Forever is a long time

September 9, 2021

Listen: Anniversary by Duran Duran

Would you have said the members of Duran Duran were dead, or at least retired? Well, they are defiantly neither, as evidenced by this new, self-referential single called “Anniversary.” After applauding the band’s 40 years in service, the Anniversary promo materials reveal that the track includes “Easter eggs” of older Duran Duran hits, which I view as the equivalent of the reruns that podcasts release in August when their teams are out on vacation. But whatever, it’s fun to bop to— probably not in the hot-and-heavy club-grind way inexplicably described in Vulture, but who am I to dictate how you jam out to the oldies? See for yourself.

We love a Peloton wedding

My life is only so fancy, so I got the news of the Peloton wedding through Anne Helen Petersen, but now that I’m tuned in, I can’t look away. Anyone who hits the bike with Ally Love already knows— she talked up her marriage on the livestream (or, so I hear) until there was a full-on wedding-themed ride, after which point we were invited to snoop the socials to suss out who from the Peloton fam was invited to the big party in Mexico. But who cares about the invitees compared to the full set of comms guidelines they all received? Every moment of the five-day wedding was embargoed, so as soon as Love posted from each themed event, you could consume supplementary material through a number of instructors’ accounts (and classes). I hope Peloton at least contributed staff to the strategy— it’s the least they could do in exchange for the content mine. Speaking of that exchange, though, in a world where Peloton is its instructors and instructors are Peloton, how far can any one character build out their personal brand without pulling away from the mothership? It’s a tenuous balance and so far Love is acing it. But I kind of can’t wait to see someone else fall. (Just don’t let it be Matty.)

On falling

Assuming all your content needs aren’t being met by Peloton, I’ve got a podcast for you. My old friend Ian Coss realized shortly before his wedding that all of his living family members were divorced— and some of them multiple times over. To soothe his own nerves about some hereditary divorce gene (relatable!), he decided to interview his relatives to learn from their marital missteps. The result is an incredibly intimate portrait of a web of individuals doing their best— and one protagonist who’s brave enough to get to know his elders as people. If the headline is, “How Not To Get Divorced,” the content is more of a roadmap for how to be thoughtful in any relationship. Thanks, Ian.

Flushed over here $

Wedding or divorce, at some point, you’re going to need something to wipe those eyes— or, um, other parts of your body. Enter: Who Gives A Crap, a toilet paper company that makes rolls out of recycled paper and bamboo and kicks back half their profits to building toilets for those in need. Responsible paper production: another reason to shed a tear of joy. Get yours here— and if you’re a new customer, get $10 off any order with the code LOREMIPSUM.

Trying to keep up with Peloton’s level of sponcon. How am I doing?

Margot

 

PS In light of an issue from last week, I was right that some Loremfolk know the people of Human, and word is that the move is indeed going more or less fine.

$ = sponsored