While I maintain that substack is and will always be just mostly LinkedIn for the wannabe creative folk that tip tap on their laptops all day at a local coffee shop, institutions aren’t cool either. GQ is washed and has been for years. Those not in the epicentres of American culture like the west and east coasts couldn’t give a damn. Black’s opinion is one based on insular bias, and Conde Nast being the center of his and his circles’ universe. I stopped reading it bar the odd feature as soon as I couldn’t trust what was and wasn’t sponsored content.
Off the beaten path will always be cool no matter what. BBSP epitomizes that. My favourite thing to show people is How To with John Wilson and no one I meet ever knows what it is and I was turned on by your features with Fielder and Wilson.
BARS: "His contention was that a company like Condé Nast still retains an intrinsic “glamour” — even as our friends at GQ have been forced by a punishing media economy to flood the zone with SEO-primed, affiliate-harvesting roundups of The Best White Sneakers under $100."
that's my feeling too, same with most of the dimes square crowd (in different ways), like they do some interesting or even cool stuff, but their overall attitude is so pretentious and sometimes even just fucked up that it feels like a boring performance (which im afraid isn't the case) it's bizarre
what i love about bbsp is that it embarks in the same sort of cultural discourse (sauce semiotics) as those people with lots of confidence and authority, but also a deep humility and curiosity at its heart, that core difference is illustrated by the Plane's passion for the natural world i think, literally down-to-earth!
It's the longest-surviving strain of elder millennial irony poisoning. The belief that "it's gay to care about or put effort into anything." It's baffling how HLG (Chris et al.) still manages to carry the amount of cultural cache that it does and pull the guests that they do with an identity defined by lazy reactionary (in a way) cultural commentary and pretention. Wow you buy groceries at Erewhon and don't care about the mid-west, and you're a DJ, awesome man.
Plane has a genuine joie de de vivre that makes it easy abide by anything that might otherwise come across as pretentious.
i bought a 2011 Rolling Stone because my beloved Conan is on the cover and then incidentally found there's a Phoenix profile by Jonah Weiner inside!! eager to read your words on paper for the first time haha https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51F16EwQ5QL.jpg
My response is going to sound incredibly lame after this incredible piece of writing, but I love Substack. I particularly love the fact writers aren’t answering to anyone and are far more forthcoming and honest with their opinions as a result.
Great write-up, thanks! "As the waters rise, clinging to some sense of vestigial institutional coolness and prestige is like clinging to a slender, beautiful piece of driftwood, hoping it alone will keep your chin above the waves." → This is why we gather around here.
I can't help but feel that glamorizing institutions is ultimately a product of how people's lives tend to unfold in our culture. It's natural for young people to be skeptical of institutional authority and more drawn to individual authenticity over status. Everyone mentioned in the post is a middle-aged white person; I guess around that time ppl start to feel the pull toward status and these glorified institutions damn near automatic... But I do feel bad for kids today. It feels like subcultures are something they can study—something that happened in the past. To truly experience one, to have local, physical institutions like record stores that a community can mushroom from, is becoming increasingly rare(?). Growing up today, analysed-targeted-advertised to death, harassed by hordes of professional offence-takers, manipulated by algorithms... F**k that.
As for GQ being some kind of frontier of cool; I have no idea. I think Tokion was cool. But, as implied in the post, something like universal basic income would make the world 666 times more beautiful than GQ ever could, anyhow... Artificial intelligence doesn’t exist—but we do have this giant plagiarism machine now, scooping up and strip-malling our shared human commons into oblivion: why not distribute the wealth it creates as well. I guess this is just the logical end result of our late-stage capitalism or smth... "The journey is the destination" has never rung more true.
Thank you. I am a magazine journalist who started in the late 90s, and it’s just sad, sad, sad most of the time, but your letter is one of those gleams of light. I want to make a zine, just to feel like I am doing something real!
