It feels like the perfect moment to take a quick stroll down Recent Memory Lane — that magical place where things that were very IN suddenly become aggressively OUT the second the media gets distracted by a shiny object or a new scandal. Attention spans aren’t what they used to be. If the headlines don’t keep feeding the beast, the beast wanders off.
Case in point: remember Sydney Sweeney? Of course you don’t. Well… maybe you do. She was IN. She was everywhere. She was the media’s emotional support animal. And then — poof — OUT.
Who’s IN now? Sophie Cunningham. Maybe you know her, maybe you don’t, but you probably should. She’s a WNBA star (and damn good), and she’s starting to show up everywhere. She’s officially IN. Enjoy the ride before the media inevitably gets bored and declares her OUT for failing to personally cure world hunger.
Now here’s where things get messy — because what’s IN and OUT doesn’t just apply to celebrities. It applies to wars. And yes, that actually matters because markets pretend not to care until suddenly they care a lot.
When the Russia–Ukraine war began, it was very IN. Wall‑to‑wall coverage. Every headline. Every chyron. But when the war didn’t wrap up in the tidy timeframe the public had generously allocated for global conflict, it became OUT. Attention moved on.
Enter the U.S.–Iran war. It’s IN… but fading… but also not fading… but also maybe fading. It’s basically the Schrödinger’s Cat of wars — simultaneously IN and OUT depending on which cable network you accidentally leave on. Meanwhile, the Russia–Ukraine war is quietly working its way back to IN status like a band from the 90s trying to stage a comeback tour.
So where does this leave us? With two wars escalating at the same time, both technically IN, and financial markets doing their best impression of someone pretending not to hear the smoke alarm.
WAR IS IN.
Not to be overshadowed, SpaceX was once the hottest, biggest, most breathlessly hyped IPO in human history. It wasn’t just IN — it was IN IN. And then, in classic fashion, one day it wasn’t. Markets are fickle. Rockets explode. Attention moves on.
SPACEX IS OUT.
Which brings us to AI — the reigning monarch of IN. AI has been the cool, controversial, “this changes everything” darling of the moment. AI this, AI that, AI everywhere. But now the newest IN thing is protesting AI. Data centers? Protest them. AI’s impact on jobs? Protest it. AI’s impact on the protest industry? Probably protest that too.
AI IS IN. PROTESTING AI IS IN.
So, looking ahead at what’s going to be fighting for your attention — and the cover of every publication that still remembers how to publish:
WAR IS IN
AI IS IN
PROTESTING AI IS IN
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM IS IN
_____________
SPACEX IS OUT
SYDNEY SWEENEY IS OUT
So buckle up, because the IN/OUT carousel isn’t slowing down. The media will keep spinning it, the markets will keep pretending they’re above it, and we’ll all keep acting surprised when tomorrow’s OUT becomes next week’s IN again. Just remember: in a world where wars, IPOs, celebrities, and entire technologies get treated like seasonal fashion trends, the only thing truly IN is the guarantee that everything eventually becomes OUT — usually right after you start paying attention.
Content provided by Bill Taylor with the assistance of co-pilot
