Ben Branch

Automotive writer at Silodrome and (formerly) at a number of print magazines.

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

Going to start a geometry gang if anyone wants to join. We’re going to call ourselves the Hell’s Angles.

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

This was a fun story to do! Brad Pitt's R80 custom by Roughchild Customs - up on Silodrome today

Link: https://t.co/ks0GBVt1OC

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

A little personal news, it looks like I’m going to have to stop putting PhD after my name as I have been informed it does not stand for Pizza Hut Driver.

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

You can always tell how annoying someone is by the way they pronounce “croissant.”

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

Liking someone’s message then not replying is a polite way of saying the conversation is over and I wish I could also do it in real life

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

Bit of a major life update today, finally got my own reserved parking space.

Not going to lie, it feels pretty good. Remember to keep hustling, keep grinding, and one day you’ll know what it’s like 💪🏻

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

Bought these two books at the airport. Perfect preparation for all those awkward Christmas conversations.

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

I nearly accidentally posted this to the Silodrome account. That would have resulted in some questions 😆

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

Someone: “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

Me:

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

I just had to do 27 minutes of painfully awkward small talk. I ask for your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

I just tried cursive writing for the first time in years and it looks like the cardiogram of someone who isn’t going to make it.

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

One of the interesting things about the Fetterman dress scandal is that the suit itself was once the gym shorts and hoodie of its day.

This part got cut from my Politico op-ed (for good reason; it was getting long and tangential). But when Keir Hardie—a Scottish union leader and co-founder of what would later become the Labour Party—was first elected to Parliament in 1892, he wore a tweed suit, a red necktie, and a deerstalking cap to his first day of work.

Today, we think of the suit as a formal garment, the very glass of respectability. But as I've mentioned here before, this was not always so. In the late 19th century, men in high positions—such as those in banking and law—wore the more formal frock coat. Working-class clerks and administrators wore the fustian lounge suit.

When Hardie was elected, the proper Parliamentary uniform was a black frock coat, a starched wing collar, and a black silk top hat. Hardie, who was elected to represent the people of West Ham South—a working-class seat in Essex, now Greater London—rejected this uniform because he felt it was the symbol of capital. Instead, he opted to dress like his constituents.

Polite society was scandalized. The press was so offended that he wore a deerstalking cap—a flat cap style associated with members of the working class, rather than the silk top hat worn by MPs—one paper wrote: "A cloth cap in Parliament!"

I'm not convinced Fetterman is dressing to signal anything (if he was, he would be more vocal about it). As I mentioned in my op-ed, I think he should not only wear a suit in the Senate chamber but even when walking through Congressional halls. Not doing so creates a distraction from more meaningful matters. But being "respectful" of our political system is much more than dressing up. It's about how you serve honorably. You can signal this through your clothes, but someone not wearing those clothes does not necessarily mean they are not fulfilling the more important duties. We should focus more attention on actions, not clothes.

But it's an interesting historical point that the suit was, at one point, causing a very similar controversy.

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

@BlairTrainer Hey Blair thanks for your message, we don’t own the rights to the images they will belong to the auction house who should be linked towards the bottom of the article. Good luck 👍🏻

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

I’m still hoping I grow up to be Tom Magnum

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

This is the single best subscription I have. Check it out if you haven’t already.

[The Intercooler @theintercoolerx]

Have you checked out The Intercooler yet?

We’ve already published more than a thousand stories and million words - available on the Ti website or our smartphone app.

Start your 30-day free trial for the very best in automotive writing and photography: https://t.co/qTHIMhrwz6

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

@ThePollitt @HagertyUK This is great to see!

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

Got caught in the rain while running, but it wasn’t all bad.

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

Just set up my new Threads account, add me if you’re on there and I’ll add you back.

[Sam J Cohn, MD @samjcohn]

I CANNOT TELL YOU LOUDLY ENOUGH, DO NOT LET A CHIROPRACTOR NEAR YOUR GODDAMN NECK.

This message brought to you by a neurologist who manages Cervical Artery Dissection and their resulting STROKE.

[Ben Branch @benbranch]

@MattYocum Hi Matt good to hear from you, can you send me your email address in a DM? I’ll dig into this after the weekend and send sources over. I wrote that article a while ago so I’ll need to reread it to refresh my memory.