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let's set one another up to slay, k?
your slaylist of on-ramps, art drops, and deep-thinking detours—a curation of taste beyond the algorithm
Laura Winberry
August 26, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
gm and welcome to issue 32—thanks for being here. 🏴☠️
Last night one of my clients whose social media I run texted me (she’s super cool): Would you mind giving me your opinion on crypto real quick? I’m going to do a little investing, and was thinking of going with XRP. In your experience, is this a good one? Thank you in advance!! 🙏🏼 💖🙏🏼
She knows I write this newsletter and while I was both flattered and excited for her, I knew I couldn’t just respond with a go for it, girl—you got this!
Here’s what I texted back instead: I’m glad you’re interested! It’s a neat/wild ecosystem. While I can’t make any claims or give any advice on specific crypto to buy, I can say 1. Only invest what you’re willing to lose; crypto is gaining big traction, and I believe in it, but it’s still wholly volatile and 2. Start small and play around with investing in 2-3 coins via something like Coinbase (a centralized exchange)... When I started last fall, I invested a small sum across BTC, ETH, SOL, and SUI. Since then, I’ve invested more when I can, but also do weekly dollar-cost averaging. If you want to learn about DCAing, here’s an article I wrote about it.
It was kind of a cool moment, you know? One where I could take a breath and share a measured response as opposed to the hype that’s everywhere. Hopefully the exchange translates into a positive entry point into crypto for her (and you, if you’re also wondering?). Because welcome, n00bs. Welcome. I am you and you are me, and together we’ve kinda sorta maybe got this.
Onward to today’s curation of links your algo won’t feed you, in newsletter form. lfg.
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***back to my shit***
🌱 On-Ramp → easy entry, no gas fees required
I just found this sick rendition of Mr. Brightside by The Killers through a new-to-me Zora artist named oxis. While she’s new to Zora (again, welcome!), she’s not new to IG or the ‘Tok and is apparently touring the US and Canada with the alt-pop duo Magdalena Bay starting next month.
Up until three minutes ago I didn’t know either of these musical artists. Now I might be going to see them in October. Internet rabbit holes can be neat like that.
“Any time you point to something and say ‘pay attention to that,’ it is in a sense a political statement. All culture is political. All technology is political.”
Speaking of rabbit holes and bridges, I encountered the writer/creator/publisher/thinker Daisy Alioto via last week’s episode of Boys Club (yes, their website is a google doc). I’m pretty sure I could listen to Daisy talk all day , every day. Mostly because of how she thinks about and articulates things. Here she is being her smart, dry, inquisitively reflective self in an interview with Lux Magazine . Swoon.
✨ Middle Layer → where things get interesting
Do you know the NFT artist (and performer/artist in general) Ed Balloon ? If not, you probably should. His more recent stop-motion NFT work is reminiscent of the stop-motion elements that feature heavily in Michael Jackson’s short film Speed Demon , which I loved as a wee Millennial in the 90s. It’s also much more modern and full of depth, uniquely its own creation and energy, and it makes me excited to see what Ed B drops next.
“The Run Ed Collection is a first of its kind generative sound and motion picture project on Ethereum. It consists of 1000 animated pieces blending stop motion, 2D & 3D animation, music and sound.”
🔮 Deep Dive → bring snacks, it’s dense down here
Ok so I wouldn’t characterize this Things I Think About AI list from Noah Brier as particularly dense. I would, however, call it nuanced. This nuance is why I’m including it in the “deep dive” section here.
No matter your level of AI (read: llm) use, there’s actually something for everyone in Noah’s insightful and funny list of things he thinks about the aforementioned. Some of my favorites include #17 Em-dashes are fine, everyone should chill out, and #20 People who say AI isn't useful for their job aren't trying hard enough.
“You should never apologize for having used ChatGPT. WWGPTD.”
That's it for issue 32 of Babe. What a wild ride of links the algorithm truly would never serve you in a million years.
Thanks for joining. Send me non-sketchy links you think I’d like and I’ll see you next week, nerds.
xoxo,
lw
PS: Subscribe now if you want in on this arithmetic. Miss the last issue? It’s right here . Also literally none of this is ever financial advice. I’m sharing what I learn through Babe, and perhaps you’ll learn from my mistakes. Hopefully, maybe, who knows, ily. Also if you’re not already, come hang with Babe on insta , Farcaster , and TBA 🟦.
Next week in Babe: More links, more weirdo shit, more more.