Afternoon in Midtown Manhattan
Wearables
Also explains a lot: William S. Burroughs rewrote his own dialogue for Drugstore Cowboy
Cowboy corollary: Boots? In a Heatwave? The Controversial Trend that Took Over Summer 2026
Also controversial, also coming back: History of Aloha shirts: from Captain Cook to Casual Fridays
Aye, captain: Why white denim separates the haves from the have yachts
And thus: Ship Decks to Skate Decks – A History of Vans Sneakers
On the topic of ‘sustainable’ fashion: This dress made of living mycelium can renew and repair itself
Macrodynamics
More high design: The Mobile Lounge Edition. On Saarinen, airport economies, and future-willing design.
While elsewhere in hospitality: SoHo House is hiring a head of health club
And Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. changes corporate name to “Neighborhood Intelligence,” underscoring the company’s ambitions to move beyond retail and into home services.
Since we’re talking “rebrands”: The Girlboss Is Dead. But the “Girlbaby” Is Just As Bad
But actually? Everything I Learned About the New Rules of Capital at the Girlboss Convention. In short, if you’re not an AI company, it’s very hard to raise money, but there’s a recalculation around whether companies need to raise and whether they need to grow exponentially. Which is healthy?!
Since we’re talking about health: The Most Powerful Men in America Are Eating Only Steak and Sauerkraut. Could I?
And also Have We Reached Peak Pickle?
Corollary, from Celeste Blewitt : Pineapple farmers in Queensland are having a fight over new import laws
The State of the States
The rise of Zyn has turned pouches into a popular way to partake in… well… just about anything.
Gummies aren’t just for kids anymore, everything comes in a powder, and patches are a dime a dozen. The era of pouches is just beginning, so expect a new wave of startups to embrace the little package.
Almost Two-Thirds of Young Men Day Trading Feel Like Failures . One-quarter of men aged 18-29 said they trade stocks daily, and 64% of them report feeling like failures, according to a study of 2,000 men published by the Institute for Family Studies. Findings were similar for gambling.
And thus: Influencing Looks Like the New American Dream for Young People. Universities are Taking Advantage
Ergo: The rise and rise of the corporate chief of staff
Apropos: [SIC] homie and Wieden+Kennedy CEO Neal Arthur about why cultural fluency is essential to succeeding in advertising.
Related: Inside the indie agencies founded by Omnicom and IPG’s former staffers. Thousands of media practitioners and creatives have left Omnicom since its merger with IPG.
Variety unveils its 2026 list of “Hollywood’s New Leaders.”
And thus: saloon 73 has “20 amazing and perfect creative jobs” contained within.
HIP REPLACEMENT EP.68: Olivia Choi
Olivia Choi joins Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick and me this week to chat “Choosin’ Texas,” international economics, the cheating lawyers scandal, AI songs, and the ballad of Leopold and Avital.
Oh, and Kyle’s moving to NYC.
Last one, since we’re back in NY, from Geoff Renaud: “Highly Recommend”:
[SIC] 8.6.26
thanks for the mention!! 🫶🏽 and glad SIC is back :)
Thank you Ben!!! Was great to mindmeld with you