EPISODE 1019: ONLY IN NEW YORK

And also partially Florida, or Los Angeles, if you’re going to get technical.

POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW

Hi and welcome back to Pop Culture Spirit Wow, the newsletter putting the Ay Yi Yi in AI. Things are hopping! Let’s get into it.

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THE WOWND UP VOTES

This week starts the voting for the New York City mayoral primaries, which most years is also effectively the New York City election. There are only slightly fewer candidates than there are muppets in this picture. And in a few cases a muppet would be way better. #Gonzo2025 #ChickenLove #HappyPride

For the last 4 years, the city has used what it calls “ranked choice voting” Instead of picking just one candidate, you get to choose up to 5. When it comes to tallying votes, all #1 votes are counted first. If someone gets 50%, they win. If no one does, the person with the least number of votes is dropped, and their votes are “given” to the #2 choices on those ballots, and so on and so on until someone gets 50%.

The Atlantic ran a headline four days ago that “New York is Not a Democracy” because it uses this system, suggesting that some people in effect get to vote multiple times. But in fact ranked choice voting—which is used by a number of democracies around the world, including Australia—is all about preserving people’s votes. Where the standard American method means if you vote for one of the least likely candidates, you’ve effectively wasted it—a system that generally privileges the most popular candidates (who let’s be honest are almost always going to be the richest and/or backed by their party), this system actively encourages you to vote as you see fit, knowing that you’re not going to be punished for doing so.

And each ballot is actually counted only once in the end. Each round of tallying is in effect a whole new vote, just with one fewer candidate.

In an election like this one where there are 9 Democratic candidates for mayor, there’s a high likelihood no one is going to get 50% out of the gate, which would mean either calling for an expensive runoff or allowing the winner to receive less than 50% of the vote, and we see how well that’s gone at the national level…

This election is a big one for the city, not only because like everyone else we’re trying to ensure the city can protect itself against the craziness of the federal government, but because the current mayor Eric Adams has been an absolute disaster on every front. The disparity between rich and poor has gotten worse, housing is less and less affordable, the trains are filled with people who are not well and people who are jumping the turnstiles to get in…oh, and he’s been accused by law officials of having been filling his pockets from pretty much from day one, and basically agreed to sell off the undocumented in the city to get the federal government to intervene on his behalf. Adams isn’t even running as a Democrat, he’s reviled that much.

The guy proposing himself as our white knight, unfortunately, is former governor Andrew Cuomo, who left the governorship after 13 women accused him of sexual harassment (claims which the Department of Justice have verified). People believe he has the prominence and experience to take on Trump. But he’s also pretty clearly a bad dude.

The two other main candidates are Zohran Mamdani, a young state assemblyman with a lot of enthusiasm and big ideas, and Brad Lander, who as city comptroller has a lot of experience in managing city issues.

Last summer Lander, who was just endorsed by the New York Times odd new It’s not Us Endorsing, It’s This Council of People We Chose approach to endorsements, rode Coney Island’s historic rollercoaster the Cyclone as part of his campaign. He did it in a suit, which is itself pretty goofy. But for some insane reason, the hook of the video is that he eats an entire Nathan’s hot dog while the coaster is going.

Meanwhile Mamdani did a rap video for his Nani (aka grandma) shortly before running for state assemblyman under the pseudonym “Mr. Cardamom.” It is hilarious and the rapping, is unexpectedly good.

The two are so committed to seeing Cuomo not get into office, they just released a funny video co-endorsing each other.

If their voters follow their instructions, it could very well block Cuomo from winning the day if he doesn’t get 50% out of the gate. Fingers crossed.

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IT’S TIME TO STOP THE MUSIC

Disney recently closed Muppet*Vision 3D at Hollywood Studios in Florida. The project which opened in 1991, was Jim Henson’s last project before his death.

If you never had the pleasure of going to Muppet*Vision 3D (which was also at Disneyland for a time), it featured not only onscreen 3D craziness from the Muppets but “4D”, aka in-theater, effects like smoke and shaking seats, but an insane Miss Piggy Statue of Liberty—meets—beauty pageant winner outside; a net full of jello in the waiting area—read it all together; animatronic puppets of Stadler and Waldorf sitting in the theater with you; and Sweetums, the giant hairy muppet, who shows up in real life halfway through the show, causing some people to truly gasp at how realistic the 3D was.

People have filmed the full show, and it’s actually still such a delight.

The closing of the amusement has generated some fun farewells, including this gem from actor Andrew Barth Feldman.

By the way, if you’re wondering why there’s an asterisk in Muppet*Vision, it seems that it was the Henson Company’s playful nod to the crazy ways advertisers tries to make tech things seem cool or advanced. If it had been created ten year later, it would have been called iMuppetVision3D.

If it were created today, it might have been Muppet*Vision 3D NOW WITH AI, and AI would turn out to be a child-like character who just wanders around repeating what everyone else says, and/or lying and causing wanton destruction.

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MOMENT OF WOW

This Schoolhouse Rock video feels very The Moment.

Word, Schoolhouse Rock. Word.

Have a great week, everybody!