Forty Two. / Contributor Thirty Six: Eli London, The Breads
On Surfing (and Surfacing) the Internet, The Heroes in the Service Industry, and Sea Shanty TikTok.
Hey, everybody. Is it just me, or has this year (with January 6th being a MAJOR exception) felt like a giant weight has been lifted off of us?
I can’t seem to put my finger on it, but the social media world feels lot, well, friendlier. I’m still trying to figure out why… ;-)
In the meantime, I’d like to introduce to you all this week’s contributor and the first one of 2021. Many of the authors who share the pen here come from various friendships I’ve made along the way, and yet this friendship is only a few months old.
I subscribed to his newsletter after reading his interview with Coefficient Capital’s Anna Whiteman (hey, friend!) and subsequently signed up for his new newsletter. He then reached out to learn more, which of course gave me an opportunity to shill for Le Cinq and offer the Contributor pen to him.
Needless to say, he gratefully accepted it, and the resulting piece below is really, really good.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Eli London.
Enjoy!
Eli London is a freelance writer, photographer and marketing consultant living in Brooklyn. He’s written for such publications as InsideHook, Paper Mag, October, Men’s Journal and The Hustle among others. He runs a weekly newsletter called The Breads (we’ll get to that later) and before working freelance he was the Director of Partnerships and User Acquisition at InsideHook. He’s just started working with a few clients on email/marketing/content strategy. He’s excited about it.
A fun fact: Here’s two:
People always lose their freaking minds about this one, but, I’ve never actually been inside of a Trader Joe’s. There I said it. (Editor’s Note: Wait, what??) And I also think I’ll never be able to go because this is really the only “fun fact” I think I have, even though I do want that sweet, sweet cheap beer they offer. And I guess the food too.
Thanks to a few extended cross country road trips in my youth and subsequent traveling as an adult I think I’ve been in at least 45 of the 48 contiguous United States (can’t remember if I’ve ever been to Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont as a wee lad or not).
What are you currently working on?
Ugh. I know. Another newsletter. But alas, that’s what it is.
I write a weekly newsletter called The Breads. The purpose of said newsletter is to surface and discuss important and interesting non-political things from the internet (articles, videos, twitter threads, art, products) that would give readers points of conversation with friends and co-workers – the sort of things that make you go "I was reading an article about X and found Y and Z things super interesting. Don't you think?" It usually features around 20-some odd links with varying levels of commentary depending on importance.
I also do one-off original pieces occasionally and have a running interview series called “Cool People, Heck Yes!” where I talk to people about their success, but also ask them very random questions to get a sense of who they are. I’m working very hard to grow it in very organic ways currently, so if it sounds interesting to you I’d love for you to subscribe!
Also, it’s how Sumeet found me and then subsequently invited me to share a bit about myself with the legendary Le Cinq community which is making me feel dreadfully unaccomplished. I think this is my first ever media appearance, so shoutouts to you Sumeet, you the real MVP.
(Editor’s Note: <3)
What are you currently excited about?
To have you-know-who out of the White House and off Twitter, but we don’t have to really get into all of that right now.
Personally: I’m super excited about a show I’m writing with my best friend about a fucked up family in the Midwest running a home shopping network. It’s all about family dysfunction, weird-ass on-air personalities trying to sell things through a television screen, the station’s reluctant advancement towards modernization and need to use new methods (social media) to maintain relevance.
In the world: To be able to travel again hopefully very soon. I haven’t really done anything since Covid began other than come back to America from living abroad (I was becoming a Chilango in Mexico City when Covid began – if you need recs holler at me). So I’m really dying to travel again. And also with the return of travel and normal daily life I’m cautiously excited about the fact that many people will now now have a greater appreciation and respect for all those workers and employees in the service industries that make enjoying free time possible. This greater appreciation and respect will hopefully translate to more empathy and awareness around how service industry people are treated and paid.
(I’m a pretty cynical person so I’m not holding my breath, but you gotta hope at least a portion of previously ungrateful assholes are changing their tune post-pandemic, right? RIGHT?!?)
What’s a story or article that you're currently thinking about?
