JD Shadel
@jdshadel.com
💌 Join the only lifestyle newsletter on the internet ;-) www.esckey.co
Chief Editorial Officer at new media outlet ESC KEY .CO — also the only employee
Work in Condé Nast Traveler (ex-Future of Travel columnist), WaPo, Them, BBC, Vice, more
They/etc
Chief Editorial Officer at new media outlet ESC KEY .CO — also the only employee
Work in Condé Nast Traveler (ex-Future of Travel columnist), WaPo, Them, BBC, Vice, more
They/etc
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JD Shadel
@jdshadel.com
· May 19
Do you believe in hope after “AI” hype? Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna make the case
In this extended briefing, “TL;DR” = “Totally Legit; Def. Read” because we review “The AI Con,” the spicy new book ready to rattle the broligarchy. Plus, the authors answer ESC KEY .CO’s questions abo...
www.esckey.co
“If they couldn’t be bothered to write this, why should we be bothered to read it?” ‼️
In their cathartic, broligarchy-rattling new book, “The AI Con,” @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social are handing out needles so you, too, can burst the hype bubble.
www.esckey.co/do-you-belie...
In their cathartic, broligarchy-rattling new book, “The AI Con,” @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social are handing out needles so you, too, can burst the hype bubble.
www.esckey.co/do-you-belie...
Reposted by JD Shadel
New on the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 newsletter: @deccamuldowney.bsky.social and I write about OpenAI's transparent attempt to shift accountability.
buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
OpenAI Tries to Shift Responsibility to Users
OpenAI is trying to shift the blame for bad legal and medical advice from its chatbot away from the company and onto users. We agree that no chatbot should be used for medical or legal advice.
buttondown.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:32 PM
New on the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 newsletter: @deccamuldowney.bsky.social and I write about OpenAI's transparent attempt to shift accountability.
buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
Reposted by JD Shadel
There's something really funny about a graphic that just reads "GREW UP PRIVILEGED"
November 12, 2025 at 11:47 PM
There's something really funny about a graphic that just reads "GREW UP PRIVILEGED"
I'm so proud of what we're building with anxiety.eco, the first worker-owned fashion publication of its kind.
And we have a speciual issue dropping to mark our soft-launch this Saturday, which I'm certain will, let's say, ✨ spark conversations ✨
Subscribe to be the first to get it! Share if u cool
And we have a speciual issue dropping to mark our soft-launch this Saturday, which I'm certain will, let's say, ✨ spark conversations ✨
Subscribe to be the first to get it! Share if u cool
anxiety.eco
anxiety.eco is the first worker-owned media outlet covering fashion through the lens of, well, reality on Earth. Go behind the seams weekly with JD Shadel and Amy Miles, editors at Good On You.
www.anxiety.eco
November 12, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I'm so proud of what we're building with anxiety.eco, the first worker-owned fashion publication of its kind.
And we have a speciual issue dropping to mark our soft-launch this Saturday, which I'm certain will, let's say, ✨ spark conversations ✨
Subscribe to be the first to get it! Share if u cool
And we have a speciual issue dropping to mark our soft-launch this Saturday, which I'm certain will, let's say, ✨ spark conversations ✨
Subscribe to be the first to get it! Share if u cool
Reposted by JD Shadel
in Paris, I had to see a same-day doctor & I found one. was gravely warned that, as a foreigner, I’d have to pay 32 euros & I laughed & laughed
a friend there said “make sure you get X kind of doctor, not Y, because the Y kind charges 74 WHOLE EUROS” & once again I bitterly, bitterly laughed 😭
a friend there said “make sure you get X kind of doctor, not Y, because the Y kind charges 74 WHOLE EUROS” & once again I bitterly, bitterly laughed 😭
My ACA current plan is going from $385/mo to $821/mo.
