We’re not going to talk about impeachment today— you have the regular news for that. Instead, I’ve got some sparkles for you, in the form of an ebullient Phoebe Bridgers cover that blows minty air straight into your face. A song about imposter syndrome is an interesting choice for a relatively unknown group to cover, but it’s “music for extroverts,” as they say (perfect, might I add, for fans of 100 Gecs), and I think we all need a little jostle out of our mental news hole. Listen and perk up.
Since the world stopped going anywhere, every urban planner’s favorite topic is the 15-minute city, a model where everyone lives within a quick jaunt of groceries, medicine, and their other basic necessities. In fact, the headline is so sexy that it’s starting to get jacked for other purposes. Case in point: The One-Minute City, a public-life project based in Stockholm that’s working to place modular micro-parks around the city for blocks to organize as they please. An obvious response to a Covid-era need for social space that doesn’t require travel, the idea also addresses the pre-Covid problem of people having nowhere to go except for private establishments that require money to enter. Will this be the development that makes neighbors actually introduce themselves? TBD, but we solute any effort that helps streets serve people over cars.
New Yorkers, say it with me: everyone deserves a good bodega. Finally, the people in power agree. 7-Eleven is reportedly about to become a legit corner store (rather than a gas station up-sell), the way it is in Japan. The stateside operation is rolling out a rotation of natural snacks, bringing in Amazon Locker, and introducing some sort of bill-paying technology— and letting you make all those transactions through a branded app. They’re also expanding, via an acquisition of Speedway, to take those changes nationwide.
Normally I am skeptical of the brand glow-up, but this one strikes me as spot-on. Everyone outside NYC, please tell me: What do you do when you need a single sponge? When’s the last time you walked outside and bought a newspaper with three paper dollars? Where, within a five-minute walk of your home, can you get a sandwich immediately made to your specifications? A corner store makes your world a neighborhood, and a trip there is a treat. But what do we have instead? Arduous trips to the supermarket, stretched out and rushed through, and a literal pox if you happen to forget something. Give us those quick trips, and give ’em to us now.
Just a note to say that, while you avoid giant trips to the grocery store, ButcherBox will deliver 100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, heritage breed pork, and wild caught seafood straight to your door. Sign up now to get 7 or more lbs of meat free in your first box.