Is Hooters too naughty, or not naughty enough?
These are the best things I found on the internet this week!
Howdy digital neighbors,
Hope your weeks are off to a great start. And hoping that my “conversation starters” can make them even better! This roundup of the best, most interesting and most entertaining content on the internet is meant to improve your media diet, and your small talk. So read, watch and discuss!
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!
The final round of The Masters on Sunday reminded us why sports are awesome — though I’d argue champion Rory McIlroy’s 4-year-old daughter hit the best shot of the week.
Still, the craziest Masters story I heard this week comes from The Athletic. A man was rummaging through blazers at a thrift store and found an old Masters champion green jacket from the 1950s, which he bought for $5 and then sold at auction for $140,000.
Our long read of the week is a definitive profile of David Zaslav, the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, a last bastion of glorious “old media,” and a frequent online punching bag (not without reason). His company currently has the biggest movie at the box office (Minecraft) and the buzziest TV shows (The White Lotus, The Last of Us, The Pitt), so it’s worth learning a little more about the man, even if you aren’t a close watcher of the media industry like me. Great story.
At least 99% of talk show segments are worthless and unfunny. But this week gave us not one but two absolute gems — Tim Robinson on Seth Meyers and Eric Andre on Jimmy Fallon. Both guys are absolute live wires (and complete weirdos) who bring an element of danger and unpredictability to these conversations that make them not only watchable but full-on can’t-miss material. I was cracking up at both.
Director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther) went viral this week for explaining in exhaustive detail the difference between various film formats and movie theaters — what’s the difference between digital, laser, 35mm, 70mm, Dolby and IMAX? It makes you want to see his upcoming movie, Sinners, in the biggest venue possible.
A gambling syndicate in Texas, led by a man known as “The Joker,” bought up essentially every single lottery number combination, 28.5 million tickets at $1 a piece, and won a $95 million jackpot. The state calls it theft, even though the group didn’t break any rules. (They apparently wager $10 billion per year on their schemes??)
Headlines That Require No Context: Purple Isn’t Real, Science Says. Your Brain Is Just Making It Up. (And as a bonus, this subhead: “You might say it’s just a pigment of your imagination.”)
You may have heard that Hooters, that restaurant known for great chicken wings, is deeply in debt and headed for bankruptcy. The Atlantic dares to ask the question — “Is Hooters too naughty, or not naughty enough?” The inability to answer that question has led to its demise.
Thanks for reading and sharing! We’ve got a box office double for you this week with The Amateur and Warefare, which I’ll tell you all about on Friday!