HEY
We're closing in on six months of this newsletter and we'd like to thank you for your readership and your participation. We hope it's been a fun ride so far. I have certainly learned a bunch, having a duty to watch over and aggregate our shared reading list every week. Digital media continues to astound and disappoint us in greater and greater magnitudes as our journey behind The Google progresses through the niches and eccentric experiments available to one with the gumption to explore them.
Turns out, Discord's maximum for 'pinned messages' in a text channel is 50, and we've just cleared it, so - rather than dump the whole lot - I thought it'd be an appropriate time to write up a Look Back Edition. These are the best ofs of our past few months - they are the most profound, most beautiful, and most interesting stories we've encountered.
You know we don't care much about metrics, but the numbers from this newsletter have been encouraging - you are part of a small, but consistently-engaged readership, which is just how we like it. Remember that your thoughts are important to us, and welcome at any time. You can reply to these emails, email me personally, or make use of the plethora of alternative contact methods we maintain.
The Tone will return to the present next Sunday with this slightly-updated look.
All my best,
David Blue
Editor-in-Chief
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FAVORITES
⊚ NiemanLab's interview with Scott Lewis of the Voice of San Diego.
An insightful take on the destructive nature of revenue in digital media from an industry voice.
⊚ Wired's tale of the Bahia Emerald.
Obsession, Kens, and "a shocking amount of bullshit." As wild 'a ride as Wired'll provide, no doubt.
⊚ Digital Angel (Demon) Jason Calacanis on the Virtues of Email.
His belief in Uber made him obscenely rich - perhaps his love of email will purify the industry... or corrupt it forever.
⊚ Josh Topolsky on The Outline.
"The stories aren’t very good, the presentation isn’t very modern, the advertising sucks, and the voice and sensibility of the world you should be occupying isn’t there." Topolsky launched his own publication out of disastisfaction with digital media as it stands, and watching his project grow since its conception has been fascinating. Six months further in, do you think The Outline has yet begun to fulfill all of its creator's goals?
⊚ Longmont Potion Castle v. Reply All.
Alex Goldman domesticates the last living swamp donkey.
⊚ The hellish, all-permeating behind-the-scenes censhorship industry.
Fascinating insight into the emotional slavery involved in every image you post on the internet - the most essential content on The Verge. Required reading for anyone with a digital presence (that means you, if you're reading this.) Those with a short attention span may find the short documentary The Moderators to be a savory hook. (The Outline introduced it as well.)
⊚ Reply All's Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt maintain an open phone line for 48 straight hours.
Forgive me for being a cheese, but whenever I'm feeling isolated/frustrated/alienated from humanity, I listen to this episode and it always makes me feel great.
⊚ The ultra-charming tale of the Point Reyes Light.
Some delectable images of a little Northwestern newspaper and its quaint Editor-in-Chief.
⊚ Alex Tizon's slavery story.
Lola was a slave to Alex's family and yet so much more than that. Another essentially human American chronicle.
⊚ The dirty details of the iPhone's conception.
Remember that first keynote - when Jobs revealed the iPhone with a demo? It turns out, the entire engineering team were getting hammered in the first few rows - nobody knew if the show would hold.
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