Rule #1: Never Be In The Middle
Hello friends! You look fantastic today.
Quick halloween recap: I saw 4 Bob's Burgers group costumes, 3 Squints and Wendy couples, and 2,321 superheroes. Best costume: a cowboy with his clothes on backwards. A reverse cowboy! Hope your halloween was full of sugar and good times. And now, the reader's equivalent of a pillow case full of candy:
In some industries there is no room for the middle man. You wanna make the raw materials or be the reseller, and not in between. This is the "smile curve" and it appears to be coming to the world of online content. You want to be a writer or a focused publication (the raw materials) or you want to be Google or Facebook (the resellers). I highly recommend reading Ben Thompson's essay about publishing's no-man's land. It's one of the smartest things I've read about publishing.
—Related: It's about to get ugly in media startup land.
—Also related: the people behind the magical and frustrating Facebook newsfeed algorithm.
A question I like to ask my friends: If you were dating someone and after a month and you discovered they had a six-figure debt, how would that affect the relationship? Money and relationship are more tied up than we think.
Verizon is sponsoring a tech news site. Guess what two issues the site is barred from covering? I, for one, welcome our corporate overlords.
There are more qualified workers and less jobs than ever. So what happens when we automate ourselves out of work?
— Related: Uber claims its drivers make $90,000 a year. They are lying.
— Ironically related: Will Bunch is a columnist and reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. UberX is coming to Philly, illegally. When an UberX car was towed away, Bunch wanted to send a reporter out to cover it. But then, he realized he was the only reporter in America's fifth largest city. "I found myself covering 'the sharing economy' of transportation—thanks to the 'sharing economy' of news."
— Related to the ironically related: Philly Mag interviews an anonymous Philly cabby. Selected quote: "I had one guy jump in and look at me and say, 'Hey, you scared?' And I fucking floored it. Floored it. I tore around the corner and then looked at him and said, 'No, are you?'"
58 percent of overweight people incorrectly describe themselves as normal weight. Are we in denial about our weight?
Men are often told they need to be the one to lean in for the first kiss, the one to "make a move" and ask a woman out. But with "affirmative consent" laws hitting the books, how does this change the dynamics of the dating world?
The 51st state won't be Puerto Rico. It will be Miami. The reason? Global warming.
Entrepreneur Rachel Sklar on what it is like to be 41, single and pregnant (and how "untraditional" paths motherhood are becoming more common).
I've watched or listened to Pardon the Interruption every day for the past seven years. Bruce Buschel sums up why PTI is the best sports show on TV: "[Hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon] are just two good friends who sit and talk. With exquisite timing. Without punchlines tread upon. When one gets hot, the other goes cool. Yin juggles yang. Yang jiggles yin. They agree or disagree with equal fervor; they hold back nothing, and nothing holds them back."
What percentage of girls 15-19 are pregnant in the US? How many Americans are Muslim? Christian? Immigrants? Your answers to all those questions are probably wrong.
Just 40 years ago, there were only three metro areas larger than 10 million in the world: New York, Tokyo and Mexico City. Now there are 28. By 2030, the UN predicts there will be 41. And these "mega cities" will control most of the world's financial resources. Is this a good thing? Also, most of them will be in Asia.
Do you remember when CJ Cregg defied temporary president Walken and leaked the assassination story to Danny Concannon on the West Wing? No? Well, that's pretty much how real life works. (also, that full episode is here, ahem)
"There is no time for shame in a recession. You do what you have to do." This is a story about how an Emmy-award winning, New York Times bestselling author and Harvard grad couldn't even land a job at The Container Store. This is also a reminder that most people still aren't feeling any recovery.
You probably keep in touch with your high school or college friends even though you don't live within 30 miles of them. This is the "modern friendship" and it could be holding you back in the long run.
You don't have ADHD you're just living in the wrong era.
Jimmy Eat World, play us out.
--Sean
PS. Respond to this email with any awesome links you think I missed. You will receive credit in the next edition!
