PSA: Re-invite me to WhatsApp group chats
TL;DR: If we were ever in a group chat on WhatsApp, please re-invite me to the chat.
Yes, I know. There’s this email, Whatsup Wednesday, and then there’s the app, WhatsApp. It’s confusing.
But if you grew up in the 90’s or earlier, you’ll remember that “Whatsup?” used to be commonplace dialogue, with welcomed variations, “wassup,” “whatup,” “sup,” and the one made infamous by that beer brand: “Whazzuuuupppp.”
Which beer brand was that again?
Anyway, this bit is about WhatsApp, that chat app owned by Meta. I must have found every bug in the book on this app. Migrating from Android to iPhone? Forget about it. Backup chats all you want, you’ll have to store them to Google Drive. Want to restore from backup, onto the iPhone? Forget about it; iPhone doesn’t play nice with Drive. It’s honestly pathetic.
This time, WhatsApp bugged out, logged me out, erased all my chat history back to September 15, and … this one’s great. It removed me from every single group chat of which I have ever been a member. Even the chats I created and was admin for. All of them. Since I started using WhatsApp probably a decade ago. That a technology can be so flimsy and unpredictable makes my brain hurt. I want to buy land far away in the countryside and live with my most complex technology being a light switch and a coffee bean grinder. I think that’s where true happiness lies in wait.
Please re-invite me to any WhatsApp group chats we were in. Thank you.
Blundering blimp crash in Brazil
Brazil finds its way once again into Whatsup Wednesday, this time with a blimp crash in São Paulo. The derelict dirigible, advertising the São Paulo FC, collided with multiple homes in the suburban Osasco neighborhood of São Paulo. Hopefully this zeppelin descending from its zenith isn’t a bad omen for the football club.
A podcast I enjoyed
In this enlightening interview, Vejas Liulevicius and Lex Fridman dive deep into the rise of Marxist communism and the chilling role of propaganda throughout history. The World Wars and the events, developments and rivalries thereafter were fueled not just by weapons but by ideas whose sole purpose was to turn ordinary people into fanatics. This episode reveals how propaganda can spin an entire nation’s mindset, making brutality seem justified and even heroic.
Liulevicius, an historian and professor specializing in modern German history, warns that these strategies aren’t dead—they echo in modern politics, with leaders twisting truth to manipulate the masses. We’ve seen the damage they can do, and yet, we still see them at play today, disguised as righteousness. And we still turn on the News. It’s a long listen, so I recommend breaking it up and listening while you’re driving, working out, shopping, etc.
Bonus: They’re Eating the Cats (Donald Trump Remix)
Say all you want about Trump but the man gives us outlandish content to work with. Enjoy Eating the Cats by The Kiffness.
Like this email?