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This week, Eli, Trey, and Clara are talking about what seems to be a growing existential crisis in the ill-defined world of “cultural strategy:” Who is it really for? What does it really mean? And as youth-led protests swell from Marseille to New Delhi, to what extent is “cultural strategy” helping to shape (or better) society in any meaningful, material way? We talk about Matt Klein’s recent “State of Cultural Strategy” poll, WGSN threatening to sue for “proprietary trend IP,” paying $1,000 to “define taste and culture,” industrial piping, and much more. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s one thing bringing high-flying Hollywood directors and regular Americans together en masse? Vilifying tech billionaires. Just as anti-tech populism is simmering to a boil ahead of the midterms, a slate of biopics and documentaries with hubristic tech billionaires—Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Elizabeth Holmes—are hitting the theaters. Eli gets Trey’s thoughts on The Social Reckoning, Musk, You Can See Everything, and Artificial, how much these movies will really do to change anyone’s mind, and whether or not “really good creativity” or structural change (like getting $$ out of politics) can help turn the tides. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few years, we’ve been seeing a new genre of creators gain prominence. Maybe you've heard them referred to as “knowledge influencers,” “brandsplainers,” or the “alternatively influential.” Their credibility comes less from sales-savvy or attention hacking as it does from a depth of knowledge and expertise across a range of niches—from advertising to AGI. On this episode, Trey and Eli are talking with Jenny Rothenberg, the co-founder of Smooth Media, a creator rep agency/B2B conduit helping to expand the audiences and commercial viability of this growing crop of creators. We discuss how Smooth is building a new version of industry trade publications, why there’s so much demand for trend/brand creative breakdowns, and CatGPT’s equity deal. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clara, Trey, and Eli discuss everything becoming TV, New York morphing into one big content backdrop, navigating Washington Square Park like it’s ABC’s Wipeout, and whether or not there are too many branded social series. Plus, Aliens, DraftKings VIP list, and Unzipped. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the pod, Clara, Trey, and Eli discuss the Grey Lady’s campaign celebrating 175 years of print advertising, and the quote “advertising reflects the moments that shape our world,” really means in its current context. Plus, Bumble cribbing (to put it lightly) friend of the show Amy Rose Spiegel’s “Most Eligible New Yorkers” piece, and an exploration of novelty popcorn buckets. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Georgia Jaffe is the founder of Indie Hourzz: an online music, media, and culture platform which hosts intimate live sessions, concerts, and more. We spoke with her about hosting shows in her college apartment, cold-calling the Coca-Cola hotline, whether there are still regional differences in music scenes, and how to build an audience that trusts your point of view. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you think about space exploration today, it’s easy to scoff at the profligate spending of billionaires drunk on ambition, the vanity trips laced with an impressive lack of self-awareness (best characterized by Gayle King’s “have you been?”), or even Space Force uniforms “inspired by the discipline of the Starship Trooper uniform.”  But there are actually good, insightful, and even artful things happening. One of them is the launch of SPACE JUNK, a new print publication “examining the intersection of the culture of space travel and humanity’s relationship with the cosmos.” We spoke with Jack Mills about why space is both a “red herring” and an “excuse to think about the future and ways that we might rebuild,” an impending NASA partnership butt-dialling astronauts, and how he got Bottega Veneta to foot some of the bill. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s been a while since we’ve had the full gang together, and there’s much to discuss. Trey gives the run down on Corgi Cafe—and makes the case for Capitol One Café. Clara rants about how “special drink” culture has gone too far. Eli closes us out on a positive and optimistic high: Flock Cameras. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently, there’s been a lot of anxiety around the health of subcultures: “Subcultures aren’t dead, they’re just not where you’re looking,” “Teen Subcultures Are Fading. Pity the Poor Kids,” “Alt Erasure: Has TikTok Killed Alternative Subcultures?.”  