contributing writer @wearemel, @ringer, & @splicetoday. seen in @theatlantic, @parisreview, &c. repped by @inkwellmgmt. co-host of @whatisleftpod 
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i don't use the word "grifter," a term with zero meaning aside from when influencers who are deeply worried about their own operations call you one to deflect suspicion that they themselves are. they're not grifters, though: they do the work. that is its own kind of economy.
i mean, the characters in jim thompson's the grifters are grifters -- they're running illegitimate scams and hustles and roping in legitimate folks. but when your whole business is just brand hustling, that's not a grift, distasteful though it might be. retire the term.
these folks call each other "grifters" because they're battling over the marketplace. it's like running down a competing company's automobiles as "lemons" or accusing them of using "frozen" instead of fresh ground beef, etc. it's part of the advertising.
believe me, if wendy's could cancel mcdonald's, it most certainly would. it's all marketing and advertising we witness being deployed -- negative advertising, in many cases -- within the attention economy. arguing about who is or isn't "authentic" is brand stuff, too.
don't get confused by this stuff. i ignore wendy's advertising even in a united steaks of umm where every brand has a clever twitter mouthpiece, and i ignore this stuff too. it might be "doing the work" but it's not the work i do.
It has been the cliche of the past four years, to the point that it bubbles even into the mainstream. The worst part is that it makes Gabriel Byrne sound a little less cool in Miller’s Crossing when he’s cursing grifters
that's right. john turturro in there, that's a grifter
Best description of grifter I've heard yet is: "someone who can change their brand within a single thread."
Here for it. The work
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