{D} touchy-feely cults
Vol. 6, Issue 186 // pics + links // maybe try clicking the pics too
Hey there from the high valley of Mexico City.
Second call last call for friends in Seoul and Tokyo!
I’m heading to Korea and Japan to do fieldwork on the intersection of digital tech and play — so, yes, video games, but also everything around them: arcades, character worlds, kids’ play spaces, fandom, screen sports, and how families navigate all of it.
👨🏽💻 I’ll be in Seoul (Aug 2–12) and Tokyo (Aug 12–22) researching how digital culture and play fit together.
💡 Do you live in Seoul or Tokyo, or know someone who does? I’d love short, casual conversations — 30–45 min, in person or over video, off the record unless you’d prefer otherwise. Nothing we talk about will be public.
I’m hoping to talk with people across the whole world of digital play, not just gamers:
players, streamers, and superfans of a game, character, or franchise
game and platform makers — devs, designers, studio and indie folks
people who run or hang out in play spaces — PC방, arcades, 인형뽑기 corners, screen golf, ゲーセン, character cafés, 키즈카페 (really hope those characters don’t mean something weird!)
parents thinking about their kids and screens, and teachers who bring play into the classroom
academics, journalists, or anyone with a real point of view on how their country relates to digital play
❓ My questions are open and curious: What does “digital play” mean to you? How has your country’s relationship to it changed over the years? Where do tradition and gaming pull against each other? That kind of thing.
If a friend, colleague, or family member comes to mind, please introduce us — it super duper helps. 🙏
stay with the trouble,
-s.
p.s. I’m thinking of hosting a Breakfast Club in Seoul and Tokyo, too. If you’d be down for that, definitely drop me a line and we’ll get a crew together!
Last week’s most-clicked links:
Creative Brief Cheat Sheet: Templates, Examples, How To’s [Ad Aged]
The Man Who’s Spent a Lifetime Making One, Giant Map [YouTube / People Make Games]
The competitive advantage of being likeable [Julia Willemyns]
p.s. One of my first bosses in tech journalism, Om Malik, passed away this week. He was a kind and generous man, and he opened up a whole world for me. Fair winds and following seas, Om.
Strategy + creativity
Current vibe: Your desire to optimize everything is a suboptimal response to anxiety.
This Is Why Every Video On Here Looks The Same
“This is not how creativity works. Artists are usually fascinated by a whole range of different interests, but on YouTube we’re being forced to pick one and commit.” // Incredible and brief video on how the youtube algo stifles creative choice. // [Adam Westbrook]How Creative Workers are Impacted by AI
“There’s a line you don’t want to cross where suddenly you’re the tool, you’re no longer the artist. You’re the artist, don’t be the tool.” [YouTube / Strategic National Arts Alumni Project]Claude’s Design Aesthetic Is Taking Over the Internet
“The preferences and tendencies and aesthetics are deeply baked into its machinery.” [The New Yorker]The Cult of Optimization
“The problem here is obvious to anyone not immersed in the culture of Silicon Valley. Not every worthwhile objective can be measured.” [The Ideas Letter]“Where you find that monster she beautiful.” [TikTok // hellobellbros]
Work + career
Current vibe: shuddup about Cannes
Warm Collar Labor: The economy is getting touchy-feely
“Bridesmaids for hire, death doulas, breakup doulas, life coaches, community managers, rent-a-mourners, findom, dating coaches, spiritual coaches, retreats for every life threshold, estrangement therapy, witches who’ll cast a spell for you...” [Concept Bureau]
Decks + other artifacts
Current vibe: all the decks look like AI these days
Uncovered : Tinder for books. Read an endless stream of free book samples. Reveal and save the ones you like. [Uncovered]
Odessia: buzzy new AI/chatbot travel concierge.
The Complete Kubrick: A 30-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray box set collecting all 13 of Stanley Kubrick’s features and three shorts, restored in 4K, with 25+ hours of bonus content, deluxe packaging drawn from Kubrick’s own archive, and a release date of October 20, 2026. [The Criterion Collection]
MyRetroTVs: Tune in to the lost decades with these nostalgic TV simulators. [MyRetroTVs]
LLMinality
Current vibe: fck Qontour
Street Fighter subreddit has a better AI policy than universities
“The level of effort is so low that we consider it spam.” [Bluesky]Legibility of Effort
“Until recently, “someone cared enough to write this” was an ok heuristic.” [eieio.games]The Wholesale Plagiarism of Obscure Sorrows
“The feeling of seeing something you love ingested and repurposed by a machine designed to replace the person who made it seems like a uniquely modern sorrow. Maybe there should be a word for it.” [Waxy.org]
Culture + handwringing I guess
Current vibe: sigh just sigh
Why Are People Using AI to Text Their Friends?
“We are inescapably in relation with other beings and the world and are continuously adjusting to them.” [Morning FYI]Friendship Startups for Loneliness Have a Business Model Problem [Bloomberg]
The Cult of the Enhanced Self
“Health is becoming the new status marker and, perhaps, the ultimate status signal.” // A certain love song of J. Alfred Prufrock comes to mind: “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”. // [Derek Thompson]
Reading
The Birth of Korean Cool // Incredible intro to how and why Korea became a global cultural export power. Originally published in 2014 way ahead of the Korean wave (hallyu), now includes a few more recent chapters. Super breezy read, recommended even if you’re not doing fieldwork there lol.
This issue’s sources:
Adam Westbrook, Bloomberg, Bluesky, Concept Bureau, Derek Thompson, eieio.games, Morning FYI, MyRetroTVs, The Criterion Collection, The Ideas Letter, The New Yorker, Uncovered, Waxy.org, Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, and probably a smattering of insta and tiktok you’re welcome.
Delightful is a 100% organic, free-range, desktop-to-inbox newsletter with links and things, usually. 1x weekly posts (free), occasional tools and research posts (paid). Your host is Steve Bryant, friendly neighborhood insights and content strategist. Let’s work together or go on a hike or something. steve@thisisdelightful.com
{ 🔒 archive }
Creativity, illustration, language, stuff like that
What did you learn about yourself today?
Notes on picking up drawing 30 years later26 things I’ve learned while learning a language
Notes from someone who’s working at itHow to write
Notes on moving and watching and paying attentionCuriosity and Research 101
Notes on how to find out about thingsA map of what you meant to say
Notes on the 3D space of languageThe A.I. isn’t a moron. She’s your wife.
Notes on making ads with AI
Brand strategy, content strategy, etc
Observational and Culture Study Cheat Sheet
A template and tools for researching people and communitiesMy content strategy toolkit
14 tools for organizing, measuring, and creating contentMy concept diagram template
A Figjam for diagramming the complex relationships between conceptsProduct Content Strategy 101
For anybody who’s creating a product that requires editorial contentThe Bento Box Method for developing topical content
A cute and useful way to structure your content topics
Thanks for reading. Be seeing you.
“Don’t fight them. Don’t waste your time struggling with them and trying to make sense to them. They’ll never understand. You say yes, and you never do it.”