Brands like to think of themselves as conduits to subcultures, or, if you’ve spent time in the hefty, vertigo-inducing haze of a brand strategy deck, what we now call “niche communities.” But in practice—thanks to the need for immediately legible ROI—they tend to strip mine and erode what actually helps interesting ideas and people flourish. So what role if any do brands have to play in helping to build and cultivate subcultures? We spoke with Elliot Aronow, the founder of Minor Genius, about living in an “aggressively legible world,” why he thinks Ralph Lauren is the greatest marketer of all time, a “hot MILF” theory of brand strategy, and why brands should start thinking of themselves as cultural patrons. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The creator economy has officially won, and periodic waves of influencer backlash have become a perennial feature of online discourse. Some recent examples include the “no influencers sign” in Nantucket, whether “hating influencers has become a socially acceptable way to hate women,” and talk of an influencer recession as the landscape becomes more crowded and competitive.  To parse legit grievances from convenient moral cover for envy, we turned to the writer and strategist Ochuko who you might know from her newsletter “as seen on.” We discuss why waiting for the end of influencers is like waiting for the end of the Kardashians, where we’re at in the five stages of acceptance, capitalism, honor, meritocracy, and scrounging for scraps on TikTok Shop.  IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it a fun new beverage? Fast food innovation? Celebrity wedding? A disdain for data centers? An underdog sports story? We’re living through a moment of seemingly calcified cynicism and alienation, but there are palpable signs that people are looking to involve themselves in something bigger than themselves that’s positive.  As America celebrates its Semiquincentennial, we wanted to get a gut check (and an optimistic take) from someone who has a few ideas on positive connectivity and finding common purpose. Our guest this week is Scott Reich, author of One Day in September and The Power of Citizenship: JFK 60 Years Later. We talk about his push for mandatory civil service, why we need more local heroes, getting off the phone, tiny Cheez-It bags, and why you should visit a presidential library.  IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phyllis Kao is a senior auctioneer at Sotheby’s. You might’ve recently seen clips of her taking bids for a 67-million-year-old T-Rex named Gus, which sold for a whopping $50.1 million to an unnamed buyer. Being an auctioneer (auctioneering is not a verb) has always sat at the intersection of performance and expertise. And in the attention economy, Kao has displayed a knack for both in a way that’s helped the 18th century institution navigate the modern media ecosystem while also attracting a younger audience of bidders. We talk with Phyllis about how auctions have evolved with the rise of social media, her thoughts on celeb-backed auction houses like Pharrell’s JOOPITER, why there’s such high demand for brand archives in the age of AI, the lost art of expertise, and more. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brands have rightly diagnosed a desire for connection and romance, hosting “mixers,” posting personals, and even producing dating shows on social. But what role should they really be playing as matchmakers? We wanted to hear from someone with a real pulse on the dating scene and hit up Amy Rose Spiegel, a senior editor at The Cut and author of the publication's Personals newsletter to come on the pod. We talk about why she doesn’t buy into the stereotype that Gen Z aren’t having sex, dating narrative bias in media, why you should never use AI for dating, how romantasy has shifted the way some people are dating, and if people are tired of brands mediating their love life. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eli and Clara discuss the highs and lows of the World Cup, with an eye toward how brands leveraged big-name talent like Madonna, Messi, the Muppets, and David “the Coca-Cola of humans” Beckham. Plus: our thoughts on the FIFA Peace Prize, Hidden Valley Ranch, Erling Haaland’s vlog, and (unexpectedly) Kamala Harris.  IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clara and Trey sat down with Jalil Johnson—fashion professional, writer, and creator of popular Substack ‘Consider Yourself Cultured’—to talk about the changing role of fashion in culture and the current obsession with taste. They discuss how social media incentivizes reference curation over developing a point of view, “buying the look” instead of learning the ropes, Covid-era style experimentation, the pleasures of delayed gratification via made-to-order clothing, and heat wave styling inspiration. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.