let me fight an old man
On the cultural handcuffs of nostalgia preventing a better future and why one comedian is creating entertainment that matches the energy and absurdity of now.
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🦿 HIP REPLACEMENT 🦿 this week goes deep on AI’s culture creep, thanks to Chris Beer who came equipped with some GWI data, to chat with Ben Dietz and I about fruit Love Island, the Hachette Book Group cancellation drama, and the collapse of Meta’s metaverse: listen on Substack, YouTube, and Spotify!
House Republicans reject Senate deal
Longest TSA wait times in history
About the LaGuardia Airport crash
Bless you if you have to do any travelling, as the current state of things are brutal thanks to the shutdown. As if this weren’t bad enough, we’ve got airport ICE, politicians escaping culpability, and prices going crazy thanks to…
US inflation will surge to 4.2%
Iran targets public with info war
Iran hackers breach FBI director’s personal email
German ‘city of peace’ wrestles with weapons pivot
Latest in the Iran conflict, as prices rise while Iran embarks on an aggressive digital battle. The most interesting story? The last one, as Volkswagen is in talks to help Israel with their Iron Dome. You know what I’m thinking. (Not to further worry, but another storyline happening in the background: the hole Russia ripped into Chernobyl is posing a major European toxicity threat. Cool!)
The Gulf was Silicon Valley’s bet
Saudi Leader: Push Trump to Continue War
Related are some interesting stories of the conflict’s runoff, how such a situation jeopardizes tech’s investments in the area. Meanwhile, the Saudi Crown Prince pushed Trump to continue the fight, as if a demon encouraging him to assist in a manifest destiny.
Will data centre boom become $9T bust?
AI: another technology Americans don’t like
AI Is the New AIPAC
Too many tech woes to count this week — the Meta/YouTube lawsuit and its uncertain chain reaction, OpenAI shuttering Sora and it’s porny asporations, Elizabeth Warren coming for Mr. Beast’s kid crypto, Hachette canning an AI book, Melania hanging out with a robot — but there seems to be a consensus that the timer is really ticking for AI, or at least OpenAI, as the first story outlines so well. The other two get at a fascinating sentiment shift a we’re finding out what half a decade of fucking around will yield. Take it away, Steve Wozniak!
The Global Water Crisis
Know what’s not helped by the current state of tech and war? Rising water bankruptcies, which undoubtedly will push many more into literal water wars.
Emmanuel Grégoire elected Paris mayor
Democrat wins seat containing Mar-a-Lago
Some good news! First, Paris has another progressive mayor, despite the city’s clear left-right split (and a larger centrist national storyline). Second, a Democrat flipped a Florida seat — in the district that covers Mar-a-Lago. That says something! All despite the Supreme Court getting itchy fingers around voting while the Democrats enjoy laughably low cultural stock.
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“What young brands need more than recognition is an industry that operates in a way that allows real businesses to survive and grow,” Business of Fashion Editor-in-Chief Imran Amed wrote last weekend, in a story titled “The Industry That Eats Its Young.” He was explaining how the industry — and bankrupt retailers from Saks to Ssense — profit from taking advantage of emerging designers, bruising big business while killing the small. This feels related to another idea that Shawn Reynaldo wrote about this week: the “canon” of good taste in music being a means for the old to suppress the young. “The idea that young people on the whole had better taste in the ’90s, 2000s or any other decade is preposterous,” he observes of how (alt) music spaces cater up instead of down. “Gen Z has plenty to say…but most of its members have effectively been blocked from entering the halls of traditional media.” Why does this happen, especially in creative spaces? It might be because industries dumb down and baby anyone born from the mid-eighties upward, perhaps as a means to coddle but also as a means to install ceilings. Kareem Rahma went deep on this idea this week, aiming at Millennials: “Brands and corporations treat us like children, and we buy into it. As a result, we feel increasingly incapable of doing adult things like buying a house, getting married, having kids, or starting businesses…I feel like we should be doing something else like maybe revolting?”
