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Foldables are becoming good enough to be your next smartphone
Why Adrian Wojnarowski retiring from ESPN signals the end of an NBA era
The next season of American Love Story will focus on Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. Congrats, the culture won! “It is a story that really resonates right now,” executive producer Brad Simpson told Variety. “It’s amazing. A lot of younger women are looking to her as sort of a representational icon of a certain period of time that’s really fascinating, and hopefully, we’ll be able to bring that to the screen soon.” Vogue asked their staff who should star in the series: Jacob Elordi as John F. Kennedy Jr., Elizabeth Debicki as Carolyn Bessette, and one of Sarah Jessica Parker’s daughters as Sarah Jessica Parker. Apparently, she dated JFK Jr. but found him to be too much of “a public domain kind of a guy.”
In more Kennedy news, New York Magazine is putting Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi on leave after learning about her romantic involvement with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,” they said in a statement. “An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias. She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review. We regret this violation of our readers’ trust.” Olivia Nuzzi released her own statement saying the relationship never turned physical (stayed in the DMs?) and that during that time, she did not directly report on Kennedy or use him as a source.
’s post on the situation had me crying.Snapchat wants to be less like Snapchat and more like TikTok. At the Snap Partner Summit this Tuesday, the company announced “Simple Snapchat,” a new interface design built around three things: “Chatting, Snapping, and Watching entertaining videos.” The redesign will consolidate its navigation bar around three icons: camera, chat, and Spotlight—its TikTok competitor that will combine creator made and professionally made content in one endless scroll. I completely underestimated the chokehold Snapchat has on Gen Alpha until I spent time with my fourteen year old sister this summer. Most parents restrict their teen’s social media use, but few categorise Snapchat as social media. Now we know that almost half of Gen Z adults wish TikTok didn’t exist, I think there’s a real opportunity for Snapchat to create a “teen safe” TikTok alternative that takes content moderation, user safety, and time spent online more seriously. Do I think they’ll do any of this? Hell no.
Also in Santa Monica, also on Tuesday, Universal Music Group was unveiling a new vision for the company. “Streaming 2.0” will focus less on scale in streaming and more on maximizing the value of music superfans by activating different subscription tiers and selling merchandise or brand opportunities to fans. Translation: time to pony up, baby. Of course, this plan will rely on UMG playing nice with streaming services like Spotify and keeping AI copyright issues under control. Things are looking good on at least one front: Spotify also wants to squeeze music lovers for what they’re worth, and has for months been working on a “Supremium” offering set to launch later this year. UMG said under “Streaming 2.0” it expects annual sales growth of 7% on average for the next five years thanks to improved subscriptions and monetization of superfans.
Did you see the BIG FAT CHECK Netflix just made out to Sabrina Carpenter?! Neither did I. But come December 6th, when we’ll be watching A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter, all will be made clear. Are your bells jingling? They better be jingling.
Lionsgate, the studio behind The Hunger Games, Twilight, and John Wick, signed a deal with AI startup Runway to use generative AI to produce new films and TV shows. Under the agreement, Lionsgate will turn over its media catalog to Runway, which will use it to build and train a custom AI model for the studio. The model will be able to generate cinematic videos that can be further edited with tools from Runway. Michael Burns, Lionsgate vice chair, told WSJ that he expects the company to save “millions and millions of dollars” from using the model. It’s almost like that strike never happened.
All seven 23andMe board members abruptly resigned this week. Founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki wants to take the company private (it’s lost 99% of its value since going public in 2021), which means she’ll have to buy back all the shares she doesn’t own. The board thinks the price she’s offering is too low and wants to consider external offers. But Wojcicki won’t support another buyer, and since she controls 49% of 23andMe’s voting power, the board is essentially powerless without her backing. So they resigned. Now, Wojcicki is the only board member left in a company that’s never turned a profit, might pivot to making GLP-1 drugs, and according to WSJ, is burning through cash so quickly it could run out by next year. It’s a mess.
Current Affairs published the most deliciously scathing piece on why The Atlantic is “The Worst Magazine In America.” “My basic criticism is that while it presents itself as a magazine of ideas—which makes readers feel as if they are engaging intelligently with important issues—it in fact covers those issues in such a superficial and slipshod way that people are liable to be left with a worse understanding of the issue than when they went in, though they may be wrongly convinced that they have learned something. I do think that the ideological suppositions that predominate (with exceptions) in The Atlantic’s pages are dangerous and wrongheaded, but my critique of the magazine’s glib carelessness with ideas would be valid even if I was not also annoyed by its tendency to publish aggressive criticism of my fellow leftists and a never-ending sequence of cheap swipes at protesters.” Now I feel weird about liking The Atlantic.
