Every Friday
Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend
Happy Friday crew. T-minus 50 days until Relay is back together in NYC for the Great Saunter (32 miles is starting to sound like a lot).
This week, the NYC squadron met at Grace’s for a beautiful pint (possibly top three ever) of Guinness. We followed it up with a quick hop to the Corner Bistro for what we’ve deemed the “meatball burger” (one of the thickest patties we’ve ever witnessed, hand-to-God). The Nashville contingent has been busy building shareholder value, with the occasional Ember's refuel thrown in for good measure.
The sun is shining, the weekend is here, and not even the looming specter of nuclear obliteration can get us down. Press play on Crazy P and let's get into it.
Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.
— John F. Kennedy
It's a mystery. A man's at odds to know his mind cause his mind is aught he has to know it with.
— Cormac McCarthy
Top of Mind
Tinder Is Trying To Get You Off Tinder
This week Tinder held its first ever product keynote — they called it “Tinder Sparks” — and the headline feature was... in-person events. Coffee shop raves, trivia nights, pickleball. The world’s most famous swiping app is now trying to get you off your phone and into a room with strangers.
Here’s what makes it interesting beyond the obvious joke: they’re not doing this because they want to. Gen Z has quietly been rejecting dating apps at a rate that’s starting to show up in Match Group’s earnings. The first word that comes to mind when people think of dating apps is “wasteland.” Over 75% of Gen Z report burnout from swiping. So the CEO, Spencer Rascoff, is doing what any good operator does when the core product starts feeling broken — he’s calling it a feature. The app that gamified romance is now admitting that the game kind of sucked.
Talking about used clothing with Luke Fracher—founder of Luke’s, a secondhand store with locations in New York City and Los Angeles—is a little like talking to Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems about rare diamonds.
GQ has finally released something interesting that isn’t an affiliate-filled slop listicle of the best chinos for the urban commuter. Their new column, Men of Taste, is a simple concept: one person per issue with a specific obsession and the knowledge to back it up. No affiliate links dressed up as editorial. Just someone who knows a lot about something, telling you what’s good.
It sounds obvious when you say it out loud, which is maybe why it took this long. Men’s culture outlets have spent the better part of a decade optimizing for search traffic and seasonal roundups, to the point where most of it is interchangeable. GQ is late — there are plenty of Substackers doing some version of this, and doing it better — but based on the response to the first installment, late really is better than never.
ICYMI: Happy Hour Edition
Now that we’re through the first quarter and settled in, here’s the top 10 culture and trend predictions for 2026 (s/o hyperfueling).
We live inside a giant dopamine-driven casino.
The birthing of the opioid epidemic in America. This will not be a peaceful, feel good read to soothe you as you tuck in for the night (miss you Mr. Sanderson). It is eye opening, tragic, and you should definitely read it.
Best of Substack this Week
This Week in Relay’s Shopping Cart
We’re in $$$aving mode. Check back next week.
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.
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hate from mexico
Can yall include the hitachi magic wand (plug in version) in your next post