39. I realized we're all basically nothing (and it helped)
A Tom Hanks voiceover that could heal the world.
Today’s letter includes: Brooklyn taco mania, Silicon Valley Drama, some updates from the publishing world, Prue's shocking Bake Off exit, and much more.
Hi friends.
Hope you enjoyed the snow instead of, say, getting stranded at LaGuardia. Meanwhile, one of my friends was casually skiing in Aspen with Jeremy O. Harris, which officially makes the rest of our weekends look tragic by comparison.
On Friday, I was reminded that I do not know how to roller skate. Despite the bitter cold, Xanadu in Bushwick was popping. They served us fancy hot dogs and cinnamon bread. “The Midwest is taking over,” Ben correctly declared.
On Saturday, we made the trek up to the Natural History Museum. Is there anything better than a direct entrance to the museum from the subway platform? Trying to see a museum with a group of ~30 people proved difficult but we ended the day at Tiki Chick, which I predict will thrive as inflation continues its rampage. Solid $5 chicken sandwiches—smaller than a regular one, bigger than sliders, exactly what New Yorkers need.
Sunday, I achieved absolutely nothing. Zero steps, zero leaving my apartment. I marveled at the strength of Minnesotans, 100,000+ of them who protested in -20 degrees, and did my best not spiral into a deep depression over the state of the world. Beyond Beef tacos with heirloom corn tortillas from La Carnada provided slight reprieve.
***
At the museum, we watched a Tom Hanks-narrated film about the universe. We saw Earth, which sits in the Milky Way, which resides in the Local Group, which is a speck in the Virgo Supercluster. Space is incomprehensibly massive, we are laughably small.
It made me think: How could there not be aliens when we can barely see any of what’s out there? And maybe if we just made everyone watch this film, humans would stop being so horrible to each other.
There’s something about confronting vastness—whether it’s space, the ocean, or standing on a mountain—that makes human greed and power lust feel absurd.
Soothed by Tom Hank’s voice and the sheer size of the universe, humanity could be better, I think.
Rumor has it that Substack is suppressing free content. If you’d like to resist the algorithm pushing paid content only, then liking, sharing, quoting and restacking this newsletter will help! <3
What’s up in Silicon Valley?
PR Crisis! I’m always interested in how crises get handled. Here’s what the head of public affairs at DoorDash said in response to an AI generated Reddit post that claimed fraudulent business practices by an unnamed major food delivery app, received over 87,000 upvotes and generated roughly 5,000 comments.
Decagon raises Series D. They’re basically a customer service AI agent provider but are calling it “AI concierge” instead in what I assume is an attempt to elevate it. The round is $250 million in funding at a $4.5B valuation.
When you have to change your company’s name after like 2 days. Clawdbot, a personal AI assistant, went viral within weeks of launch and had all of SF buying Mac Minis to get their assistants up and running. But then Anthropic (maker of Claude) was like, “How about no,” and reminded the founder of trademark law. So now the company is called “Moltbot.” Not an upgrade IMO.
Does this mean AI personal assistants are here and can actually do stuff? Yes and no. Moltbot is getting rave reviews on X - people are claiming it re-did their entire website while they slept, emptied their inbox out in hours etc. etc. But it seems to have no security and require a lot of technical knowledge to set up.
How about publishing.
Chief AI Officers of publishing. Wiley has appointed its first-ever chief AI officer, a role intended to accelerate Wiley’s effort to license its content to AI developers. Wiley is a book publisher that is focused on scientific/technical material so it’s not totally bonkers — I myself oversaw a book published with Wiley whilst at Workato. Since January 2024, Wiley has generated nearly $100 million in AI licensing revenue.
Are box subscriptions back? Bridgerton author Julia Quinn announced a romance book subscription service through JQ Editions. It’s the first author-led subscription service I’ve heard of.
The rent is too damn high and so is everything else. We can all feel it, but here’s the data to back up your sticker shock.
Goodwill just posted record $7 billion in revenue—a nearly 50% jump since 2019. Savers Value Village and ThredUp are also crushing it as Americans hunt for deals anywhere they can find them.
Aldi is now the fastest-growing chain in America. The budget-friendly, German grocer has plans for nearly another 200 stores this year, the company is on pace to have 3,200 U.S. stores by 2028. Among grocers, only Walmart has more locations. I wrote about Aldi’s takeover last year.
Meanwhile, those tariffs everyone keeps arguing about? Yeah, they’re basically just a tax on us. New research analyzing $4 trillion in shipments found that American consumers absorbed 96% of the tariff costs. So we’re paying more for everything while pretending it’s someone else’s problem.
Even Dry January got expensive. Mocktails are hitting $20 in some spots, which defeats the entire point of saving money by not drinking. People are just ordering water now—never imagined we’d be priced out of not consuming alcohol.
When you can’t afford to thrift, can’t afford the tariffs, and can’t afford to not drink, maybe it’s time to admit the vibes are not immaculate.
And onto Entertainment.
Zoe Saldaña is the highest-grossing actor of all-time thanks to the new Avatar. Saldaña’s films (which include other major franchises like Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean) have now grossed $15.5 billion globally. You want your movie to do well? Cast Zoe as an alien.
Yahoo is hiring a Senior Social Video Producer - it’s a remote contract role and I wouldn’t say the pay is high…
Taco Update. What started in a Home Depot (except we are boycotting Home Depot FYI) parking lot is now Brooklyn’s newest taco destination - @bordertownbk, known for their flour tortillas, has a permanent home in Greenpoint. And the Tex-Mex party spot in East Village, @wayneandsonsnyc, has officially landed in Williamsburg.
So brave for saying a wine tasted like pennies! Eliza Dumais, journalist and “Wine World ‘it girl,’” if that is a thing, wrote a book. The basis of the novel is her relationship with boyfriend Sam Lawrence, chef and co-owner of restaurant Bridges (so sceney!). I don’t really read romance, but will definitely catch the Netflix adaptation should it get made.
DC may get it’s own Las Vegas Sphere. But it will be smaller, so people are calling it Mini Sphere.
Prue is leaving Great British Bakeoff. I guess she wants to retire. Meanwhile Paul just keeps on keeping on. I suppose trying to cast a stately dame will mean you only get so many years of work out of them!
Thanks for reading!