| ... But this American values: land of the free, home of the brave, this I don't know. And then I learn the history of this country. Your slavery, the smallpox in the blankets, how you stole the land from the natives. And I realize... to be an American is to pretend. Capisce? You pretend to be one thing when really you are something else. And I can do that. Lie. Hide. But what I will not do is pretend we are at peace when really we are at war. Are we at war? | | | | | | | | "... But this American values: land of the free, home of the brave, this I don't know. And then I learn the history of this country. Your slavery, the smallpox in the blankets, how you stole the land from the natives. And I realize... to be an American is to pretend. Capisce? You pretend to be one thing when really you are something else. And I can do that. Lie. Hide. But what I will not do is pretend we are at peace when really we are at war. Are we at war?" | | | | Don't Call It A Comeback
I'm back. Not a comeback. Just a return from taking the last year off. Time I was fortunate enough to be able to take. Time that was needed. I go through hundreds of pieces of news, editorial, social media, video, and audio every day. Not gonna lie, the last few years of that have been rough. Division, venom, doom scrolling. It can take its toll. And it was at a time when I needed to see "about a girl." The full story, a sort of fairytale (for me), I'll tell in the next few weeks. But the short of it... I met someone. I wanted to give the relationship a chance and not use my stock and trade "I'm too busy" excuse. Fast forward, in all the upheaval, fear, and uncertainty of the last year - I got engaged. There is so much of 2020 I want to forget. So much I have to force myself not to forget. But the one thing that got me through was my PIC, LIZ. I came out ahead even against a global pandemic that scared me into seclusion to protect me from some of my comorbidities. While ironically finishing all of NETFLIX and POSTMATES that rendered me temporarily worse.
2020 was a year of personal reckoning. The year I stopped pretending. Facing my naivete The destabilization of what I thought I knew. Where I thought our country was. The basic ideas I thought I had in common with those I disagree with. The differences I didn't know I had with those I generally agree with. My intolerance for the intolerant. Priorities shifting. Desperate to unlearn and learn. Fighting not to put my head in the sand. Debating enforced ignorance as a defense mechanism. And yes, the realization that some of your friends who are adept with data and had some sort of venture success seem to think they were also issued an honorary COVID-19 scholar badge during quarantine. "A Beautiful Mind" it isn't. But the time off did allow me to take a breath and think rather than react (though my TWITTER posts at the time would contradict that). 2020 accelerated change in media, technology, and culture at a click I have not seen in my lifetime. Business and usage models changing and challenged on a quarterly basis. Years of discussion of decentralization now becoming a reality. It's an exciting time to come back and digest.
The return to publishing comes at a time when I am as cynical and worried as I am hopeful. I'll be slowly and deliberately getting back to 5 days a week. Monday thru Friday. But with a little more thought and a little less anger. But ornery as ever. Trying to get back to the basic tenet of why I started REDEF.
REDEF makes your mind move. Read, watch and listen to the stories, people and ideas that matter. We DJ the internet and deliver daily mixes of fresh ideas. We search each day to find different angles and points of view that lead to deeper understanding. Industry insights, great stories, big thinking, and pop culture. Stay competitive. Challenge what you think you know and are interested in. Learn something new each day.
When I was a child, my mother told me to always ask "why?" when I didn't understand something. It was a directive she slightly regretted towards the end of her life. Early on, she took me to museums and films. We read newspapers and discussed articles, watched the same tv shows, and debated afterward, sparking in me an endless curiosity that was only satiated by the emergence of the internet - a place I could search and browse endlessly, learn at my own pace and enter into discussions about ideas. These moments with my mother, and others like them, inspired me to create REDEF.
We create interest remixes for curious minds. An interest remix is a curated information stream with a specific industry focus wrapped with pop culture nuggets. We're not too interested in the fact that something happened, but we're super interested in what it means, how it affects us, and different perspectives on the topic.
This is not a daily news site or newsletter, nor is it an algorithmic discovery engine. We hand-pick everything you see on REDEF. We utilize technology to hunt and gather, but our editorial decisions are our own. The internet is infinite, full of more mind-expanding content than one could ever hope to absorb; we're here to help narrow it down.
REDEF is about curiosity. Helping you be more informed so you can take ideas with you. Apply them at work. Share them with your friends and colleagues. Have lively, useful, and positive discussions about them. It's not enough to be smart, you have to be curious.
Great to be back. I missed this but I've been thinking. Coming soon... The 300 shows and films I watched during quarantine. The year of the creator. NFT realities and insanities. Disinformation and personal accountability. Personal cyber-security. The new self-interest stack. The necessity of diversity in storytelling. How movies and TV affect our perception. Streaming service table stakes. Theaters and concerts. The era of the over-educated idiot. The REDEF Podcast and more...