These three stories from writers between the solidly Millennial through Gen X are observing something institutional that is a key factor in our cultural recession: infantilization and nostalgia are less an aesthetic or worldview and more a sealant spread across generations to contain, to keep people — and culture — marking time instead of allowing evolution, unless such concepts (social media, AI) profit the old. As if a giant butterfly whose facially-patterned wings intends to intimidate predators from battling them for the future, nostalgia and infantilization is feeling more and more like pacifying handcuffs to prevent us not from hurting ourselves or each other but from dismantling institutions for the better. In advertising (Chanel’s cute remake of “Come Into My World”), in fashion (NikeSKIMS shoes that look like giant baby shoes), in entertainment (Harry Potter’s uncanny valley comeback), it feels like this holding pattern has been in place for twenty years, a “closed loop of the past” for the whole of Millennial adulthood and most of Gen Z adulthood which is why we repeatedly have trends based in our learned helplessness (the credit card wand, the “thirty year old teen” trend(s), boy kibble and girl dinner) that reward and continue this fugue state.
Is this entirely our young asses’ fault? No, not really, as it rings a bell I seem to clang every few years: the ceiling is held in place by those who refuse to mentor, elder statesmen who insist on maintaining power instead of constructing ladders to lift people up, be they younger people with new ideas or persons of difference with different world views. This results in many adults are still in the crawling stage of adulthood, lost and unable to walk because no parent cares to help. It’s unsurprising that we’ve eliminated something like DEI as it too is a means to ensure gerontocracy across politics, business, and beyond continues to work out for those at the top. Poor Jake Shane — who did fail bigly — is a fine example of all this, which his co-host Quenlin Blackwell got at this this week for People: such a situation is less about giving a public figure like Jake a chance and more that the old world institutions preying upon him (Conde Nast, The Academy) did not set him up for success but only souch to reap rewards and eschew any critiques onto him. Hollywood falling to new lows and a lack of new stars, the the 30 Under 30 criminal pipeline, the considering of the music diva as extinct: are these not examples of this too? Of neither developing new talent or at least setting new talent up for very public career suicides? Surely if we lived in a system that nurtured the young instead of exploiting them such problems wouldn’t exist. This is becoming increasingly ironic as the old and rich are finding more and more novel ways to “stay young,” not only to remain immortal (“Don’t die.”) but to continue profiting in the stealing of the future from the young and the lesser. This goes beyond entertainment as AI and tech growing pains are saddled upon the young (Gen Z and Millennial employment woes, anyone?) all while American imperialism is rebranded via kidultified irl death gaming that takes the future and lives from two generations given Army enlistment is raised to 42. Why were we surprised this week to discover many a young desperate loser has joined ICE? This is not to excuse them, but to offer proof of a system working as intended: in order for “times like these” to work, Saturn must continue to have sons to devour.
We are dealing with desperate, hopeless, lost Boomers and Silent Gen’ers fighting to maintain their security whilst still on earth instead of coming to terms with existential fears of death and loss and leaving behind a good foundation for the future. Climate change, anyone? JD Vance is in many ways the first Millennial president, but his being a laughable attack dog at the feet of a senile rapist puts youth power via Charlie Kirk and Nick Fuentes into perspective: it’s not actual power but a means to feed youth to the wolves instead of making concessions. Last year’s Gen Z protests were dedicated to breaking these systems down, severing the hand that seeks to push down the young. Such a mentality is resulting in real action too: Nepal elected a Millennial former rapper as Prime Minister all as New York City elected a Millennial former rapper as mayor all as Manchester elected a Millennial former non-rapper-but plumber as representative. Seeing someone like rian phin elevated in the pantheon of modern fashion critique or PinkPantheress becoming the youngest and first woman to receive the BRIT Producer of the Year title feels of a similar genre of progress, projecting the possibilities that James Talarico and Bad Bunny are tapping into tpp: a need for the new not as an accessory but as means to thrust change, to reboot the system. Things are awful now because they’re stale hence our desperation for long-term change and not a swipe-able status change. Divorcing ourselves from nostalgia and infantilization feels like a great first step as we teach ourselves to walk.
