Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The crew unpacks Zohran Mamdani’s electoral victory and what it says about a younger generation of New Yorkers who are looking to claw back a sense of agency, power, purpose, and connection beyond the “brand universe.” 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anu Lingala is a trend strategist and founder of the must-read Substack, WHAT’S ANU. We get a crash course in trend forecasting methodology, and then move on to who killed cool, the collapse of the irony/sincerity cycle, why people are trying to escape being seen by brands, Anu’s new theory on “trend bipolarity,” why we need to return to the basics of brand strategy, Anthony Bourdain, shareholder value, the Grimace shake, Peter Thiel, and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel-Yaw Miller is an award-winning journalist and writer of the newsletter, SportsVerse. We talk to him about whether or not streamers and influencers are welcome disruptors or interlopers, not watching upstart sports leagues out of principle, what makes Stone Island a “smart collaborator” brand, depth vs. breadth, Loewe and On’s partnership with stone skipping GOAT Kurt Steiner, and NIL. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everything is an ad and no one is paying attention. Trey and Eli discuss if it’s possible to cut through in an era of calcified apathy, ad blockers, toilet TV, and “brandspeak” afflicted gen pop. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We—and the rest of New York—have a few thoughts on the sprawling, million dollar subway campaign for “Friend,” the AI-powered companion pendant that listens to whatever you’re doing and offers a running commentary on your interactions. It’s yet to ship a single product. Plus, Meta’s new “Vibes,” Palantir tote bags, ChatGPT and Claude’s new marketing pushes, and we ask “why do some brands have so much disdain for the consumer?”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christina Loff is the Head of Lifestyle on the partnerships team at Substack. She also writes her own newsletter called The Dry Down Diaries. We talk to her about recruiting new writers to the platform, not being held to an algorithm, leaning into “founder-led” brand stories (but not every brand should be, or needs to be on the platform), bathhouse readings, and the importance of downloading the app.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We delve into Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick’s apt and unrestrained diatribe on the “era of ad-based psychosis” in his newsletter The Trend Report, and what happens when we leave people with nothing other than products, branding, or a community manager in the comments section to bind their entire identity to. On the brighter side, stay to hear about a hamster riding a motorcycle, Owen Cooper and the return of earnest, Jane Eyre, Benghazi, and Clara’s time in The Pitt.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.