the kids aren't alright :(
Why kids now are "dumb" and why the latest fashion is SO BORING.
Ancient Arrow From Norway’s Melting Ice
I’ll be honest: this shit is cool. But also? We have fucked up so bad.
NYC: State of emergency over flooding
“Park Slope, BK”
“worth the $4000”
The NYC flooding this week was wild. It felt like it…just happened? How??
Lego ditches oil-free bricks
Lego tried to replace their oil-based products with something more sustainable, but found the practice to be even worse for the environment. They’re exploring a circular business model (which…duh). (There are enough Legos in the world anyway!!)
Feinstein, California’s longest-serving senator, dies
This is major, in that Dianne – who did do a lot of good and bad – has been at the center of debates on age. Just days ago, a New Yorker cover lampooning aging politicians came out!
Republicans reject funding, shutdown imminent
Welp.
New York judge rules Trump committed fraud
lmao what a loser (but this situation…will probably help him)
"Fox News tried"
"I love everyone who lives in Seattle"
Fox News got piled on this week, by attempting a liberal “Gotcha!” only to get clowned. Also? I was in Seattle earlier this year and was quite charmed. This seems to help solidify that this is the superior Pacific Northwestern city. I think we’re entering a new Seattle renaissance, despite the billionaires.
Trudeau calls praise for Nazi 'embarrassing'
This is such a colossal goof. How embarrassing!!
Getty Changes Tune on AI, Reveals Art Generator
Artists, writers call Congress to ban companies
“meeting summary”
“cringiest AI”
Jony Ive Discussing Mystery With OpenAI
AI round-up, from Getty’s new tool to the AI Day of Action. Also: who has a theory on what the Jony Ive thing could be? An AI smartphone? An AI speaker, a la Alexa? “AI hardware” feels like an oxymoron tho.
The Writers' Strike Is Officially Over
Video Game Actors Vote ‘Yes’ on a Strike
Live Nation to Drop Merch Fees
This week in power to the (creative) people!!
“poorest exec interview”
“equally as bad”
“This is gold”
Linda Yaccarino – Twitter’s CEO – had an awful week, thanks to a talk at Code 2023. Very embarrassing! (Speaking of: no, Elon, having kids isn’t saving the world and, no, don’t bring them to meetings!! Also stay away from the fucking border!!!)
FTC files a massive antitrust suit against Amazon
Please do this to Elon too.
I’m sorry to report this but, as you may have suspected, the kids are dumber now.
If you’ve been on TikTok for the past two weeks, this idea has been a heavy discussion as teachers are coming forward to share their experiences with children over the past decade being under-served and generally not-right. There’s the teacher who talks about how kids are being passed despite not-learning, there’s the teacher who discussed how siblings are teaching siblings, there’s the viral post about 8th graders who can’t spell (which could be because of phones), there are debates about the lack of discipline in schools, and there’s the thought that this has to do with cultural apathy due to exhaustion. The short of it is: everyone – including the children – has lost their minds, but we all know this because we too have lost our minds.
The biggest question here is if any of this is true. The statistics do and don’t back this up, while the reasons are what you do and don’t think: for a subject like reading – which is a big basis of this – a study showed that two-thirds of children don’t read proficiently, while 40% are “essentially non-readers.” Yikes!! Many in the videos are quick to point out that these issues were happening pre-Covid but, naturally, the pandemic did create bigger gaps in learning that haven’t fully been filled. For a system that gets $30 billion dollars a year, the (lack of) returns are alarming as grades are inflated alongside antiquated testing and subjects. Then there are dueling debates – the left believe schools and teachers need more support, the right believes in more school choice – which claw at the system without healing wounds, resulting in suffering students. Who can blame teachers for quitting? It’s all too much, especially in the age of bratty and absentee parents who discontinue education at home.
