Amber Finlay

Amber Finlay (AF from here on out) and I met back in the days when email newsletters were blogs and every planner in marketing had one. Her superpower is an ability to find throughlines between technology, culture, art, and fashion that no one else sees. We gave her carte blanche over today’s email and it’s a pretty good summation of her brain: TV, philosophy, existentialist comics, 90’s movies, celebrity stylists, and the narrative arts. Enjoy! - Noah (NRB)Amber here. I just saw that one of my favorite shows, “The Good Place”, has been renewed for a fourth season. If you haven’t watched it, the basic premise is that a self-absorbed woman dies, and find herself mistakenly in The Good Place: a non-denominational heaven situation. To avoid being discovered and sent to “The Bad Place”, she takes ethics lessons from a moral philosophy professor who is there with her. It’s 1000 times better than my description, but I won’t* spoil it for you. *Well - I’ll call it out if I’m linking to an article that contains any spoilers.Why is this interesting?It’s 2019, and the fact that a show centered heavily around moral philosophy and ethical theory exists on network television is fairly astounding. I don’t just mean that it contains dialogue about right and wrong. The show dives deep into the works of various moral philosophers, basically turning each episode into a classroom where you contemplate fairly heady philosophical problems alongside the characters. This excerpt from a NYT Magazine piece sums up my general feeling of amazement that NBC agreed to make this thing:The premise of “The Good Place” is absurdly high concept. It sounds less like the basis of a prime-time sitcom than an experimental puppet show conducted, without a permit, on the woodsy edge of a large public park...Ethics is not some kind of moralistic byproduct; it’s baked into the very premise. The show is entirely life lessons. Every episode is Very Special. It synthesizes those old contradictory impulses — jester vs. guru — so completely that they cease to be in tension. If “Seinfeld” was a show about nothing, “The Good Place” is a show about everything — including, and especially, growing and learning. By all rights, it should probably be awful — preachy, awkward, tedious, wooden, labored and out of touch. Instead, it is excellent: a work of popular art that hits on many levels at once. It has been not only critically acclaimed but also widely watched, especially on streaming services, where its twists and intricate jokes lend themselves to bingeing and rebingeing. The modern world, perhaps, is hungrier for ethics than we have been led to believe.In these end times of abrupt cancel culture, the notion that a sitcom-like object can make us think about weighing the consequences of our actions, and about what we owe to each other, feels hopeful and reassuring. (Also it’s hilarious. A recurring joke is the restaurant names -- Cruller Intentions, The Fertile Croissant, Eclair and Present Danger -- usually delivered by writer Megan Amram.)Michael Schur, the show’s creator, had basically built such an impeccable track record on The Office and Parks and Rec that NBC gave him “a skip the line” pass to create any show he wanted. The level of research (spoiler link!) he did before pitching it was extensive, including sourcing two PHD philosophers (I’m not sure they call themselves that actually), Todd May and Pamela Hieronymi, who act as academic advisors to the writing staff.   This isn’t uncommon in Hollywood, but the “expert technical advisor” realm for TV is usually populated by people like blood spatter analysts and snipers. If the CSI Effect made us all forensics experts, maybe the normalization of ethics will lead somewhere better and less bloody.  (AF)Existential Comic of the Day?:From illustrator Evan M. Cohen on Instagram. (AF)Quick Links:If you’re interested in more philosophy, the creators of The Good Place made a YouTube series with Dr. Todd May, a philosopher nd frequent consultant on the show. (AF)NightOpening is a twitter account that is just Getty images of random 90’s movie premieres and I’m obsessed with it. (AF)The New Yorker recently profiled stylist Karla Welch. After you look at NightOpening, you’ll realize that you rarely see any celebrity today in public in a look that was not stylist-influenced.  (AF)Not an internet article, but I’m making my way through Daemon Voices, a collection of essays and talks given by author Philip Pullman. It’s full of amazing insight for anyone that produces narratives for a living (or for fun). (AF)Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Amber (AF)