Quick halloween recap: I saw 4 Bob's Burgers group costumes, 3 Squints and Wendy couples, and 2,321 superheroes. Best costume: a cowboy with his clothes on backwards. A reverse cowboy! Hope your halloween was full of sugar and good times. And now, the reader's equivalent of a pillow case full of candy:
In some industries there is no room for the middle man. You wanna make the raw materials or be the reseller, and not in between. This is the "smile curve" and it appears to be coming to the world of online content. You want to be a writer or a focused publication (the raw materials) or you want to be Google or Facebook (the resellers). I highly recommend reading Ben Thompson's essay about publishing's no-man's land. It's one of the smartest things I've read about publishing.
—Related: It's about to get ugly in media startup land.
—Also related: the people behind the magical and frustrating Facebook newsfeed algorithm.
A question I like to ask my friends: If you were dating someone and after a month and you discovered they had a six-figure debt, how would that affect the relationship? Money and relationship are more tied up than we think.
Verizon is sponsoring a tech news site. Guess what two issues the site is barred from covering? I, for one, welcome our corporate overlords.
There are more qualified workers and less jobs than ever. So what happens when we automate ourselves out of work?
— Related: Uber claims its drivers make $90,000 a year. They are lying.
— Ironically related: Will Bunch is a columnist and reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. UberX is coming to Philly, illegally. When an UberX car was towed away, Bunch wanted to send a reporter out to cover it. But then, he realized he was the only reporter in America's fifth largest city. "I found myself covering 'the sharing economy' of transportation—thanks to the 'sharing economy' of news."
— Related to the ironically related: Philly Mag interviews an anonymous Philly cabby. Selected quote: "I had one guy jump in and look at me and say, 'Hey, you scared?' And I fucking floored it. Floored it. I tore around the corner and then looked at him and said, 'No, are you?'"
58 percent of overweight people incorrectly describe themselves as normal weight. Are we in denial about our weight?
Men are often told they need to be the one to lean in for the first kiss, the one to "make a move" and ask a woman out. But with "affirmative consent" laws hitting the books, how does this change the dynamics of the dating world?
The 51st state won't be Puerto Rico. It will be Miami. The reason? Global warming.
Entrepreneur Rachel Sklar on what it is like to be 41, single and pregnant (and how "untraditional" paths motherhood are becoming more common).
I've watched or listened to Pardon the Interruption every day for the past seven years. Bruce Buschel sums up why PTI is the best sports show on TV: "[Hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon] are just two good friends who sit and talk. With exquisite timing. Without punchlines tread upon. When one gets hot, the other goes cool. Yin juggles yang. Yang jiggles yin. They agree or disagree with equal fervor; they hold back nothing, and nothing holds them back."
What percentage of girls 15-19 are pregnant in the US? How many Americans are Muslim? Christian? Immigrants? Your answers to all those questions are probably wrong.
Just 40 years ago, there were only three metro areas larger than 10 million in the world: New York, Tokyo and Mexico City. Now there are 28. By 2030, the UN predicts there will be 41. And these "mega cities" will control most of the world's financial resources. Is this a good thing? Also, most of them will be in Asia.
Do you remember when CJ Cregg defied temporary president Walken and leaked the assassination story to Danny Concannon on the West Wing? No? Well, that's pretty much how real life works. (also, that full episode is here, ahem)
"There is no time for shame in a recession. You do what you have to do." This is a story about how an Emmy-award winning, New York Times bestselling author and Harvard grad couldn't even land a job at The Container Store. This is also a reminder that most people still aren't feeling any recovery.
You probably keep in touch with your high school or college friends even though you don't live within 30 miles of them. This is the "modern friendship" and it could be holding you back in the long run.
You don't have ADHD you're just living in the wrong era.
Jimmy Eat World, play us out.
--Sean
PS. Respond to this email with any awesome links you think I missed. You will receive credit in the next edition!
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