Are you despicable or brilliant, lowbrow or highbrow? New York Magazine sorts out culture with a 2x2 ‘Approval Matrix’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 22, 2023 I blogged about the serious topic of How to evaluate evidence better by using a 2x2 grid. But a grid also can have a humorous purpose – cultural commentary. Since November 2004 the back page of New York Magazine has contained an Approval Matrix like the simplified one shown above (made with PowerPoint). One on December 15, 2023 by Dominique Pariso and Chris Stanton is an article titled Tommy Cutlets and the Disgruntled Oompa-Loompas.

 

Another article by Myles Tanzer at BuzzfeedNews on August 13, 2014 described How New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix went from the back page to TV. A second article by Sarah Zhang at Mother Jones on June 4, 2013 said it really is a chart - REVEALED: New York Mag’s Beloved “Approval Matrix” Is a Fraud. And a third article by Laura Hazard Own at Nieman Lab on January 27, 2022 titled “Lowbrow despicable”: New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix gets a … competitor told how it was copied by the Prospect Grid.

 

Of course, despicable is part of Daffy Duck’s catchphrase, which usually is slurred as:

“Youuu're deththpicable!"