Great essay, but the Hillstone line really rankled me. I’m down with the Plane’s version of “cool”—which reflects taste and distinction but is playful, inquisitive, fun, and kind-vibed (unless you wear no-show socks). To me, that Hillstone quote strips all that away and presents “cool” as nakedly about status. No thanks.
Rachel’s Hillstone line you mean? That’s a rankler for sure.
But I’m not sure your read is necessarily correct — or, at least, there are other reads possible (eg one is a chain devoted to a nationally duplicatable expensive comfort-food menu and air of ersatz fanciness, whereas the other is a small cozy singular neighborhood restaurant with a more personal and creatively ambitious approach to the menu, etc)
Yes, that’s the line I was referring to and perhaps I misunderstood it. (I have not heard of or been to either restaurant.) The parenthetical made it seem like the point of this whole “coolness” exercise is to laugh at the uncool. But I may be missing the playfulness.
For some reason, that line brought to my mind two types of “cool” kids that I recall from middle school (when I was decidedly uncool.) One kind of cool kid had a charisma and vibe that kind of made you feel cooler yourself when you interacted with them; another kind of cool kid made you very aware of how uncool you were. The Plane really reminds me of the former, and that Hillstone line evoked the latter.
My favorite artistic movements are DIY and therefore dependent on direct interaction between the creator and the communities that support them. Why wouldn’t that be a great way to distribute and consume information? Is substack punk?
While I maintain that substack is and will always be just mostly LinkedIn for the wannabe creative folk that tip tap on their laptops all day at a local coffee shop, institutions aren’t cool either. GQ is washed and has been for years. Those not in the epicentres of American culture like the west and east coasts couldn’t give a damn. Black’s opinion is one based on insular bias, and Conde Nast being the center of his and his circles’ universe. I stopped reading it bar the odd feature as soon as I couldn’t trust what was and wasn’t sponsored content.
Off the beaten path will always be cool no matter what. BBSP epitomizes that. My favourite thing to show people is How To with John Wilson and no one I meet ever knows what it is and I was turned on by your features with Fielder and Wilson.
🙏🏻
BARS: "His contention was that a company like Condé Nast still retains an intrinsic “glamour” — even as our friends at GQ have been forced by a punishing media economy to flood the zone with SEO-primed, affiliate-harvesting roundups of The Best White Sneakers under $100."
Loved this very much
Chris is bone-chillingly annoying. Stared too long into the void of “being pretentious as a bit.”
that's my feeling too, same with most of the dimes square crowd (in different ways), like they do some interesting or even cool stuff, but their overall attitude is so pretentious and sometimes even just fucked up that it feels like a boring performance (which im afraid isn't the case) it's bizarre
what i love about bbsp is that it embarks in the same sort of cultural discourse (sauce semiotics) as those people with lots of confidence and authority, but also a deep humility and curiosity at its heart, that core difference is illustrated by the Plane's passion for the natural world i think, literally down-to-earth!
It's the longest-surviving strain of elder millennial irony poisoning. The belief that "it's gay to care about or put effort into anything." It's baffling how HLG (Chris et al.) still manages to carry the amount of cultural cache that it does and pull the guests that they do with an identity defined by lazy reactionary (in a way) cultural commentary and pretention. Wow you buy groceries at Erewhon and don't care about the mid-west, and you're a DJ, awesome man.
Plane has a genuine joie de de vivre that makes it easy abide by anything that might otherwise come across as pretentious.
switch to ghost quit x and make a print zine <3
bc bbsp is a blessed institution worth preserving and making as independent as possible
appreciate that, friend
i bought a 2011 Rolling Stone because my beloved Conan is on the cover and then incidentally found there's a Phoenix profile by Jonah Weiner inside!! eager to read your words on paper for the first time haha https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51F16EwQ5QL.jpg
Damn… Is there a better feeling than having your suspicions validated in a more coherent, legible way than you could have articulated yourself?
