Issue 7: Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality: Writing for the New York Times, N+1 founding editor and journalist Keith Gessen recently noted the role that video is playing in the war between Russia and Ukraine — not only as President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to address the world, but as video produced by Ukrainian citizens effectively undermines the Russian propaganda machine. On Instagram, I scrolled across this video depicting a simulated attack on Paris posted by Al Jazeera English, via the Twitter feed of the Ministry of Defense of the Ukraine. This piece was produced, apparently, to engender empathy and encourage NATO to establish a no-fly zone over the Ukraine. It is bananas.

Iconography: I’ve been casually collecting screen-caps of war-related graphics on my phone as I doomscroll my way through the early morning hours every day. This is deeply nerdy, but I love the icon that the New York Times designed for its Russia-Ukraine war briefing, which arrives in my inbox every afternoon. My most favorite, however, is the image that Hyperallergic editor Hrag Vartanian hand crafted to accompany “Why We Need a Postcolonial Lens to Look at Ukraine and Russia,” an essay by Daria Badior recently published on the site. Slavs and Taters’ Instagram account is also publishing so much beautiful Ukrainian graphic design and iconography.

Tik Talking: As she does so well, Taylor Lorenz, now of the Washington Post, broke the news earlier this week that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and National Security staffers had briefed a cohort of 30 politically-engaged Tik Tok creators via Zoom about the unfolding war in Ukraine — a scoop that clearly inspired a Saturday Night Live cold open wherein Biden and Psaki consult a group of Tik Tok creators on how to solve the war with technology. Says Biden: “I understand Putin. I understand war. But there’s one thing I don’t understand: Computer!” Picking up on the zeitgeist, The Cut profiled Valeria Shashenok, a 20-year old Ukrainian national who has been Tik Toking her way through the war from a bomb shelter in Chernihiv using the black humor that has characterized the way Ukraine’s Gen-Z are portraying the war. (I talked a little bit about this the last time I wrote to you.)