I think there are two major factors at play, both of which are related, both of which “we know.” The first is most obviously technology. Of course this should be a factor! From Google making it harder for us to retain information to ChatGPT and AI reshaping the education landscape, the minds of the old and young aren’t what they used to be. Even the US Surgeon General has warned of social media’s effects on the brains of kids!! Who has the time and attention for learning? Another thing, which I find both fascinating and disgusting, is how social media and games like Roblox are profiting on a form of neo-child labor, two areas that enable children to “work” under the guise of fun. These ideas have been debated and debated and debated without resolution, making it a very clever elephant in the room: the sacred, carefree time of childhood has been subjected to social media and technology, both of which are traps for work-ism. As Morning Brew so wisely put at the beginning of September, participating in social media is volunteer work for tech corporations. It’s no longer just the parents doing it either: it’s now child’s play.
The other obvious thing? Education might intentionally be degraded to create a population who are easier-to-manipulate, more docile, and more hostile. Intentional or not, the trojan horse of school choice and pruning of “woke” subjects plays into the right’s suppression of independent, progressive thinking. This could be why Trump is seeing a hypothetical uptick among younger voters, as has been pointed out by a very astute TikTok. And, to the point of tech and labor for kids, the GOP is actively paving this road to child labor through policies that relax youth work protections. When we add these contexts to the ongoing issue of school shootings and fentanyl killing children, you see who suffers most: children.
This is the second time this year we’re talking about the problems of kids, which are taking a different form as the back to school season has clearly articulated these problems anew. Of course, these are just the children in school: let’s not forget the ongoing separation of immigrant children from their parents, not to mention how a warming planet endangers their future. The children, out of all of us, have it the worst. If only we could get out of our way to help them!
Delivery Robots Feed Footage to LAPD
A reminder to not trust any robot!! They’re all surveillance!!!
How to Make a Pig Heart Transplant Last
Every pig heart story fascinates me, even though it’s so cool but frightens me.
Ringling is back—without animals
"returning for the first time since 2017"
Do I think this version of the circus is going to succeed? No, especially since Cirque is facing a similar existential crisis. The circus was a product of a specific time, when the exploitation of animals and other’d people was “edgy” media. I don’t think a stunt show will match up! Nor will electric dogs!!
Biden’s dog bites another Secret Service
There are no bad dogs, just dogs who know how to identify different types of cops.
NFL Games On Nickelodeon Have Been A Hit
"NFL + Toy Story"
Disney said “Hold my beer.” to Nickelodeon as far as the framing this brutal, dying sport as something for kids. Again: the kids lose!
Art Institute shut down suddenly
I feel bad for these students! But, unfortunately, this school was a for-profit scam.
Julia Fox Didn’t Want to Be Famous
One of the best writings on (nonfiction) writing this week was a New Yorker interview with Julia Fox.
Dax Shepard, JVN Had Heated Discussion
This is a very interesting story, considering Dax invited JVN on the show to…basically blaspheme them. It’s a very telling representation of the very common queerphobia that simply happens, largely by people who are “just asking questions” or playing devil’s advocate. Who are you actually advocating for?
‘Naked Attraction’ Surges
Full-Frontal Nude Dating Show
While I have not seen it, I am obsessed with the idea of this British show about naked people dating which is growing popular in the US. Seems real weird but I’ll take it over Love Is Blind!
The best museum gift shops
Take this list with a grain of salt, but I am very intrigued. I’m particularly interested in the shop at the Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum!!
Continuous Sidewalk
If you are in Los Angeles, please check out the Fiona Connor show for me. It got extended through October 28 and sees the artist recreate LA sidewalks. Fiona is one of my favorite artists, and seeing works like this honestly makes me a lil emotional <3
APOGEE ISSUE 18 LAUNCH PARTY
And if you’re in NYC? Literary journal Apogee is having a launch party for their latest issue!! Why is this of note? I have a short story in it!! It’s a personal fave, about a woman who is haunted by a house, touching on subjects like gentrification, Airbnb, being first-gen, and ~death~ I’ll link to the story once it’s live!! Apogee is so great and I’m literally so honored 🥲
Poppa Zesque by Josh Caffe
If Prince was queer and from London, you’d have this album by Josh Caffé. It still feels like summer!!
