Thanks so much for the mention!! <3 I've been writing about this taste discourse for over a year now, so I have many thoughts and reading reccs for anyone interested in exploring further:
-"Good taste" is a trap because: if you can define taste, then AI can emulate it, which defeats the purpose of why people are obsessed with "taste as the new core skill." That's also why I personally think "charisma" is a more differentiated skill in an AI era. (https://whatsanu.substack.com/p/charisma)
-Tasteslop is an example of what I'd previously called "Humanwashing," or the synthetic performance of humanness, which results in a hierarchy of humanness. Real humanness is a luxury, tasteslop is 'premium mediocre,' and synthetic slop is mass market.(https://whatsanu.substack.com/p/2510-humanwashing)
The preoccupation with Taste is mostly coming from a generation of people who have lived an instant life. Just add water. The obsession with hacking every system for short cuts and convenience is their religion. Taste is always curious, always searching, always expanding and learning. No hacks, no short cuts - just the winding road of discovery. More should try it.
it’s BONKERS that every Black Cab Driver in London has memorised 320 routes, 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross.
We’ll see what the future brings:
Waymo are currently testing driverless taxis around the city (with mixed results) and Uber is not much cheaper than a Black Cab any more…
Amazing to have Sarah back on Substack! Her writing is so so good. I followed her to Puck and hated it there - the HEARD IT HERE FIRST tone isn't appealing to me. Her special voice felt lost in all the other writers and the messy fonts and colors.
been a notion user since '21 and ran my whole content agency on it; built crazy database templates that managed client deadlines/projects/budgets/freelancers et al. nowadays use it for travel itineraries, 5 min journaling, content calendars, and even landing pages
loved how this NL started off discussing how one can “develop/find taste” to jumping into some activations that to me, feel incredibly commercialized and devoid of “taste.”
I feel like there is and will continue to be an industry shift (especially with all of the AI slop) that recognizes a discerning taste level.
What upsets/confuses me the most about some of them (especially everything I wrote about in bullet one) is that young people seem to WANT these activations. When I was 22, going to a nicotine/fast food-sponsored bar in Montauk would be completely undesirable. I’d rather be in a hotel room or on the beach getting drunk with my friends. Or at someone’s shitty beach house. The Surf Lodge has a LINE down the street, that’s how people want to be there. And I think they realize they’re becoming memes in real time.
I’m more curious about the physical and financial participation of these activations.
I think it also brings down the credibility of a brand when you choose to work with really commercialized partners. I’m sure there’s a solid financial gain, but at what cost to the exclusivity or “coolness” of that brand?
I’d also prefer to get my smokes from my local corner store and my fast food at the drive thru. Alas, maybe we’re old school in that respect!
Enjoy the Cape, the greatest place in the world <3 Limiting myself to one rec: I had my rehearsal dinner at Water Street Kitchen in Woods Hole and my mom still talks about the risotto years later <3
Upper Cape: Somerset for ice cream; Coffee Obsession for coffee; Pie in the Sky for popovers; Jim’s Clam Shack for fried clams and lobster rolls; Spinnaker for records // Lower Cape: Harding’s and the Brewster Flats are perfect beaches; Snowy Owl for coffee; Chatham Squire for chowder
If you’re in Cape Cod, pop in at Old Village Store in Barnstable. My best friend Cyrus bought the village store, which had been closed, and resurrected it into the community gathering place it deserved to be.
I think the village stores are an iconic part of Cape Cod’s charm, and Cyrus, having been born and raised in Barnstable (and also being super smart) was uniquely positioned to do it well.
The Diplo reference is interesting timing given what he's been saying about AI and vocalists as of late. Also the weird trolling with Zack Telander didn't help.
Thanks so much for the mention!! <3 I've been writing about this taste discourse for over a year now, so I have many thoughts and reading reccs for anyone interested in exploring further:
-The taste hysteria is actually about humanness. After the first round of tech bro taste tweets in early 2025, I broke it down into Discernment, Intuition, & Narrative - the specific components that I think people are trying to gesture towards with "taste." These elements introduce human idiosyncrasy. (https://whatsanu.substack.com/i/162999784/strategy-and-merchandising-restraint-intuition-and-narrative)
-Douglas Brundage wrote my favorite essay defining "taste" and why AI can never actually recreate it: taste is weird, illogical, anti-average (https://anenfantterrible.substack.com/p/taste-test-encrusting-the-tortoise)
-"Good taste" is a trap because: if you can define taste, then AI can emulate it, which defeats the purpose of why people are obsessed with "taste as the new core skill." That's also why I personally think "charisma" is a more differentiated skill in an AI era. (https://whatsanu.substack.com/p/charisma)
-Emily Segal's piece on Tasteslop explores why the soulless emulation of "good taste" reads as slop. (https://nemesisglobal.substack.com/p/tasteslop)
-Tasteslop is an example of what I'd previously called "Humanwashing," or the synthetic performance of humanness, which results in a hierarchy of humanness. Real humanness is a luxury, tasteslop is 'premium mediocre,' and synthetic slop is mass market.(https://whatsanu.substack.com/p/2510-humanwashing)
-An earlier pre-AI iteration of 'humanwashing' was algorithmic flattening. I will always reference Kyle Chayka's 2016 article on Airspace. (https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12325104/airbnb-aesthetic-global-minimalism-startup-gentrification)
I needed you to raise your hand!!!!
