Category: Criticism
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And If So, What Can We Do to Patch It? If we were to render modern existence as a video game environment, it wouldn’t be a high-fidelity masterpiece like what the big game studios seem to produce monthly these days. Instead, it would look like a grainy, grey, overpopulated digital world, rendered in the glitchcore…
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“We also know how cruel the truth often is, and we wonder whether delusion is not more consoling.” – Henri Poincare This observation by Henri Poincaré—later referenced by Carl Sagan in The Demon-Haunted World—hits harder today than perhaps either man intended. It suggests that delusion isn’t just an error in judgment; it is a refuge.…
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The promise of the creator economy was, and still is, seductive. It offers a decentralized path: the freedom to pursue silly creative writing, to build a direct line to an audience, and to fund a life based on what makes me happy. As Substack essayist Henrik Karlsson put it, it’s “thinking on the page.” But…
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I think even the most devoted Swifities knew that one day Taylor Swift was going to put out an album that truly tested her fandom. But never did I want to have some very strong negative feelings about one of her records, and worst yet, critics and fans alike have already voiced almost my exact…
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When Taylor Swift dropped 1989 in 2014, she was pivoting the entire pop landscape. That record captured a generational shift: the country girl had fully transformed into a pop architect, and the world adjusted to her new rules. Ten years later, a similar moment may be unfolding—not in the stadiums of the most powerful artist…
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Coming across an article in the New Yorker called “How music criticism lost its edge” (behind paywall), it got me thinking: Has criticism gone shallow in its quest for safety? And what does that mean for cultural honesty? What passes for “criticism” right now often feels like risk-managed copywriting wrapped in pseudo-thoughtful language. It’s less…
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Jonathan Leland begins his 2010 paper “The hunt for a descriptive theory of choice under risk—A view from the road not taken” for the Journal of Socio-Economics.with a confession: his life’s path could have turned on trivial choices. A missed concert or an elective taken on a whim, and suddenly he’s not writing about decision…
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“Cultural Moneyballism, in this light, sacrifices exuberance for the sake of formulaic symmetry. It sacrifices diversity for the sake of familiarity. It solves finite games at the expense of infinite games. Its genius dulls the rough edges of entertainment. I think that’s worth caring about. It is definitely worth asking the question: In a world…
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The 28% Problem There is a growing, uneasy sense that popular music has stopped moving forward. This isn’t just a feeling; it’s a fact. As music critic Ted Gioia pointed out in his 2022 essay “The Nostalgic Turn in Music Writing,” new songs now account for less than 30% of current demand—and that number continues…
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Labubu isn’t just the next blind box toy collectible. According to Kyla Scanlon, it serves as a perfect specimen of a broken economy — where the only game most people can play is speculation, and anything can be for sale. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky figured out the psychology behind why people do such bizarre…