Tucker Carlson thinks Zyn is for women and liberals, so he made ALP. Until pretty recently, Tucker was Zyn’s number one fan. “The truth is, Zyn is a powerful work enhancer,” he said in a podcast interview. “And also a male enhancer, if you know what I mean.” But when his representatives pitched Zyn maker Philip Morris on a partnership with the brand, to which the company responded by saying Tucker’s comments on the product “lack a scientific foundation” and could “promote a misunderstanding and misuse of our products,” Tucker got REAL mad. And now he’s going to make REAL nicotine pouches for REAL. AMERICAN. MEN. Seriously though, this might not flop.
I read three articles about Sally Rooney last night. My favorite was this Esquire one about how book ARCs have become a status symbol. For my less literary readers (just kidding, don’t cry), ARCs are advanced readers copies of novels sent out to celebrities, influencers, and whoever before a book officially debuts. Publishers send out ARCs to get reviews and drum up hype. If your Instagram feed was my Instagram feed, it would have been filled with book influencers taking selfies with their Intermezzo ARCs for the last few months. It’s been very hard for me, a loser with no FSG connections. What’s unique about the Intermezzo rollout was that each ARC was named and numbered—2500 in total. Selling a galley copy isn’t illegal, but it’s frowned upon. So if someone had an Intermezzo galley, it meant they were someone. Or they knew someone. As a marketer, I love this strategy. I think it’s fun and cool and generates whispers of many kinds. But I also liked
’s take on the impact these big budget book rollouts like these have on smaller writers and the publishing industry in general. Are publishers deciding which authors end up on The New York Times Bestseller list even before their book launches? Should they be allowed to?Meanwhile, in high schools and colleges around America, students can’t seem to get through full length novels. To be fair, I never finished any of my readings but look at me now—reading, writing, THRIVING!
JPMorgan responded to concerns about the working conditions for Wall Street employees by appointing one of its bankers to oversee the company’s junior banker program. Ryland McClendon “will help to support their wellbeing and success, as well as equip and enable them to deliver for our business, clients, and each other.” Watching Suits right now, so all I can think about is Louis Litt and his associates.
The Fed cut interest rates for the first time in four years. Econ majors like me know exactly what that means, but here’s a great explainer for the rest of you. I also loved
’s take on what this means for hedonistic consumption and why brat summer is the modern indie sleaze.Lauren Sánchez sued by former yoga instructor over children’s book. Lauren Sánchez celebrates the launch of her children's book with the Kardashians. I saw both these headlines in quick succession this morning. Choose your journey.
Nestlé launched Vital Pursuits, a new frozen food brand designed for GLP-1 users. Each meal provides at least 20 grams of protein, packed with vegetables, whole grains, and essential nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, calcium, or iron. The brand also plans to release a ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage with 30g of protein and no added sugar in 2025. Every CPG company wants a piece of the GLP-1 pie, so I’m going to be making many announcements like this in the next year.
The $19 billion energy drink category is another space many brands wish they were playing in. Hershey just got an in. The candy maker is partnering with C4 on a line of energy drinks and protein powders that includes three Jolly Rancher-flavored drinks and protein powders in Hershey's Milk Chocolate and Reese's Peanut Butter. The sad this is that I know too many men who would be happy if I got them any of these.
New Yorkers, run, don’t walk, because Salt & Straw is opening its first NYC location tomorrow. Get the Honey Lavender flavor and thank me later. The pints I used to order almost daily were single handedly responsible for my freshman fifteen. Zero regrets.
In my head is a folder labeled: Your favorite celebrity launches their Erewhon smoothie. Click to access videos. Do you think Emma had to pay to get Chamberlain Coffee featured as an ingredient in her smoothie? Or did Erewhon waive that rule?
Caroline Calloway is back! (For the gazillionth time). The sometimes It girl, sometimes socialite, sometimes OnlyFans star, and self-proclaimed “PR savant” is back with a second book she describes as “a never-before-seen type of conversation between two depressed downtown darlings across time and space.” Her first book, Scammer, debuted last year to mostly positive reviews. Didn’t read it, but maybe I will. Her new book, titled Elizabeth Wurtzel and Caroline Calloway’s Guide to Life, is an experimental memoir combining new essays with heavily annotated excerpts from Elizabeth Wurtzel’s 2001 advice book, alongside one-liners from Julia Fox, Cat Marnell, and others. If you don’t know who Caroline Calloway is, may I suggest reading this 2019 The Cut essay where her former best friend describes her as “a girl living with one fork, no friends, and multiple copies of Prozac Nation.” Say what you want, but no one does a book announcement like this Caroline.
