pray for us, St. Billionaire 🛐

On the cultural conflation of faith with wealth and how the excuses this affords, along with an interview with one of the most interesting composers and performers.

Aug 23, 2026

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🗽 HELLO NYC!!! I’ve gotten a few “Are you here?” and “When do you leave?” questions over the past week so, to clear things up, an answer: I landed in NYC a week ago and now “live” here as we’re looking for an apartment and I’ve been taking meetings to get opportunities for freelance work and collaborations going (while Bobby Aaron Solomon looks for full time creative directing work) (his LinkedIn here). More updates on events, etc. soon but drop a line if you’re local!
🦿HIP REPLACEMENT🦿 this week features professional connector Denayja Reese who brainstorms political strategies, unpacks the new Troye Sivan, and tries to understand Gen Z fashion with Ben Dietz and I. It’s a fun episode: listen on Substack, Spotify, and YouTube!

8 takeaways from Florida, Wyoming Alaska
A Stunning Win for the Left in Florida

Another week, another DSA-related big win as Angie Nixon’s underdog story in Florida had a very sweet ending. Here’s hoping we see similar gains on election night this November!

Trump’s Most Devoted Aide Emerges.
“explains who Harp is”
Natalie Harp’s Intimate Letters
“Harp’s estranged brother”
“deja vu”

Trump aide Natalie Harp’s name was everywhere this week, given Jon Ossoff blowing her spot, blooming another little known Trump ally into a key political player. See also: Jennifer Hegseth.

Iran eyes Europe if Trump escalates war
Trump is threatening to bomb Oman
Trump map labeling Hormuz as US territory

In this hot-and-cold never ending war, we saw new figures enter the bullseye (Bulgaria, Oman) as Trump continued to ruffle feathers via social posts further enabling crumbling diplomacy. At least things with Canada are going well — oh wait.

Why Maga came for Europe

This FT series on how MAGA has decayed Europe is a must-read, one offering as many insights for Europeans as it does Americans. A key quote, via a director at Brookings: “It’s two trends coming together: the long decline of the American social contract and the complacent assumption in all western democracies that representative democracy is like a perpetual clock that is never in need of repair.” Oof. See also: the Washington Post story on Europeans larping as Ohioans.

Portugal bans burka in public

See above.

Israel wants to answer ChatGPT questions
“Israel has launched a new effort”
“Look what happens”

Is anyone surprised the Israeli state is manipulating AI chatbots to foster goodwill? Not at all, which is a huge reminder that any and all bad actors are doing the same thing, from Republicans through Elon Musk.

Vaccination rates fall as more parents opt out
Thousands in Indiana Endure 10 Days Without Power
Recalled Blueberries, Jalapenos, Lettuce

These three stories are of an American triptych, where kids die due to falling levels of vaccination, where data a city can go well over a week without power (likely tied to data centers), and recalls make food choice a roulette of life or death. Wake up people!

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Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez were married two weeks ago, which was chronicled for the digital cover of Vogue. The Juergen Teller photos tell the story: working out together, standing before a painted altar, kids gathered around Mary and their mother, all whilst wearing whites and creams. The effect feels less like an intimate moment shared and more like a monitored visitation, a tour of a small church branded as a wedding. “Privacy is priceless,” the Vogue story explained of their nuptial mass. “I needed nothing more,” Rodríguez said, “My husband, my children, our home, our faith, and our love.” She noted there will be a bigger and grander affair and, although this initial ceremony was intimate, the giant Chopard diamonds and Gucci sponsored outfits offer clues into a thought process echoing that of Lauren Sánchez Bezos’ from last summer: even in the sanctuary of the Lord, a temple of things like brand activations and business opportunities can be constructed in the name of self-worship. Or: humility as a sales tactic designed to appeal to a part of the global south and the Catholic-Latin demographic. All this is “special” and by design, they said, as August 11 was the date Cris y Gio — a name we’re told their friends and family call them, none of whom were present for their sacrament — as this was when they first met, at the Madrid Gucci store Cris frequented and Gio worked.