American Diner Gothic
Chris Beer sent us this story for the latest HIP REPLACEMENT and it is one of the best things I’ve read in a wile as it analyzes the culture of “placeless America” and the smudginess of youth sub-cultures now and how it is everything and nothing. I wish I wrote this! A genius piece.
‘Five Nights at Epstein’s’ Game Goes Viral
This feels related to the piece directly above, except the demographic is younger — and probably will have more problems, which is why elevating the slightly older (Gen Z, Millennial) to mentor and change systems is so crucial. I’d be curious how much of an actual “trend” this is versus Streissand effecting a situation. I know you touched on this but…how legit do you think this is, Casey Lewis?
Bojangles Comes to New York City
The Southern fried chicken in NYC story is very important to me, as someone who lived in Georgia for many years and is not-that-far from the city. Zaxyby’s? Outside of the south?? My prayers are answered! What’s next? Krystal?
‘How Are You?’ Has Lost All Meaning
I love this story, which is a reminder to be direct and to give a bit more of yourself to people you love on both sides of this equation. I’ll try to quit answering such a question with “Good!” or “Fine,” instead offering something more meaningful. It will be hard though, given that most things really are just fine right now.
The Pets Left Behind
Dogs in China go viral
Squirrel seen ‘vaping’ in London
“Listen to these two sounds”
Animal stories of the week, from the rescued animals of those abducted by ICE to viral dogs on the run in China to squirrels getting addicted to fruity nicotine to people and animals enjoying sounds.
“making music with pigeons”
OFRENDAS
Two art items I came upon this week that I am obsessing over: first, a mesmerizing look at how the artist Amédæe makes music and sound art with the help of hungry pigeons (and waves and light); second, the recent showing of Puerto Rican artist Jean-Pierre Villafañe at San Juan’s Embajada, a group of paintings that meditate on abandonment as a stage for queer theatrics and choreo.
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Freaky times call for freaky people, which is why we need to seriously consider the impact of the comedian Chris Fleming: he feels like the perfect representation of right now.
To the point of the above essay, Chris is by no means a “new” talent as he’s a solidly Millennial talent nearing the off ramp of his thirties. He got his start on YouTube via his character and series GAYLE and the viral “COMPANY IS COMING,” where he plays a stressed mother descending into mania, playing into the queer canon of suburban matriarchs gone wild similar to Cole Escola and John Roberts. Chris’ appeal isn’t just his manic energy but a certain “What am I looking at?” quality that starts with his poodle brown hair and ends somewhere unclear along the spectrum of gender, as expressed by his love for one-piece get-ups in textual fabrics. His humour is somewhere between literary American professor and musical theater kid processing these times in short bursts of videos that: “Teens Who Drink Coffee” and “Am I a Man?” and “The Grad Student Shuffle” and “Polyamorous” establish his high-energy oeuvre that occupies a space between Judith Butler and Tim & Eric. Cut to now, when he’s having a moment thanks to his special Live at the Palace, which is his third after 2023’s Hell and 2018’s Showpig.
