No, they said.
Don’t send a newsletter on a Friday; who even reads their email then?
Stop, they said.
Explain yourself! You just changed the name and colors of your newsletter—
I believe the discourse refers to that as a “rebrand”
Sure, whatever that means, you rebranded right after a slew of new subscribers joined, they’ve probably forgotten who in the hullabaloo you are and why you’re thinking out loud in front of them—
Okay! Hello, new friends. (I believed referred from Tom Critchlow and Currant?) Thanks for joining and no apologies if this feels like a disorienting intro. If you recall signing up for my newsletter in its past iteration (below, left)—it’s since evolved into (below, right) hyperdisciplinary: cultural crit on a strange and fascinating world.
I decided not to compete with the recent bout of high profile rebrands, so! There will be no supercilious press release or reactionary twitterstorms activated, only a new browser tab favicon. (Though all comments, questions, and snide remarks are welcome).
Good! Now we’re on the same page. It’s about time you marketed your newsletter to better reflect the sort of bastardized journalism here
Hey, hey. It’s a mix of memoir, reporting, and cultural critique, like how Leslie Jamison does it, except a bit lazier in the reporting and rougher on the edges? We all know words are cheap and advertising is dubious. You can’t expect me to keep slinging investigative email zingers on the weekly while our nation’s governing ideologies scatter like pick up sticks and our people lust for rest while mired in grief, and yet we must celebrate Lunar New Year, President’s Day, and Mardi Gras on the same weekend while werkwerkwerkwerkwerk! Sing it with me, the work must be done.
Well then. If you’re too drained to write another newsletter that nobody’s asking for, at least make the links xtra good today.
That I can attempt.
Links & colorful things
The web in 2000 vs 2020: a hopeful, cynical conversation
Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto on creating a kinder world
Of course the guy who created the Bernie meme generator got thousands in donations and interest from Google
Talking Xinjiang on Clubhouse (the app was banned in China in the past week)
There are no good The Weeknd superbowl memes so here is an opinionated Drake playlist
A good read on rural China and tech if you’re feeling disconnected from metropolitan life and disillusioned with screens
What does it take to build a middle class of internet creators?
Past (and presently appointed) U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on cultivating “third bowl societies” to combat loneliness
My favorite scene from Maangchi’s gimbap tutorial video
Next week, paid subscribers are getting a breakdown of my micro-rebrand, or “working with the garage door up.” Sneak peak below! A thousand thank yous for funding this sort of adjacent and anchoring work. Consider subscribing today ($5/mo or $50/yr) for more intimate looks at my creative process and experimental missives I’d be too embarrassed to publicize.
With that, m(-.-)m, and hope you and yours are in sustained health.
~Vicky