“Staged” is the right word for all of this in that it’s not quite fake but definitely performative. It suggests authenticity but is a constructed act for broadcasting as these figures dollhouse while dogwhistling around Catholic values. Gio likely is a very faithful person but her posts — a produced video at church as a child covers “Hallelujah,” photos of a crystal rosary draped over a snakeskin birkin, wearing furs whilst visiting statues of Jesus and Mary — further the point that Vogue was trying to make: to worship God (or any god) now is held equally with the worship of things, with the seeking of status. Your faith is a failure unless you have the fruits of fortune. You cannot be blessed until you are #blessed. It’s a strange tangling of economics, politics, and religion illustrative of values being eclipsed by materials, which means being rich (and “appearing” rich) is a form of devoutness. Thus, offering peeks into such rich worlds in this way is akin to allowing those at the bottom to touch the robe of a saint, all as they do little while stepping atop the humanity of others to continue upwards while selling bootstraps. Just months ago, in November 2025, Cris y Gio had a private tour of the White House with president Trump, as ICE deportations and raids of Latino communities bloomed nationwide. Do as I say, not as I do. It’s true Cris is (allegedly) one of the most giving athletes but, for the first soccer billionaire and the most followed individual on Instagram, his donating an estimated total of $50 million is laughable: the crosses Cris y Gio stand before are holy distractions from grim economic realities, that only 5% of him cares of your distress, your deportation, your death. Gucci, anyone?

This antithetical anti-ethical signalling is a hallmark of these times, one that has long trickled down and is responsible for our spiritually devoid culture of success-at-any-cost, which builds on me-first Amazon royal sensations that positions religion not as a philosophy but as an optics-based Ponzi scheme. Christianity when performed while rich becomes like Scientology, in that worshipping the Lord is a front for something like buying Gio’s activewear Mimoa as a means to buy your way to godliness. Kim Kardashian and the whole Kardashian dynasty are the direct penpersons of this playbook, where religion and family and something like “law” are bragged about more than acted on as the family of billionaires throw multi-thousand and $1M “good deeds” whilst creating a church as a tax haven and maintaining Trump ties. Religion has always been a Kardashian “brand value,” one that is less of faith but of performance in the service of sales to fund their indulgences, as if being visible and connected to God is a form of non-financial tithing because allowing the global public to view them is as if seeing angels on earth. Skims can forgo paying workers living wages, Kylie Cosmetics can propel plastic pollution, and Lemme can sell non-FDA approved supplements all because they look pretty and allow us to gaze at them: no bad act goes punished when you are beautiful in the presence of a cross. The selflessness of Jesus’ nailing to a cross held in the same hand as Kim Kardashian losing 16 pounds in three weeks for the Met Gala. Amen, amen.

This is all interesting when we consider how Christianity and Catholicism helped create capitalism while connecting economic disparity to faith, which we’re experiencing an upside down version of: power and wealth as faith, meaning to be powerful and rich means you are faithful without any burden of proof. This thinking is exactly why imperialists and technofascists are draping themselves in albs, as JD Vance and Peter Thiel larp around Catholicism to excuse their reigns. Under the shadow of the Kardashians, religion no longer needs invoking to excuse rich people to behaving badly: it is the reasoning behind our drought of philanthropy and altruism as entrepreneurial #hustling and the abuse of natural resources ensures salvation. The majority of Americans see Trump’s work as a means to pump up his own businesses, but his support by the religious continues to swell. He has gone so far to sell his own branded bibles! He is deeply unholy and yet he is seen as a head of state and church. “It can seem as if the church is more influenced by Trump than the church influences Trump,” David French observed recently in the New York Times. “When it comes to politics, he’s the evangelical pope.” This again reveals the warping that has occurred, and why someone like Pope Leo is so radical: the church’s followers — like many aspects of mainstream churches — have become rotted by modern life, as values align to uphold power versus advocating for the weak and needy in the name of equality on earth instead of in death.

A good man is hard to find, but a good rich person is even harder. Yes, yes, Josh Kushner is the “good” one because he uses his money to buy the Lakers but, as we discussed on HIP REPLACEMENT this week, if my brother was a baby Hitler whisperer you would never hear me shut up about it and about how much I disagree with his actions. One’s upholding a respectability politic or decorum is proof that you are content to push in the knife that bleeds us all, as staying in the sky as a “good” billionaire keeps you holy. Dinner with the Kushners a perfect expression of those upstairs caring so little. “What do you do with your influence?” is a life or death test now, one as critical as “What do you do with your support?” As influence via influencers shift from number count to soft power brokers, we may have a glimpse into what (or who) might be able to bring the ceiling down by leading us into a renewed reformation. This is why something like Olivia Rodrigo dating a private equity bro is so annoying given her funding college for the less fortunate: to be famous is to be rich is to have “good values” by position, even if no good value is had. This is why cradle Catholics continue to break out as they call out the warping of values, the buckling of progress in favor of charlatanism. The hugely viral “1 New Ager vs. 20 Christians” proved this too, where Christians presented themselves as valueless in the face of someone who embodies higher thinking and the need to interrogate the self. In times of medieval peasant mindsets where crisis enables religious mania, the faith of Cris y Gio and the Kardashians and the Trumps and the Kushners are a convenient and age-old cover for the randomized wickedness of God, that you must suffer now to be rewarded after. The hugely viral clip of the AI angel baby “choosing parents” captures this well, offering divine reasoning to life’s tragedies, when all of this could have been avoided by something like believing in science.

This far into the future, it’s surprising that such ancient gilding still makes the most evil shine and that so many are wont to lay themselves down in awe, peasantry believing that blessings come to those most worthy. A trend of humanity, it seems, is clinging to heavenly fairy tales of the Earthly, where values based in faith matter not as much as being #blessed. Religion is no longer a belief system but the sweetness you taste as you giving your savings to the beauty industry, fashion brands, soccer merchandisers, the military industrial complex. If the all seeing eye of the camera is God, those with the most screentime aren’t just our most powerful but also our most pious. Pope Leo, if you’re reading this, save us from ourselves, or help us realize that such shepherds are leading us beyond temptation and into the shadow of death.

“Cat Frazier died June 29th”
A Farewell for Catherine “Cat” Frazier

Cat Frazier — aka Animated Text — was a key architect of modern internet humor and style who was as lovely a person as she was an artist. Cat and I were friends, and worked together on a few projects over the years. She was truly the best! This is such sad news, and I very much encourage reading the little memorial that was posted on her Twitter and donating to her family’s GoFundMe. You’re a real one, Cat! We’ll miss you and the world — and the internet — won’t be the same <3

For Teen Boys, Beauty Is Cool

The queenification of young men continues, as teen and tween boys are moving from perfume into skincare.

Fake Celeb Podcast Scams Hollywood

Didn’t this story circulate a year or two ago? I swear this has been talked about before. Regardless, no one should treat Bruce Vilanch this way! Or Seth Rudetsky! Be nice to our queer Jewish elders!!

Paramount Settles ‘Mad At Rihanna’ Lawsuit
“i’d be mad too”

The inadvertently funniest entertainment news story of the week, which is and isn’t about Rihanna. Regardless: Rihanna remains my favorite non-singing musician, mmhmm 🙂‍↕️

Harry and Meghan returning to the UK
Meghan to Join Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentlemen’

We will never hear the end of this, nor will we ever see the end of their various Hollywood deals. Start the clock for their returning to royalty! Also where was all the press about Bobby Aaron Solomon and I moving back to America? RUDE.

Renaissance paintings stolen from Sicilian museum
Moment €9m worth of art stolen from Italy museum
Police recover Matisse works stolen in Brazil heist
Picasso print stolen from Milwaukee gallery found

It seems we’re in year two of art heists, as the second major art heist in Italy occurred this year. (First link is the more recent, second is from March, but the footage just dropped.) The other two items highlight this evergreen trend, which we could likely untangle now as great counter-programming to our overly tech times. This is a reminder to small institutions (A la: everything below the Lourve.) to beef up their security.

Europe’s drought reveals buildings, warships
Heatwave reveals lost gardens

Do I like climate change? Not at all. Obviously! But are these ancient discoveries made due to drought kinda cool? Yes — but they’re bad and shouldn’t be happening!!

The Santa Monification of NYC

This has been a huge feeling I’ve been having only after a week in NYC. LA continues to be that girl, so much so that the east coast city seems to have re-wired much of itself around specific western health and wellness cultures. Of course this is all an over-simplificaiton, but the similarities are very there. Just walk through this weird strip of north Williamsburg (save for The Lot Radio).

Young People Hate AI CEOs So Passionately

Young people really hate tech CEOs — as they should! They’re just like us!!

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Sarah Davachi is the type of artist who dwells between very modern electronic experimentation and very classic musical composition. Her work dwells somewhere between Gregorian chant and new age ambience, with releases like 2017’s All My Circles Run exemplifying her balancing of the past and the future in the present. She’s a rare artist, someone whose sound is so wholly hers: you know a Sarah Davachi song when you hear one, and you know the state of mind you want to be in as she helps turn you inward, to deep though, entering a mode of reflection that uses sound as a prism to expand the self. Minimalism as meditation, you could say.

The LA-based composer and performer has a new album coming out this Friday called The Will of Tongues that feels very now in that it applies the aforementioned style to a few ideas that feel particularly urgent: the need to listen and the need for collaboration. The album embodies these ideas as Sarah expands to three LPs featuring musicians and ensembles from around the world, from the US to Switzerland to Ireland, with instruments — specifically pipe organs — from across the world too (US, Canada, the Netherlands). The Will of Tongues is a moving composition whose subtle shifts ask you to hear each component, to understand that these pieces are the product of so many minds coming together to work with intention. It’s very fitting counter programming to these fast-moving, always on times.

To learn more about The Will of Tongues and to get an idea of the trends she’s into, I relayed some questions via email. Sarah shares the need to take artists seriously beyond “craft,” why it’s important to embrace wonder, why we all should be confronting reality, and how collaboration isn’t just between people but between us and all that we encounter in life. Consider this a morning meditation, as Sarah takes us to a form of church with her answers.

