Good morning,

Thanks to those left that are still sticking with me on this. To everyone else who isn’t responding to my surveys, don’t worry. I’m not mad. Not mad at all.

See here for next week’s survey, also linked at the bottom.

Onto the round-up:

Survey Results

Q1: Drake - approve or disapprove?

Results:

Highlighted Free Responses:

• “Free Meek”

• “Once this guy started rapping in a fake patois accent I knew he was one of the biggest culture vultures in rap history.”

• “Creepy and weird but glad he's around to be the butt of jokes like Kendrick's super bowl performance and the hotline bling music video meme”

• “Doesn’t have the music of Taylor Swift nor Michael Jackson. Doesn’t have the body nor the legal skills of a Kardashian. The unabashed bandwagoning of major programs (and the asssociated curse) makes him even more cringe. The only good thing he’s got is that I watched a surprising amount of DeGrassi for an American born in the late 90s”

• “C'mon crodie, really? I walked in on one of the corniest NPC characters at school once practicing the lyrics of Sicko Mode. That is all.”

• “I don’t like all of those sex crimes he probably did but he does have some bops I guess. Honestly I don’t listen to his music much which makes hating on him way easier and more fun.”

• “If you release one truly classic album (Take Care is) then you’re good in my book. Having that many bangers is crazy”

• “Every Drake fan I’ve met in my life has been among the corniest people I’ve met in my life. Makes bland and corny music, has an annoying fan base, and seems like a neutral to evil person.

  Disapprove of him hardcore”

• “I used to really like his music in high school and some of his songs (Over My Dead Body and Marvins Room!!!) will always be bangers. He just embarrassed himself so much with the Kendrick feud and is a bit of a pos so can’t really bring myself to root for him.”

Commentary:

Pretty predictable that Drake would come out with a low approval rating. He hasn’t exactly had a very positive few years in the limelight. I’m sure I don’t need to explain why.

However, I was motivated to ask this question as a follow-up to last week’s questions about Michael Jackson, another famous pop star with a reputation for being too cozy with minors.

For those that don’t remember, MJ came out with a 42% approval rating last week.

Reminder that Drake has not actually been seriously accused of pedophilia to the degree that Michael Jackson has. He just has a lot of lines that come off sus and he has an overall cringey vibe.

And he even if you don’t think he is comparable to MJ, he still does have a lot of hits.

So I thought Drake and MJ would be a good comparison.

This brings me to my working formula on celebrity wrong-doings / controversy as compared against their public accomplishments, and how that affects their overall approval rating. A simpler analogy to this is the Hot-Crazy Graph from How I Met Your Mother:

(For the record: Barney Stinson — Disapprove.)

As inspired by Mr. Stinson, I’ve made this graph to illustrate my theory:

The other variable I tried to map onto here is time, which I’ve included as a discount on the controversy x-axis. As seen with Michael, as enough time passes, we’ve tended to forgive and forget his transgressions. Drake, although his allegations are much less serious, are much fresher and more salient to his public perception. And his level of achievement isn’t quite high enough to overcome his recent public humiliations. Although maybe if Iceman is any good…

OJ does not get a time discount for what he did, which was extremely gruesome and horrifying. But people forget he was a bucket fr.

I won’t belabor the rest of these data points. I also want to make a disclaimer here that I am really roughly approximating the placement here -- I’m sure it’s debatable if what John Lennon did was worse than Tiger Woods’ DUIs and adultery or if Snoop Dogg is actually that accomplished as an artist. If you have a problem you can take it up with somebody who cares the comment section.

Q2: How much caffeine (in mg) do you consume on a typical weekday?

Results Analysis:

• Min: 0mg

• Max: 400mg

• Mean: ~180mg

• Median: ~150mg

Highlighted Free Responses:

• “Coffee in the morning is a MUST. Then some sort of energy drink midday when I'm not unemployed”

• “0 for me. I literally saw Nathan and other friends in middle school starting to get addicted to coffee and it didn’t make sense to me. Just drink a glass of water”

• “1.5 Coffee units in the morning and then an afternoon fridge cig (Diet Coke)”

Commentary:

Honestly higher average consumption than I was expecting!

I’m personally more of a one-cup-a-day kind of guy so I expected to see more people in a similar range. Although I sometimes do find myself going for that second cup of coffee or a nice big Diet Coke in the afternoon for a boost.

I am afraid these results will just encourage me to intake more caffeine, since many of you seem to be stimming constantly. I can’t deny that that second cup of coffee really makes me feel wired, though it definitely affects the quality of my sleep.

I have no data to support this but it does feel like average caffeine levels are constantly creeping upwards. Energy drinks are no new phenomenon in modern society, but an 8 oz Red Bull (~80mg of caffeine) seems flaccid compared to a Celsius (300mg) that all the kids are drinking nowadays.

Add onto that the proliferation of nicotine via vaping and zyns, plus a little dash of screen addiction... I dunno, seems not ideal for us to be so stimmed up all the time.