Catching Up
A few weeks ago I sat down for a 2-part podcast with HOWARD LINDZON. We discussed media, careers, life, friendship, the future, the past, coupled with a ton of purposeful name-dropping and storytelling. We had a lot of fun and even Howard speaks. Join in here. Part 1 - Part 2. Available on most podcast platforms.
The Case of LL Cool J's Induction Into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
This is not my first rantnrave in a year. Last week I published some thoughts in our sister publication, MusicREDEF.
"Without music, life is a desert." I've had an almost lifelong love affair with the music and culture of hip-hop. Now, hip-hop is undeniably the leading music genre in the world. The story of this art form is incomplete without the contributions of JAMES TODD SMITH aka LADIES LOVE COOL JAMES aka LL COOL J. He is a key pillar in the history of hip-hop. He took that success, talent, and fame and utilized it as his passport into other areas while continuing to release music for decades. LL has been nominated six times for inclusion in THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME. In 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019 and now 2021. I've been honored to be able to vote for years now. I've voted for him before. Everyone nominated deserves to get in. And this year is a tough one.
MARY J. BLIGE, KATE BUSH, DEVO, FOO FIGHTERS, THE GO-GO'S, IRON MAIDEN, JAY-Z, CHAKA KHAN, CAROLE KING, FELA KUTI, LL COOL J, NEW YORK DOLLS, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, TODD RUNDGREN, TINA TURNER, DIONNE WARWICK.
LL Cool J is hard as hell. Just ask Hall inductee CHUCK D. His tweet says it all. This isn't an awards show, it's the history of an art form. And that history is incomplete without him. LL Cool J deserves to be in THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME. Read my essay. And check out LYOR COHEN's case for LL.
Happy Birthdays
LEE EISENBERG, JENNIFER SHORE, JORDANA CARMEL GETREU, MELISSA HIRSCHHORN RANDALL, SONIA OCASIO, and KEITH RICHMAN.
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| | | | rave:// Beyond moving. A must-watch. That is all. | | |  | | The New York Times |
| | A Concerto Is a Conversation | | by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers | | Kris Bowers is one of Hollywood's rising young composers. At 29, he scored the Oscar-winning film "Green Book." In Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers's "A Concerto Is a Conversation," Bowers traces the process of breaking into new spaces through generations of sacrifice that came before him, focusing on the story of his grandfather Horace Bowers. As a young man, he left his home in the Jim Crow South, eventually ending up in Los Angeles. Encountering discrimination at every turn, he and his wife,... | |  | | nrc |
| | The cesspool of the internet is to be found in a village in North Holland | | by Carola Houtekamer and Rik Wassens | | Hosting: In the village of Wormer, there is a data centre run by two men from The Hague. For years they have been under investigation by the authorities in connection with cybercrime, malware and child pornography on their network. But that has not deterred the two men. | |  | | Upfront Summit |
| | Netflix's Ted Sarandos Sits Down with REDEF's Jason Hirschhorn to Discuss Strategy, Content and Storytelling | | by Jason Hirschhorn and Ted Sarandos | | Ted Sarandos (Chief Content Officer, Netflix) talks with REDEF's Jason Hirschhorn about the business of global storytelling; the changing nature of the content medium; Netflix's strategy of original content and animation; the consumer lifespan strategy for Netflix; and the prognosis of growth moving forward. | |  | | MIT Technology Review |
| | How beauty filters took over social media | | by Tate Ryan-Mosley | | Skip to Content The most widespread use of augmented reality isn't in gaming: it's the face filters on social media. The result? A mass experiment on girls and young women. Veronica started using filters to edit pictures of herself on social media when she was 14 years old. | |  | | World Positive |
| | We Have Entered the Climate Decade | | by Andrew Beebe | | A long boom of climate tech is just getting started | |  | | The Atlantic |
| | NFTs Weren't Supposed to End Like This | | by Anil Dash | | When we invented non-fungible tokens, we were trying to protect artists. But tech-world opportunism has struck again. | |  | | Stephen Diehl |
| | The Political Case for a Blanket Cryptocurrency Ban | | by Stephen Diehl | | We live in a time in which gambling and speculative excess are at the heart of our society more so than perhaps any point in living history. This year has seen a level of unparalleled speculative mania across markets that defy intuition and challenge many of our assumptions. | |  | | The Players' Tribune |
| | It's Madness that We Don't Pay College Athletes | | by Chris Bosh | | I'm not only for paying young athletes, but for educating them as well. | |  | | CBS News |