November 12, 2025 at 12:48 AM
in Paris, I had to see a same-day doctor & I found one. was gravely warned that, as a foreigner, I’d have to pay 32 euros & I laughed & laughed
a friend there said “make sure you get X kind of doctor, not Y, because the Y kind charges 74 WHOLE EUROS” & once again I bitterly, bitterly laughed 😭
a friend there said “make sure you get X kind of doctor, not Y, because the Y kind charges 74 WHOLE EUROS” & once again I bitterly, bitterly laughed 😭
Reposted by JD Shadel
when you wear a size 9.5 shoe but the 8.5 was on sale
November 11, 2025 at 9:54 PM
when you wear a size 9.5 shoe but the 8.5 was on sale
The three sluttiest things you can safely tell a stranger:
1. You’re so funny hahaha 🫦
2. You smell good. What fragrance are you wearing? *leans in to smell you like Sheryl Sandberg*
3. My favorite Anne Carson book is “The Beauty of the Husband.” [instantly follows you to the dark room]
1. You’re so funny hahaha 🫦
2. You smell good. What fragrance are you wearing? *leans in to smell you like Sheryl Sandberg*
3. My favorite Anne Carson book is “The Beauty of the Husband.” [instantly follows you to the dark room]
November 11, 2025 at 11:02 PM
The three sluttiest things you can safely tell a stranger:
1. You’re so funny hahaha 🫦
2. You smell good. What fragrance are you wearing? *leans in to smell you like Sheryl Sandberg*
3. My favorite Anne Carson book is “The Beauty of the Husband.” [instantly follows you to the dark room]
1. You’re so funny hahaha 🫦
2. You smell good. What fragrance are you wearing? *leans in to smell you like Sheryl Sandberg*
3. My favorite Anne Carson book is “The Beauty of the Husband.” [instantly follows you to the dark room]
I do sometimes wonder how effective The Guardian’s membership messaging is …
Because, my dude, have a little more self confidence?!
Excite me!
Give me a reason to rally around you!
Like, I’m sorry, am I supposed to feel sorry for your copywriter?
Because, my dude, have a little more self confidence?!
Excite me!
Give me a reason to rally around you!
Like, I’m sorry, am I supposed to feel sorry for your copywriter?
November 11, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I do sometimes wonder how effective The Guardian’s membership messaging is …
Because, my dude, have a little more self confidence?!
Excite me!
Give me a reason to rally around you!
Like, I’m sorry, am I supposed to feel sorry for your copywriter?
Because, my dude, have a little more self confidence?!
Excite me!
Give me a reason to rally around you!
Like, I’m sorry, am I supposed to feel sorry for your copywriter?
Reposted by JD Shadel
There’s a flood of (well meaning!) influencers doing splashy shopping trips for pantries and I recall what an abortion provider said: orgs need money, but donors give only what they want to, not necessarily what’s needed. Hence the offers for a couch to crash on post-abortion and not $ for a hotel.
spoke with the executive director of my local food bank today and got this really incredible line: "if you donate 1 can of green beans, we can give away 1 can of green beans. but if you donate a dollar, we can give away 6 cans of green beans"
November 11, 2025 at 9:40 PM
There’s a flood of (well meaning!) influencers doing splashy shopping trips for pantries and I recall what an abortion provider said: orgs need money, but donors give only what they want to, not necessarily what’s needed. Hence the offers for a couch to crash on post-abortion and not $ for a hotel.
is being a non-binary bisexual insufferable and ... confusing??? DO I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE INSUFFERABLE AND CONFUSING??? ummmm, darling, shut up and flirt with me omfg
November 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
is being a non-binary bisexual insufferable and ... confusing??? DO I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE INSUFFERABLE AND CONFUSING??? ummmm, darling, shut up and flirt with me omfg
Reposted by JD Shadel
Those white residents of South Africa that Trump is trying to paint as victims?
Have this to say: "Singling us out as victims of multiracialism alienates us from our fellow South Africans and harms relationships that have been fostered over the past 30 years."
Have this to say: "Singling us out as victims of multiracialism alienates us from our fellow South Africans and harms relationships that have been fostered over the past 30 years."
Prominent Afrikaners refuse to be 'pawns,' and hit back at Trump's claims about South Africa
Prominent Afrikaners are pushing back after President Trump announced no U.S. officials will attend the G20 in Johannesburg, rejecting his claims of "white persecution" in South Africa as false.
www.npr.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Those white residents of South Africa that Trump is trying to paint as victims?
