Strands of Genius: Noah Brier’s BrXnd.ai, Tony Messenger, Library of America

Guest curated by Martin Bihl, Creative Director: 7419 & Editor: The-Agency-Review.com

Jul 11, 2024

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, MARTIN BIHL ::

LOCATION: St. Louis, Missouri

I was born on an island off the coast of America. My writing has appeared in the US and abroad at McSweeney’s, New York Magazine, Advertising Age and elsewhere. My father and grandfather were both in advertising, a subject I’ve taught at the under-grad and graduate level at several different universities.

Speaking of advertising, I run a site called the-agency-review.com where I review books relevant to it which, because I believe advertising is where commerce and culture collide, is basically any book.

In 2024, I posted the entire first season of a podcast called “You’re On Mute” – 15 episodes about regret and legacy and love and other things, but don’t worry, they’re short, so if you hate one, it’ll be over soon and you can move on to hating another one before you know it. To pay my bills I write advertising. Or creative direct it. Or concept it. Or make strategies for it (you can see some examples of all four here). I am right-handed. I drink whiskey. I have a dog.

And if I may, I would like to thank Faris and Rosie for forcing me to look through all of the hundreds of tabs and windows I have open on my laptop to see what the hell is going on there and to for god’s sake close a few. Good lord, I’ve become that person I used to make fun of. Again.

Editor’s Note (Faris): I have read an extraordinary amount of Martin’s work, thinking and of course his endless, excellent book reviews. You will hear, immediately from his writing, how smart and nice he is. Thanks so much for a wonderful inspiring edition, Martin!

:: THE LINKS ::

NOAH BRIER’S BRXND.AI

Noah, the genius behind companies like Percolate and sites like Brandtags, is smarter than I am, nicer than I am and more successful than I am. I’d hate him if he weren’t such a great guy. The new thing he’s working on (well, one of them) is making sense of AI, and his BrXnd.ai site (and the semi-regular newsletter that goes along with it) is required reading in that area. To be clear, I usually don’t understand what he writes until much later (about anything but in this case, about AI) but that’s probably because, like I said, he’s smarter than I am. (Percolate/Brandtags/Brxnd)

TONY MESSENGER

My buddy Tony is Metro Columnist for the St Louis Post-Dispatch and he consistently dives into the lives of people who are going through things that you just can’t imagine. It’s incredible and I don’t know how he does it. Not just finding the stories, not just making sense of them, but doing both without utterly losing his faith in humanity. Me, I have no faith in humanity, so I regularly check in to his page there to see what fresh hell he’s helping straighten out.

Now, the challenge for you, dear reader, is that because of the state of American newspaper journalism, all of Tony’s stories exist behind a paywall. And while it’s fine for me to subsidize his great work – especially if it helps restore my faith in humanity – I can’t quite ask that of you even if you’re on a similar quest. So try this instead - it’s a link to Tony’s page on the Pulitzer Prize site because, yeah, Tony won a Pulitzer. For what? For his reporting on debtors prisons in the US. Yeah, you read that sentence right; there are debtors prisons in America in the 21^st century. Just like in Oliver Twist but, you know, worse because this is America in the 21^st century. On that site they have links to the articles he won the Pulitzer for and if you want you can click on them and then decide whether or not you want to pony up the cash to read his stuff (it’s a buck for three months of access. A buck. I kid you not). Or you could buy the book he wrote based on the articles, which is also great (see that here). (STL Today & Pulitzer)

LIBRARY OF AMERICA

So… the Library of America was a project started in 1982 to publish authoritative and definitive edition of America’s literature. Since their launch they’ve created nearly 400 volumes – from Melville to Hurston to Chopin to Breslin to Hijuelos and on and on – with more coming out every year. And as ridiculous as it may sound, this site is sort of my comfort food. When I’m writing (which is always), when I’m despairing of making sense of things (also always), or of making anyone listen to the little sense I am making of things (see above), I read the interviews, listen to the events, dig through descriptions of works by authors I don’t know or obscure works by authors I do – and I find the energy to go another ten rounds.

Now 400 volumes covering four centuries of literature may seem a bit overwhelming (“may”? Hahahaha….), so a great place to start is here – Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin talking about Ann Petry. And it’s great not only because Dr. Griffin is great (she is), but because her illumination of the challenges Petry – a writer I have no real knowledge of – endured, is exactly the kind of thing I turn to in moments of writing despair (which is… okay, you get it). (Library of America)

Looking for more from Martin? Coming Friday, look for an interview from him in your inbox!

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Soccer, or Football if you prefer. Board games haven’t done anything for me since I was ten and I am of a generation or more past the appeal of Playstation and its ilk. But I spend a stupid amount of time watching and arguing about the English Premier League and it’s redheaded bastard stepchild MLS (fun fact: for about five years I covered New York City’s MLS team NYCFC).

:: City :: St. Louis. Look, I lived in Chicago when the tanks rolled down Clark Street and I lived in New York when the Feds told the city to drop dead. So I’m used to being in places that not every one gets. Eventually they do, usually when the city finally figures out who it is. And sometimes they don’t.

:: Book :: Right now I’m reading Henry James’ Italian Hours which I confess I’m struggling with. Maybe I haven’t spent enough time there or maybe he’s not on his game or maybe I’m just not in the right frame of mind for it. Whatever. James is always instructive even when I find him tedious, which is more than I can say for most people.

:: Podcast :: I used to listen to a ridiculous number of podcasts when my commute was 120 miles each way, but then lost interest and found myself driving in silence (and enjoying it, actually). Working on my own podcast has rekindled the flame a little (Maron, Total Soccer, Smartless, Disgraceland), but not consistently – probably because I can’t write and listen to words at the same time.

:: Song :: Sugarloaf at Twilight by the Monty Alexander 7 – Monty is a brilliant Jamaican jazz pianist and for this album (Jamento - all of which is tremendous), he expanded his normal trio to include the legendary Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin, bassist Andy Simpkins, drummers Duffy Jackson and Roger Bethelmy, percussionist Larry McDonald and steel drummer Vince Charles for a sound that is at turns rocking, nuanced, elegant and vibrant. Sugarloaf at Twilight is a sort of ballad at the middle of the album that makes me want to hop a jet every time I hear it – which is about once a week.

:: QUOTE OF THE DAY::

“The question is, having been born what now?” – John Updike.

And to be clear, I’m not an Updike guy. But this line just kills me. Every morning when I wake up and every night when I go to sleep.

When Faris told me I had to write a sign off, I thought, what a curiously 19^th century thing to do (which should make it right up my street). And then it took me longer to write what you’re now reading than it did to write everything that came before it (my apologies, Chelsea). Because as bad as I am at hellos, I’m even worse at goodbyes (fun fact: What’s more severe than the Irish goodbye? The Swedish goodbye. We don’t even show up in the first place.)

So let’s not say goodbye, let’s say “I’m going to connect with you on Linkedin”. Yeah I know – it’s a cesspool of self-promotion, and what was once a serious business tool is now little more than mindless superficiality and irrelevance. But hey, I’m in advertising – that’s all pretty much table stakes for me. I still find it a valuable repository of essays and insights from people all around the world, a place I can go to consistently for things that help me make sense of what I’m seeing in the business world. And, conversely, a place where I can post the things I’m figuring out and get comments that are more useful than “you’re fat” and “but what about her emails!”. Generally. So connect with me there, here.

Oh and lastly (see, not good at goodbyes) I really appreciate Faris and Rosie giving a simple copywriter like myself this platform that is usually reserved for real live strategists and other rocket scientists. I hope I didn’t bring the average down too much.

Best,

- Martin
LinkedIn

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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

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