Seriously, how do they feed everyone in Olympic Village?
These are the best things I found on the internet this week!
Hello friends,
Thank you so much for the support for the paid newsletter tier last week, and all the birthday wishes. I’m being blessed to have the best people in my life around me.
Now it’s back to the grind of finding the best, most interesting and most entertaining content on the internet every single week. I call these my “conversation starters,” so you can improve your own media diet and up your small talk game! Enjoy.
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 weekend, during the men’s and women’s finals at Wimbledon, I appeared on BBC World News radio for a segment on the 20th anniversary of Maria Sharapova’s Wimbledon win as a 17-year-old, explaining how she became the highest-paid female athlete in the world for 11 straight years and changed the landscape of sports marketing forever. (There’s a tease quote at the beginning and then my section is from 26 minute mark to 31 minutes).
Listen, I really love Wimbledon. But I often think the more interesting side of the sport is the people grinding away to build their ranking, for little money or glory. It’s not nearly as glamorous as Challengers would make you believe. One such journeyman captures the struggle in incredible detail for The Guardian.
Here’s a story I was fascinated by as the Olympics quickly approach, from Eater. How does Olympic village feed all the Olympians? You’re talking about thousands of athletes from different countries with different traditions, and very different builds and caloric needs. This interview with the chefs responsible is super interesting.
The two most shocking takeaways are 1) they’re sourcing three million bananas for the two-week event, and 2) athletes said in a survey they would not be willing to walk an extra five minutes (or length of the dining hall) for different food.
The funniest moment in the very short trial of Alec Baldwin was the way his head whips up when he hears that witness called him a “c—sucker.”
Locals in Barcelona have gotten so fed up with how tourism has raised the cost of living in the city that protestors took to the streets and fired water guns at tourists dining outdoors, chanting “tourists go home!” I found a video from BBC.
In the latest fashion trend reversal, Gen-Z claims mid-calf socks are cool while ankle and no-show socks are for lame-o millennials?? Analyzing the photos of each in this Wall Street Journal story, I have to be honest with myself: I’m siding with the olds. Crew socks don’t look good! Fight me!!
You all responded strongly to my story a few weeks ago about the black market for poop (as a medicinal tea sort of thing?). Let me raise you one more — the completely legal buying and selling of human remains. Well…legal as long as the body parts aren’t stolen. And in the winding yarn that is our Long Read of the Week, you’ll see how one morgue manager at Harvard Medical School (yes, THE Harvard) began shipping body parts all around the country.
We all know the old stereotype of parents pressuring their kids to get married, but a new survey says only about 1/3rd of parents care these days. What’s changed? This think piece from The Atlantic suggests the concern over financial stability is the same, but the methods by which people achieve that have changed.
Thanks for reading and sharing! On Friday we’ll be talking about the exciting horror movie Longlegs, and a few other gems. Plus Wednesday I’ll have a streaming guide for Max! Talk to ya then.