We love Substack—not only because it allows us to say any damn thing we want—but because many, many other writers are empowered to do that as well.
There are thousands of ‘stacks out there, but here are a few that catch our eye (and are on our daily reading list)…
Here’s Why GuvTina Loves Her ‘Emergencies’
The German Substacker known as Eugyppius (after an obscure Medieval monk) writes about the decay of democracy in modern-day Germany with words that resonate here in Oregon—which studiously avoids any systematic reconsideration of the damage done by the Covid lockdown…and our political machine’s fascination with “emergencies.”
When states behave like authoritarian Warsaw Pact regimes, as they did during the pandemic, they nourish the same kinds of political dissent and develop the same insecurities, which they then seek to address in much the same way. Pandemic restrictions, in other words, seem to have radicalised the state in two ways—first, by teaching politicians that they can get away with vastly more than they ever thought possible; and second, by encouraging political enforcers to take a wider view of their mandate and go after all kinds of dissent that, before 2020, was wholly legitimate.
…and the Guv Appears in This (not Quite Fictional) Colloquy
It’s from the Oregon Roundup ‘stack, by Jeff Eager, a lawyer and former mayor of Bend, which might as well be Mars as far as Portland progressives are concerned. Turns out that his location gives him a unique perspective on Oregon’s twisted politics. This latest post featured a conversation between Tina Kotek, speaker of the House; and GuvTina…made up…maybe…
Speaker: What the hell is going on?
Governor: [pointing] You. You went on.
Speaker: [aghast] Excuse me? I’ve done everything I can to help Oregonians of—well, Oregonians of ALL immutable traits except the bad ones—overcome the systemic isms that have held them down their entire lives. When a social and/or climate and/or gender and/or bicycle and/or houseless and/or economic and/or public employee union justice group says jump, I say how high? That’s the way I’ve always done it.
Governor: I know, but [glances furtively around the room, leans toward mirror, whispering] none of it’s working. We have more homelessness, more drug abuse, more theft, more murder, worse schools and less housing.
Speaker: Well, that’s nothing new. It’s all part of the Oregon experience. People will pay a premium to live in Oregon because of the accepting, environmentally conscious, capitalism-skeptical laws we’ve—I’ve— pioneered.
Governor: Turns out there’s a limit to what people will put up with. For most people that limit is somewhere between a homeless dude taking a dump on their lawn and paying the highest taxes in the country for the right to have their personal information posted on the dark web because state agencies are just now learning about computers.
Speaker: So, so, I should do something different?
Governor: No, no, no. Keep it up! I won, after all. And now I can take credit for trying to fix the stuff I messed up. Never admit you’re wrong.
Speaker: Oh, I don’t.
Sit Back, Relax, and Scroll, Baby, Scroll…
For our money (just $6 per month), Ted GIoia’s The Honest Broker, is one of the leading ‘stacks dealing with modern culture, with a tilt toward the music business. His recent drop, “The State of the Culture 2024,” is a chilling analysis of what lies behind the recent kerfuffle over TikTok…
The fastest growing sector of the culture economy is distraction. Or call it scrolling or swiping or wasting time or whatever you want. But it’s not art or entertainment, just ceaseless activity.
The key is that each stimulus only lasts a few seconds, and must be repeated.
It’s a huge business, and will soon be larger than arts and entertainment combined. Everything is getting turned into TikTok—an aptly named platform for a business based on stimuli that must be repeated after only a few ticks of the clock.
TikTok made a fortune with fast-paced scrolling video. And now Facebook—once a place to connect with family and friends—is imitating it. So long, Granny, hello Reels. Twitter has done the same. And, of course, Instagram, YouTube, and everybody else trying to get rich on social media.
This is more than just the hot trend of 2024. It can last forever—because it’s based on body chemistry, not fashion or aesthetics.
Our brain rewards these brief bursts of distraction. The neurochemical dopamine is released, and this makes us feel good—so we want to repeat the stimulus.
The cycle looks like this.
This is a familiar model for addiction.
Only now it is getting applied to culture and the creative world—and billions of people. They are unwitting volunteers in the largest social engineering experiment in human history.
So you need to ditch that simple model of art versus entertainment. And even ‘distraction’ is just a stepping stone toward the real goal nowadays—which is addiction.
Speaking of TikTok for Idiots…
Jeff Maurer’s ‘stack, I Might Be Wrong offers comedy that bites back from the former lead writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Here’s a portion of his post, “Don't Ban TikTok Just Because it's a Flaming Planet of Dinosaur Shit. (Ban It for Other Reasons.)”
There are plenty of reasons to hate TikTok. Personally, I hate it because it’s one of the 65 things ruining comedy. The entertainment industry is trying to figure out how to make money in a world where turtles on tiny skateboards and penguins with perfect comic timing are funnier than any human could ever be. Say what you will about the gatekeepers of yesteryear—and I have endless bad things to say about them—they did a D-plus job of identifying talent. TikTok gets an F-minus on that front (except for funny animals—A++ on the animals).
The app habitually upvotes hack comics and hot girls because teenagers are the only people dumber and hornier than the dirtbag producers of yesteryear. Letting teens run comedy is like letting teens run a restaurant: They will constantly opt for saccharin crap that has no appeal whatsoever to adults.
The news business is facing similar struggles. Like entertainment, news has seen the erosion of a gatekeeper-based model that—for all of its very real flaws—did a decent job of keeping the crazies out. Now, the crazies are on equal footing with everyone else, and if the crazy person happens to be a woman with abundant cleavage, she has an advantage.
This article about TikTok news anchors made me want to jump into a volcano, or atone in some other way for my role in the rise of uber-snarky and minimally honest “newstainment.” Having witnessed how cable TV changed American news and therefore also America, I often worry that the main effect of technology is to provide faster, more cost-effective ways to lobotomize ourselves.
"I often worry that the main effect of technology is to provide faster, more cost-effective ways to lobotomize ourselves."
Timothy Leary actually said electronics would take the place of drugs for producing changes in consciousness.
One of my favorite substacks doesn’t need the publicity, but it has a story on today’s website that is an excellent example of what it can offer — a revealing look at The New York Times’ effort to confront its own staff, which is packed with social justice activists posing as reporters:
https://www.thefp.com/p/new-york-times-hamas-rape-investigation
Times management appears to have grown a spine. As The Free Press notes, anti-Israeli protesters who regularly gather in front of the Times' offices also have allies in the newsroom. As a result, earlier this year the Times’ flagship podcast, The Daily, declined to produce an episode about the newspaper’s well-researched and disturbing story “Screams Without Words” on Hamas’ use of sexual violence against women.
The Times’ activist-journalists wanted the story killed. Times management did the right thing and ran this story anyway:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html?ugrp=u&unlocked_article_code=1.eU0.P11_.d9iPjayXb5DW&smid=url-share
Yet there are Times staffers who still want the story to disappear or for management to issue apologies. They want to silence these women’s screams.
Where are American feminists -- marching for the rights of men to infiltrate women's sports, women's restrooms, women's prisons?