Bring Back Culture Jamming

Plus, a big link dump.

Recently I got nostalgic for a magazine I used to read in the early 2000s. 

Adbusters was—and still is it turns out— a small magazine from Canada that performed a brilliant form of cultural and commercial criticism. It’s something that feels lacking today. 

This was something I realized this July when climate change was top of mind for everyone. The media struggles to talk about climate change in an effective way, and not for lack of trying. Maybe it’s because for SO MANY years, media outlets insisted on two-siding the “debate” on climate change giving climate deniers too much credibility, or maybe there’s just no real good way for an apparatus built to cover immediate breaking news to cover a long slow painful global catastrophe. 

Look, a story about a fishing village that will soon be underwater. There’s a mudslide. There’s a dry river bed. You can see where the boats used to be. Here’s a picture of a thermometer. It all just fails to register.

Maybe it’s time we place a few thumbs in the eyes of those denying the climate conversation. Some sharp mocking and some culture jamming.  

This is what Adbusters was so good at, subverting mainstream narratives through parody and playful mocking imagery - a sort of visual jiu-jitsu. Back then the target of their ire was the big multi-national corporations like Exxon, Mobil and Nike.

Adbusters was a clever, creative and critical magazine. One part anarchistic art project and one part cultural criticism. Like if Che Guevara and George Carlin got together and made a magazine. It was sharp AND funny. A lethal combo. 

These days as the earth boils over, Adbusters is still around but not as relevant, at least not for me. I’m no anarchist, far from it, but I don’t have any reverence for big corporations profiting from killing the planet.

I can’t help but think we are in desperate need of some old-school culture jamming to do just that. Maybe we’ve become too numb. I don’t know. I miss culture jamming. I miss when creative smart people wanted to deconstruct the commercial system not become one with it. 

Maybe it’s just time to re-subscribe.

Things I Like Right Now

• A bright spot in climate coverage includes the NYT’s recently relaunched Climate Forward newsletter which is pulling no punches.

• I just got my hands on Sandwich Magzine and it’s delicious. (Sandwich Magazine)

• Mountain Gazette is another bright spot in the publishing space. (Mountain Gazette)

• Listen to Tropical Fish play American standards on the organ. (Tropical Fish)

• A Guardian reporter takes a Greyhound bus from Detroit to LA and reveals what’s really happening in the USA (The Guardian)

• “I think creativity really is divorced from business practices generally across the industry.” One of the better reads about the current state of the ad industry I’ve found. (Contagious)

• AI is coming for the influencers and maybe that’s just fine. Men’s Health looks at the state of the influencers. (Men’s Health)

• Why meetings after 4 pm are a big waste of time. Hint: You’re tired. (Vox)

• Watch Huckberry’s newest video series which is all about homes. (Huckberry Homes)

• For those who appreciate books about mass media AND adventure. (The New York Times)

• I searched hell on Earth for a story. What I found will haunt me forever. (Los Angeles Times)

• Derrick Gee’s Yacht Rock playlist, which features more global yacht rock songs is really the perfect summer listen. (Spotify)

• I’ve never really enjoyed reading about The Grateful Dead even though I’m a huge fan. This is something different. (The Ringer)

• A playlist of (mostly) very mellow guitar songs by me. (Spotify)