That Car Guy

I never read car reviews unless I’m shopping for one, with one exception: If it’s written by the WSJ’s Dan Neil. He’s fantastic. The Pete Wells of petrol. His latest is a playful homage / send up of the 2020 Mercedes-AMG G 63. You know, the G-Wagen. Here’s one great line: “The G 63 is a flaming beacon of vice, a rolling, trolling lighthouse of petrosexuality.” Here’s another: “Soon after, the G-Wagen became an action-film cliché, typecast globally as embodying nihilism and up-armored criminality.” Terrific stuff. A really great critic celebrates something as he defenestrates it, analyses the thing as he mocks the critical task itself. Want the wagon? It starts at $156,450.

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The Trouble with Newsletters

I was thinking about starting a newsletter focusing on the vices beat—from the adult industry to gambling trends to the luxury firearms market, all of which I’ve covered on my Forbes blog and elsewhere—but then I checked out the “Legal Policies” for the newsletter platform I’d be most likely to use: Mailchimp. Their “Acceptable Use Policy” prohibits, among other things, “Pornography/sexually explicit content”; they’re freaked out by “Escort services, mail-order bride/spouse finders, international marriage brokers, and other similar sites and services,” “Hookup, swinger, or sexual encounter sites or services,” and “Gambling services or products”; and they scrutinize content that mentions “Adult entertainment/novelty items.”

Anyone have any suggestions for another newsletter platform?

Email me: susannahbreslin at gmail dot com.

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