Very Online

Day two: back to back

A person wearing a red shirt is taking a selfie on an outdoor running track, with workout details overlaid on the image.

My First Five Steam Purchases (after reading the related article on The Verge):

A list of video games with corresponding dates is displayed.

⚽️ “This is Stadio”, this is Football.

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📰🎙️🎧 NYT: Where have all my male friendships gone 😢

Two armored figures holding hands are depicted above a headline about male friendships.An illustration of three abstract figures accompanies the podcast episode titled 'Where Did All My Male Friendships Go?' detailing a man's journey to overcome loneliness and reconnect with friends.

🏀 #Eurobasket25 France vs Spain:

Very excited to start this show later this week… reviews have been very positive so far! 👽🫀

Alien: Earth establishes some of its most compelling ideas about what happens to people when their lives are defined by their relationships to technology.

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It’s worth keeping in mind that Americans might also be hypocrites.

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A stylized comic-book illustration shows a man kissing a woman while another woman looks at them in surprise.

What’s a smut peddler to do these days?” - The Verge

The Power of Politeness | The Atlantic

The idea of Kindness being Punk, continuing to grow and get good traction. I love it!

When you become less polite, the alteration in your conduct can make you less happy, more depressed, and angrier about life.

(…) One study [allows] us to infer that you inherit some politeness from your parents partly through your genes, but more through how you were brought up. This also implies that you can become more polite with good influences and by cultivating positive habits.

Researchers (…) showed that being polite to others raises happiness and lowers anger. (…) Being impolite is more like scratching at your poison-ivy rash. Giving in to the urge makes things worse.

(…) I see politeness as today’s punk rock because it so transgresses the spirit of our times. And like punk rock, when you empower yourself with politeness, you feel exhilarated. It is the ultimate exercise in freedom: the freedom to be the person I want to be in the face of a cultural tyranny.

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A person with a floral-patterned mask featuring smiling flowers is illustrated above a text about the power of politeness by Arthur C. Brooks.

…because the American audience had not seen the original, they believed they were seeing something for the first time. Even though it already existed.

(…) To me, Baohaus and the gua bao was a vehicle to tell a story about where my family was from, but you could only say so much through a restaurant.

(…) if there’s one thing I learned the past decade it’s that perhaps the immigrant story was actually best told in a kitchen where the line is immediate, direct, and physically digestible.

[≠] | Feeding the Culture With Baos and Mixtapes

Misogyny in women’s sports — like in society – is often subtle. However, in this instance, the message being sent by the people throwing these sex toys on the courts is loud and clear.

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🎥 Dìdi (弟弟) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🛹

Wow this really took me back!

A group of four young people are looking towards the camera, with one person in the center wearing a hoodie.

Ah yes the only civil war I’m happy to watch from the sidelines…

Two cartoon figures, each holding a giant teacup, are depicted on a news cover about a matcha shortage.

“The Politics of Fear” :

Trump was, from his formative years, a spoiled bully. (…) “Little Donny” was a pigtail puller, an unruly loudmouth who tormented his teachers and hurled insults and rocks at other kids.

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🏀 🇫🇷 I know it’s just a test, but very much excited to see France 🇫🇷 play against Montenegro 🇲🇪 tonight and check out how this newlook team pairs together… 🏀 #FIBA #EuroBasket

🎥 Marvel’s Thunderbolts* | ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Aka “Thunderbobs: saved by the group hug!”

Letterboxd Screenshot for Marvel’s Thunderbolts movie. A group of intense, diverse characters is gathered under a dark, ominous sky, promoting a film titled ‘Thunderbolts’ directed by Jake Schreier.

Lunch is the Thanksgiving of meals, neither underwhelming nor extra luxurious, adapting easily to various contingencies and configurations. It is what you make of it.

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The EU sets up regulations pushing for transparency in online advertising. Next thing you know:

Meta will stop running political advertising in the EU from October, criticising “unworkable requirements” under a new European law designed to increase transparency in digital campaigning.

The sound you hear at a distance are the thousands of Zuck-pitched violins. Or as we say in France:

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Spain strikes me as the neighbor buying the cheapest stuff possible, regardless of quality. From my experience, what I’ve seen and witnessed when working with Spanish people or companies — including locally— cheap price is the #1 criteria.

This is what happens when you compromise over quality.

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2022-2025 RIP 🪦 👼 🌾 🍚

I swear if you want to be successful as the leader of a nation, just look at whatever this administration does and do the exact opposite

ShotChaser!

Billboards in Times Square feature advertisements for the new Superman film as people walk below.

Updated my /now page :)

My wife has been sharing some of our most personal cultural stories over on her newsletter

A new series, ‘Living Between’, is introduced as a platform for exploring cultural connections and personal stories, featuring a community of over 500 readers.

In a world of food fads, this is why the real French baguette reigns supreme | @monocle.com A person is holding several baguettes in front of a decorative door, accompanied by a text about the supremacy of French baguettes in travel and restaurants

🌟 The Enshittification of American Power

🎥 Superman (2025) ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Sometimes all you need is a comic book-accurate version of a classic hero.

A person in a red coat stands admiring a large statue of Superman in a futuristic cityscape with skyscrapers and a vibrant sky.

🎥🎸Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A documentary on my favorite band? Sign me up!!!

A band poses energetically with guitars and drums on stage in front of a cheering crowd, with "Simple Plan" and "The Kids in the Crowd" text above and below them.

The Jock/Goth/Prep/Nerd test…

🎥 F1: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh this was hella fun and so immersive in IMAX

A man in racing gear stands confidently in front of a Formula 1 car with a dramatic sky in the background.