The punchline is that good
This week: Christopher Meloni, moral attention, misogynistic meal-planning, hyperpop, vacation dads and accidentally apt split-screens
Hi friends. Today is August 6, 2021.
It’s the 30th birthday of the world’s first website, so it’s … maybe about time for the web to grow up. Signs of late summer are in the air: “zucchini bread” began its annual ascent on Pinterest; a lot of boring football news is trending on Google. A reader informs me, however, that the sun passes through 13, not 12, constellations — so counter last week’s introduction, the sun actually isn’t in Leo.
If you read anything this weekend
“It’s Hard To Be A Moral Person. Technology Is Making It Harder,” by Sigal Samuel in Vox. If you’ve ever had a serious phone conversation while browsing an Anthropologie sale (what me? no I’d never), you miiiight wanna read this essay on the new-to-me concept of “moral attention” and all tech’s immoral, inattentive perils.
“This Is Going to Change the World,” by Dan Kois in Slate. A fascinating dive into the complete and utter bust of a “mysterious,” “incredible” invention once deemed “as significant as the personal computer.” I’m not gonna spoil it because the punchline is that good.
“Left-Wing Activists Are Bringing Back MAGA Twitter,” by Kaitlyn Tiffany in The Atlantic. This sounds kinda niche on its face, but I think gets at a larger (worrisome!!) issue — the long-term, full-spectrum Trumpification of the political attention economy, for both conservatives and liberals.
“You've Never Seen This Side of Christopher Meloni,” by Anna Peele in Men's Health. This is perhaps the single Gen Z craze I most identify with, so thank you, kids, for Stabler’s new, kinda random, late-ish-in-life prominence.
“The Season of Tabs,” by Alex Aciman in Dirt. “By the time I reach 97, my tabs are no longer a mere collection of articles I hope to read, they are also links to books I want to buy, books I don’t want to buy but think I do, songs from TV shows whose lyrics I’ve googled, websites of clothing designers I can’t afford … If I were to read all these articles, order all these books, go to those French villages, I might finally become the person I’d always felt I should one day become.”
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Postscripts
Hyperpop. “Haha.” Vacation dads. What it’s like to scroll Instagram when you can’t see and why only women gymnasts compete to music. From “bumbling doofus” to top political YouTuber. (Could describe a lot of people actually.) Meet the chicken nugget that launched … a right-wing sex-trafficking conspiracy.
The misogyny of meal-planning. The future of booze. Why CAPTCHA photos are so grim. I think it’s likely that people just have strong opinions on driving, but — the recession could make us meaner, I guess? Biden’s pro-vaccine influencer army. “A pandemic of plusses.” Last but not least, if you’re also fascinated by Amanda Knox’s current act, I highly recommend her conversation with Vox.
That’s it for this week! Until the next one. Warmest virtual regards.
— Caitlin