Why is this interesting? - The Good Place Edition

Amber Finlay (AF) and I met back in the days when email newsletters were blogs and every planner in marketing had one. Her superpower is an ability to find through lines between technology, culture, art, and fashion that no one else sees. Her take below on audio and children was fresh and interesting. Enjoy. - Noah (NRB)Amber here. In a recent fit of parental screen time guilt, I bought a Yoto Player so my kids could listen to stories without pawing through Audible on my phone (we don’t have an Alexa). Yoto Player is basically an audiobook speaker, with simple animations used mainly for chapter way finding.  The player uses cards that house books and other audio content, which my three year old can put in and take out himself easily. There’s a connected app which gives the grown-up more control (volume, stop/start, etc.) and syncs the audio content from your cards for when your children inevitably lose them. It was designed by Pentagram, and it’s very cute. They have a pretty good library of cards, including a Roald Dahl collection as well as some featuring other UK-centric kids characters. (Side note: the Roald Dahl Penguin Audiobooks have some of the best cast narrators of any series. Kate Winslet’s best performance is the Matilda audiobook, IMO.  We’re partial to the Penguin Sleepy Tales*, which are, to use a phrase I recently encountered, like a mental weighted blanket. *My son actually just fell asleep to Sleepy Tales next to me as I write this. Unplanned but I appreciate it.Why is this interesting?Audio content for kids has risen in popularity over the past few years. Spotify launched a standalone kids app in 2019, although it has pretty dismal reviews due to lack of parental controls. Audible notes that downloads of kids content increased by 40% from 2018-2019, probably spurred by the prevalence of Alexa speakers in homes with children. Pinna.fm also launched in 2019, is a subscription streaming service designed solely for kids, by a team with strong backgrounds in kids media and publishing.Yoto Player certainly isn't the only screen-free audio device for kids, although most offerings, like Jooki, seem to be designed only for the European market at the moment. While kids can control what they hear on the Yoto player via cards, the Jooki speaker uses little animal figures that are linked with different playlists created via app. Audio-assisted play seems to be next on the horizon. I recently saw a post from the Lego Ventures Incubation Studio looking for a founder-in-residence to build out something called the Playphonic: “Playphonic reimagines children’s play and entertainment through interactive audio games and lessons. Playphonic is a conversational, audio-driven play and learning experience for children and families. The platform activates children's imagination from a wide selection of games - from science to fantasy.”I immediately started imagining audio-driven LEGO instructions, assisted with something like the Yoto Player’s simple pixel animation to indicate the brick types. Not sure if that’s where they’ll take it, but I for one would be excited to get rid of the hundreds of paper LEGO kit booklets that I am forbidden to throw out.No matter how kids listen to audiobooks, there are distinct benefits that come with listening to stories—some of which my 9 year old has pointed out of his own accord—like learning how words are pronounced or understanding the emotion or emphasis within dialogue. The StoryNory podcast site has a longer list, of which I chose a few favorites: Language should sound beautiful and reading it aloud teaches an appreciation of grace and phrasing.Audio books teach you how to hold people’s attention when telling a story which is an important skill for life.Poetry, traditionally a problem for student readers, is brought to life with expert interpretation and phrasing.True to that last point, my son only likes poems when I read them aloud. This one by Shel Silverstein feels appropriate to end with. (AF)Ceramics of the Day:Staffordshire series from Ginny Sims Instagram  (AF)Quick Links:All the things Pizza Huts have become after they stop being Pizza Huts (CJN)Dave Grohl accepts a 10-year’s olds challenge to a drum off (CJN)25 years since Kids (CJN)Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Amber (AF)—Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing (it’s free!).

