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Former Tooth and Nail A&R Releases Christian Living Novel

Jason Tate

Chad Johnson, former Tooth and Nail A&R who helped discover Underoath, mewithoutYou, As Cities Burn, and many more, released his new book today. It’s titled One Thousand Risks and can be purchased on Amazon. The description reads:

One Thousand Risks is proof that Jesus can set you up to discover adventure in abundance. With an all-out-fight against comfort, fear, and living half-heartedly present, One Thousand Risks will help you know how to experience a super-powered life of spiritual significance. Your problem is fear–mostly the fear of man, fear of failure, and fear of rejection. In response to a dare, I began deliberately and consistently fighting fear–one tiny risk at a time, right where I was–which translated into this awkward, awesome life with Jesus.

Nate Ruess Working on Broadway Musical

Nate Ruess
Jason Tate

According to a profile in Architectural Digest, Nate Ruess is currently writing a Broadway musical:

Ruess, who is currently writing a Broadway musical, frames the success of the project in terms of the apartment’s mood rather than the individual elements that create it. “The loft is civilized and comfortable. It’s not about a flashy moment or a photo op. It’s about real life—our life,” he says. Ronson adds, “Nothing feels overly modern or heavily traditional. The look is simply classic.”

Also, the basis of the article, his family’s home, is a pretty incredible sight.

What to Do With Brand New on End of the Year Lists

Brand New
Jason Tate

Matt Melis, writing at Consequence of Sound:

There’s a glaring, Brand New-size hole in our year-end coverage. Many of you have noticed it. Indeed, anyone who has followed our take on the musical narrative of 2017 can tell a significant plot point has been torn out. Over the past several months, we’ve delved into the Long Island rock band’s legacy, celebrated their return on the suddenly dropped Science Fiction, and praised the band for their commitment to going out on their own terms. Hell, until allegations of sexual misconduct were brought by multiple women against frontman Jesse Lacey in early November, Brand New were set to place high on both our year-end albums and songs lists and even appeared on our shortlist for Band of the Year. None of which, given our coverage of the band, should surprise you, and all of which, despite allegations against Lacey, might disappoint, if not outright anger, some of you.

I thought this article, and the conversation within, does a good job of distilling where I’m at right now as well. The band won’t be on my end of the year list and a statement about why will be. The main reason is that I want two things at this point: To not use my platform and voice to promote this kind of behavior (the accusations themselves and the subsequent silence while women were harassed), and to make sure that this history is part of the band’s legacy as well. It can’t just be swept away and forgotten.

This passage in particular left me with a lot to think about as well:

Geffen believes it’s a personal choice to stop listening to a band’s music, but she doubts the legitimacy and value of separating music from its creators. “I don’t think artists and music are necessarily separate; it’s on a continuum. A huge part of the music economy in this country comes from live shows. It’s the physical presence of these artists,” explains Geffen. “If they can’t be given a stage or platform without abusing that power, they shouldn’t get to play. It seems pretty simple to me. Playing shows is part of the art, part of the story of the artist, so I don’t see what’s useful about drawing a line.”

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Instagram Launches Private Stories Archive

Instagram
Jason Tate

Instagram will now allow you to automatically save your “Stories” in an archive that only you can see. Casey Newton, explains at The Verge:

Instagram is rolling out a private archive of the ephemeral stories you have posted in the app. Starting today, Instagram will begin to add your expired stories to the archive feature, which until now has been used only to house photos and videos you no longer want to display on your public profile. The stories archive, which you will be able to opt out of, is being introduced globally on Android and iOS.

I like this so I don’t have keep my old stories on my phone, which I was doing because they do tell a nice little, um, story about whatever I was doing that day. Usually involving beer and the cats. Nice update.

Bribes for Blogs: The Modern-Day Payola

Money
Jason Tate

Jon Christian, writing for The Outline:

People involved with the payoffs are extremely reluctant to discuss them, but four contributing writers to prominent publications including Mashable, Inc, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur told me they have personally accepted payments in exchange for weaving promotional references to brands into their work on those sites.

And:

An unpaid contributor to the Huffington Post, also speaking on condition of anonymity because, in his words, “I would be pretty fucked if my name got out there,” said that he has included sponsored references to brands in his articles for years, in articles on the Huffington Post and other sites, on behalf of six separate agencies. Some agencies pay him directly, he said, in amounts that can be as small as $50 or $175, but others pay him through an employee’s personal PayPal account in order to obfuscate the source of the funds.

Amazon Prime Video Comes to Apple TV

Apple TV
Jason Tate

Amazon Prime Video is now available on the Apple TV. MacStories writes:

The timing of Prime Video’s release coincides with Apple’s release of tvOS 11.2 earlier this week, which adds a new Sports tab to the TV app. This enables tracking and watching games from various sports, and is a perfect complement to Prime Video’s release due to Amazon being the rights holder for Thursday Night Football games. Starting tomorrow night, users will be able to watch NFL games using the TV app and Prime Video.

I’ll take this moment to plug The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which is fantastic.

Time’s Person of the Year are “The Silence Breakers”

Time
Jason Tate

Time:

Like the “problem that has no name,” the disquieting malaise of frustration and repression among postwar wives and homemakers identified by Betty Friedan more than 50 years ago, this moment is borne of a very real and potent sense of unrest. Yet it doesn’t have a leader, or a single, unifying tenet. The hashtag #MeToo (swiftly adapted into #BalanceTonPorc, #YoTambien, #Ana_kaman and many others), which to date has provided an umbrella of solidarity for millions of people to come forward with their stories, is part of the picture, but not all of it.

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Lost Einsteins: The Innovations We’re Missing

The New York Times
Jason Tate

David Leonhardt, writing for The New York Times:

The project’s latest paper, out Sunday, looks at who becomes an inventor — and who doesn’t. The results are disturbing. They have left me stewing over how many breakthrough innovations we have missed because of extreme inequality. The findings also make me even more frustrated by new tax legislation that will worsen inequality. This Congress is solving economic problems that don’t exist and aggravating those that do.

The key phrase in the research paper is “lost Einsteins.” It’s a reference to people who could “have had highly impactful innovations” if they had been able to pursue the opportunities they deserved, the authors write. Nobody knows precisely who the lost Einsteins are, of course, but there is little doubt that they exist.

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