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I spent 72 hours rereading every newsletter I wrote: You won't believe what happened next

Correction: I have actually been sick in bed for three days *not* reading, writing or even thinking about newsletters. Hence, I am publishing, gulps, a Best of ESC KEY .CO listicle, optimized for pity shares on social media — or something like that.

JD Shadel

JD Shadel

— 11 min read
I spent 72 hours rereading every newsletter I wrote: You won't believe what happened next
I first used this GIF as the lead image for an article published on February 16, 2025. I reused here because I was too ill to do further image research.

A very brief history of the clip show

When I was kid, sick days meant binging TV Land. And that invariably meant I'd get stuck watching a goddamn clip show or one of its equally irritating kin — recap or catch-up episodes. You know the format: recycled scenes stitched together with the narrative tissue of someone looking through a photo album. Often, these episodes helped producers conserve budgets, and sometimes get audiences back up to speed. In any case, it was network television's ultimate phone-in.

So naturally, here I am, mid-food-poisoning, about to serve you the editorial equivalent.

📞 "Oh, I see where this is going — this is going to be a listicle, isn't it?!"

The thing is, I've been horizontal for the past 72ish hours with nothing but peppermint tea and my own anxious thoughts for company. (I am now on the mend, don't worry too much.) But let me confess, I've spent very little time thinking about newsletters.

I've emerged with what the TV executives would call "a very special episode" — except instead of amnesia, it's just me, weakly gesturing at a round-up of links that capture what this whole ESC KEY .CO experiment has been about. For example: talking with the best about what they do best (e.g., hype-busting "AI" bullshit with the best hype-busters out there); reporting on internet strangers taking parasocial group vacations; Power Lunching our way through the year of our lord 2025; and much more to come when these stomach cramps end.

In other words, welcome to the clip show, baby.

Pity click, pity share, pity subscribe.

Motivational trumpet music plays, narrator begins: This year, we've been stronger together because we've Power Lunched together!

We've ridiculed as praxis, darling!

Ridicule as praxis, darling! Alex Hanna on busting “AI” hype and building the world we want
Between “The AI Con” book tour and marking three years of her “accidental” hit podcast, she still has time for Power Lunch. The director of research at DAIR — and ex-senior research scientist at Google — talks “AGI” silliness, the power of imagining possible futures and, of course, roller derby.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

We've asked, where'd that alt-weekly voice go on the World Wide Web, darling?

On Power Lunch: Alicia Kennedy, queen of essays and newsletters, tries to decide on a restaurant
She sold her first book on a lie. The lie? That she cared about tech burgers. Now, in the middle of a move back to New York City, a move off Substack, and her memoir, we set the table to discuss the mess of media work— covering everything from Carrie Bradshaw’s per word rates to martini tattoos.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

We've all agreed Tech Won't Save Us, darling!

The Muskologist will see you now: Paris Marx on 5 years of diagnosing Big Tech’s delusions
Silicon Valley’s sharpest critic, Paris Marx marks 5 years of Tech Won’t Save Us, telling ESC KEY .CO how he pushed through early anxiety to make the essential podcast on the subject. We set the table to discuss exiting U.S. tech, the state of criticism and one guest who made him a little nervous.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

We've published sentences like, “What if the Shakers” — a utopian offshoot of the Quakers known for their communal living, gender equality and, indeed, celibacy — “had sex?”

Mattie Lubchansky tracked every weird thought in a doc, then turned it into the wildest book
For her second graphic novel, “Simplicity,” this acclaimed cartoonist and a former editor at The Nib tried a new approach: save any idea that intuitively seemed to “fit.” She did that for more than a year. We set the table to talk her process, a literal vision and making trans culture right now.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

We gossiped about the state of lifestyle media.

What Celeste Noche saw judging National Geographic Traveller’s 13th photography competition
When it comes to the art of judging people, who is more qualified than prolific photographer and Portland In Color founder Celeste Noche? It’s not a rhetorical question. We set the table in the midst of decisions, an austere creative economy and bad “AI” imagery, asking, “How is this still OK?!”
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

We've achieved dreams and taken a long trip to figure out what's next.

How do you walk away from a dream? This ex-Spotify producer, ex-restaurateur finds out (again)
In 2021, Tiara Darnell, a producer at Spotify, relocated to Mexico City. She soon opened its first Black soul food restaurant, the diaspora-connecting and now-closed Blaxicocina. We set the table at this intersection, discussing everything from “overnomadism” to burnout and finding new purpose.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

Trumpet soundtrack fades into trombone-battle rhythm, narrator continues but gayer: Hold it girl, did you say AI without scare quotes?! Hm. We must assemble the poppers of the hype! [Or "hype poppers," shall we say? Maybe we should drop "poppers" from this script for the heterosexuals?! OK!]

How to hype-bust “AI” bullshit: A curious reader’s guide with the Pulitzer Center’s Karen Hao
What are red flags for spotting the spin? Award-winning investigative reporter and co-creator of the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series, Karen Hao reveals a simple framework for readers who want to embrace skeptical curiosity and hit, well, the ESC key on the hype.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel
Do you believe in hope after “AI” hype? Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna make the case
In this extended briefing, “TL;DR” = “Totally Legit; Def. Read” because we review “The AI Con,” the spicy new book ready to rattle the broligarchy. Plus, the authors answer ESC KEY .CO’s questions about creative work — giving you something hot to talk about at your next power lunch, as ever. *Wink.*
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

Brass music builds, drums pounding as we go through a highlight real: Friend! You and me! We! Yes, we've swam head-first ...

