It’s beginning to look a lot like the end of civilization
Digital twinning, Mangione mania, a Hawk Tuah crypto scam, and the death of sex online
Bon week-end, cyborgs! Before we jump into the chaos, I wanted to tell you about a photo show I’ve been working on for the past year. Toxic Masculinity: The Old Reliable World of David Hurles features original photographs and personal effects from the estate of the late great rough trade photographer and my close friend.
The show, co-curated by myself, Dian Hanson, and Beth Schindler, opens at Mass Gallery in Austin, TX on January 18th, 2025. I hope you can check it out.
Now on to the shit show!
Two weeks ago, a Gen Z Robin Hood swooped on to our screens wielding a ghost gun and an impish grin. The internet went wild.
Luigi Mangione, the handsome 26-year-old engineer accused of slaying United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson, has since become the subject of banned merch, bad tattoos, erotic fanfic, an SNL skit, dick pic rumors, a look-like contest, at least two documentaries, gay speculation about a Ryan Murphy series, and my personal favorite addition to the canon, a deepfake TikTok of the accused murderer, dressed as his namesake Nintendo character, animatedly lip-syncing to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. Serious discourse on the horrors of the American healthcare system have devolved into whatever this is.
According to a note written by Mangione, the murder, for which he now faces terrorism charges, was meant as a “symbolic takedown” of the American healthcare system – an anti-capitalist aggression. Now he is a hot commodity – a salacious, drool-worthy, fountain of clicks and views, a bankable meme. The Mangione-themed blingees and bodice rippers, are a reminder that no matter how serious, or righteous the message, how violent or horrific the event, the meme machine will strip it of its gravity, wrap it in sparkling hearts and dick jokes, and spew it all over your timeline with dizzying speed.
Mangione mania has provided a brief, unifying, and unhinged view into the American psyche. It has simultaneously revealed dark truths about the healthcare industry and shone a light on America’s depraved obsession with hot murderers. I know that there are bigger issues to think about, more important angles to consider, but for the moment, I’m choosing to bask in the glow of an internet gone mad.
Who needs a yule log when we have Luigi?
Also in this week’s dump:
A Hawk Tuah crypto scam
Bots in your OF DMs
The luxury of human interaction
The death of sex online
And the digital twin that could one day save your life
Where has all the Mangione merch gone?
It turns out DMCA takedown requests, some filed by “United Health Care,” are threatening to kill your homicide-worship holiday cheer. While some platforms (Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, GoFundMe) have proactively pulled Mangione-themed content, others are being issued legal warnings.
Copyright Abuse Is Getting Luigi Mangione Merch Removed From the Internet – 404 Media
From throat-game fame to crypto con?
Looks like Hailey Welch, aka Hawk Tuah, has landed herself in hot water. The overnight sensation, made popular by a viral man-on-the-street IG reel in which she drunkenly offers oral sex advice to a stranger, has recently been accused of a crypto pump-and-dump scheme that apparently left some of her biggest fans broke.
‘Hawk Tuah’ Creator Haliey Welch Criticized For Memecoin Launch After Price Crashes – Forbes
The secret sex bots of OnlyFans influencers
The Cut’s latest investigation into the mating rituals of American heterosexuals, “Is OnlyFans cheating?”, puts a yawn-inducing twist on a tired debate about the boundaries of monogamy in an increasingly digital world. Considering Wired’s recent report that models on the platform are quietly employing “AI impersonators“ to handle their DMs, a more timely question might be: “Are chatbots cheating?”
– Is OnlyFans Cheating? – The Cut
– OnlyFans Models Are Using AI Impersonators to Keep Up With Their DMs – Wired
The luxury of human interaction
The New York Times oped asks, “How do you even measure success when it comes to providing spiritual comfort?” As productivity culture and AI tools make their way into care-related practices, teachers, doctors, and spiritual leaders worry that analytics may be getting in the way of emotional connection, and, inturn, contributing to the erosion of trust in American institutions.
— Human Interaction Is Now a Luxury Good – NYT
Tube sites killed the porn industry now they’re facing their own reckoning. It used to feel like Pornhub ruled the world, now it's a shell of its former self. The site now faces existential threats from heavy-handed age verification laws, user-generated media platforms like OnlyFans, and the Trump-adjacent Project 2025, which aims to criminalize pornography in all forms. Can a podcast about content moderation and a renewed focus on transparency save everyone’s favorite free wank bank? And what does the potential death of porn mean for the future of free speech?
— The Sticky Dilemmas of Pornhub’s Next Chapter — Wired
— Sex workers are warning us about Project 2025 – we all need to listen — Dazed
Your digital twin will see you now
The digital clones are coming … to your doctor’s office? Detailed digital replicas of hearts that pump and beat just like the real things have recently entered clinical trials, and that’s just the beginning. Researchers envision a not-so-distant future when doctors have access to full-body, real-time digital twins that will help them monitor patients, test new procedures, and gauge individual risks and potential outcomes. These clones could disrupt the healthcare industry, but who will own them? How will this very personal data be protected? And will our twins poop when we do? So. Many. Questions.
Digital twins of human organs are here. They’re set to transform medical treatment. — MIT Technology Review