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Oliver Buchannon
Lisa Schmeiser

Reporter, writer, editor, podcaster, community volunteer. All opinions here are my own.

Babies: Famously private about their diaper status

Jul 27, 2026

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3 min read

Babies: Famously private about their diaper status

Or, I tell you all about the time someone tried to sell me a product that would have locked me into doing all diaper changes forever.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
The Nordstrom Sale is a metaphor for America 2026

Jul 19, 2026

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3 min read

The Nordstrom Sale is a metaphor for America 2026

Overhyped, predictable, definitely suffering from "it used to be better" and definitely in need of a turnaround ...

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Citizenship: Both a right and a habit

Jul 3, 2026

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4 min read

Citizenship: Both a right and a habit

Richard Haass's 'The Bill of Obligations' provides a handy to-do list for being the kind of person you'd want to share a country with.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
I follow the TV feastday calendar

Jun 26, 2026

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3 min read

I follow the TV feastday calendar

Hear me out: We can find reasons to celebrate something nearly every month

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Bad Taste Is Better Than Algorithmic Taste

Jun 20, 2026

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4 min read

Bad Taste Is Better Than Algorithmic Taste

You are not a number! You are a human being! One who might hate prairie dresses!

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
You can't spell "profitable stasis" without IP

Jun 12, 2026

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3 min read

You can't spell "profitable stasis" without IP

A nostalgia-drowned culture allows nothing new to flourish — and maybe that's the point if you want to keep a sweet profit margin.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Maybe We'll See the Seven Dwarves' Testimony of AI

Jun 5, 2026

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3 min read

Maybe We'll See the Seven Dwarves' Testimony of AI

The good news for any CEOs who testify before Congress that their product is not addictive is that there are typically no consequences!

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
We're all ugly bags of mostly water

May 29, 2026

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3 min read

We're all ugly bags of mostly water

Now let's skip the ugly early part of AI and get to the luxury space communism already!

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Cash for class: Not new, not disruptive

May 22, 2026

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4 min read

Cash for class: Not new, not disruptive

Shein's plan to buy Everlane does not herald the death of conscious commerce or millennial idealism. Let Gen X explain why.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Welcome to Notes from the Economy Class

May 15, 2026

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3 min read

Welcome to Notes from the Economy Class

Please fasten your seatbelt for turbulence. Fortunately, we have snacks and in-flight reading materials.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Your AI Will Dress You Funny

Aug 7, 2025

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5 min read

Your AI Will Dress You Funny

In an age where human labor seems to be ever more deprecated, it's becoming ever more apparent that the real in-demand product is human taste.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
The Target Boycott Is About All Sorts of Inclusion

May 28, 2025

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4 min read

The Target Boycott Is About All Sorts of Inclusion

The American people aren't really that worked up over retailers backtracking on diversity, equity and inclusion as corporate values. They're mad that the retailer no longer wants them.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
You Are Not Free to Move About the Country

Mar 13, 2025

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4 min read

You Are Not Free to Move About the Country

It's a small thing, but Southwest Airlines' announcement to start charging for luggage really points to bigger issues in the U.S.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Who Decides Who the Deciders Are?

Feb 28, 2025

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4 min read

Who Decides Who the Deciders Are?

There's a difference between gatekeeping and censorship, though at least a few newspaper owners really don't understand the distinction.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
All You Own Are Your Own Words

Dec 3, 2024

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5 min read

All You Own Are Your Own Words

A recent bout of bad-faith discourse around leaving Twitter for Bluesky points to a bigger cultural disconnect around why and how we connect with others

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
When the Zone Is Flooded, Move Ground

Nov 18, 2024

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4 min read

When the Zone Is Flooded, Move Ground

Look, "flood the zone with shit" is a strategy, but staying on the floodplain is a choice

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
As Go the Beach Readers, So Goes the Country

Aug 19, 2024

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4 min read

As Go the Beach Readers, So Goes the Country

When summer beach reads normalize formerly hot-button topics, it's a sign of some social shift among an uncool but influential group.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
A Crackpot Theory on Halloween Merch

Aug 2, 2024

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3 min read

A Crackpot Theory on Halloween Merch

I don't think it's a coincidence that we've embraced autumn while the world burns

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Gift Guides Are Terrible And Useless

Nov 17, 2023

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4 min read

Gift Guides Are Terrible And Useless

We just can't have nice things -- even when someone tries to round up nice things

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
27 Links You Might Not Have Already Read

Nov 10, 2023

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4 min read

27 Links You Might Not Have Already Read

It's like "27 Dresses," if by "dresses," you mean, "interesting articles to read."

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
The Dead Influencers Club

Nov 7, 2023

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3 min read

The Dead Influencers Club

Cleaving to icons of a previous age is an act of pessimism

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
I'm going to pretend I sent this out last Friday

Oct 30, 2023

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2 min read

I'm going to pretend I sent this out last Friday

... and you're going to pretend you're paying attention on a Zoom call instead of reading this newsletter

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Let Your Birkenstocks Lead the Way

Oct 20, 2023

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3 min read

Let Your Birkenstocks Lead the Way

Hippie shoes provide a model for the future in this week's collection of reads around reckoning with the past and thinking ahead.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
Drawing Connections Slowly, Then All At Once

Oct 13, 2023

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3 min read

Drawing Connections Slowly, Then All At Once

The Modern Web is optimized by and for algorithms, not people. I want to bring back old-school randomness once a week.

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
On Social Media & the Allure of Outsourcing One's Thinking

Jul 11, 2023

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4 min read

On Social Media & the Allure of Outsourcing One's Thinking

Which social media site will tell me what to think now? I mean, I guess I could go full Instagram but I like vaccines ...

Lisa Schmeiser
Lisa Schmeiser
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Notes from the Economy Class

Plenty of content around technology, culture and commerce, zero legroom.

© 2026 Notes from the Economy Class.
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