Five Things: Super Bowl, Tech & Media, Trump-Proofing, Punk's stoic, Diamond Age
It's Sunday Morning! Grab a coffee and sit down to read this!
Good Morning! Thanks for reading this email! You have probably come here because you subscribed to Five Things!
I spent this week reading some really interesting stuff and obviously the Super Bowl is something that is on a lot of people’s agenda right now. I used to stay up for this, but American Football is not really my sport, especially not on German TV, where they have some former mediocre NFL player who comments on the game and repeatedly has to talk about his two minutes of fame twenty years ago. Also, German ads are no fun during that night. I do remember the 49ers from their Joe Montana years, but I assume he’s not playing anymore, right?
Two little tidbits from Germany that I want to share:
the police in Hamburg had to re-adjust the numbers they published about people demonstrating against the xenophobic hateful rightwing-extremist party AfD. It wasn’t 60 thousand people. It was 180 thousand people. That’s 10% of the population of Hamburg taking to the streets. Impressive. I like my city a lot.
the former head of the German domestic intelligence services, called the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) (“Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution”), Hans-Georg Maaßen, has been placed on the watchlist of the Verfassungsschutz for being engaged with rightwing activists. A journalist remarked that they conveniently already have his personal data on file. I mean: WTF? How could anyone make this guy head of this office? It’s the most important office we have to fight against the enemies of our democracy.
Oh, and back to the Superbowl: I hope Taylor Swift gets as much airtime as needed to make what’s left of all the MAGA nutjobs’ brains finally melt. 💥
Anyhow, here are the five things you should read!
The Mind-Boggling Reach of Super Bowl Commercials: A Statistical Analysis
One reason why I’m not watching the Super Bowl is the ads. Superbowl airs at night in Germany and usually only a few advertisers are booking ads, so it is very repetitive and the ads are not very creative. And I’m not staying up all night for some crappy ads. Oh, and also I’m not much of an American Football fan to begin with.
Over Three Decades, Tech Obliterated Media
“There are better paths for all of us, for the health of our democracy and to restore our sense of truth and social cohesion, than allowing the angriest and loudest and most nonsensical voices on social media (and I am not just talking about Musk, but him, yes, perhaps most of all right now). Which is why we need to continue to press our elected leaders for guardrails for tech to limit its unaccountable power and put in place reasonable protections around a range of inventions that have the potential to cause more harm.” - Kara Swisher is one of those journalists who deeply understands the way tech shapes our society and has met and interviewed most tech CEOs in the last few decades.
Trump-Proofing Europe
Better safe than sorry, and since we all know how bad another four years of Trump would be for the transatlantic relations, we are trying to embrace for impact. And yet, we’re still very much hoping for four more years of Biden. Also, we hope that the GOP will find a sane person for its leadership role.
The stoics and the Sex Pistols: Philosophical roots of punk rebellion go back to ancient Greece
“The track "Anarchy in the U.K." stands as a quintessential embodiment of this rejection of conformity and a resolute embrace of authenticity. Filled with dissatisfaction and rebellion, its lyrics declare disdain for a society characterized by hypocrisy and oppression. Phrases that celebrate anarchy and even the antichrist leave no room for ambiguity. They reflect a deep-seated desire to break free from the stifling expectations of society and to express true selves, regardless of how disruptive or unconventional that might be.” - I didn’t know that when I was a teenager, but I enjoyed the music and how my parents reacted to it.
Neal Stephenson’s Most Stunning Prediction
I’ve read many novels by Neal Stephenson and certainly the one that left a big impression on me was Snow Crash, in which he coined the term metaverse. In Interface he writes about some tech being implanted into the brain of the President of the USA, and this sounds a lot like Neurolink and other such devices that are now being developed. I haven’t read Diamond Age, but from this interview I get the idea that I should have.
That’s it. Have an amazing Sunday! And remember to go paid! It really improves the experience you’re having with this newsletter!
— Nico
180K people turning out to speak with one voice is great. But while it is impressive on the streets, it's nothing but a carnival if they don't turn out to vote. I sincerely hope there's an equally energetic effort make sure that happens.