My response is going to sound incredibly lame after this incredible piece of writing, but I love Substack. I particularly love the fact writers aren’t answering to anyone and are far more forthcoming and honest with their opinions as a result.
https://daringfireball.net/2024/11/regarding_and_well_against_substack
Great write-up, thanks! "As the waters rise, clinging to some sense of vestigial institutional coolness and prestige is like clinging to a slender, beautiful piece of driftwood, hoping it alone will keep your chin above the waves." → This is why we gather around here.
I can't help but feel that glamorizing institutions is ultimately a product of how people's lives tend to unfold in our culture. It's natural for young people to be skeptical of institutional authority and more drawn to individual authenticity over status. Everyone mentioned in the post is a middle-aged white person; I guess around that time ppl start to feel the pull toward status and these glorified institutions damn near automatic... But I do feel bad for kids today. It feels like subcultures are something they can study—something that happened in the past. To truly experience one, to have local, physical institutions like record stores that a community can mushroom from, is becoming increasingly rare(?). Growing up today, analysed-targeted-advertised to death, harassed by hordes of professional offence-takers, manipulated by algorithms... F**k that.
As for GQ being some kind of frontier of cool; I have no idea. I think Tokion was cool. But, as implied in the post, something like universal basic income would make the world 666 times more beautiful than GQ ever could, anyhow... Artificial intelligence doesn’t exist—but we do have this giant plagiarism machine now, scooping up and strip-malling our shared human commons into oblivion: why not distribute the wealth it creates as well. I guess this is just the logical end result of our late-stage capitalism or smth... "The journey is the destination" has never rung more true.
Bravo. Keep on keeping on.
kismet is still good, but less so (as of 48 hours ago), but wtf is hillstone??
From the hip and shootin' straight. I love legacy and I love you & Erin; I SUBSCRIBE.
My unexpected takeaway is that it sounds like your dad is the man
I owe a lot to Papa Spyplane
Thank you. I am a magazine journalist who started in the late 90s, and it’s just sad, sad, sad most of the time, but your letter is one of those gleams of light. I want to make a zine, just to feel like I am doing something real!
Make that zine! Let me send you mine :)
Great essay, but the Hillstone line really rankled me. I’m down with the Plane’s version of “cool”—which reflects taste and distinction but is playful, inquisitive, fun, and kind-vibed (unless you wear no-show socks). To me, that Hillstone quote strips all that away and presents “cool” as nakedly about status. No thanks.
Rachel’s Hillstone line you mean? That’s a rankler for sure.
But I’m not sure your read is necessarily correct — or, at least, there are other reads possible (eg one is a chain devoted to a nationally duplicatable expensive comfort-food menu and air of ersatz fanciness, whereas the other is a small cozy singular neighborhood restaurant with a more personal and creatively ambitious approach to the menu, etc)
But yes the “aww cute” is patently, if playfully… antagonistic
Yes, that’s the line I was referring to and perhaps I misunderstood it. (I have not heard of or been to either restaurant.) The parenthetical made it seem like the point of this whole “coolness” exercise is to laugh at the uncool. But I may be missing the playfulness.
For some reason, that line brought to my mind two types of “cool” kids that I recall from middle school (when I was decidedly uncool.) One kind of cool kid had a charisma and vibe that kind of made you feel cooler yourself when you interacted with them; another kind of cool kid made you very aware of how uncool you were. The Plane really reminds me of the former, and that Hillstone line evoked the latter.
🥲🙏🏻
My favorite artistic movements are DIY and therefore dependent on direct interaction between the creator and the communities that support them. Why wouldn’t that be a great way to distribute and consume information? Is substack punk?
Time will have to tell on the last question but we definitely f--k with the DIY / direct community support structure
Only people can be cool. Never institutions or platforms. That being said, I appreciate the discourse.
Plane, the LRB, physical books and Craig Mod's newsletters are all I pay attention to. Too exhausting sometimes to keep up with everything.
healthy media diet