Brad Pitt, Brian Windhorst and the people getting bladder surgery to avoid bathroom breaks
These are the best things I found on the internet this week!
Happy Independence Day!
Hope you were able to joyfully partake in the American past times of eating a bunch of unhealthy food, drinking too much and blowing stuff up. My personal July 4th celebration was especially on-brand, as I went to an outdoor movie screening of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at the Hollywood Forever cemetery, followed by a fireworks show. More to come on that in Friday’s newsletter.
For now, enjoy another week’s worth of “conversation starters,” a collection of the best the internet had to offer this past week, from funny memes to insightful articles. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something!
What’s the coolest story or thing you found on the internet this week? Reply to this email and shoot me a link. Would love to hear from you.
This debate featuring the Republican candidates for the Governor of Arizona would be one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, if it wasn’t so horrifying to realize one of these people might actually run the state. Didn’t stop me from watching three times and quoting it all week.
Wild, but true. Rich New Yorkers are getting bladder surgery and Botox to avoid bathroom breaks on the drive to the Hamptons.
Nothing gave me more joy this week than the memes that sprung up around this two-minute ESPN “First Take” appearance by reporter Brian Windhorst, who lavishes in the role of that kid on the playground who knows a secret but won’t tell anyone else. The next day, his mysterious questioning came true in the form of a blockbuster trade, and the internet has been giving him hilarious victory laps ever since.
Mark Mason’s “Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k” is an international best-seller that has become a multi-million dollar cottage industry, in the way successful IP does these days. But what happens to the man who’s brand is not trying too hard has to manage an empire? Great profile on Manson in New York Mag.
Anyone who has attempted fly lately knows that airline travel is a disaster right now. The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson explains why in his podcast, “Plain English,” which is also excerpted online here. Highly recommend the podcast and great insights here.
I’m a sucker for celebrity profiles, especially when Brad Pitt lets a writer from GQ into his home for a literal fireside chat about philosophy, dream interpretation and opining about art in the way I imagine all super rich people in the Hollywood Hills do.
This excellent essay in The Atlantic dares to ask: What if the war in Ukraine is not Greece or South Korea—where American might guarantees somebody else’s freedom—but Afghanistan where it tried, failed, and eventually gave up? It goes on to unwind the fundamental American myth that our interests are good for everyone.
It’s always seemed crazy to me that Major League Baseball clubhouses purposely rub mud on new baseballs before they’re used in a game. Now, MLB is cracking down on the standard for a properly “mudded ball.” A compliance officer will verify that balls were all mudded within three hours of each other, kept in a humidifier for two weeks, and not taken out until two hours before first pitch.
Thanks for reading and sharing! I’ll be back on Friday to talk movies, see ya then!