No, Glossier Play isn’t coming back. Yes, Glossier is launching two perfumes next month. Everyone with a laptop and an interest in the beauty industry has written about how huge fragrance is right now. Everyone with a laptop and an interest in beauty has also written about the success of Glossier You. It was Sephora’s best-selling fragrance last year, and Emily Weiss told Elle she thinks it could be “the next Chanel No. 5.” Puck’s Rachel Strugatz reported that the launch will be the biggest to date in the brand’s ten years, with an “extravagant” launch party next week. Pre-launch peeks? Good luck. Products sent to influencers will arrive in locked mailers that require a code which will only be distributed in time for the event. You know I love the drama.
Guys, I work at adidas, so I always feel weird writing about Nike. But oop! John Donahoe just “stepped down.” They brought back Elliott Hill to take his place.
The founder of Reformation has a new brand. Four years after leaving Reformation under allegations of racism (later cleared) and launching a VC fund, Yael Aflalo is self funding a new entry-designer fashion line called Aflalo. Prices range from $400 to $4,000, and almost everything is made in New York or Italy. The website is beautiful and the styling looks great. The brand tagline reads, “Updates on the sublime, the practical, and the occasional nipple indiscretion.”
I finally downloaded Volv last month after one too many texts from my best friend saying, “I saw this on Volv.” Volv bills itself as the TikTok for smart people—an app that uses AI to curate interesting content across the internet and delivers it to you in 9-second articles. I still get most of my news in my inbox, but enjoy scrolling through Volv at night to catch up on a any as seen on worthy news I missed. Last month, they launched a Creator Program that allows writers and publications create profiles and distribute 9-second articles. They also launched an AI summarization tool that turns content into quick 9-second reads and an AI recommendation tool that pushes your content to readers who love your niche. I love writing these newsletters, but I’m super lazy about distribution. Most of my readers find me through Substack—either through recommendations or restacks—and I’ve gained a good number of subscribers from readers sharing within their own networks. Thank you ❤️. But I’m starting to think about ways to distribute my writing beyond Substack, LinkedIn and Instagram, so I reached out to the Volv team to ask them some questions about the program:
How many people are getting their news from Volv? And does your user base lean toward any particular demographic?
We are growing every day, with 5 million monthly impressions on our app. To give you a better sense of who our readers are: 1.) 87% of our audience consists of Gen Z + Millennials. 2.) Users often call us as “TikTok for smart people,” which is fitting given that our core audience includes founders, C-suite executives, engineers, product managers, and other professionals who don’t have time to doomscroll on social media. They turn to Volv instead of TikTok or Instagram to discover new content and newsletters that they would’ve never discovered otherwise. 3.) Our user base is majority male, with higher education and disposable income. Volv users trust the content on the app and engage with it mindfully.
With the new creator platform, do you see Volv playing in the same space as Substack and beehiv?
Platforms like Substack, Beehiiv, and Medium host tens of thousands of newsletters, some of which are very popular. However, the majority of writers struggle with discoverability, as the responsibility of growing their subscriber base and distributing their content falls solely on them. That’s where Volv comes in. We’ve reimagined the future of media by adapting to how our generation prefers to consume content. We created Volv to be ‘the social news app’ that gives you all this content in 1 place in 9 second stories. In the future, we hope to partner with these platforms and even include a ‘Share on Volv’ button, making Volv an essential discovery and distribution channel for writers across various channels.
As a Substack writer, what are the benefits of publishing on Volv?
At Volv, we believe your high-quality content needs to be seen and appreciated. We have Instagram for photos, TikTok for videos, Spotify for all things audio, but when it comes to quick text, there's a void, especially at a time when newsletters are at an all time high. We have created a platform to facilitate intellectual creators like writers and journalists to get them discovered and make them go ‘intelligently viral.’ Here’s how publishing on Volv will benefit you: 1.) Engage younger audiences 2.) Intelligent Virality through our AI powered recommendation 3.) Real-Time Insights
What’s the process for joining the creator program?
The process is simple, as a writer, you really don’t have to put in any more work to get discovered. Once you're verified, you simply insert your newsletter link on our dashboard. Our AI Summarization tool will summarize your content into a 9-second read and publish it on your profile on Volv. Our AI Recommendation tool then kicks in and gets your content discovered by thousands of readers all across the world who are looking for your content. Here’s the link to join the waitlist and a code to get Volv Premium free for a month - VOLVOA
i had so much fun work on as seen on this week. see you monday :)
Yess, I absoultely love snapchat.
Love love the mini Volv interview at the bottom - so useful. I’ll definitely be considering that as a discoverability avenue because I also am lazy on that front. I just don’t know how AI would condense (for me) a variety of detailed book reviews into 9 secs of content? Intrigued and horrified at the prospect.