John McDermott

Writer | Bylines: @NYTimes, @GuardianUS, @RollingStone, @Esquire, @GQmagazine | Alumnus: @AdAge, @Digiday, @WeAreMEL

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

The curse of being a formally trained print journalist is knowing the difference between an em dash (—), an en dash (–) and a hyphen (-) and having to see normies misuse all three, all of the time.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@H1TWOM4N They were when we were still a proper country and served slop in the schools.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@chadmumm Nothing like driving out to an industrial park 40 miles outside the city to hang with the fellas.

[Charlie J. Johnson @Charliemagne]

Buffalo Wild Wings ass list

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

Perfect grammar boyfriend, always uses lowercase gf.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@ZaxxonGalaxian The network effect of millennial hipster foodie-ism

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

One great millennial trend: improving food.

The quality of food — from cooking at home, to fast food, to sit-down dining — has drastically improved in my lifetime because of millennial foodie culture.

[LT Jonathan Kendrick @PlisskenPatriot]

Inherently millennial phenomena:

• axe-throwing
• cards against humanity
• self-deprecating jokes
• drinking IPAs
• breweries instead of bars
• “we are young forever” slop music
• those burger joints (we all know)
• curse words on menus
• saying “adulting”

What else?

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@philipwalford Best TV finale ever

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

He lost his wife and kids, his job (briefly) and the respect of his colleagues. He had no real friends, hated himself, was a debilitating alcoholic and had a nervous breakdown on the cliffs of coastal California.

But yeah, I guess he never suffered for his sins.

[Criminal Penguin @Crime_Penguin]

I loved the Mad Men finale when I saw it in 2015. I remember asking this grizzled boomer what he thought of it, and he said he was angry that Don wasn’t ‘arrested and executed for desertion’. And I scoffed at that at the time (haha, silly old guy) but he was kind of right. Don never facing any real consequences for years of dysfunctional and self-destructive behavior is the central flaw of the show. It’s still objectively good TV, but you have to see through that.

But I think a lot of poorly socialized Gen Z males (a lot of Gen Z was primarily socialized through media and that’s part of why some of them are so detached from reality) really internalized that message, the message that dysfunctional behavior was in fact glamorous like Don and you can get away with it indefinitely. But you really can’t.

And the popular media archetype of highly competent professional with highly dysfunctional personal life doesn’t really exist in real life. There are edge cases, sure. But a lot of young people assume it’s true (even common) because they see it on TV so often. Most highly competent people are really pretty boring.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@wischlist @FoulTerritoryTV @ajpierzynski12 @ErikKratz31 Let's not kid ourselves that college athletes are getting educations in the NIL era

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

What kinda brainless NPC do you have to be to wait in these long lines for a novelty pop-up store. Truly cannot comprehend.

[dan barker @danbarker]

There is a Heinz Mayo vending machine in Soho at the moment, and roughly 100 people lined up waiting to use it.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@dsonoiki You don't have to dress up around me

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@cryptosmiff SF’s mayor made a concerted effort to clean the streets. No such initiative in DTLA yet.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

The DTLA death spiral is not exaggerated.

Corporate vacancy is 40%. Storefront closures ~30%. Real estate values so low that it’s cheaper for businesses to buy buildings than lease a few floors of office space. The streets are littered with vagrancy and literal shit.

[M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray]

Look, I get that Los Angeles hate is in vogue right now, and the city needs an overhaul, but get a grip. Downtown Los Angeles is less "vibrant" than downtown Columbus? I mean, no offense to Columbus, but come on man.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@RIP7217 I love Chicago.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

People who move to New York and Los Angeles from the Midwest are actually truer New Yorkers and Angelenos than the natives.

We moved there for the dream, you were just born there.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@cryptosmiff Yeah, maybe. That was DTLA's reputation in the early 2010s, though — neighborhood in the early stages of revitalization, great for those willing to try an up-and-coming area. Pandemic ruined all that momentum, though.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@ElectionBabe Keep telling yourself that.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@Alt_Azn Idk what you're talking about.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@gbaroth Not really

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@vibeocracy I studied journalism, not theater.

[John McDermott @mcdermott]

@ClaimsG4293 Actually, it does.