I put this in my newsletter last week. This is as close to political content as I really get, and this article actually came from Cosmopolitan of all places, but it was so damn interesting and telling that I think you guys should check it out too. I’ll just share the snippet about the article I put in my newsletter. See below:
The Unlikely Connection Between Wellness Influencers And The Pro-Trump Rioters
Just Give Me A Synopsis:
According to this piece there are a growing number of folks– ones normally pawning tummy tea and teeth whiteners – who have been successfully radicalized over the past year. This article focuses specifically on the Q rabbit hole and how, big surprise, many of these influencers end up where they are because the social platform algorithms push the most controversial topics and the influencers are chasing likes, so yup, they start pushing more of it and here we are.
And A Quote From The Article Please:
Instead, these influencers were just doing what influencers do: following the metrics. “If something interests you, and every time you post about it, you get more followers or subscribers, that’s helping you a lot,” says Kelly. It’s not that they didn’t believe what they were posting. But, she adds, “we’re persuaded into what we believe a little more strongly by the response of those around us.”
And Tell Me Why I should Care:
We all probably know someone in our feeds who is susceptible to and possibly even gone down the path to radicalized conspiracy theory-dom. This piece lays out how easily that can happen, even for those you would think would be antithetical to such ideas. You wouldn’t think Yoga influencers would be some of the strongest proponents of far right conspiracies, but it happens.
It's important to treat this stuff as a serious issue rather than just kooky people going off the deep end. A lot of it is very calculated by recruiters and uses tried and true tactics to get people interested and then on board. Big tech obviously has a huge, huge, huge part to play in this and everyone should also take a step back to look at how you are using social media and how it’s affecting how you look at the world. And this is probably more political than I usually want to get in here but, I guess all I'm saying is check up on your peoples.
What’s a product you’re currently obsessed with?
I might be late to the game but I finally got on the dutch oven train and it really is revelatory. I got my girlfriend a Lodge Dutch Oven for her birthday (Le Creuset is dope and all but, well, I’m trying to make freelancing work currently so those bad boys ain’t exactly in my price range at the moment). But as fate would have it, I do most of the cooking in our apartment so I actually don’t think she’s used it once. I ain’t mad at it though because I have been going hard at the braising of fine meats and stew making (brewing? stewing?) to get us through the winter months. It’s also helped get me more into cooking in general and so my girlfriend actually got me J. Kenji López-Alt’s amazing cooking tome The Food Lab, which I would also highly recommend to go with your dutch oven. In addition to having hundreds of amazing recipes it really breaks down the “why” behind just about every aspect of cooking. Food science at its finest.
Can I add one more thing? I’m adding one more thing because it’s so damn useful. My friend turned me on to JustWatch recently and it’s honestly one of the best things to happen to my life. Everybody has ten different streaming services and never knows what is where – a true problem of the 2020s. This is an app (also has a web version) that allows you to search a show/movie and see where it’s available. It’s that simple. But it makes the slog of finding something to watch that much easier. It also has search/recommendation functions but at its base level it’s a super useful product that has a really good UX and doesn’t ruin everything with tons of ads. And it’s free.
Wild Card: What’s an item you can’t shake your mind off of?
There is really only one answer here and it’s the way that Sea Shanties have taken over the internet. This was like two weeks ago at this point, so in internet time that’s ages, but it’s still amazing. Just google “Sea Shanty” and you’ll see about eleventy-hundred think pieces from every publisher you know.
The whole thing was started by a Scottish postman named Nathan Evans who blew up big time and is now signed to a major record label. The sea shanties are amazing, don’t get me wrong, but what is really intriguing to me is how TikTok allows for super niche things that were maybe seen as uncool or lame previously to gain broad appeal and mass traction. The platform, more so than the likes of Twitter and Instagram, thanks to its functionality serves as a springboard for people to fully embrace and collaborate with others who have their same “quirky” interests that maybe would have been too shy or embarrassed to share on other mediums. And furthermore it allows outsiders to realize that “oh wait, this thing actually is really fucking cool” and engage with and learn about something that in the past they may have just scoffed at or made fun of.
It has been a pleasure, everyone. Feel free to holler at me on whatever platform tickles your fancy. You can find me on Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram or The Breads.
~ C O L O P H O N ~
Please send all feedback, both positive and negative, to sumeetshahwork@gmail.com as this project continues to evolve.
Interested in contributing an edition? Email me at sumeetshahwork@gmail.com!
Want more great things to read? Follow my Flipboard Magazine, #Reads_Feeds.
Did this get forwarded to you by a friend? Please consider subscribing below!