The Culture Decoder

August 2016: The Mutation of Politics into Entertainment How I ended up getting an early sight of the warped version of politics that now dominates, and eventually understood how it came to be.

Back in 2016 I discovered the mutation of politics which we’re all now accustomed to - and eventually figured out how it happened.

open.substack.com/pub/thecultu...

04.08.2025 06:11 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

You're Not Being Ghosted. You're Just Addicted To 'The Ping' The dopamine hit we get when someone we like – or think we like – texts us back can unfortunately become a metric for our self-worth.

The dopamine hit we get when someone we like – or think we like – texts us back can unfortunately become a metric for our self-worth.

03.08.2025 10:06 — 👍 5    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0

CEO pay is up 1,085% since 1978, while typical worker pay is up just 24%. 

Why do we always hear "we can't afford to pay our workers more" but never "we can't afford to pay our CEO more"?

03.08.2025 00:01 — 👍 18336    🔁 6002    💬 500    📌 273

Age Verification Laws Send VPN Use Soaring—and Threaten the Open Internet A law requiring UK internet users to verify their age to access adult content has led to a huge surge in VPN downloads—and has experts worried about the future of free expression online.

As a new wave of age check regulations debuts, open internet advocates warn that the uptick in use of circumvention tools in the UK is part of an escalating cat-and-mouse game between governments and internet users seeking to remain anonymous.

02.08.2025 19:08 — 👍 235    🔁 71    💬 4    📌 10

Looking forward to diving into this one @annakornbluh.bsky.social

02.08.2025 12:22 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Thanks for sharing @rebel288.bsky.social - appreciate it.

01.08.2025 13:55 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

August 2016: The Mutation of Politics into Entertainment How I ended up getting an early sight of the warped version of politics that now dominates, and eventually understood how it came to be.

This first article explores an incident in 2016 when I first discovered how politics was warping into a new form of entertainment - and how I eventually understood why this was.

#politics #entertainment

theculturedecoder.substack.com/p/august-201...

01.08.2025 07:03 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

These two graphs resulted in a major learning for me back in August 2016 - and of a trend that has spin our world on its axis.

31.07.2025 14:34 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The Decoder Manifesto Our culture is now a tangled mess of rabid media, dopamine triggering social feeds, shitified products and ruinous ideologies.

Let’s get started…

open.substack.com/pub/thecultu...

30.07.2025 19:35 — 👍 5    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0