The next oil shock isn't showing up at the pump first, it's propagating through transportation, chemicals, and downstream inputs, which is what actually moves the needle for industrial companies. Meanwhile physical retail keeps getting weirder in the good way: brands are treating the American mall as media, customer acquisition, and distribution infrastructure instead of just a place to stack inventory.

On the softer side of the ledger: Matt McCusker ran the AI utopia-versus-dystopia debate through an increasingly deranged robot story and landed where every honest person lands — nobody knows how this goes. Fried Egg interviewed Si Woo Kim over Call of Duty, which might be the best interview format in golf right now. Plus Eugene Healey on why brands should make remixable raw material instead of jumping on every meme, BowTiedGolfer on letting kids into the clubhouse, and Chris Williamson's crew talking marriage, prenups, and how relationships quietly deteriorate.

The downstream economy may be where the next oil shock shows up — ISM's supply-chain digest focuses on rising oil costs propagating into transportation, chemicals and other downstream inputs rather than stopping at the barrel price. That transmission mechanism matters more to most industrial companies than the headline commodity chart itself. (ISM)

One of my favorite comedians in the best and best podcaster to do it, Matt McCusker runs the AI-utopia-versus-dystopia debate through an increasingly deranged robot-future story before arriving at the extremely reasonable conclusion that nobody actually knows how this goes. (SubStack)

The story of one of the best golfers in the world is largely untold. So Joseph LaMagna of Fried Egg played Call of Duty with him to find out more. Fried Egg interviewed the four-time PGA Tour winner while playing Call of Duty, alongside its Presidents Cup coverage. This has to be one one of the best interview formats in the game. I have long thought about this as podcasts become generalized zoom calls or desk sitting sessions. (Fried Egg)

Eugene Healey argues brands should stop merely producing meme content and instead build recognizable raw materials audiences can remix themselves. Straight facts, everytime a new meme goes viral or something happen in culture. Every brands social media “intern” jumps on it and creates a version that aligns with their brand. The people are sick of this. (Eugene Healey)

BowTiedGolfer makes the case that integrating children into private clubs is how etiquette and club traditions survive generational turnover, rather than something the old guard should fight. (BowTiedGolfer)

A loose conversation on marriage, divorce, attraction, prenups, sex, porn, and how relationships quietly deteriorate. I am becoming a big fan of these podcasts that Chris is doing with 3 of his buddies. Matt McCusker is become a frequent guest for these podcasts which makes them even better, as the lad can riff about anything. (Modern Wisdom)

Physical retail is increasingly being treated as media, customer acquisition and distribution infrastructure rather than merely a place to stack inventory. I personally hate malls, they creep me out. But I do love the in person buying experience and often will choose a product I can buy in person over something I have to order. Depending on the item, not really if its a piece of clothing. (People, Brands & Things)

Parsons was awarded a 75-month, $85 million agreement to act as Owner’s Advisor on the new 950,000-square-foot U.S. Space Command headquarters at Redstone Arsenal. The campus is designed for up to 1,800 personnel and adds another piece to Parsons’ increasingly interesting overlap between defense infrastructure and program management. (Parsons)

Eaton agreed to acquire Italy’s COL Group, which makes medium-voltage switchgear, grid automation systems and modular power equipment, for €810 million. COL expects roughly €250 million of 2027 sales, and the deal adds manufacturing capacity directly into Eaton’s two hottest bottlenecks: utilities and data centers. (Eaton)

Allison reported Q2 net sales of $1.566 billion, up 92% year over year with the acquired Off-Highway business included, while the legacy Allison Transmission unit itself posted a record $860 million quarter. More interestingly, the company is stacking defense wins behind the acquisition, including programs tied to the CV90, France’s PL6T tactical truck fleet and roughly 3,000 GDELS EAGLE vehicles, giving the “second Allison” story some actual hardware behind it. (Allison

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