I recently met a guy who is in surgical residency who said he regularly takes up to 1000mg of caffeine a day. On top of that, he says he takes so many zyns to the point where he will literally be in the operating room, with his gloves in someone’s body, and will step aside and ask someone in the OR to lower his mask and replace his zyn for him.

Honestly they should write that into an episode of Scrubs.

I guess I’d rather have my surgeon alert and focused than sluggish and battling nicotine withdrawal, but still. Not sure I feel great about that.

Q3: Anime - overrated or underrated?

Results:

Highlighted Free Responses:

• “The GOAT medium. I've probably seen close to 100 at this point. Recent favs are Ranking of Kings, Kotaro Lives Alone, JJK, Demon Slayer, and the all time GOAT...Berserk. Must be 90's version tho.”

• “I actually think there is still a massive reluctance to engage with even the most mainstream "western friendly" anime series. Maybe amongst certain demographics the hype has gotten a little overblown, but all of my friends from home genuinely think its weird that I like anime.”

• “I do not watch anime anymore. I was into it when I was in middle school and it was still an uncool irl subculture where fandom was mostly confined to the internet.”

• “I recently overheard a bunch of nerdy teenagers discussing if they would rather have a tsundere or a yandere girlfriend. Let's get you all acclimated to some 3D women first gang.”

• “I go through phases where it’s all I watch then I don’t think about it for months. But look me in my eyes and tell me avatar the last air bender and cowboy bebop are overrated. I don’t want to talk about FMA :( “

• “I grew up watching Naruto, like most men my age… I think it’s underrated still (very specifically in the US), despite its massive surge in popularity. I believe this because Anime’s that I have heard from educated sources, like JJK have almost no bearing on popular culture whatsoever, and you have to be a MASSIVE global hit with undeniable quality to even begin to crack numbers or conversations that people have about even the most mediocre adult US animation like Rick and Pickle.

  Also would challenge whether or not Anime actually has hype around it outside of a very niche crowd of the culturally attuned.”

• “I don’t watch anime but my sister-in-law works for Crunchy Roll so I appreciate the medium and how it managed to move people with very emotional and intricate plots. I will never not call them cartoons though.”

Commentary:

I agree with some of you that have mentioned that anime has grown a lot but is still contained within its own pocket of fans rather than reaching full cultural saturation in the US.

Outside of Dragonball and Naruto there doesn’t seem to be much widespread diffusion, so I would say on aggregate it’s still “underrated.”

A friend of mine acts like Avatar: The Last Airbender (a show that was on Nickelodeon) and Akira (one of the most acclaimed anime movies of all time) are from an alien planet.

I know a lot of people still have a resistance to anime. They still see animation as cartoons for children, they see the exaggerated facial expressions and line deliveries as over the top and corny, they think the characterization is pervy and unrealistic.

To me, this friction is obviously just a cultural gap; anime is just a different form of story-telling with different norms and styles that Westerners aren’t accustomed to.

And yet a lot of people still have the reflex of “this is doo doo for children and incels” instead of “this is a different form of cultural expression that I don’t know how to appreciate.”

I’m straw-manning a bit here, as well as preaching to the choir, but I often see a similar kind of reflex when it comes to racially or culturally inflected mass-media like Sinners or the Bad Bunny halftime show. A lot of “this sucks and is boring and is overrated and people only like it because it’s deliberately not centering white people” as opposed to “maybe I don’t know how to appreciate this or fully understand it because I don’t come from this culture.”

I’m not saying everything that comes from a minority or disadvantaged group gets a free pass from criticism; there probably is a contingent in the opposing direction that does inflate some art because of its non-majority cultural identity (I still kind of think Black Panther is overrated, sorry).

I just think that, on average, we could all use a little more openness and awareness of our own biases as it comes to different cultural products.

My only exception to this is the French. Emilia Perez can suck my nuts.

Q4: Do you think you could beat Donald Trump in a fight?

Results:

Highlighted Free Responses:

• “Nice try FBI - I will not be detailing how I would brutalize the President of the United States in a physical contest.”

• “I think you could just run in circles around him really fast like a cartoon character and his fat ass would get dizzy and fall over like a tipped cow. Once he's down, he can't get up and I would just kick the shit out of him”

• “I'd first circle him like the Viper vs the Mountain and weave in and out and taunt him by saying "you fat" over and over again. After he falls from exhaustion, I rip off his toupee and trounce him.”

• “gun. Or RKO.”

• “…I do think you would have to fight dirty...I feel like he would not respond well to hair pulling, pinching, etc.”

• “I’d lure him into an oversized glue trap with the promise of extra “found” ballots from 2020 and let him dry out in the sun. An advantage to this is I think I could catch the older trump boys in the same trap. To get Barron I think we’d need razor blades attached to an 8 foot tall ceiling fan. Take him out giraffe style.”

• “I have seen the man up close and he is GINORMOUS. Both based on height and body weight alone he would crush me. Psychological warfare would be my only chance but, given the destruction he’s managed to cause over the past decade, he also has game in that department. I would need to dig deep into the bitchiest depths of my soul and wit to win.”

Commentary:

The results of this should be 100% yes, besides maybe my readers who are under 5 feet tall. But even they could probably still beat him with speed and agility, of which Donald is severely lacking in.

