Tasteland

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Jose Mejia, the CEO and Co-Founder at Scene Infrastructure Company, a software company building better instruments for socialization.__Jose MejiaSICX/TwitterLinkedIn__Timestamps00:00 Intro01:42 Stress-induced tramp stamp04:07 Zero-slop pop-up gets pwned10:44 Daisy bullies Chat-GPT, again13:16 Addison Rae Iconic Magazine scene report15:10 Wild soda flavor combos17:45 Shopify for the experience economy21:31 World Cup 2026 ticket prices26:17 The endgame of the attention economy33:38 The decline of consensus reality41:34 Rebuilding consensus reality48:38 Matryoshka doll of meaning51:08 When did everything become so intentional?__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland, Francis and Daisy go guest-free and dive into everything from small farms and soybeans to the future of media and paywalls. Is media all media marketing now? Life is good.__Timestamps00:00 Sourdough fatherhood01:43 Venture agriculturalism05:34 Soybean political own goal10:06 All media is marketing15:40 Not all media is marketing22:37 Retiring the op-ed27:46 The future of micropayments and paywalls35:27 Distasteland38:11 Nostalgic scent of manure39:33 AGI is coming, go to party school42:04 Life is good; drip__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Casey Lewis, founder of the After School newsletter and Gen Z consumer trends expert. Casey has been an editor at Teen Vogue, MTV, and New York Magazine, and in 2016, she started a media company for Gen Z, which was acquired by another media company for Gen Z.__CaseyAfter School NewsletterInstagramLinkedInTikTok__Links & ReferencesA Taste of Thomas Bernhard__Timestamps00:00 Thomas Bernhard renaissance05:25 Double dogs and doubled subs08:00 Gen alpha are the marketing generation10:11 Denim is back18:51 Individuality vs. conformity in youth culture26:46 Brand loyalty in gen z and gen alpha30:45 Mom's influence on tween shopping34:00 The uncanny valley of fashion38:09 Refragmentation of youth culture44:03 You stole my brainrot51:30 The ethics of child influencers58:27 I wanna be your billboard__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Dani Loftus. Dani is a founder, writer and investor focused on the digital evolution of culture. After founding content platform This Outfit Does Not Exist in 2021, she became a leading voice in the digital fashion space working with brands like Chanel, Dion Lee, and Google and writing for publications such as HUNGER, DIRT and Jing Daily.__DaniSubstackInstagramLinkedInX/Twitter__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Dani01:00 Gimmicky martini epidemic05:10 The return the hipsterdom17:27 Happy victims20:28 Fashion is fine art28:18 Pandemic shopping habits31:22 The Doji problem38:58 The commodification of taste in fashion46:52 Putting a watermark on humanity51:22 Class structure in the UK vs US__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Andy Hunter, the founder and CEO of bookshop.org, an online bookshop with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.__BookshopWebsiteInstagramBlueskyAndy's LinkedIn__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Andy and Bookshop02:08 Press Publish NYC06:26 Introducing e-books on Bookshop08:00 Aligning against big tech11:36 Best performing genres on Bookshop14:12 The catalyst for Bookshop's impressive growth15:52 Rejecting investment to maintain the company's mission19:51 Support bookstores, not billionaires28:03 Innovating the e-reader35:00 Bookshop's impact on local book stores37:25 AI vs human book recommendations46:42 Taking the Bookshop model beyond books53:40 The value of physical books57:40 Current reads__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Ben Dietz, a long-time media/entertainment business guy.__BenSubstackLinkedIn[SIC] Talks Podcast__Timstamps00:00 Do not disturb05:12 No new luxury brands11:11 Cybertruck: a future classic16:20 Can software be luxury?23:23 AI email summaries, with emotion30:34 Brand safety is dead34:56 Podcasting for the generations38:31 Job tenure trends47:39 Well-mannered, socialized and curious51:13 Psychological foot binding54:00 A month of sobriety__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we're joined by W. David Marx, an American fashion and culture writer who works and lives in Tokyo, Japan. He is the author of Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style and Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change.Preorder Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century__W. David MarxNewsletterTwitter/XInstagram__Timestamps00:00:00 Subway tastes00:02:26 There's no song of the summer00:09:05 Skinny pants are never coming back00:12:10 Only Fads00:17:10 Fad consumerism culture, US vs Asia00:21:27 The age of the double sellout00:24:00 The 21st century crisis00:35:49 Rich enough to not have a smartphone00:41:25 Cultural roots of contemporary politics00:51:04 Everyone is a marketer00:56:37 You can't be unfamous01:01:04 Capitalism without morality__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined by Greta Rainbow. Greta is an editor at the Creative Independent, arts columnist for the New York Review of Architecture, and she's the anchor contributor for Dirt's books newsletter, Blank.__GretaWebsiteTwitter/XInstagramIgno-fiction piece__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Greta04:33 Genre + scene = literary movement08:37 Disney adults of alt-lit11:03 In defense of perfection16:44 An audatious literary sandwich24:22 Literary gnats31:09 Unfulfiled references come as great surprise34:51 Books that we hate__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week Daisy and Francis are joined Sam Valenti IV. Sam is the founder and leader of Ghostly International, a 25-year-old collective that has grown from a dorm room-based record label to a recognized platform for the work of great artists, designers, technologists, and musicians. The New York Times says Ghostly “transcends its record label roots to sell and ethos.” Ghostly International is the first label alongside upstart drink sum wtr in All Flowers Group, a label unit formed as an affiliate of Secretly Group. An inveterate collector, Valenti also writes the weekly newsletter Herb Sundays, which features a personal playlist by a noted artist or enthusiast.__SamInstagramLinkedInSubstackGhostly__Timestamps00:00:00 Igno-fiction00:05:45 Cultural beatdowns00:11:18 The knowledge requirement of fandoms00:18:15 Sycophancy vs. fandom00:21:50 Community in record labels00:27:45 Archiving culture00:33:29 Nostalgia and new media engagement00:36:52 Preserving artists legacies00:42:36 New media monetization strategies00:50:00 AI and the future of media consumption00:57:31 The best music journalism right now__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Reggie James, a writer, product architect and investor.__ReggieLinkedInTwitter/XSubstackInstagram__00:0002:09 Best hardware of 202406:11 Interviewing Jasper of Teenage Engineering08:06 The most contemporary city in America12:07 Secular tech vs spiritual tech17:25 Heriticon loses its edge22:30 The tech right and religious right cannot coexist28:41 Faith and doubt in startup tech35:31 Private vs public capital in innovation42:26 Having a startup is a lifestyle choice__Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.