Fad world

In case you missed it…

• Life and death at Balthazar by Amelia Granger

• Court Date, a digital platform for the next generation of tennis enthusiasts, launched with early access for STRUNG readers

This week’s Tasteland guest was W. David Marx. He is the author of Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style and Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change. His next book, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century, is now available for pre-order.

We talked about the song of the summer (or lack thereof), why fads are so prominent now, why everyone is a marketer, and more. Listen to the full episode below or keep scrolling for the headlines we’re following this weekend.

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SPONSORED BY SERVIETTE

Serviette is a fine fragrance brand dedicated to exploring notions of an empirical “good” taste in an era pervaded by AI slop and microtrends that feel more like corporate drivel than honest means of personal expression. Serviette aims to offer respite from a culture that is becoming algorithmically uniform: scents designed not by algorithm, but by sensibility.

Serviette’s core collection of fragrances includes unexpected note pairings like diesel exhaust with damask rose, or white florals with an ice accord. Everybody wants a means of distinguishing themselves from the masses (and one that aligns with their aesthetic sensibilities), so let’s give them one.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Robin Westman and the unstoppable tide of ‘slop violence’ (The Spectator)

• Giorgio Armani on his 50-year reign (FT)

• The last untamed writer in America (WSJ)

• Coco Gauff vs. Coco Gauff (The Second Serve)

• What women’s baseball will look like (The Atlantic)

• Fallingwater is leaking (The Washington Post)

• Spirit Airlines is bankrupt…again (Axios)

• Astrophysicists find no ‘hair’ on Black Holes (Quanta)

Visit CLONE.FYI for hourly updates on culture and technology.