Live From New York, New Elon Book, New Apple Stuff
Also, I'm coming to LA, Chicago, Brooklyn, Madison, and Dallas soon!
Last week in Fort Greene Park we hosted a massive outdoor screening of America Outdoors, previewing the Oregon episode which airs Wednesday September 27th.
Hi you,
Last week was my birthday, so happy birthday to me and to all my fellow Virgos. It’s our season! I finished this newsletter from a street corner in the Nolita neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. I lived in New York City for 12 years, until 2019, and worked in the adjacent neighborhood of SoHo for five of them, during my time at The Onion. I have just the edges of recollection of this part of town before it was taken over by models, expensive bistros, and luxury retail. Some would argue that by the time I arrived, in 2007, it was already too late.
For a while when I worked here, I was a regular at Delicatessen, one of those model-heavy, high-priced bistros, which nonetheless maintained a tether to the SoHo of old. One of the partners, John Buffa, is the grandson of the original owners. You can find him quoted in this 1998 New York Times article about how Nolita is changing too fast. Almost every morning, I’d grab breakfast and a chat with John, who regaled me with stories of the old days when SoHo was a textile labor hub. He seemed to know everybody who was anybody from that era, and had more than one story about the Mafia and various shootouts.
Saturday, as I was squeezing my way through the annual Feast of San Gennaro festival, I wondered if John was still around. When I saw a man who looked plausibly Italian (is that racist?), I approached. He was wearing a priest’s collar and standing on a stoop across from the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (featured in two different Godfather movies), so I took a swing. “Father, did you know a man named John Buffa,” I asked. He lit up: “Sure, I did!” So I proceeded, “Is he still with us?” To my relief, he beamed, “I just spoke with him! We talk at least once a month. He’s living in Florida now.” That put a huge smile on my face, and I’m sending as much of that smile to you through this email as I can.
Other than retracing my old steps, I’m in town to promote Season 2 of my PBS series, America Outdoors. We held a massive outdoor screening last week in Fort Greene Park, mere blocks from another neighborhood I hold dear. I felt the energy of Spike Lee, Erykah Badu, Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), and other too-cool-for-school artists who partially inspired my decision to live there for eight of my New York years. When I saw hundreds of people show up for an outdoor screening of my outdoor show, it felt like a homecoming, and they looked like the New York I love: diverse, stylish, smarter than everyone else and fully self-aware of that fact. The series runs for another four Wednesdays, and you can check out my custom-built viewing guide to learn more about the stories we feature.
Some recent press of mine you can check out include my appearance on Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, where we discussed race in America, the healing power of the outdoors, and Trump in 2024 as well as this review comparing me favorably to Anthony Bourdain, Padma Lakshmi, and Barack Obama!
Some upcoming activities include:
Thursday September 28th, in Los Angeles: I’ll be joining the Crooked Media Lovett or Leave It podcast live! Get tickets.
Friday September 29th, in Chicago: I’m receiving an environmental leadership award at the Brushwood Center’s 40th Annual Smith Nature Symposium Awards Dinner. Get tickets.
Monday October 2nd, in Brooklyn: I’ll be emceeing the Brooklyn Public Library annual gala honoring Dr. Gloria Carter and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter aka HOV. Get tickets.
Thursday October 5th, in Madison, Wisconsin: I’m giving the University of Wisconsin Jordahl Public Lands Lecture. Register.
Tuesday November 14th in Dallas, TX; I’m speaking as part of the Tate Lecture Series. Get tickets.
In tonight’s email, reflections on Walter Isaacson’s new Elon book and what happens when we allow private enterprise to replace public goods. Plus my thoughts on last week’s Apple product showcase. But first…
What Else Is Grabbing My Attention
Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction is now the movie I most want to see thanks to this piece in Deadline chronicling the birth of this satire and Jefferson’s directorial debut. I’ve known Jefferson for a very long time, but don’t think I’ve seen him in person since he was a writer on Larry Wilmore’s The Nightly Show when I was a guest.
This epic feature of Erykah Badu in The Cut. There’s a lot in here which explains my love of this artist, but none more so than this line: “Many people are not looking for a leader. They’re looking for someone who looks like one.”
Clint Smith’s long read revealing the true history of Josiah Henson, the man who inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom.
And, finally, no, it’s not your imagination: We’ve just experienced the hottest August and summer on record, which has made disasters like those hitting Libya worse than they might have been. There’s no time like the present to do all we can to draw down carbon and make our infrastructure more resilient. Two tangible ways to contribute include: the climate action platform I’ve written about previously re-launched as Chilli and offers us ways to collaboratively work to bring down the temperature; the Future rewards card (disclosure: I’m an investor) that gives you cash back for reducing carbon; and if you want to actively work with your fellow employees to make your job a climate job, check out the All We Can Save project.
I lied. There’s one more thing: Lauren Boebert. The Colorado congresswoman got kicked out of a live performance of Beetlejuice, the musical, last week. This Colorada Sun editorial provides a scathing critique of everything she is. This Instagram Reel from Nsé Ufot provides the laughter we need as a break from the absurdity.
Elon’s Star Power & Apple’s New Era
Musk’s interventions in Ukraine are just one example of the risks of allowing private enterprise to replace public goods. Plus, three takeaways from Apple’s latest product showcase.
In this piece I:
Reflect on the concentration of corporate power we’ve seen in Starlink and how that’s similar to or different from what we saw in World War II and what we might see with artificial intelligence
Suggest the highest priced and stickiest streaming service may be Apple’s iCloud subscription which sells us access to our own memories
Review that celebratory Apple climate action commercial starring Octavia Spencer.
Read the full piece in Puck where we are celebrating our two-year anniversary by offering you 25 percent off! You get me, of course, twice a month with long essays and analysis of tech, race, democracy and climate. But you also get 13 other journalists covering Washington, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood. It’s a supergroup of talented people I’m honored to work with.