Have this to say: "Singling us out as victims of multiracialism alienates us from our fellow South Africans and harms relationships that have been fostered over the past 30 years."
Have this to say: "Singling us out as victims of multiracialism alienates us from our fellow South Africans and harms relationships that have been fostered over the past 30 years."
Reposted by JD Shadel
New from 404 Media: people are 3D-printing whistles to warn each other about the presence of ICE. Some people make designs and upload them; others are given a design and are printing hundreds and hundreds of whistles at home. It's been effective in Chicago
www.404media.co/the-latest-d...
www.404media.co/the-latest-d...
The Latest Defense Against ICE: 3D-Printed Whistles
Chicagoans are making, sharing, and printing designs for whistles that can warn people when ICE is in the area. The goal is to “prevent as many people from being kidnapped as possible.”
www.404media.co
November 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
New from 404 Media: people are 3D-printing whistles to warn each other about the presence of ICE. Some people make designs and upload them; others are given a design and are printing hundreds and hundreds of whistles at home. It's been effective in Chicago
www.404media.co/the-latest-d...
www.404media.co/the-latest-d...
i enjoyed a delicious serving of exposure for lunch, and paid my landlord with record page views
should freelance writers get paid more than minimum wage?
it's a wild question, i know, but a lot of people seem to think it's OK that freelancer's rates have FALLEN every year
and when indie pubs try to pay even average rates, y'all complain about paywalls, which tells me your answer is "no!"
it's a wild question, i know, but a lot of people seem to think it's OK that freelancer's rates have FALLEN every year
and when indie pubs try to pay even average rates, y'all complain about paywalls, which tells me your answer is "no!"
November 11, 2025 at 6:30 PM
i enjoyed a delicious serving of exposure for lunch, and paid my landlord with record page views
should freelance writers get paid more than minimum wage?
it's a wild question, i know, but a lot of people seem to think it's OK that freelancer's rates have FALLEN every year
and when indie pubs try to pay even average rates, y'all complain about paywalls, which tells me your answer is "no!"
it's a wild question, i know, but a lot of people seem to think it's OK that freelancer's rates have FALLEN every year
and when indie pubs try to pay even average rates, y'all complain about paywalls, which tells me your answer is "no!"
November 11, 2025 at 6:26 PM
should freelance writers get paid more than minimum wage?
it's a wild question, i know, but a lot of people seem to think it's OK that freelancer's rates have FALLEN every year
and when indie pubs try to pay even average rates, y'all complain about paywalls, which tells me your answer is "no!"
it's a wild question, i know, but a lot of people seem to think it's OK that freelancer's rates have FALLEN every year
and when indie pubs try to pay even average rates, y'all complain about paywalls, which tells me your answer is "no!"
We all win when journalists seize the means of production: Fashion media needs a reckoning next ...
This week on ESC KEY .CO, I wrote about corporate, venture-backed, billionaire-owned media censoring the voices we need right now (and yes ofc, some ✨personal news ✨)
www.esckey.co/seize-the-me...
This week on ESC KEY .CO, I wrote about corporate, venture-backed, billionaire-owned media censoring the voices we need right now (and yes ofc, some ✨personal news ✨)
www.esckey.co/seize-the-me...
We all win when journalists seize the means of production: Fashion media needs a reckoning next
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. This time the thing is the pattern of corporate, venture-backed and billionaire-owned media censoring the v...
www.esckey.co
November 11, 2025 at 5:40 PM
We all win when journalists seize the means of production: Fashion media needs a reckoning next ...
This week on ESC KEY .CO, I wrote about corporate, venture-backed, billionaire-owned media censoring the voices we need right now (and yes ofc, some ✨personal news ✨)
www.esckey.co/seize-the-me...
This week on ESC KEY .CO, I wrote about corporate, venture-backed, billionaire-owned media censoring the voices we need right now (and yes ofc, some ✨personal news ✨)
www.esckey.co/seize-the-me...
Reposted by JD Shadel
Phone sock! Phone sock! Phone sock! Phone sock!
