What’s it like to be the personal assistant for a billionaire?
Here's the best things I found on the internet this week
What’s up everybody,
Late August is kind of a dead time in the culture, with the Olympics now behind us and the football season not yet starting in the sports world, the movie calendar in limbo between summer blockbusters and the awards slate, and apparently “brat girl summer” giving way to “demure girl fall” (or so I’m told). And don’t you dare counter by saying the DNC is going on this week. You don’t watch the speeches until clips the next day on social media either, don’t lie to me.
Thankfully, the internet always provides a few gems of content buried beneath the masses of crap. Think of me as a digital coal miner down there in my skivvies getting the black lung so I can unearth for you some diamonds each week in the form of my “conversation starters,” a roundup of the best, most interesting and most entertaining content on the internet in the past week. Enjoy…then share with someone else!
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!
Nothing impressed me more this week than this 13-year-old who called into Rich Eisen’s sports radio show and proved himself to be more articulate and engaging than 90% of sports media personalities. I think I’ve rewatched it probably 10 times at this point. Screw this country’s labor laws! Get this kid his own show!!
Here’s something I never knew I wanted to know — how do food labels come up with how many calories are in packaged foods? In this surprisingly entertaining YouTube investigation from Howtown, it becomes clear that the math is a pretty rough estimate. A fascinating video. I’ll never look at food labels the same!
What’s it like to be the personal assistant for a billionaire? This candid Q&A with an experienced VIP assistant tells all — how much money they make, how much the VIPs spend on everyday activities, and what ridiculous things they’re asked to do on a day to day basis. My jaw was on the floor for most of it.
The highest concentration of Ozempic users in the country? It’s not glitzy neighborhoods like Hollywood or the Upper East Side…Bowling Green, Ohio is the real Ozempictown, USA. In our Long Read of the Week, Bloomberg covers the widespread effects of what happens when seemingly an entire town gets on weight-loss drugs.
Van Leeuwan is no stranger to publicity stunt flavors — cue its ranch-flavored or mac n’ cheese-flavored ice creams — but it’s latest collaboration boggles the mind even more. It’s hot fudge sundae flavored … sparkling water, in partnership with Golf-branded water company Liquid Death. I’m going to have to try it (for the record, the mac’ n cheese ice cream was pretty good!).
Only a couple weeks removed from that story I shared about the sharks ingesting cocaine, apparently Hurricane Debby deposited $1.6 million worth of cocaine onto Florida beaches. Warning to anyone swimming off the coast of Florida…apparently there’s tons of cocaine in the water all around you.
What started as a crazy and niche idea, one that has been a hobby horse in this newsletter for months, is rapidly becoming law. The governor of New York could implement a total ban on cellphones in schools as early as next year. The effects could be drastic, but as this New York Mag feature details, not everyone is on board (yet).
Thanks for reading and sharing! On Friday we’re back talking about legacy sequels with Alien: Romulus, but I think you’ll be surprised by my take!