Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.
Every other week (or so) we quiz a “very online” person for their essential guide to what’s good on the internet.
Today we welcome Samuel Hine, who recently becameNew York magazine’s first-ever senior men’s style editor, following a 10-year stint at GQ. (I also recently left GQ.) Sam asked Claude to help him make a wedding website and has saved a lot of time on hold by consulting the Delta subreddit. —Nick
“I’m eyeing some vintage New York mag tees from the ’70s.”
EMBEDDED: What’s a recent meme or post that made you laugh?
SAMUEL HINE: I love this video of Maurice from The People Gallery just going absolutely crazy for Demna’s look at a Gucci afterparty. It’s like the ultimate outfit hype reel.
SAMUEL HINE: I used to use Twitter/X to promote my own stories because it felt like smart and cool people were hanging out there, but needless to say the vibe has changed. I deactivated my account a couple of months ago and have never looked back. Now I post links to my work on Substack Notes.
EMBEDDED: What do you use Instagram for?
SAMUEL HINE: I’m trying to post on main more like I do on Stories. I overthink Instagram and I’d like to be looser with it. I’m not quite there yet, but I’ve been trying to post quick fit pics in my closet every morning before going to work, which has at the very least inspired me to dress “up” a bit more.
EMBEDDED: What types of videos do you watch on YouTube?
SAMUEL HINE: Mets highlights, but only when they win. I get too depressed otherwise.
EMBEDDED: Do you watch Twitch, Kick, or any other livestreaming services? If so, which streamers?
SAMUEL HINE: Nope.
EMBEDDED: Where do you tend to get your news?
SAMUEL HINE: Once I’m out of bed I usually read the NY Post. Glenn O’Brien once said something about how he reads the Post first thing in the morning because it’s the perfect transition from dream state to reality, and he’s right. Then my fiancée and I turn on WNYC for the weather and headlines. On my way to work I browse the headlines in the Times and the Journal, and then I check in on the fashion trades like WWD and Business of Fashion. On the weekends I buy the Financial Times. And of course I’m a longtime subscriber to New York magazine.
EMBEDDED: How do you keep up with the online discourse? How important is it to you to do this?
SAMUEL HINE: Since I don’t use X, once I’m at the office I rely on my colleagues IRL and on Slack to understand what’s happening out there. It keeps me the right amount of tapped in. I want to know what everyone is talking about, but I also want my brain to feel normal.
EMBEDDED: What’s the last strong opinion you had about a story, topic, or controversy online?
SAMUEL HINE: I think Jack Harlow and John Travolta should keep wearing those hats. They look great!
EMBEDDED: What’s a popular misconception that you see repeated online?
SAMUEL HINE: That personal style can be achieved by following a set of rules.
EMBEDDED: What are your favorite newsletters?
SAMUEL HINE: Feed Me, and not just because Emily put me in a recent subject line; Selling Out by Natasha Stagg, which I binge every couple of weeks; Unpopular Front by John Ganz, who is an excellent cook and an even better political writer/theorist; Gift Guide by Kaitlin Phillips, who always has an answer; Dinner Party by my colleague Emily Gould, who is my new favorite presence on Slack; Breaker by the media gumshoe extraordinaire Lachlan Cartwright; Big Style by my former Corporate Lunch podmate Rachel Seville Tashjian over at CNN.
My newest subscription that I’m most excited about is The Hamptons Chronicle by Rory Satran, who will find out if you do anything embarrassing “out East” this summer. My favorite newsletter that doesn’t yet exist is the one I’ll be launching at New York.
EMBEDDED: How do you think Substack has changed media, if at all?
SAMUEL HINE: Substack has underscored that there’s a massive audience of readers out there who are willing to pay to support writers they like, which is great.
EMBEDDED: How would you describe the culture of Substack, in terms of the types of writing and thinking that it has encouraged?
SAMUEL HINE: I think one day we might realize that Substack did for writing what Instagram did for photography. Anyone can be a photographer now. What will happen when anyone can be a writer?
EMBEDDED: What, if anything, is there to learn from the popularity of the looksmaxxing trend and influencers like Clavicular?
SAMUEL HINE: Australia recently banned social media for children under 16. If anything they didn’t go far enough!
EMBEDDED: Do you have any advice for people who use sports betting apps or prediction markets?
SAMUEL HINE: Buy some cool new clothes instead.
EMBEDDED: Have you found Claude, ChatGPT, or any other AI tools useful? How so?
SAMUEL HINE: I use Claude to help me with life admin tasks that I don’t know how to do. One of my last questions was about how to make a wedding website on Cargo. The trick was to ask Claude to explain it to me like I was 5.
EMBEDDED: Do you try to limit your phone use? If so, what methods have been helpful for this?
SAMUEL HINE: I have a Brick near my key tray by the door of my apartment. I used it for a couple of weeks earlier this year when I felt like my phone was just nuking my focus. It broke the cycle and now I only use it as needed.
EMBEDDED: How do you find recommendations for what to watch, read, and listen to?
SAMUEL HINE: I let my fiancée, who has amazing taste, pick what we watch and listen to at home. For books I like to go to McNally Jackson and poke around. The last time I bought Lena Dunham’s memoir, Patrick Radden Keefe’s new book, and Lonesome Dove.
EMBEDDED: Have you had posts go viral? What is that experience like?
SAMUEL HINE: Thankfully, no!
EMBEDDED: Who’s the coolest person who follows you?
EMBEDDED: Are you in any groups on Reddit, Discord, or Facebook? What’s the most useful or entertaining one?
SAMUEL HINE: The Delta subreddit is full of the most hardcore frequent flyer sickos on planet earth, and any question you could possibly have about Delta has already been asked and answered somewhere on there. It’s like crowd-sourced customer service and has saved me a lot of time on hold.
EMBEDDED: Do you pay for a music streaming service, and if so, which one? What’s a playlist, song, album, or style of music you’ve listened to a lot lately?
SAMUEL HINE: I pay for Spotify and NTS. I need to have headphones on at the office when I’m writing, but I find it hard to write to music with lyrics. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of free jazz Rahill mixes on NTS.
EMBEDDED: What’s your favorite non-social media app?
SAMUEL HINE: Flighty. If you travel a lot you would be crazy not to use it.
EMBEDDED: Do you regularly use eBay, Depop, or other shopping platforms? What’s a recent thing you’ve bought or sold?
SAMUEL HINE: I’m eyeing some vintage New York mag tees from the ’70s. I use the Gem app because it pulls from eBay, Etsy, Depop, The Real Real, etc. all in one place.
EMBEDDED: Is there a site you like for product recommendations? How do you decide, for example, which air filter to buy?
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