Introducing iPhone Pocket: a beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone
ISSEY MIYAKE and Apple today unveiled iPhone Pocket, designed to fit any iPhone as well as all pocketable items.
www.apple.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Phone sock! Phone sock! Phone sock! Phone sock!
Reposted by JD Shadel
Here's our interview with the creators of Save Our Signs, a project to archive signs and placards from national parks as the Trump administration attempts to rewrite history by having many removed.
YouTube here, subscribe for an interview like this every week: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCE...
YouTube here, subscribe for an interview like this every week: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCE...
Volunteers Archived 10,000 Signs from National Parks (with Jenny McBurney and Lynda Kellam)
YouTube video by 404 Media
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Here's our interview with the creators of Save Our Signs, a project to archive signs and placards from national parks as the Trump administration attempts to rewrite history by having many removed.
YouTube here, subscribe for an interview like this every week: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCE...
YouTube here, subscribe for an interview like this every week: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCE...
the English need to stop being so rude to Welsh hookers
November 9, 2025 at 6:49 PM
the English need to stop being so rude to Welsh hookers
“sry we only take credit cards now”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...
A Two-Headed Coin That Always Comes Up ‘Trump’
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:03 PM
“sry we only take credit cards now”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...
Reposted by JD Shadel
it’s bad enough we have to do this every time the chuds on wall street lose one too many times at the casino - now we *also* need give handouts to the degenerates building plagiarism machines that tell people to kill themselves?
“OpenAI is getting ready to run hat in hand to the taxpayer for subsidies.” After losing more than $13 billion this year, OpenAI officials are angling for a bailout. From @ryanlcooper.com:
trib.al/CUazMCQ
trib.al/CUazMCQ
OpenAI Is Maneuvering for a Government Bailout - The American Prospect
For artificial intelligence to ever pencil out, some truly enormous revenue streams will be required. And if you need trillions of dollars for data centers forever, there’s only one entity to turn to: Uncle Sam.
trib.al
November 9, 2025 at 12:49 AM
it’s bad enough we have to do this every time the chuds on wall street lose one too many times at the casino - now we *also* need give handouts to the degenerates building plagiarism machines that tell people to kill themselves?
I remember playing this game as a young vegetarian thinking it was absolutely evil
November 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
I remember playing this game as a young vegetarian thinking it was absolutely evil
this is what happens when incel-y dudes decide what technology we develop and it’s so cringe omfg
Elon Musk is over on Twitter posting his sad/pathetic Ai prompts.
November 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
this is what happens when incel-y dudes decide what technology we develop and it’s so cringe omfg
Reposted by JD Shadel
Reposted by JD Shadel
Charity shops are in crisis, but are resale platforms to blame? It's complicated | Amy Miles for anxiety.eco
www.anxiety.eco/p/charity-sh...
www.anxiety.eco/p/charity-sh...
Charity shops are in crisis, but are resale platforms to blame? It's complicated
With so many clothes on Earth, how are hundreds of UK charity shops going out of business? We look at what's really happening from overproduction of cheap clothes to waste colonialism.
www.anxiety.eco
November 7, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Charity shops are in crisis, but are resale platforms to blame? It's complicated | Amy Miles for anxiety.eco
www.anxiety.eco/p/charity-sh...
www.anxiety.eco/p/charity-sh...
Reposted by JD Shadel
An awesome thing about being a journalist, and not a politician or advocate, is you can say true things even when they’re unpopular. For example, climate change is real, perpetrated by specific actors, harms many people, and should be resolved as fast and thoroughly as possible.
November 6, 2025 at 3:15 AM
An awesome thing about being a journalist, and not a politician or advocate, is you can say true things even when they’re unpopular. For example, climate change is real, perpetrated by specific actors, harms many people, and should be resolved as fast and thoroughly as possible.
I’m pleased to announce the award for Bop of 2025.
*opens envelope ceremoniously*
🦜🐦⬛
*opens envelope ceremoniously*
🦜🐦⬛
November 6, 2025 at 10:30 PM
I’m pleased to announce the award for Bop of 2025.
*opens envelope ceremoniously*
🦜🐦⬛
*opens envelope ceremoniously*
🦜🐦⬛