Why is this interesting? - The Sonic Parenting Edition

Amber Finlay (AF) leads product marketing on the SNKRS app at Nike, loves sweaters, and does not currently have lightning protection for her house, so don’t feel bad. She previously contributed the Good Place Edition and Sonic Parenting Edition. Amber here. Last week while in the car with my kids and the Manhattan skyline in the distance, I received a flurry of questions from my 9-year-old about lightning rods, what buildings have them, and how they work. I gave what turned out to be a wrong-answers-only reply, and repented down a rabbit hole later. Here’s how a lightning rod works. Like any real estate, location matters most. The rods don’t actually attract lightning, so their placement on tall buildings is more about putting it where lightning is most likely to strike. If the rod takes a direct hit (again, more likely if it’s the tallest thing around), it channels the current around the building and vulnerable electric systems safely to the ground. (I won’t get into the physics of lightning or injuries a lightning strike could cause here. Thanks to Nick Parish for the scary link).Benjamin Franklin did, in fact, invent lightning rods, though there’s some debate about whether he flew his kite or not. The rods became a regular addition to structures in the North Eastern US starting in the mid-1700s. Any building can have a lightning rod, though the probability of tall structures being struck is much higher than the average home. I like the way this UK roofing company summarizes the situation: “Lightning rods are the difference between a tall building being struck by lightning safely and the building bursting into flames with everyone inside being electrocuted.” Yikes. Why is this interesting?The lightning rod business is comprised of many multi-generational family companies, which makes sense; like railroads, lightning rods have been around for a while. The owner of the Boston Lightning Rod Company says there are a lot of “lightning-protection families” out there, which feels Marvel-esque. While these companies are old, the lightning-protection game has changed over time based on what can be ruined by a big electrical surge. Lightning rods dissipate direct strikes, which were the main concern for a long time as the buildings themselves had the largest potential for damage. For most of history, there wasn’t a lot within buildings that ran on electricity. But now that our homes and offices are filled with computers, security systems, and lots of other expensive electrical devices, modern lightning protection companies recommend systems that protect against power surges from indirect strikes, often with multiple rods.  Above is the system recommended by a lightning protection company in Florida: the state which has the majority of the most lightning prone cities in the US (and where losing your air conditioner would potentially be the biggest bummer). I took a spin through their gallery, and the lightning rods and systems they install are designed to be very unobtrusive—very thin rods with a rounded ball at the top.I’d live there.We’re also looking at a more lightning-y future. A 2014 study found that lightning rates will increase 12 percent per every degree Celsius (about 2°F) rise in global temperatures, adding up to a 50 percent increase by the end of the century. Clearly, this isn’t a major threat and it can be managed, but with every device in increasingly smart homes running off electricity, it could get annoying and expensive. (AF)Lightning photo of the Day:Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela has the highest concentration of lightning in the world, and is home to a phenomenon called the Catatumbo lightning. (AF)_____Partner post: Brightland x WITINew year, new resolutions. And one of ours is to re-evaluate the building blocks of our kitchen. One of the best things we’ve switched to last year has been our olive oil. We’re fans of Brightland, a new consumer brand that feels soulful has a clear aesthetic vision and tastes really good. This product is designed to be front and center in your kitchen and with your cooking, a far cry from that dusty green bottle in the back of your cabinet. Brightland is grown in California on family farms, and also fits nearly every lifestyle: vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, Keto, Paleo, Atkins, and Mediterranean. We are partial to their OG products, Awake and Alive (bought as a duo, of course), but for gourmands, we’d recommend the essential capsule which includes their new champagne vinegar and balsamic vinegar. Your kitchen and cooking will thank you. Brightland offers subscriptions to all of their products, and are kindly offering WITI readers a code for $10 off the Essential Capsule or DUO: WITI10. _____Quick Links:A great New Yorker profile of Cartoon Saloon, an animation studio in Kilkenny, Ireland, that makes gorgeous animated films (The Secret of Kells, Song of The Sea). Apparently, Don Bluth started an independent animation studio in Ireland in the ’80s and set up an animation course at a local college where the Cartoon Saloon founders met. (AF)A script supervisor at Pixar started putting the percentage of lines for male characters compared with female characters on all her script versions - simple information leading everyone to participate in change. I discovered this on a Twitter thread, but here is the mini-doc it references. (AF)After a binge of The IT Crowd, try the full Richard Ayoade experience with his series Travel Man - sort of like The Trip with less food, more video games, and IMO funnier. Available on Prime Video, or as my husband calls it based on its Apple TV tile, upside-down Disney Plus. (AF)Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Amber (AF)

