This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss a Supreme drop, a visit to a local Risograph printer, and what is up with Big Car.
JOSEPH: My only experience with brands like Supreme and drops is when I’ve covered the underground industry of bots and tools for getting ahead of ordinary customers. In 2019 I spoke to the hacker finalphoenix about her fascinating work on this botting ecosystem. “I was very frustrated, because whenever I’d try to buy something that was relatively cool on Instagram, it was always sold out,” she told me at the time. I think we were standing in one of those cavernous hallways at the DEF CON hacking conference in Vegas. She then automated the process of buying these clothes herself, but learned so much more about the wider industry too.