| | Darren Walker: How the head of the Ford Foundation wants to change philanthropy | | by Lesley Stahl and 60 Minutes | | The man in charge of giving away more than $500 million a year shows Lesley Stahl how he's rethinking charitable giving. | |  | | protocol |
| | Asian Americans in tech say they face 'a unique flavor of oppression' | | by Megan Rose Dickey | | The large representation of Asian Americans in Silicon Valley helped bolster the "model minority" myth. Some say it's used against them. | | |  | | Billboard |
| | Rock the Bells: Time to Vote LL Cool J Into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Guest Op-Ed) | | by Lyor Cohen | | "He's been nominated for inclusion six times," and hasn't been voted in, Lyor Cohen writes. "And I think that that failure speaks to the limitations of too many of the HOF's voters." Yes, yes, y'all. I've been a member of the board of directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for over ten years. | |  | | OneZero |
| | Who Criticizes the Tech Critics? A Meta Talk With Carole Cadwalladr and Yael Eisenstat | | by Alex Kantrowitz | | The 'Real Facebook Oversight Board' members discuss tech criticism, Cambridge Analytica, and how Facebook can begin to right its wrongs. | |  | | Andreessen Horowitz |
| | The Creator Economy — NFTs and Beyond | | by Chris Dixon, Kevin Chou and Jesse Walden | | In today's episode of the a16z Podcast, we're talking about the Creator Economy, and how NFTs (but not just NFTs!) are making it possible for artists, musicians, videogamers, game developers, and writers to create entirely new markets to make money from their work and engage with their fans. | | | rant:// The loudest in the room is often the dumbest and may get elected. | | |  | | The Washington Post |
| | What a scorching John Boehner book excerpt says about today's GOP | | by Paul Waldman | | Former speaker of the House John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) was nothing if not colorful, and in an upcoming memoir, he has some scores to settle. Among other things he uses the phrase "total moron" to describe members of his own party and calls Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) the "head lunatic" of GOP extremists. | |  | | Okayplayer |
| | How Earth, Wind & Fire Recorded Their Transcendent Classic 'I Am' | | by Chris Williams | | Before Earth, Wind & Fire face off against the Isley Brothers on Verzuz, read about how the legendary collective recorded their seminal album I Am. While working as a session drummer for Chicago-based label Chess Records in the 1960s, the richly talented Maurice White played on several songs fo | | | | Billboard |
| | How Bandcamp Is Changing the Conversation Around Payments in the Streaming Era | | by Tatiana Cirisano | | Without advertisers or major investors, Bandcamp turned a profit helping musicians at all levels make a living. Could its influence on the music industry grow? | | | | CBS News |
| | A real life Lord of the Flies: The 50-year-old story of a group of teens stranded on an island | | by Holly Williams and 60 Minutes | | Holly Williams reports on how a group of schoolboys worked together to survive 15 months stranded on an island. | |  | | Monday Note |
| | The AppleCar Culture | | by Frederic Filloux | | The maker of the Mac and the iPhone will have to devise a more advanced car than Tesla with all the craftsmanship of a Mercedes. Can its culture foster this? (This is episode 7 of our Future of Cars series) | |  | | SFChronicle Datebook |
| | You turned to music to cope with the pandemic. What about musicians? | | by Emma Silvers | | In March 2020, as news broke that Austin, Texas, had canceled the South by Southwest festival for the first time in its 33-year history, Jeremy Stith realized he might not play another live show for a while. He knew COVID-19 was bad, of course, but if he's honest, he was initially excited for the break. | |  | | Vox |
| | How Racist Am I? | | by Cleo Abram | | This is a difficult question to ask yourself. But recent events and an increasing amount of research has shown just how much racial bias impacts our world. Before we can start the work of dismantling systemic racism, we have to first understand our own biases. Glad You Asked host Cleo Abram explores if we can measure those biases, how we shine a light on them, and what to do about them. | | | | One of the greatest and most influential performances ever. |  | | | Video of the day | | "Banksters" | | Magneto Presse & Arte | | HSBC has created a unique network to move dirty money around the world. From tax evasion to money laundering for the mafia, "this bank has done everything bad that a bank can possibly do." |  | | YouTube |
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HSBC has created a unique network to move dirty money around the world. From tax evasion to money laundering for the mafia, "this bank has done everything bad that a bank can possibly do." | | | Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech | | "REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in
everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask 'why?'" | | |  | | | Jason Hirschhorn | | CEO & Chief Curator | | |  |
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