Why is this interesting? - The Lightning Edition

​​Amber Finlay (AF) leads product marketing on the SNKRS app at Nike and her summer ‘21 look is mens swim trunks with the linings cut out. Her last WITI contribution was on lightning rods. Amber here. I was recently at an antiques warehouse in Hudson New York, and overheard a dealer tell an on-the-fence customer that if an item doesn’t wind up working, they could just list it on Facebook Marketplace, and it would be gone in a day. She also noted that she lists her own items there, to expand reach beyond people meandering through the shop. Facebook Marketplace seems to have slowly become the de-facto platform for individuals to sell items locally—especially furniture, which is currently one of the top 3 categories on the site. Facebook released Marketplace in 2016 as a sort of Craigslist alternative, but it has blown up in popularity over the past year, at least partially due to the pandemic home improvement/decor/clearout craze. Early in the pandemic, all people could do was shop from home, and due to supply constraints with bigger retailers, many went local in their searches. “Supply and demand has people connecting more than ever on Marketplace,” Deb Liu, founder and vp of Facebook Marketplace, told Modern Retail. These factors include the continued shipping delays and sold out inventory — such as work from home desks and gardening supplies from retailers — leading consumers to turn to local marketplaces for goods. Why is this interesting?You can’t actually buy anything on Facebook Marketplace. It operates just like Craigslist: merely connecting buyers and sellers. Unlike Craigslist, Marketplace is attached to Facebook, so users can lightly stalk whoever they’re transacting with, then decide when and where to meet them to complete the sale (and whether they should bring a friend). Aside from ease of use, this ability to decide if other people might be creeps is one of the bigger advantages of Marketplace. There are other useful features—you can add a listing to a Facebook Group that might be interested in it, or promote it with ad dollars—but the bonus of knowing who you’ll be dealing with seems to be the difference-maker for users. I did the full Facebook delete a few years ago, so I can’t use Marketplace (believe me, I’ve almost cracked a few times and made a new account), but as I look from the outside, it seems like one of the more practically useful, pro-user features they’ve released. I’m sure Facebook has plans for adding shopping and seller services to the platform in a big way, similar to WeChat but for now, Marketplace seems sort of untouched and of the people. (AF)Isolated vacation cottage of the day:The Gills Group, Bailey Island, ME. Quick Links:There are only 25 blimps in the world. (AF)A lovely essay about Paul Simon’s 1991 concert in Central Park, which I remember watching on TV as a kid. (AF)End of life doulas seem natural, wonderful, and needed. (AF)I’ve been searching for the perfect corduroy sofa for years (there actually aren’t many out there), and found it here, at a not really Facebook Marketplace price. Treat yo self. (AF)Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Amber (AF)—Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing (it’s free!).

The Facebook Marketplace Edition

Amber Finlay (AF) leads product marketing on the SNKRS app at Nike. She previously contributed the Good Place Edition, Sonic Parenting Edition and the Lightning Edition. Amber here. I’m in Seoul this week on business, which for me involves visiting a lot of shops that sell sneakers and streetwear.  From what I’ve seen, Seoul retail experiences are truly experiences—the presentation and creativity of some of the shops is absolutely beyond. Some are funded by large companies, which explains the lack of pressure to use all available space for product, resulting in high concept, stunning spaces that are actually fun to shop in.WITI Classifieds:We are experimenting with running some weekly classifieds in WITI. If you’re interested in running an ad, you can purchase one through this form. If you buy this week, we’ll throw an extra week in for free on any ad. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop a line.The finest micro-creators across all platforms (TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, more!) in one place. Indie World is here.A world of music in your inbox, one song at a time. Get Ecléctico.Nudge, get customer insights with ease. Try NudgeWhy is this interesting?These are some of the best places I’ve been so far: Ader Error This is one of the wildest concept stores I’ve ever seen. Ader Error has several locations throughout Seoul. I took the photos below at their Seongsu flagship space, which is like a Disneyworld ride + avante garde patisserie + sweaters and giant suits.The theme of their spaces changes about every 6 months, and the current theme was explained to us as the feeling that happens when an idea crashes down from space into your mind.  The staff of Ader Error design and fabricate all the fittings and objects in the store themselves; this theme features an animatronic sinkhole, a rocketship hovering above an indoor pool, and giant crack filled with moss running through the entire floor. On the second floor, there is a cafe with coffee and cakes, with some amazing wooden seating designs. It’s pretty common for shops in Seoul to have a coffee and pastry/cake offering, and drinks and food at Ader Error were as visually stunning as the space. It is honestly so pure just to see friends sitting and enjoying an insane looking cake together. I need this dining set.Commes Des Garcons Seoul FlagshipA multi-story rabbit warren full of every CDG diffusion line in existence, and a few other brands. No other words needed. I got some pants. WorksoutWorksout has a few locations in Seoul, one in Hongdae and one in Apgujeong. It’s stacked with streetwear brands small (Thames, Praying) and less small (Obey, Fucking Awesome). The fixtures at the Hongdae location are cross-sectioned concrete blocks with weird things inside them, like half a Barbie airplane. PeachesLocated in a huge pink compound in Seongsu, Peaches is a showroom for a creative collective focused on car styling and modification, video production, and other pursuits. There is a garage where they do custom car paint jobs, a gelato shop, a hookah bar, and a doughnut shop. Basically the Fast & the Furious with snacks. BoontheshopAfter visiting lots of cool shops meant for the youth, I needed this luxury immersion. Boontheshop is split into two halves-serious fashion in front, party in the back. The building is absolutely stunning, a stone and silver monolith at the top of a very steep hill.  Reminded me of *sniff* Barney’s. Gentle MonsterHoused in a three story brutalist concrete building, Gentle Monster is Korean eyewear brand with retail locations in many major cities, including NY on Wooster Street.  The major stunner at their Apgugeong location is the cafe at the bottom floor, where Nudake, Gentle Monster’s dessert division, sells Extremely Goth cakes and beverages. Can confirm they were delicious. Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Amber (AF)—Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing.