... into original reporting!

Why internet strangers are following content creators on group trips around the world
A weird revolution is making group travel arguably “cool,” as content creators turn algorithmically curated audiences into IRL travel companions. These digital collectives show us the shifting paradigms — and income disparity prevalent — across the fragmenting social web.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

... into the history of early internet GIFs, the history of the Internet Archive's GifCities.org search engine, and in the process answered the question, "What do dragons and drag queens have in common?" Finally!

The Internet Archive’s rehauled GIF search engine opens a portal to Web 1.0’s visual culture
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is vastly improved GIF archaeology via the new GifCities search engine plus a short history of GeoCities cyber neighborhoods and the case for reclaiming the “netizen” label.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

...into an extra-long read about nightlife (featuring an interview on the occasion of an excellent new book on the subject) ... a piece we opened with a brief history of the Roman Emperor Elagabalus, which was, yes, a choice!

The state of nightlife: No-phone clubs? Brand mascots in the DJ booth? Who can afford to resist?!
The British nightlife trade group recently announced all the clubs could close by 2030 without urgent action. ESC KEY .CO speaks with longtime music journalist and cultural insights agency founder Andy Crysell about his new book, “Selling the Night,” and the big forces reshaping club culture today.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

More drums: Do you have a brand? Are you a brand? We solved so many problems for you ...

... like, identifying the simplest way to become a not evil, ahead-of-the-curve brand on the internet (hint: it's merely having a fucking spine, y'all!)

From pinkhushing to greenhushing, cowardcore is the dominant trend of this weird era
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is post-rainbow capitalism and post-”sustainability,” and the big question we face: Where do we push it next?
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

... staying clear of Substack because they will send you nudges to follow your ex, who isn't even a writer, making you wonder, "Did I really ever consent to this?!" It spirals into a long-form report about what Substack is and wants to become.

Why Substack is nudging you to follow your ex, your hookups, randos who aren’t even writers
Last week, I got a creepy notification nudging me to follow an ex — on Substack. Then I realized how comprehensively the app had scraped my phone’s contacts, a la the dark patterns of the monopoly-chasing social platforms that came before. My first question was, when had I ever consented to this?!
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

...a case study in how not to be like Grindr's CEO (in a column framed as a fictional drag ball — I know).

The incel-ification of dating apps: CEOs want to burn coal so “AI wingmen” can automate flirting
Download Grindr and you might get the clap. But this promised “AI wingman” certainly won’t give you rizz. In this Hype Ball column, we judge the dystopian drag of modern dating. And whatever your sexuality or lack thereof, you’re screwed.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

...answering the questions, why does social media suck so bad? What is the fediverse actually achieving? And more importantly, what is the fediverse?!

The state of social media is dark and dour. So what’s an e-girl to do about it all?
The Xodous. The TikTok ban. The leftist netizens’ search for bluer skies on the “fediverse.” What’s the sanest way to approach this brave social world? Katherine Cross has the answer in her lucid first book, aptly titled “Log Off.”
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel
Attention slot machines, now with open protocols! What is the “fediverse” actually achieving?
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is engagement casinos, attention slot machines and the fediverse rebels hustling for a social web no lone billionaire can own.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

...we even made up new XYZ strategy terms you could use in meetings with clients!

Parasocial strategy: The very tiring, very online art of inspiring one-sided intimacy at scale
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is how making a whole bunch of people feel like you “get” each other is inarguably the key to success and fatigue online.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

...and, most importantly, we outlined a roadmap to remaining competitive in uncertain times (hint: don't offload your fucking brain, my bro who is a brand!)!

What is cognitive offloading?! Letting LLMs “think” for you is not a “decision holiday”
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is the tens of thousands of words of reporting and research we read so, well, you don’t have to.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

Brass fades, cello and violin continue quietly in the background, the narrator concludes: And through it all, we've looked for examples of people not only calling out the bullshit, but actually doing something about it.

How creative workers can call out climate bullshit — and sleep better than, say, Edelman’s CEO
Big agencies rake in cash from fossil fuel clients while brands delete climate and diversity commitments. But creativity can be a solution, too. The Clean Creatives movement’s playbook — plus a spoof wellness app called Oilwell that’s trolling an F-List PR firm — show workers some ways to push back.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel
Anti-fascist tech is possible: Trans tech creators show how to urgently center community needs
Or, at least, the best of ’em do. Oliver Haimson’s new book, “Trans Technologies” from MIT Press, boldly asks what tech could look like reimagined as a tool of liberation. He sat down with ESC KEY .CO for a (very long) chat to reveal a (very timely) bit of the answer.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel
In America’s new era of censorship, digital archivists are democracy’s backup drive
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is the systematic erasure of public knowledge and the archivists fighting our slide into digital darkness.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

Screen fades to black, text appears as violin music fades, too: On the topic of food poisoning, this was the first article we ever published on this website, ESC KEY .CO, on November 1, 2024:

London’s “best steak sandwich” is a lie and that’s only the start of the troubles with “AI”
A hilarious guerilla campaign by Londoners on Reddit aimed to fool large language models into boosting a tourist trap chain. The silly parody signals that the stakes for the future of the internet as we know it are higher than, well, steaks.
ESC KEY .COJD Shadel

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