The Rise of the Internet’s Creative Middle Class

Plus: the couple behind TV’s boldest shows; Yoko Ono’s art of defiance; and what does it mean to come out? View in browser | Update your preferences Wednesday, June 15, 2022 Help us continue to improve The New Yorker’s Daily newsletter. Take a brief survey » In today’s newsletter: • The couple behind TV’s boldest shows • Yoko Ono’s art of defiance • What does it mean to come out? The Rise of the Internet’s Creative Middle Class Fourteen years ago, Kevin Kelly famously proposed that an artist could make a living online with a thousand true fans. Has time proved him correct? Illustration by Franco Zacharzewski In 2008, the writer Kevin Kelly’s essay “1,000 True Fans” became an Internet sensation. It made the case that the Internet was about to transform the world of creative work, and proposed a model in which, if you could recruit a thousand loyal supporters, each willing to spend a hundred dollars a year to support your work, you could make a good, middle-class salary. The seemingly utopian theory ultimately faltered, but, as Cal Newport writes, “fourteen years later, it might be making a comeback.” Newport offers several examples of individuals fulfilling Kelly’s prophecy today: a houseplant guru with a dedicated online following who offers live plant-care courses; a writer who publishes arts and science essays on her site and earns a living primarily off donations; and a duo of broadcast journalists who ditched their traditional media jobs to create an Internet show with the goal of saying “SCREW YOU to CNN, Fox News and MSNBC,” as their marketing materials put it. At the cusp of the so-called Web 3.0 revolution, are we seeing a revival in the creative middle class? What does the “dream of building a new class of digital yeomen” look like? —Jessie Li, newsletter editor Read the story If you like the New Yorker Daily, please share it with a friend. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. Editor’s Picks Profiles The Couple Behind TV’s Boldest Shows After making “The Good Wife,” Robert and Michelle King went rogue, creating wildly experimental series that capture the vertigo of post-Trump America. By Emily Nussbaum Annals of Art Yoko Ono’s Art of Defiance Before she met John Lennon, she was a significant figure in avant-garde circles and had created a masterpiece of conceptual art. Did celebrity deprive her of her due as an artist? By Louis Menand The New Yorker Documentary What Exactly Does It Mean to Come Out? The documentary “The Act of Coming Out” shows queer and trans actors performing what’s not just a moment but a “never-ending process.” Film by Alexandra Stergiou Text by Vera Carothers Culture Dept. The Sporting Scene Saudi Arabia Astroturfs the Golf Course Mohammed bin Salman has bankrolled a new rival to the P.G.A. Tour. What’s behind it? By David Owen The Front Row “A Man of Integrity,” Reviewed: A Dire Diagnosis for Iranian Society Mohammad Rasoulof finds a furious style for his bravely confrontational drama of pervasive corruption. By Richard Brody Paris Syndrome A French Politician Hits the American Campaign Trail Emmanuel Itier, a candidate for the French National Assembly seat representing expats living in America and Canada, stumped for voters at the Épicerie Boulud near Lincoln Center. By Fabrice Robinet From the Archive Fiction “Shakespeare’s Memory” “A man’s memory is not a summation; it is a chaos of vague possibilities.” The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges died thirty-six years ago yesterday. By Jorge Luis Borges Fun & Games Dept. Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Matt Jackson Daily Shouts Stories More Believable Than That the 2020 Election Was Stolen Diet starts tomorrow, you’ll fix him, and other myths. By Ginny Hogan and Dan Rosen Crossword A Lightly Challenging Puzzle “Ghost Forest” artist Maya: three letters. By Erik Agard Daily Cartoon Wednesday, June 15th By Kaamran Hafeez and Al Batt P.S. “June hardly has a chance to throw on a bikini and step onto the deck before morning shows, magazines, and Web sites descend with their ‘Beach Reads’ and ‘Summer Reading Lists’ and ‘Summer Fiction Top Tens.’ ” Katy Waldman examines the history of “summer reading,” and asks, How were beach reads invented in the first place? As with many seasonal trends, it had something to do with marketing. 📖 Today’s newsletter was written by Jessie Li. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for The Daily from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.