Every Friday
We hope Santa found you <3
Merry Christmas, dear readers.
It’s been a jam-packed year. The Relay gang had group trips all over the place, long days in New York and Nashville — and a whole host of things sprinkled in between — all while bringing you our weekly nod to the group chat happenings. It’s been a joy of ours throughout the year and we look forward to seeing you back here in 2026.
Cheers to the final edition of Every Friday 2025.
"Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you people cheer for.”
— Rick Sanchez
“I see a future where states compete with one another to see which can be the most efficient, and where businesses seek out efficient states in which to locate so they can reap the economic and environmental benefits for their businesses and employees.” — Bernie Sanders
Top of Mind
A (Christmas) Birthday Dinner at Locust
I (Jack) had a recent birthday before heading home for the holidays. My girlfriend meticulously planned to get a reservation on the day at the newly Michelin starred Locust in Nashville (warning: it can be tough).
Without even attempting to express the caliber of the food on the menu (it’s incredible), Locust is one of the warmest, most welcoming restaurants I have ever dined in. They focus on “seafood, dumplings, and shaved ice”. You must not forego the shaved ice. I know it might not sound like your go to dessert choice, but trust me.
I highly, highly recommend planning to visit for a meal if you are ever in Nashville. 10/10.
The Internet Is Killing Our Memory
It’s not only that we’d both been in particularly bad places with our respective internet addictions, it’s that those addictions appeared to have erased everything surrounding them. Our individual lives had been supplanted with a shared internet memory of memes and articles and videos that, yes, provided us with a basis for conversation, but also seemingly took away from us everything else that mattered — namely, our own lives.
I have a New Year’s resolution to kill the thoughtless online-coded verbal tics that take over when I’m in conversation with someone (“totally, absolutely, 100%”). I cringe just thinking about how mindlessly internet-isms fall out of my mouth instead of thoughtfully engaging with the conversation I’m in. I know — we all know — it really is the damn phones (and the internet).
This piece is a bit more fatalistic than I actually feel about our moment, but the first half nails something I’ve been circling for a while. We’ve lost something when most of our conversations are just internet regurgitation or “did you see x or y?” — always in reference to an article or a post. If you hear me say “slay” or “100%” in January, this is your permission smack me upside the head.
ICYMI: Happy Hour Edition
Tons and tons of Warren Buffet content, organized in a “internet history” kind of way. Whether you’re into Buffet or not, it is just a cool site. Wish we had more resources like these online.
As I explain here, the status symbol isn’t merely having kids, it’s raising kids with all the expensive inputs that indirectly priced most people out of parenting. Each family member needs a smartphone. Kids should have their own bedrooms. They need to travel. Sports teams. Music and ballet lessons. SAT prep. A family vacation means flying somewhere. Preferably internationally. College tuition. And so on.
AI is doing the grunt work so we can finally master human work. This speed of change is pushing us toward what truly matters: self mastery. We can’t control the external, but we can strengthen our internal operating systems by using tools that scale emotional intelligence, foster faith, and bridge the isolation AI risks creating.
…good maintenance is often nothing like the chore of brushing teeth and washing dishes, but an intellectually demanding task requiring knowledge, intelligence and curiosity. To repair a complex object requires patient problem solving and the diligent discovery of hidden trouble. It is an act of mastery.
Best of Substack This Week
This Week in Santa’s Sleigh for Relay
Master Shin’s Anvil - #62 Kitchen Knife, Medium, (Jack)
This is going to level up my weekly stir fries by at least a factor of two. Beware, bell peppers and onions.
Toro Wood Floor Lamp/Gibson Arc Floor Lamp, (James)
The townhouse has been secured and now my bank account has to keep up with the targeted furniture ads Meta has been flooding me with.
It’s Not That Deep, Randy
Thanks for reading—or for mega scrolling all the way down here.
The internet is an overwhelming mess of headlines, ads, and mid takes from the worst people you know. Big Tech owns our attention spans. Everything is content. Nothing makes sense.
We’re not here to “fix discourse” or “build a better internet.” Relay is just our attempt to riff on what we’re already talking about at happy hour without feeling like we’ve been hit by a content truck. Some analysis, some memes, call it a day.
You might like it. Tag along.
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