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Low battery. It’s a sad day, Future Party people. John Goodenough, the Nobel laureate responsible for pioneering the lithium-ion battery, passed away on Sunday at 100. While you may not know his name, you definitely know his work. From laptops to smartphones to EVs, his breakthroughs in science and technology have helped power the world we know today. RIP, John.
In other news… Noma reinvents its kitchen, Hollywood ghosts Comic-Con, and YouTube tests playable games.
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FOOD & DRINK
Noma ditches the dining room
The Future. Noma may be putting up the forever “closed” sign on its flagship restaurant in Copenhagen, but it’s transitioning to an artisanal consumer goods brand that will let foodies worldwide taste some of its wildest recipes. The ambition may be for Noma to create a sustainable business by democratizing access to its flavors… and build worldwide demand for its traveling pop-up experiences.
Restaurant revolution
Noma kept its staff and is re-launching as Noma Projects — a consumer goods arm offering ready-to-eat experimental foods for which the restaurant is famous.
Noma Projects is starting with seasonal sauces and condiments, priced for the average consumer (under $40), and can be used in various dishes.
Taking its cues from streetwear, the sauces are offered in limited-edition drops, which have already been selling out in a matter of hours.
While Noma Projects may eventually set up a brick-and-mortar location, it’s opting to stay an e-commerce operation for now.
But if you still want to get the quintessential Noma experience, chef Renée Redzepi and his team will offer a tour of international pop-up experiences infused with local ingredients — such as recent stops in Kyoto and Tulum.
ENTERTAINMENT
“Bueller? Bueller?” // Illustration by Kate Walker
Studios cancel Comic-Con
The Future. Despite coming back last year with a successful masked-and-vaccinated event, this year’s San Diego Comic-Con looks to be an empty affair. Almost none of the studios are planning to show up and show off their coming blockbusters. Once heralded as a launching-off point for tentpoles, studios may have shifted during COVID to their own fan events to act as marquee marketing events.
Fractured fanbases
It looks like Hollywood will be a no-show at Comic-Con this year.
Although the event is set to kick off July 19th, most Hollywood studios, including Disney, Netflix, Universal, and Sony, are all sitting out.
The reason? A potential actors strike (on top of the current writers strike) would make it impossible for them to draw interest to panels and presentations. We’ll know June 30th.
Variety does report that the studios may still plan certain “activations and promotional stunts” outside of the San Diego Convention Center to market upcoming movies.
All of this spells bad news for Comic-Con International, the non-profit organization that puts on SDCC. But the organization says the show will go on despite the lack of A-list (or almost any) talent.
Guess we’ll see what those schedules look like on July 5th.
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GAMING
Interactive scroll // Illustration by Kate Walker
YouTube gets gamified
The Future. YouTube is potentially getting into gaming, allowing users to play titles right on the platform. While details are scarce, it looks as though the company doesn’t want to get left behind in Netflix’s push to make free games a major part of its subscription offering. But as TikTok and Snap pull back on their gaming ambitions, YouTube may discover that turning viewers into gamers may be an uphill battle without titles people actually want to play.
Like, subscribe, level up
YouTube wants to enter the gaming craze… again.
The company is reportedly testing an interactive gaming feature on the platform called “Playables.”
Users can play games on the YouTube app or through a desktop browser.
The only game mentioned so far is Stack Bounce, which The Verge likens to the classic Atari game, Breakout.
But be aware that Playables is likely still a long way off from releasing to the public — YouTube isn’t even acknowledging its existence.
Unsurprisingly, Google (which owns YouTube) has been here before. It poured a lot of money into its cloud-gaming platform Stadia, which barely lasted three years.
It’s possible that YouTube has the right brand and community to make Google’s gaming dreams come true finally. So, it’s not Game Over for them yet.
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Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
Elton John’s three-hour Glastonbury performance, which may be his last-ever live show, was viewed by over seven million people on BBC — one of the biggest audience turnouts of the year. Read more → deadline
Darren Aronofsky created the first interactive production for the new MSG Sphere venue in Las Vegas — a half narrative/half documentary film titled Postcard From Earth. Read more → thr
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are bringing their money and good luck to Formula 1, joining Michael B. Jordan, RedBird Capital, and Otto Capital in an investment round for the Renault-owned Alpine team. Read more → deadline
Fashion & E-Commerce
Amazon is updating its last-mile delivery service by tapping small businesses, bodegas, and IT shops as delivery partners, paying them a fee for each package. Read more → techcrunch
TikTok is signing deals with logistics firms to create a network of warehouses that can store, pack, and deliver products that are purchased on the app. Read more → theinformation
MSCHF is collaborating with Kid Cudi on a custom version of its (anything but) Super Normal 2 sneaker. Read more → hypebeast
Tech, Web3, & AI
Mark Zuckerberg is updating his image to reportedly be swole and cool enough to win over Silicon Valley, his employees, and Elon Musk stans (we, too, cannot stop laughing). Read more → wapo
Lucid is getting under Aston Martin’s hood to give the sports-car brand preferred by James Bond an electric restoration. Read more → wsj
Entertainment marketing firm M3 Creative is launching a consulting arm to help clients not sound like robots in the new AI-driven era. Read more → variety
Creator Economy
Reed Duchscher, CEO of management firm Night, released a memo to clients explaining how TikTok is tricky territory and long-form YouTube videos will likely provide more upside than Shorts in the long run. Read more → tubefilter
At VidCon, industry experts are bullish on the future of the creator economy, especially as the lines between digital creator and mainstream star blur… but the biggest success is probably staying online. Read more → nbc
Unilever is leaning into synergy by becoming the official sponsor of TikTok’s #CleanTok. Read more → tubefilter
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Editing by Nick Comney. Publishing by Darline Salazar.