The Seoul Retail Edition

Amber Finlay (AF) leads product marketing on the SNKRS app at Nike. She previously contributed the Seoul Retail Edition, Good Place Edition, Sonic Parenting Edition, and the Lightning Edition. Amber here. As a follow-up to the Seoul Retail edition, I’m delivering a much shorter dispatch from a recent trip to Amsterdam and Paris with a few notable shops I was able to visit. Outside of shopping, I spotted no Goth pastries, but I did get to eat some great street herring and, of course, poffertjes. AmsterdamAfuraA smallish shop that gave me Goodhood vibes (always welcome), Afura has a nice edit of brands like Amomento and Stine Goya, as well as ceramics and accessories.  Ella Emhoff would shop here.  Cowboys 2 Catwalk This shop has a few locations in Amsterdam; I visited the women’s shop on Oude Spiegelstraat and then their dedicated BLACK Commes Des Garçons space, a few doors down from Patta on Zeedijk. As a CDG collector, I was obliged to buy (more) black pants.  I heard from my colleagues that the men’s shop was amazing as well—all around, they have a really good edit of Lemaire, CDG, Craig Green, Junya Watanabe, and Dries Van Noten.  (I‘m always disappointed that I haven’t made it to the Dries flagship in Antwerp, despite doing repeated train drive-bys as I did on this trip. Someday.) Want to run a WITI classified? Want to reach 20,000 brilliant readers? WITI classifieds start at $250, and you can purchase one through this form. If you buy this week, we’ll throw an extra week in for free on any ad. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop us a line.The Mandate is a newsletter on topics men don't like to talk about. Written by Olympic Medalist & NYT/Men's Health contributor, Jason Rogers. Subscribe for freePattaThe OG sneaker culture/streetwear retailer in Amsterdam—can’t miss it.  The story of Patta’s founders, Edson & Gee, is pretty inspiring, and Patta’s collabs and house line extend far beyond Amsterdam via pop-ups in sneaker shops around the world. Storytiles I walked by this place, then turned right back around and walked into it because I absolutely love Delft tiles.  I didn’t buy any, but I'll be back as soon as I have a backsplash to tile. I compensated with some Delft fingernails. ParisI was only in Paris for about 36 hours, but I managed to pack a lot in.The Next Door Beautiful shop with a wide-ranging edit of lines that sort of sit on the streetwear/outdoor spectrum, with some art and ceramics (!), as well as the most beautiful yoga studio I have ever seen on their top floor. I got some Oscar Magnuson sunglasses and was thankfully pulled out by my companions before I could spend any more money here. Opium Opium is a Paris OG sneaker shop that opened in 2001 specializing in basketball, with an entire side of the shop dedicated to Jordans. The timeline mural depicting the shop's journey is heartwarming and captures the best of sneaker culture. Kith ParisWherever you fall on the Kith barometer, their new Paris flagship is incredibly beautiful and worth seeing. This is Kith’s first multi-brand location-they carry lines like Balmain and Raf Simons alongside Stone Island and other streetwear brands, as well as a shocking amount of fine jewelry and accessories. In addition, they brought Sadelle’s in as a permanent restaurant within the space (I’ve never been to Sadelle’s in Soho, but I was told the menu is pretty much the same). It was pretty funny to see people eating bagels & schmear in Paris.Paris Saint-Germain Team Flagship StoreA bit of a wild card at the end here. I got the ‘22-’23 PSG fourth kit customized for my son at the PSG flagship store. He won’t take it off, so I’d call that a successful gift? (They also have a store in NY).Happy shopping! (AF)Quick Links:Spots I didn’t get to this trip 🙁The Broken Arm: The Broken Arm is one of my favorite spots in Paris, with a rotating edit leaning toward the avant-goth and installations that feature their collaboration projects.  Petit Pan: This one’s for the children - beautiful fabrics, quilts and pajamas, as well as delicate fabric & bamboo mobiles and lanterns that I’ve ambitiously dragged through the airport in the past.Tom Greyhound: Another very beautiful concept store!  —Thanks for reading,Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Amber (AF)—Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing.