26 Comments
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lizzieohreally's avatar

What an absolute home run of a post. Covid created the weirdest Venn diagrams in the world. As a (former) lung cancer-haver (not from smoking), I must admit that smoking does look cool and the odd cigarette is fun. I can, however, confirm that lung cancer sucks ass and you do not want it.

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Clayton's avatar

You've has lung cancer before, which skyrockets your risk of getting it again, yet you still have the occasional odd cigarette?

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lizzieohreally's avatar

no, absolutely not. I haven't had a cigarette since I had a random one at my wedding in 2018. I was speaking more generally.

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Anthony Lux's avatar

My favorite part of this throwback post is the part where the IDW was still a quasi-relevant entity within the high covid zeitgeist. It wouldn't surprise me in the least for pickme contrarian Eric (or is it Erik? Or more likely Erich? I SIMPLY CAN'T TO REMEMBER) Weinstein to start insisting that cigs are cool again, but what would surprise me in 2025 is if anyone were to notice if he did.

My second favorite part was the reminder that, although Hitch was nothing if not the shitposter of his generation, he shore did talk prettier than anybody while doing it.

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E2's avatar

I had a girlfriend several years ago who was quite attractive in many respects, to my specific off-center tastes. The fact that she smoked was definitely not part of it!

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JP Lopes's avatar

Smoking only works great if you do it while munching on beef tallow-fried foods and sipping cod liver oil.

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Rev. Andrew Holt's avatar

Ugh...I hadn't thought about what horseshit the anti-vaxers will move on to next. Why couldn't it be anti-seatbelt freakouts instead? At least then the consequences would be a little quicker.

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Aaron's avatar

This is really great. An amazing collection of some of the most obnoxious intellectual posturing I've read in months. (Eward Luttwak is a kind of MacArthur fellow of bad ideas. I've heard him on BAP's show, which is where he belongs.) I did like a Delicious Tacos tweet from not long ago featuring a picture of a lit cigarette and the words, "The thinking man's Ozempic."

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Hog's avatar

This post is also, coincidentally, quite a good showcase of how Max's writing has changed over the past 2 years.

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Dylan's avatar

Maybe I was early in this. But I think distaste for vapes and their aesthetics are a big part of this. I wrote about it a bit last year (last section)

https://open.substack.com/pub/uncynical/p/uncynical-7?r=ubprx&utm_medium=ios

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Exa Moseley's avatar

Great sum up. I feel very prudish about smoking since my dad passed cause lung cancer really, really sucks, but I do think smoking aesthetically is cool, especially in movies, so I'm still trying to figure out where I stand on it especially when my friends start smoking

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George Bangs's avatar

Can’t think of a better place to share this #lightup https://vimeo.com/1030942910

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Harrison's avatar

Love this! I’m Harrison, an ex fine dining industry line cook. My stack "The Secret Ingredient" adapts hit restaurant recipes (mostly NYC and L.A.) for easy home cooking.

check us out:

https://thesecretingredient.substack.com

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overflowing ashtray's avatar

The cost of food has gone up by 250% in the last 5 years and I am faced with a fork in the road; Eat, or [drink and smoke] There is no mix. there is one or the other.

This is not a good thing for society. Without nicotine in the form of burning tobacco, I am likely to become a homicidal maniac. I am reasonably sure that I won't kill anyone who doesn't deserve it. That is the only upside to a decision of this nature. If you wish to stop me killing bad people, politicians, health administrators, and other evil entities, then please send money now.

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Drew Roberts's avatar

Thanks for the heads up. We really are getting dumber

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Dave's avatar

I think cigs are coming back because life sucks. That kinda encapsulates all the nuance of yolo, easing pain, needing cheap status symbols, anti-establishment, etc.

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Mommadillo's avatar

I’m particularly fond of the idea doing something that kills them quicker makes people smart.

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JC Denton's avatar

I don't smoke anymore, haven't for years, but the anti-smoking industry is incredibly totalitarian, and I oppose it with every fibre of my being.

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