Overview of How Long Gone 962 — Chris & Jason
This episode is a fast, sprawling culture catch-up from Chris Black and Jason Stewart, moving from restaurant discourse and the decline of dive bars to Meta’s new glasses launch, fashion-week noise, internet-famous personalities, and the weird way media coverage now rewards spectacle over substance. The hosts are sharp, funny, and mostly skeptical, repeatedly circling the same theme: the line between journalism, promotion, and entertainment has gotten so blurred that everyone is now “platforming” something.
Restaurants, Dive Bars, and the “Who Cares?” Economy
Restaurant drama as entertainment
- The hosts discuss why restaurant closures, violations, and scandals generate so much attention.
- They use Kiki’s and Dudley Market (Venice) as examples of how food media can overinflate business drama.
- Their broader point: restaurants are inherently unstable, so the constant cycle of “opening/closing/uproar” feels less like hard news and more like lifestyle gossip.
Dive bars are disappearing
- A big chunk of the conversation is a lament for dive bars and the old cheap-drinking ecosystem.
- They argue:
- cashless culture hurts bars that used to rely on cash,
- younger people don’t value the same “third space” hangout energy,
- and many places that survive are now polished, expensive, and overly curated.
- They contrast old-school bar life with today’s app-driven, soft-edged cocktail lounge culture.
Meta Glasses, Zuck, and the Ethics of “Platforming”
Chris’s Meta event experience
- Chris describes attending the Meta glasses launch party in Chelsea, where Mark Zuckerberg, Eva Chen, Law Roach, and others were in the room.
- He says the event felt like a glossy party more than a product demo, with Kylie Jenner as the visible star but Zuckerberg as the real center of gravity.
The backlash to a selfie with Zuckerberg
- Chris talks about posting a selfie with Zuck and being surprised by how strongly some people reacted.
- The hosts debate whether it’s hypocritical to criticize Zuckerberg while still using Meta products daily.
- Their take:
- A fun, conversational interview is not the same thing as a hard-hitting investigative one.
- “Journalist” and “platform” are being used too loosely.
- People want impossible things from media figures: either total praise or total confrontation.
Main idea
- They argue there’s a huge middle ground between soft promotion and aggressive takedown.
- Their job, as they see it, is to have interesting conversations—not necessarily to do courtroom-style interrogations.
Whoa Vicky, Clive Davis, and the Internet’s New Celebrity Hierarchy
Whoa Vicky’s strange media moment
- They discuss the coverage around Whoa Vicky, including her poetry reading and the fact that major publications gave it outsized attention.
- They see it as a perfect example of how internet fame now overrides traditional celebrity.
- Their point: someone who has lived online for years can feel more “real” or more compelling than a movie star.
Clive Davis
- Toward the end, they mention Clive Davis’s death, calling him a legendary but problematic figure.
- Chris recalls seeing Clive at a Beverly Hills restaurant and being genuinely starstruck.
Fashion, Music, and the Week’s Random Cultural Signals
Summer fashion talk
- The hosts riff on:
- sundresses vs. jorts
- whether “tits are back”
- and the general state of hot-weather dressing.
- They joke that women’s fashion trends may be shifting back toward a more balanced silhouette.
Pharrell, Vans, and Vuitton
- They react positively to Pharrell’s red Vans moment at Louis Vuitton.
- Their take:
- it’s basically an homage,
- the shoe silhouettes are familiar,
- and the runway set was more exciting than the clothes themselves.
Tyler / music at fashion shows
- They note that Tyler, the Creator premiered new songs during the Louis Vuitton show.
- That moment leads them to say hip-hop feels culturally dormant right now because even new music at a huge fashion event barely registers in the broader conversation.
Other quick hits
- Young Miami’s “Spin That” gets a shout as a possible “song of the summer.”
- Johnny Marr’s guitar auction sparks a joke about Chris finally maybe buying a guitar.
- They also mention Brandon Flowers / The Killers, Phoebe Bridgers, and other new music coming out.
Taylor Swift Rumor and the 4th of July Chaos
Wedding speculation
- They joke about the rumor that Taylor Swift is getting married in New York on the 4th of July.
- Chris calls that idea corny and says he has to believe it’s not true until proven otherwise.
- They use it as another example of the internet turning minor celebrity news into citywide “disruption” content.
Sponsorships Mentioned
This episode includes ad reads for:
- Stateside with Kai and Carter from The Guardian
- Poshmark
- BetterHelp
- Superpower
- Revolve
- Google Chrome / Gemini
Main Takeaways
- The hosts are most interested in the cultural gray areas: not pure journalism, not pure PR, just conversation.
- Restaurant scandals, internet celebrities, and fashion-week moments all get treated as symptoms of the same thing: attention economy overload.
- Their core critique is that modern media rewards spectacle, but they’re still trying to make sense of it with humor instead of outrage.