hahaha I wasn't sure if it was appropriate! I was like, I don't have a question, but I could give a lecture... 😂☠️
Would've pulled up a chair
Anyway.... next one
The preoccupation with Taste is mostly coming from a generation of people who have lived an instant life. Just add water. The obsession with hacking every system for short cuts and convenience is their religion. Taste is always curious, always searching, always expanding and learning. No hacks, no short cuts - just the winding road of discovery. More should try it.
beautiful
I think good taste is most vitally expressed as taste in people. In the sense of people who bring out the best in you, not in a Hannibal Lector sense.
do NYC cabbies have an equivalent of “The Knowledge” in London?
I think The Knowledge exists here, but because of the grid system it’s a little more straightforward. Maybe Brooklyn Cabbies
it’s BONKERS that every Black Cab Driver in London has memorised 320 routes, 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross.
We’ll see what the future brings:
Waymo are currently testing driverless taxis around the city (with mixed results) and Uber is not much cheaper than a Black Cab any more…
Amazing to have Sarah back on Substack! Her writing is so so good. I followed her to Puck and hated it there - the HEARD IT HERE FIRST tone isn't appealing to me. Her special voice felt lost in all the other writers and the messy fonts and colors.
I’m excited to see what her first letter is. Also curious if she got to import all her former subs…..
where on the cape?
chatham
recently learned that clavicular was a bouncer at the squire... anyway it is a fun dive bar if you've never been
been a notion user since '21 and ran my whole content agency on it; built crazy database templates that managed client deadlines/projects/budgets/freelancers et al. nowadays use it for travel itineraries, 5 min journaling, content calendars, and even landing pages
loved how this NL started off discussing how one can “develop/find taste” to jumping into some activations that to me, feel incredibly commercialized and devoid of “taste.”
I feel like there is and will continue to be an industry shift (especially with all of the AI slop) that recognizes a discerning taste level.
What upsets/confuses me the most about some of them (especially everything I wrote about in bullet one) is that young people seem to WANT these activations. When I was 22, going to a nicotine/fast food-sponsored bar in Montauk would be completely undesirable. I’d rather be in a hotel room or on the beach getting drunk with my friends. Or at someone’s shitty beach house. The Surf Lodge has a LINE down the street, that’s how people want to be there. And I think they realize they’re becoming memes in real time.
I’m more curious about the physical and financial participation of these activations.
I think it also brings down the credibility of a brand when you choose to work with really commercialized partners. I’m sure there’s a solid financial gain, but at what cost to the exclusivity or “coolness” of that brand?
I’d also prefer to get my smokes from my local corner store and my fast food at the drive thru. Alas, maybe we’re old school in that respect!
Enjoy the Cape, the greatest place in the world <3 Limiting myself to one rec: I had my rehearsal dinner at Water Street Kitchen in Woods Hole and my mom still talks about the risotto years later <3
Give all the recs! Can’t promise I’ll get to them all but I’m curious
Upper Cape: Somerset for ice cream; Coffee Obsession for coffee; Pie in the Sky for popovers; Jim’s Clam Shack for fried clams and lobster rolls; Spinnaker for records // Lower Cape: Harding’s and the Brewster Flats are perfect beaches; Snowy Owl for coffee; Chatham Squire for chowder
"I.... turned into a 32-year-old wearing a Rolex Oyster Perpetual who is still on my parents’ phone plan."
Thank the universe you write this newsletter.
I AIM TO PLEASE
She's succeeding.
If you’re in Cape Cod, pop in at Old Village Store in Barnstable. My best friend Cyrus bought the village store, which had been closed, and resurrected it into the community gathering place it deserved to be.
As always, I will go wherever you tell me to go.
Also, some other nice highlights here:
https://brooksreitz.substack.com/p/slow-and-low-in-cape-cod
I think the village stores are an iconic part of Cape Cod’s charm, and Cyrus, having been born and raised in Barnstable (and also being super smart) was uniquely positioned to do it well.
I tried Babe’s last weekend and they said their chef walked out on them Sunday morning…need the scoop!
DRAMAAAAAA
while you're in jersey for a facial, may as well stop at SoJo spa in Edgewater and go to Mitsuwa for the Japanese food hall after.
The SoJo spa owner just bought a building in manhattan 👀
oh a HOT tip.
The Diplo reference is interesting timing given what he's been saying about AI and vocalists as of late. Also the weird trolling with Zack Telander didn't help.
what has he been saying? link us
Ironically here's Gemini with the coverage: https://share.google/aimode/kuTZ2IWH1YwWSZcne
Oh it’s the same interview. I guess maybe to keep a job, you have to know how to use those things. But the best ones are still the old guys
Fair. But it's kinda shitty of Diplo to act like a troll to a smaller artist - I actually found out about this because Noah Kahan shared it on his stories https://x.com/KahanArchive/status/2057875168547025082?s=20
And here's a quick breakdown with him and Zack (I don't follow Bro Bible but this was a solid recap) https://www.instagram.com/p/DYkecBcEaV2/?igsh=MTMzZ2k4YnpiNWFvMA==