In just a few short years, the Chinese fast fashion company Shein upended the way countless young women shop online. It’s approach could soon shape the way everyone else shops, too.
We're still learning how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting us emotionally and socially. Experts believe we will be seeing and analyzing its effects for years to come. But, thanks to popular online platforms, we do have some data on single people, their dating preferences and how those preferences changed during the pandemic.
Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and chief science advisor for the online dating company Match, shares the latest trends from the 11th annual Singles In America study.
We listen back to our 2019 interview with author Xiao Mina on the role of social media memes in social movements. And Mike Spiels about Mikaela Shiffrin’s surprising early loss in the Olympics this past week.
We're back after a long absence, but there's a good excuse. We catch up on the biggest developments from the last couple months, including the Breyer retirement, the Court's COVID decisions, the masking imbroglio, and the Alabama redistricting shadow-docket ruling. We also discuss Dan's childhood meeting with Justice Thomas, speculate about the median age of our listenership, and invent a new empirical metric for evaluating Supreme Court justices.
We dig into the complete disaster that is the NFT ecosystem before zooming out to discuss how the real promise and purpose of NFTs is as an instrument for total financialization of everything. Turning every piece of data about any little thing into a commodity that can then be securitized, collateralized, and speculated with. Contained within this little dumb oddity is the seeds for a world designed and defined by fictitious capital – which firms like a16z are doing their damndest to make grow.
Some things we reference:
••• The NFT Ecosystem Is a Complete Disaster | Edward Ongweso Jr. https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgdvnd/the-nft-ecosystem-is-a-complete-disaster
••• The Internet Is Just Investment Banking Now | Ian Bogost https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/02/future-internet-blockchain-investment-banking/621480/
••• Why some Australians are paying real money for virtual land in the metaverse | James Purtill https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-02-04/metaverse-australians-paying-money-virtual-land-real-estate/100798106
••• Bored Ape start-up in investment talks with Andreessen Horowitz | FT https://www.ft.com/content/acc635d6-bb05-4af6-b4da-b8462c06466d
••• Mapping the celebrity NFT complex | Max Read https://maxread.substack.com/p/mapping-the-celebrity-nft-complex
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Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
Want to sound even smarter before, during, and after the big game? Then listen in as Dylan Lewis explores the big-money implications of the Super Bowl, including: - How broadcasters and streaming companies approach live sports - The challenge of getting subscribers to stick with a streaming service - Why some consumer goods companies are aiming for more than just brand recognition - Sports betting's evolution and growth - Prop bets!
This week saw a hearing on stablecoins in the House and on crypto in general and the role of the CFTC in specific in the Senate. On this edition of the “Weekly Recap,” NLW argues that both were thoughtful, productive and suggest that U.S. lawmakers are engaging with crypto like never before.
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MELD is building the first-ever decentralized, non-custodial crypto to fiat lending and borrowing solution that will allow its users to lend and borrow both crypto and fiat currencies seamlessly. Users can stake MELD directly on the MELDapp, which will allow for governance voting for new protocol improvements, insuring the protocol, and earning up to 15% APY in MELD rewards. Start using MELD today at app.meld.com.
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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Vision” by OBOY. Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images News, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.