Things that stuck with me:
he joked to me that his life has now been twice disrupted by the Internet—first when he was a newspaper journalist, “and the Web came along and devoured print,” and then a decade later, when “social networks came along and devoured the Web.”
The fact that substack tries to have some perks of news rooms, like legal defense and healthcare, but is mostly just op-ed writing
In 2019, in a blog post titled “The Passion Economy and the Future of Work,” Li Jin, a partner at the time, discussed the opportunity for “monetizing individuality.” Drawing on the example of the gig-work economy, Jin suggested that everyone could be an independent contractor. She pointed to Outschool—a Web site where teachers and coaches offer instruction on topics like playwriting, mindfulness, and English as a second language—and to Cameo, the surreal online marketplace where celebrities can be hired to record customized video messages. “Gig work isn’t going anywhere—but there are now more ways to capitalize on creativity,” she wrote. “This has huge implications for entrepreneurship and what we’ll think of as a ‘job’ in the future.” When I spoke to Dyson recently, she told me that she was intrigued by applications like OnlyFans, in which she saw a new business model for celebrities and influencers, one that did not depend on advertising: “People who receive attention, kind of for free, then give attention back to people and charge for it—the attention they’ve garnered has become a genuine commodity that they can sell.”
Things that stuck with me:
How much on an opus this movie is on the beauty of being human.
Things that stuck with me:
The both earnestness and absolute indulgence Pj takes in interviewing the students. Especially the girl who handed out candy and Robert Ezra.
Things that stuck with me:
How much more interesting the world now feels knowing someone like this exists. I have deep respect and intrigue for people secretly doing grand schemes namelessly and facelessly. Also how much doubt it sews. When some new viral video comes out, is it Zardulu?
Things that stuck with me:
How spot-on the writing of Bee is. She isn't always eloquent and rarely composed. It's very relatable as a 20-something. Of course PuppyCat's voice and dimeanor are also hilarious. I especially love his hatred of bugs. Finally I found the end really beautiful, lots of really human moments and a beautiful princess story.
Things that stuck with me:
David Foster Wallace's beautifully apt description of things we worship about ourselves that will always let us down, like money, beauty, power, or intelligence, and his reminder to carry compassion with you.
This comment also stuck with me:
"My very unemotional, very ambitious, brilliant ex husband came home from his job doing scientific research one day and told me it had just hit him the most important thing he did all day was tell the elderly office secretary she looked nice. He was floored by this revelation, as was I. He seemed to forget it over time, but I never did and I kept looking deeper towards that truth for another 20 years. It's very nice to have it all expressed so eloquently here."
That quote summizes something I've been feeling but haven't been living for the past few weeks. It was a great reminder to focus on being a positive change on the paths I cross.