đź‘‹ “Good morning”… is not what attendees of Detroit’s “Bridgerton Ball” are saying today. The heir apparent to the viral Willy Wonka debacle is here; plus, we’re looking at a convict/romance novelist, digital necromancy, and your views on wealth.
🎧 On the pod:Sure, AI can make art, but can it critique art, too?
NEWS FLASH
🤦 Have we learned nothing? A “Bridgerton” ball in Detroit, Michigan, is invoking February’s disastrous Willy Wonka experience. Attendees spent $150-$1k to reportedly sit on the floor; entertainment included a lone pole dancer, and the sparse food, some claimed, wasn’t cooked. The scandal again casts suspicion on pop-up events that promise magical experiences and deliver… not that. Much like Warner Bros. had nothing to do with the Wonka thing, Netflix wasn’t involved in this travesty. Event organizer Uncle N Me LLC apologized, blaming “organizational challenges.”
📖 Staying on that same theme, weirdly… Caroline Ellison received two years in prison for her role in the FTX scandal and must forfeit $11B. Her light sentence is thanks to her testimony against ex Sam Bankman-Fried (he got 25 years). In asking the judge for leniency, her mom dropped a bomb: Ellison wrote a “Bridgerton”-esque romance novel set in Edwardian England while awaiting sentencing, with another already in the works.
💳 The DOJ takes a swipe at Visa: The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Visa alleging that the company’s monopoly on the debit card market harms consumers and competitors. Attorney General Merrick Garland remarked that Visa’s inflated fees affect “the price of nearly everything” — not great considering Visa handles 60%+ of US debit card transactions and collects $7B+ in processing fees each year.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
Oklo, the nuclear startup backed by Sam Altman, got the go-ahead from the Department of Energy to begin site investigations for its Idaho microreactor set to come online in 2027.
Grocery inflation has widely improved — except for eggs. Prices on those fragile little suckers shot up 28.1% from last August. To blame? Bird flu, which has impacted ~101m birds in the US since January 2022.
NBA champ Jaylen Brown will launch his own sneaker brand, 741, after reportedly rejecting shoe deals worth $50m. Leaving that money on the table may sound risky to the rest of us, but Brown’s got a $304m playing contract to fall back on.
PUT ON A GOOD SHOW
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Things one might aspire to after death: fertilizing the soil and contributing to the circle of life, living on in the memories of your loved ones.
Not so much: the company that laid off your living colleagues resurrecting you via AI without your consent. And that, friends, is the latest AI controversy.
Oh, boy, here we go
Brian Sewell was a controversial art critic, known for cutting remarks about not just artists, but the public’s ability to discern good art from bad.
London’s Evening Standard enjoyed his byline for 30+ years until his death in 2015, but apparently that wasn’t enough.
Deadlinebroke news of the 197-year-old paper’s plans to bring Sewell’s voice back via digital necromancy to review the National Gallery’s new Van Gogh exhibit.
Some concerns:
Would Sewell, who did not want a funeral and once said that Banksy should have been “put down at birth,” want this?
Outside of perhaps technical proficiency: can a bot, devoid of real emotion, even evaluate art?
Perhaps most key, the paper recently laid off ~150 human employees and moved from daily to weekly editions. Gizmodoposited that this could just be a stunt attempting to garner outrage and attention, given the latter.
That checks out
Evening Standard interim CEO Paul Kanareck told the Press Gazette that the AI bot would pen a one-off review for today’s edition — a venture he described as “bold and disruptive” that would “provoke discussion about AI and journalism.”
He also claimed Sewell’s estate was “delighted” by the news.
Tech has a history of eroding journalism and leading to layoffs — perhaps you remember when faulty Facebook metrics led publishers to “pivot to video”?
Replacing a prolific critic with a bot, even once, was always going to ruffle some serious feathers.
For startup folk who love to “turbocharge” things:Trends compiled growth marketing expert Julian Shapiro’s 15 most actionable growth tactics, good for zapping any nascent company into the stratosphere.
Most campaigns use the same rhetoric, all about how “great” the thing is — but how about a little love for the imperfections? This experiment with the “pratfall effect” was 4x more effective at driving clicks.
DATA POINT
Yule love to hear this: The holidays are shaping up to be quite the celebration this year, according to new data from reservation platform Tock.
In Tock’s survey of 1k+ diners, 68% of diners said they’re planning to celebrate the holidays at restaurants or bars, and 88% are prepared to spend more than they would on a normal night out.
The survey also points to some rising trends in dining: 31% are planning to book their reservations three to four weeks out, and 49% are snatching up early-bird ressies between 4pm and 6pm.
Plus, diners are going big, literally: More than half (52%) are planning reservations for eight or more, and 17% are willing to increase their spending by a whopping 50%+ — especially on dessert add-ons (relatable).
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: In 1957, Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” opened on Broadway.
🚲 Maybe don’t?: We would not advise doing bike tricks on a moving train unless you are this guy.
🪺 That’s interesting: The Smithsonian explores the engineering magic of bird nests.
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