Tell me about a trend you’re following that you’re really into.
I really like seeing musicians/performers/composers taking themselves and their work/practice more seriously in terms of communicating that what they do is labour. I think the idea that art is just something you do as a hobby, purely for the love of the craft, and that it’s somehow wrong to imagine that you could make an ethical living doing it is antiquated and really problematic. And I think that this attitude enables a lot of unprofessional situations wherein artists are treated neither fairly nor respectfully. To me that manifests as artists not being compensated properly or within a respectful period of time, or being shamed for even asking about compensation, or being shamed for saying no to things simply because they don’t make financial sense. Of course it’s not going to be a perfect system and there are always going to be negotiations around budgets and compromises that need to be made in order for things to balance, but before any of that occurs there needs to be a baseline understanding that artists should not be expected to work for free or to offer their work for free, or to just be happy to have the exposure. I encounter so many artists who are pretty firm about this kind of thing and who are not afraid to communicate their value or say no when the situation isn’t right, and I love it. I think the tide is shifting generally, likely as a reflection of conversations about the reality of streaming services, but I also think that it needs to go further to engage with a broader sense of how society sees cultural workers, which of course is not limited to artists but also includes the vast network of people (agents, managers, labels, presenters, press, etc.) who work alongside them.
What’s a trend you hope never dies?
I don’t believe in or endorse astrology, so this is no way connected to anything like that, but I am a fairly superstitious person and I guess it’s nice to see people leaning into that kind of thinking every once in a while, when the stakes are light and low. To me it reflects a connection to and embrace of the wondrous and mysterious sides of life, kind of from the perspective of childlike curiosity. Obviously if indulging in superstitious behaviour is impacting your ability to function or hindering your ability to make meaningful decisions then that’s one thing, but sometimes those little rituals and patterns can be a nice way to commune with something that feels bigger than yourself, even if it’s a psychological illusion.
What’s a trend you are so over?
People expressing shock when they learn about the challenges or frustrations that people with appreciably different realities (material, physical, cultural, psychological, etc.) face in their day to day lives. Nobody is expecting you to be an expert on the details of a lived experience that isn’t your own, but it seems completely reasonable to me that we should push ourselves to wonder more deeply about the lives of others, especially when so much can be deduced by just looking at the world around us and by making an effort to really see how things are and not just how we want them to be. It’s always confused me when otherwise progressive people express surprise or shock at something that is such a central part of someone else’s human experience, and they think that they’re offering some kind of care when actually they’re just betraying willful ignorance.
Why is listening so important now?
Yes, for me, this kind of listening (you could call it deep listening in a way) is about confrontation of reality, which I think is an ultimately good and necessary thing at all times, but especially these days. It’s so easy and appealing to escape reality – and, sure, sometimes that’s useful and necessary as well – but as a continual and ingrained way of relating to the world around you it’s extremely destructive. I just think that engaging with things, including music, that are not “easy” or immediately gratifying is a skill that we are increasingly losing as a society, and any opportunity to practice and develop that way of confronting and navigating things that are uncomfortable is really important. What you stand to gain from the process can be so meaningful and can carry back into the way that you function in the world. I’ve always felt this way about this kind of music on some level, but I suppose in the past few years I’ve become increasingly alarmed by the fact that many listeners don’t seem to know what to do with musical experiences that aren’t digestible and entertaining.
Is collaboration a radical act now?
I think that collaboration on some level is always going to be part and parcel to artistic practice. Nobody is creating in a vacuum, your work is always going to be tethered to the reality in which you’re living, and if you’re presenting your work publicly then you’re in a kind of collaborative process with the people who help you bring your work into the world, and with the audience that receives your work and finishes the cycle of aesthetic experience. But it seems to me that maybe people are forgetting that a bit, as it’s easy to get disconnected from the cycle these days, so perhaps my desire to take my music outside of myself a bit and have it performed by other people is just a way of doubling down on that feeling. For me, collaboration on the musical side happens in a pretty specific way. Sometimes just through composing things that are then simply performed by other people – like with the choral pieces on The Will of Tongues – but then most of my chamber music is written in such a way that it forces the performers to listen in a way that is uncommon in the classical music world. I write in such a way that allows performers to make small but meaningful decisions that might have a larger ripple effect through the piece (like whether to change a note at the 4:00 mark of a piece or whether to change it at the 4:30 mark or somewhere in between, things like that) and so when they’re playing the music they need to be listening attentively and making decisions based on the acoustic realities of the moment, which will impact the decisions that the other players make as well. And then the audience can enter into a more engaged form of collaboration as well because with each iteration the music will be slightly different. To that point, I think that the collaborative aspect of my work is precisely in terms of listening and space. For instance, even when I’m the sole performer, like in the case of my work for pipe organ, I still see that as a collaboration between me, the instrument, and the acoustics of the space. I am always composing from a place of response, listening to how the instrument and harmonies are functioning in the room and working in tandem with that.

Follow Sarah on Instagram and catch her new album out this Friday.

“my lymphatic drainage”
“talked shit about my”
“an old person”
“showed my mom”
“me hitting no”
“when I got home”
“speak english”
“in a group chat”
“promoted to her”
“doctor appointment”
“THE BEST”
“You know what”

The Young-Zendaya-smiling meme has taken over my feed (and is iterating well), with good reason because they’re interrogating work and tech life, offering a fitting sequel to Bugonia Emma Stone smiling. Here other three other great work and tech memes too.