The other day, as I rifled through the library card catalog that comprises the Jalopnik archives (it takes up half the office, and most cards have been defaced past the point of recognition with lewd comments and/or falafel recipes), I stumbled on a post from nearly five years ago. It was a Friday afternoon hangout, a place for readers and writers to hang out and chat. I sent it off to our Slack channel, and everyone agreed — it would be nice to hang out with you all a bit more. So, welcome, to the revived Friday chat.
It’s been an interesting week, to say the least. We all came back to the office after a few days doing other things, and found ourselves awash with big news stories. Gas prices are up, the Mriya is down, and people are living on cruise ships and have been for decades. A certain automotive publication even launched a Twitch channel, featuring at least one writer who is definitely reconsidering his camera angles as he writes this.
That same writer, as a fun fact, is actually present in the comments of that earlier reader chat, as a college student asking for advice on breaking into the business. Mercedes Streeter is in there too, posting photos of Smarts and remaining wholly on-brand. That sort of connection, the sense of community between writers and editors and readers and commenters, is something I’ve always really appreciated about Jalopnik — hence this chat.
So, what’s up with you? Any fun weekend plans? Personally, I’ll be watching a charity Need for Speed Underground stream tomorrow, and donating to support trans youth in the South. It’s car-related, so I’m counting it as relevant here. How about the past week, have you done any fun car projects recently? Tell us all about it! Kick back, grab your keyboard, and hang out with your favorite Jalopnik staff.