Live at the Palace is indeed a hoot, a special freak show that lovers of his will love — but I want to draw attention to all the press he’s doing which has been remarkable. It’s splits into two genres: Post-Show Encore™ and Heartfelt Thank You Letter™, both crucially important in understanding why he is so now. His Post-Show Encore™ appearances have the feeling of a zoo animal meet-and-greet gone awry, where those experienced with animals can go with the flow but those who have never encountered such a creature stare at it dumbstruck: “You were a prince, I was a witch,” Chris tells Seth Myers, as they discuss their being from the same area and what their upbringings must have been like, culminating in his attacking a video of himself “like a parakeet”; “There were some grim days in the beginning,” he recounts to Jimmy Kimmel of the start of his comedy career, reenacting a fight at an elementary school walkathon that requires using all the real estate of the set to embody. Something special is happening in these moments, a breaking of the contract of what we’d call a late night interview, an acknowledgement that these celebrity requirements are stupid and that it’s all an act, that he is visiting the past from the future less to confuse but to give normies a taste of what’s to come (which is a similar tactic played by Meg Stalter, a post-post modern celebrity gesture). “It could well be the harbinger of a new era in late night television,” Eilish Gilligan observed of his Kimmel appearance. “It felt like such a breath of fresh air…It feels like an appropriately leveled response to the way we currently live our lives.” Eilish notes something crucial in why Chris feels “right” for now: these are times where we feel so deeply unmoored, so detached and lost not only in a sea of too much stuff but in a world that reveals itself to be more and more broken and less and less willing to fix itself, let alone fix you. Chris’ comedy sees the stupidity and seeks to tackle it, hoping you will join not only in a laugh but in taking a knife to excise the malignant masses within our cultural body.
This wouldn’t feel as resonant if it weren’t for his Heartfelt Thank You Letters™, encounters with him that offer earnest emotion in the face of the full spectrum of life. Where to begin? On NPR, he cried recounting the symbolism of herons in his life. “Whenever I see a heron, I think of my mom,” he says, adjusting himself to hold back tears, apologizing. “Through sickness and stuff, the heron — to her — represented her mom.” Flustered, he flips the question to NPR host Rachel Martin, who shares how seagulls are hers, that it reminds of her deceased mother who viewed the birds as containers of beauty and promise of the beyond, of life at sea away from a landlocked life. He watches her, rapt, giddy in their getting to bond. Later, he addresses his complicated gender expression and how this complicated his path forward, that one’s personal truth was incompatible with the industry’s truth. “That’s one of those things where culture can take a little bit of time to catch up,” he said. “You go through your shit and you become iron-clad…Not to say I’m iron-clad. I’m incredibly fragile.” Continuing his public media tour, his appearance on KCRW’s Sam Sanders Show deepened this vulnerability: “I really, really want to bring joy to people,” he explained, after crying about being lucky enough to experience love and support in his life, “I want people to be inspired to express themselves…I want people to know the joy of devoting yourself to a craft too, for so long, finally hitting a point where you can feel like you’re getting closer to your authentic connection.”
Thus, a key: you cannot be freaky without being human, or the human is a freak which is what makes the human beautiful — meaning we’re all freaks and we’re all beautiful, two qualities connected in life’s being one long freak fest that you have to enjoy to get. Chris, it seems, has found not only the key to existing in these times but also the key to what “works” in entertainment in such bad times: absurdity from the heart, a head in the clouds with feet rooted under the earth. He is an artist of-a-kind and of this time — among peers older from Nathan Fielder to Eric André, Sarah Sherman to Julio Torres, Dan Hentschel to Conner O’Malley — but he feels like a singular representation of what we need now. Nothing pretty, nothing normal, but a shot to the system that aspires to get you uncomfortable so you can become uprooted enough to move ahead.
“quadruple amputee”
“while he was driving”
“you can’t murder”
“throw me off this jury”
“woah that was a lot”
Easily the story of the week, about a quadruple amputee and professional cornhole player who killed someone. (Keep the lawbreaking theme going with the woman driving and lying in court.)
“i can’t date men”
This week in men-have-lost-it, a weightlifter is going viral for shitstainmaxxing: he made a video about pride in shit stains from lifting. This may sound like a bit but he’s doubling down on the thinking. Seems like the options in the hetero dating pool are poopie pants men and Roman male lovers: which way, the future of masculinity? We really should start guy walking.
