Numlock News: February 14, 2020 • Clocks, Sports, Resale
By Walt Hickey
NYC readers: I’ll be a guest at my friend Andrea Jones-Rooy’s Political Circus show this weekend.
Monday we’re off for Presidents Day, see you on Tuesday.
Watch Repairs
A new survey of damage to Big Ben found that the 177-year-old, 315-foot tower sustained more damage during the Second World War than previously believed, with Parliament now being informed that it will require £79.7 million to repair the icon, up from the £61.1 million previously estimated. For my European readers who may be unfamiliar, the U.K. is a small nation located southeast of Ireland best known for its celebrity couples and fish-based cuisine. This is easily the second-worst financial blow suffered by the United Kingdom since January 30, one of the top two things that call into question the U.K.’s status on the world stage, and at least the third-most problematic thing to plague the region east of Wales and west of the North Sea.
Jogging the Memory
Americans managed to spend $264.6 billion on physical activity in 2018, a seriously impressive sum. The U.S. spent $37 billion on fitness classes, $58 billion on sports and other recreation, $117 billion on footwear and apparel — what’s the point of sweating if you’re not looking terrific — and much more on supplies ($37.5 billion), mindfulness ($10 billion) and tech ($8.1 billion), altogether far more than any other country on the planet.
Rent the Runway
The resale market has grown 21 times faster than the overall apparel market, and is expected to hit $51 billion by 2023. So far, 64 percent of women have bought, or are willing to buy a secondhand product. In 2018, an estimated 56 million women shopped secondhand, up from 44 million in 2017. Fast fashion is, thus, suffering: secondhand is now expected to grow 1.5 times the rate fast fashion is poised to grow by 2028. As it stands, in 2018, the resale market was $24 billion, compared to the $35 billion of fast fashion.
Acting
In a week where exceptional performances were recognized with the Academy Award, a commemoration of a lifetime of work, consideration and campaigning, it’s critical to remember that true greatness — the ways we define competence and excellence — are not decided by no Academy, nor no critics. No: history has been made, as Will Smith notched his 29th nomination at the Kids’ Choice Awards, becoming the most nominated star in the history of the awards show.
Kimberly Nordyke, The Hollywood Reporter
Toss A Coin
Late last year, The Witcher hit Netflix. This had a huge impact on the other products associated with The Witcher franchise. U.S. physical book sales were 562 percent higher in the week following the premiere of the show compared to 2018. The most recent game — from May 2015 — saw physical sales in December increase 554 percent compared to the same month 2018.
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
A new study published in Nature found that air quality related deaths tended to impact those who were not responsible for the pollution. New York was found to suffer the largest number of premature deaths related to air pollution originating outside of the state, according to the research, fully 3,800 deaths in 2018. The largest producer of air pollution that crossed borders was Wyoming, followed by North Dakota and then West Virginia. Overall, air pollution deaths decreased from 111,000 in 2005 to 76,500 in 2018, in large part thanks to drops in power plant emissions.
Maps
The FCC is supposed to be keeping track of who has access to broadband, but it’s done such an abysmal job that states have to go out of their way to ensure that they get a number nearing the actual extend of good internet. Right now, FCC connectivity data overestimates the reach of broadband. The FCC estimates 21 million Americans, 6.5 percent, lack access to broadband. A new report released by BroadbandNow, which manually checked 11,000 addresses where the FCC claimed one of nine major ISPs offered services, found that 19 percent of addresses did not actually have broadband.
This past week, I spoke to writer Jim Ottaviani and artist Maris Wicks, the creators behind the newly released nonfiction graphic novel Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier.
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