The Free Press
Some people think the culture war is a distraction, or even a psyop. Others think politics (and so much else) is actually downstream of culture. Which is why paying attention to the often ridiculous feuds and peccadillos playing out online (and sometimes in real life) tells us something about where we are and where we’re heading.
Also, it can be fun.
So today, two treats from the front lines of the culture war.
One, by Park MacDougald, is about the fastest-growing sport in America: pickleball. A tennis player himself, he argues that the pickleballers must be stopped! For the good of America’s courts—and for the nation. (Our thanks to our friends at the Washington Examiner, where this piece originally appeared.)
The other is from Phoebe Maltz Bovy, who bravely takes on the Battle of the Beers. If you’ve somehow avoided the drama involving Bud Light, trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Kid Rock shooting a case of beer cans, I envy you.
Happy reading. And no matter which side of the culture war you happen to be on, may the odds be ever in your favor. —BW
I am what I would call an avid tennis player, if only a moderately talented one, so I’ve had a front-row seat over the last several years to this burgeoning conflict.
Example: On a recent excursion to Connecticut, my hitting partner and I arrived at a local park only to discover that the “good” courts had been repurposed for pickleball, forcing us to play on gritty, pockmarked concrete that called to mind the dirt lots of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas.
Even in this comparative slum, however, we encountered a pushy gang of pickleballers in Arc’teryx vests, whose chieftain waddled over to inform us, citing online reservation systems and obscure city bylaws, that we could not use the court next to theirs as our stray balls might interrupt his “clinic.”
If you play golf, imagine showing up for your Sunday morning tee time only to be informed that you can only play the front nine as the rest has been set aside for frisbee golf, and then being trailed all day by a pack of frisbee golfers loudly complaining about your pace of play, and then being nagged over your feeling of “entitlement” to the course and your unwillingness to “share.”
Imagine all that, and you may begin to understand the violent rage that the pickleballers inspire in me.
I wasn’t going to watch it. I was going to sit this one out. But I’m a big fan of Broad City, so I did it. I clicked the Miller Lite ad featuring Ilana Glazer that was making the rounds on Twitter. I will do my best to explain what this ad consists of, because boy, is it a strange one.
With her hectoring tone and high-neckline sweater, the Glazer of this ad has none of the traits of her semi-autobiographical Broad City character Ilana, except the sassy delivery. Strolling through a strange hybrid of a brewery and a history museum, she opens with this:
“Here’s a little-known fact. Women were among the very first to brew beer, ever.”
She says this as if speaking to someone who did not believe women were capable of tying their own shoes. Feeling properly scolded, the viewer is then asked, “Centuries later, how did the industry pay homage to the founding mothers of beer?”
Answer (gasp!): “They put us in bikinis.”
But watching the video did not get me angry. Nor did it make me want to buy beer.
It just made me feel confused.
If you’re hungry for more, check out these other recent Free Press stories, including our investigation into how ideological orthodoxy has taken over therapy, Eli Lake’s response to the Durham report, and TGIF—our essential digest on the week’s news.
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Funny that MSM has devoted hours of air and print time to the beer culture war and Bupkis to the prodigal son(hunter) or folks who blow whistles.
I took tennis lessons (in my 60s) until COVID hit. I enjoyed it, but never really got beyond lessons. Last summer my gym offered Pickleball instruction, so I signed on. Pretty soon I was playing every morning…lots of fun, neat people. We had one half of a double gym, separated by a heavy curtain, for 3 hours every day…sometimes the whole gym, able to take up to 6 nets. Some days it was crowded, with a wait. These courts did not replace tennis courts, although my town now has 3 Pickleball courts on tennis courts.
The worst thing that happened at the gym was that the nets were vandalized, likely by disgruntled basketball players.
This is a very social game, and with exception of one or two, everyone gets along and helps each other improve. If what the author claims is true, that is sad and all should work out some accommodation.