The man is 80 years old! He is fat and slow and stupid! Of course you could beat him in a fight, this is an absolute no-brainer and should not be a controversial opinion.

I stole this question from some recent Twitter chatter on a more scientific poll:

As one of you wrote in, “I find it hilarious how chudbrained MAGA is to where they think an obese 82 year old that lives off nuggies is some sort of powerful man.”

I know I said I wouldn’t get political on this forum, but come on. How could you be afraid of that fat fucker? I don’t care how big he is, you could probably just push him over with a spirited shove and he’d flail around like an obese and decrepit turtle on its back while he cries about how you cheated.

Kash Patel if you’re reading this we’re all just having jokes here. Go have another cocktail buddy.

Q5: What is the greatest American band?

Results Analysis:

• Steely Dan: 3 mentions

• The Beach Boys: 3 mentions

• The Eagles: 2 mentions

• Other mentions (1 each): Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band; The Grateful Dead; Green Day; Talking Heads

Highlighted Free Responses:

• “I say Steely Dan, but with the caveat that the Steely Dan "band" was really just a conglomerate of studio musicians for like 75% of their studio sessions and they only toured for a couple years. So idk if they actually count?”

• “The Beach Boys were 1) extremely popular in their time 2) have one of the greatest and most influential albums ever made 4) had a genius in their ranks to whom a lot of innovations in pop music can be traced directly back to 3) their music remains recognizable 60 years later”

• “…Steely Dan (a band named after a dildo) is cool music about the worst of humanity.”

• “…Honorable mention for Swans because they inspire people to stay hard”

Commentary:

I posed this question to my coworkers recently. At first there was some hemming and hawing as people thought about how most of the great bands that come to mind are British. Then one of my colleagues said, “oh wait! I’ve got one. The Red Hot Chili Peppers!”

While that is an American band, that is objectively not the correct answer. Sorry, Harrison.

This question is definitely up for interpretation, and I think we would all apply a different mix of criteria on what defines “greatest.” Personally, I tend to be biased towards critical reception, cultural impact, and longevity, although I do acknowledge that overall popularity has to be an important part of the equation as well. So to me, the contenders are: The Beach Boys, Nirvana, The Grateful Dead, and The Velvet Underground.

I was surprised to see so many say Steely Dan -- maybe I biased the results by mentioning them in the description. While I do enjoy Becker and Fagan, I don’t think they quite reach the requisite heights of mass appeal and widespread cultural awareness to really crack the top tier.

My reply to other artists mentioned in the responses:

• Talking Heads: while I love them, similar to Steely Dan I think they are a little too “alt” to quite crack the top level.

• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: I don’t think this counts as a “band.” Bruce is identified too much as a solo artist. While he would certainly have to be included in a “greatest solo American musicians” list, I don’t think this fits the spirit of the question.

• Green Day: all respect to Dookie, but sorry. Not correct.

• The Eagles: I hate the fuckin’ Eagles man. Jk, not really, although I do kind of hate “Hotel California” from hearing it 1 bajillion times while working at my local breakfast restaurant as a teenager. I think they have a valid case for inclusion just because of sheer popularity, but I kind of get the feeling that they haven’t aged as well critically over the years. It’s definitely possible this is more of a generational blindspot for me, and maybe they’ll have some kind of revival like Steely Dan has had in recent years, but I don’t know if I would confidently put them up there.

Other artists that might also be mentioned:

• Creedence Clearwater Revival: one of the tougher cuts for me. Although they have several all-time American classics and play a distinctly American brand of rock music, I’m not sure they have the longevity or the range to really hit that top tier. 

• Metallica: this one is a little bit of a blind spot for me, so I could be talked into it. Definitely very popular, definitely important, and definitely have been doing it for a long time. But I dunno, the 2010s hipster in me just doesn’t fully buy it.

• Fleetwood Mac: not sure if they totally count as American, since some members are British. Even if they do, I'm not sure I believe in my gut that they are the “greatest.”

• Aerosmith: no thanks.

It does annoy me that this question is actually kind of difficult to answer. America literally invented rock-and-roll -- why do the British seem to have so many better bands than we do??

The counterpoint is that Americans may have more important individual artists. Chuck Berry, Elvis, Bruce, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, etc. I don’t know if that’s better than having The Beatles or Radiohead, but I guess in some ways it does feel more appropriately American to champion the individual over the collective.

Programming Notes

Short life update: I will be out of town next weekend, and then will be starting a new job in June! The new job requires me to be in-office 3 days a week, which will make it harder for me to work on this newsletter during the day as I have been doing for the last several weeks (please don’t tell Daddy Deloitte I still want to get my bonus).

So I’ll be moving the schedule for this newsletter to a bi-weekly cadence going forwards, at least for now.

I also figure this will give me some more breathing room to think of better questions and more time to write. But we’ll see.

Next Survey

See here for the next survey. I’ll be closing it on Thursday, May 28th, giving you almost two weeks to get your responses in. I’ll send some reminders again as well.

Warmly,

Nathan