“AI Drawings vs Kids Drawings”
A reminder to hire people instead of robots!
“I OD’d on Imodium”
I have been getting non-stop promos for the new season of the UK’s Last One Laughing and, while most are chuckle-able, this Alan Carr bit is a top-tier potty joke. I’d love an American version!
“pretty hands”
My favorite post about the Druski/Erika Kirk thing, which you must watch if you haven’t already.
“unspeakably cunt”
“building her portfolio”
“Monkey never cramp”
“Happy Egg Day”
This week in divas.
“much better than ‘Irish goodbye’”
“Quiche Peanemis”
“Jon Jarrell”
“Nut Rag”
“Do you guys have any”
Some of my favorite developments in vocabulary.
“what do I do”
“Exclusive club”
“chat with Wilfredo”
A lil old, but a blessing to see people having this much fun on dating apps again.
“I left a $35 tip”
I just know the DoorDasher who got stuck in the elevator for ten minutes is a very sensitive angel and I wish them well <3 (That post and this post are also why I try not to order any delivery. These poor people!)
And, finally, a Uno reverse card regarding AI and gay men.
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Hi oops too many thoughts apologies in advance
Love your nostalgia essay, fittingly brutal and got my brain whirring on stuff I think about all the time. A couple years ago I was obsessed with this (HIGHLY recommended) episode of the theory podcast Material Girls that talked about Barbie and petro-capitalism that came out right before the Barbie movie (which I think is a crystallization of what you're talking about in a way we're years away from fully understanding). Barbie is largely a millennial product because of how hard America was going on the Middle East when we were kids, so the government had shitloads of oil. Oil means plastic, which means toys, but oil shares are also the basis of retirement accounts, so of course things looked better at the time. But the things that defined that End of History optimism were based in war (that was promoted as benign!! Per this podcast ep, there was a "bad actor" justification for Middle East intervention that sounded very KONY2012), so I think it would be easy to argue the abundance of that era was the real-time cementing and creation of the violent capitalist climate hellscape it only FEELS like we've been recently hurtling towards, instead of actually being the price of the time we're supposed to be nostalgic for. Just chickens coming home to roost!
But the thing I find myself wondering after reading your essay is, is this even OUR nostalgia? I think millennials are ripe for the projection of other generations, and I wonder if our "nostalgia" is actually unconscious, but purposeful internalization of older generations' misplaced, unprocessed nostalgia that they're selling to us as our own. You're supposed to have accumulated enough power and capital in your 30s and 40s to have actual fun moving through the world, right? I'm thinking about the very loud Biden era hunger for erotic thrillers— stories that sexualize the maturity people our age are supposed to visibly possess (and allow it to look exciting!)— and how those were at their peak when median age millennials like you and I were kids, and were being sold to our parents (which... interesting. Were they fantasizing about... not parenting us? God, too much tangent potential here). That was a time where we had no power in the world, and the real sell of that moment for us specifically was that the future looked good, that we were encouraged to dream big about what we could be as adults because the world was in "a better state."
So what are WE nostalgic for? Aren't we all in therapy trying to process those childhoods, namely things adults put us through? You could argue age is actually a gift being kept from us. Like, why don't people 35 and over want to look it? Could that, as a goal we're encouraged to share, actually be something of a trap to keep us in this uncanny valley, arrested development form of aging (especially because of how ridiculous the results often look)? Are we being tricked into hating extremely ripe ages when probably the truth is that these old people who are keeping the world stuck actually desperately want to be our age and are doing everything in their power to prevent us from comfortably inhabiting ours, and getting to decide what it looks like on our own terms, and not from a point of scarcity? Oh man, with their knowledge of all that therapy, are they afraid we'd retaliate for how they've fucked us over if we had more power? RICH subject, could talk about this all day. Always love when you write about this stuff!
5 Nights at Epstein was definitely a trend - many students were playing it on school devices before the local district found a way to block it.