why I no longer write about Trump
DHS interrogations are no joke
Hi and welcome back to as seen on :)
A reader asked me to share a detailed roundup of my media diet—everything I read, watch, and listen to that keeps me informed. Would you guys be interested in that? Also thinking of doing an AMA, but I’m cagey and afraid of what people might ask me.
Anyway, let me know.
In today’s newsletter: why I no longer write about Trump (mostly), who’s the male genius who has come out of Dimes Square?, authors getting really smart about marketing their upcoming books, sperm freezing as a hot new market for startups, Poppi’s CMO exits, and more thoughts on a post-search internet.
Balenciaga is the first luxury fashion house on Substack. The Substack team emailed me this morning about covering it—which I was already planning to do—and it’s the first time I’ve gotten a PR pitch from them. This Wednesday, July 9, at 12 PM CET, Balenciaga will use Substack Live to stream the 54th Couture Collection—Demna’s final collection for the House. A major win for Substack. Y’all tune in so we can read about it in the NYT next week.
Who isn’t Netflix in talks with? Last week, the streamer announced a collaboration with NASA to support its live programming. The week before, Netflix began working with France's TF1 for live and on-demand streaming in a first-of-its-kind linear TV deal. They’re also in talks with Spotify to co-produce music shows and events, even as it preps to debut two new music competition shows in the near future. All this as Netflix reportedly explores live broadcasts, celebrity interviews, and quick-turnaround documentaries. Two thoughts: that $1 trillion market cap strategy is looking an awful lot like cable TV—owning not just on-demand entertainment but also appointment viewing and cultural events. I noticed that no Netflix movies made it on the Times’ The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century. With all this talk of (maybe) poaching YouTube creators, production budget cuts, failed Oscars campaigns, and live programming, I wonder if they’ve given up the prestige content dream altogether.
TikTok is reportedly developing a new app for U.S. users ahead of its expected sale—though when that sale will happen is between Trump and God knows who. Users will eventually need to switch to the new app, but the current version will remain functional until March. I’m going to have a lot of fun writing about that user migration strategy.