John Vanderlee is not going for concision. This full-sentence pop song lives on an electronic album called “John, I can’t believe civilization is still going here in 2021! Congratulations to all of us. Love, DCB,” and long-windedness aside, he’s kind of nailed it, right? Dedicated to the late songwriter DC Berman, the album is a meditation on simply making it through, and the single is a real banger of a coping song, equal parts silly and dark. “I had an incredibly difficult time with the endless cycles of hope and nihilism this covid shit does to your brain,” Vanderslice said. “In the end, I just shut down, ate weed, and tried not to desire ANYTHING.” Are you celebrating just being alive? You should! Start here.
For some of us, simply existing is not enough. On that note, have you heard that Spotify has audiobooks now? (Suck it, Audible.) A half-turn away, Substack is starting a podcast network, Netflix is adding video games to their platform, and shortly after Clubhouse signed a partnership with TED to do exclusive in-app programming (perfect), they also introduced a feature that lets you— wait for it— text. Enough with the content already!
Oh also, Apple is ripping off Affirm and Klarna and introducing “Apple Pay Later” so you can be even further endebted to Tim Cook. (Incidentally, there is also a homeless encampment growing on their San Jose campus.)
At what point is every company just offering the same thing (that is, everything) with different branding, and how long can we pay attention?
To escape the tyranny of “good content” (yeah, I said it), let’s all take refuge in this compilation of the world’s worst websites. I get the sense that the choices are subjective, but still, there’s a balm in a bad website being some ’90s-looking, text-heavy thing, not the robotic arm of an industry overlord squashing democracy or edging just the tip into space.
(I’m not surprised that this is his attitude. I AM shocked, though, that he doesn’t have an automated PR bot that keeps him from saying it in public.)
At least Tim Cook has like a career direction though, right? So can you. Lorem reader Mimi just launched Mento, a career care company that wants to help you create a happier, healthier work life. If you’re looking to make a change, they’ll help you navigate promotions, workplace complexities, a job search, career switching, upskilling, and more. And while most companies focus on landing that one job, Mento sticks around to help you thrive, no matter what challenges you’re facing— members get access to 1:1 coaching, LinkedIn overhauls, group workshops and more. Sound good? Learn more here.