Remember when fashion week was just, like, one week a year? There was a time when that seemed to be “it,” where you’d hear about new clothes and the new clothes you saw were always interesting and special, things you only saw “in the city.” At some point in the aughts – around the time of Devil Wears Prada and most certainly by the time The September Issue came out – fashion turned into more than a week: it was a whole month, where the looks where everywhere from runways ro red carpets. This month then multiplied into scattered weeks out of the year, in multiple cities, for multiple genders and types of persons. Now, it seems, there is a fashion something happening at all times.
And fashion is worse as a result! There’s nothing special about a fashion show anymore and, having to consume so many runways, you start to see clothes as (obviously) disposable, made worse by designers pre-determining (and sucking the joy out of) trends that photocopy of photocopies of designs. This is all I’ve been thinking about with recent runways: the creative director-less presentations by post-Jeremy Scott Moschino and by post-Alessandro Michele Gucci were exercises in exploring the archive while sleeping; new Balmain and new Marni were adorable, but are rip-off variations of Loewe Spring 2023 (which recall everything from Polly Pocket to 1960s Twiggy mini-dresses), while places like Boss (??) attempted edge only to regurgitate old Demna; and the presentations – Sunnei’s live scorecards, AVAVAV’s tardy party, UNDERCOVER’s butterfly houses – were clever but didn’t do much as far as clothes. Unsurprisingly, the biggest breakout moments from fashion month (UGH.) was the drama, from a mouthy bouncer to a fake Ariana Grande to billionaire audiences to Latine identity politics to crashed runways to lost furballs to various interviews with that one TikTok model. This is what we get, in the post-Diet Prada social media drunk fashion world.
We know fashion is a business, we know fashion is entertainment. But isn’t fashion also supposed to be joyful? Or at least interesting? As is the drum I beat every quarter, there is this feeling of fatigue, that things are not special anymore – and it all has to do with there being too much stuff. Availability, accessibility of stuff, yields banality. We literally do not need any more things as the world is glutted by clothes!! And, if you do want new clothes, the idea of “brand new” should be expunged from the mind, as luxuries like cashmere are being thrown away in the resale market. What all of this fashion sells is convenience, kicking down the line, where you can buy a shirt, wear it once, and throw it out. All fashion has become fast fashion. It’s not fun anymore! It’s all work now.
I’ll leave you with thoughts from director Todd Haynes on the state of (queer) cinema, from an interview with Vulture that is certainly a read of the week. While not talking about fashion, his thoughts apply to so most of modern life. It’s less a “What’s the point?” observation and more a sage musing on how creations are no longer sacred, thoughtful or of-value. We have too much! And we’re bored as a result.
I’m not interested in seeing any movie that might have gay content because it has gay content. That in and of itself isn’t enough for me, and there’s so much being made all the time that I always feel like I am oceans behind what’s new. Natasha Lyonne said to me recently, “I don’t like watching new movies because it feels like work. I’m doing my work. I watch old movies for inspiration.” I’m like, “Oh my God, girlfriend, that is so much how I feel.” I admire people who are seeing everything new and there’s great stuff all the time, especially coming out of European cinema or Asian cinema or Latin cinema. But I live in the world of Turner Classic Movies. There’ll be movies every month that have never even been broadcast before. I’m just like, Holy shit. It’s the most remarkable resource.
“boy math is”
“boy math is”
“boy math”
“white math”
“christian math”
“girl math”
“put the arithmetic”
“boy math” was maybe the best (and most brutal) trend of the week. (Also the last image became a meme in its own right.)
“where the hoes at?”
"average juergen teller"
"Who decided Kevin James"
"better not be Kevin James"
“GET HERRR”
“me being embarrassed”
“your computer should realize”
The Kevin James trend was fine. The last two though? Obsessed.
"Baby that bear CLEARED"
“The Bear:”
"hi cutie"
Bears had a big week. Is this Fat Bear Week promo?
“Vivek’s toast”
“that much makeup”
“Christie after saying”
"he saw the accent mark"
Some highlights from the boring second GOP debate. That last one? Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!!! (Also some awful news about Jeb Bush that I have to share.)
"Cardi B talking about her love"
Please watch Cardi B talk about FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. I am OBSESSED. What a queen.
“imagine being her friend”
The best take on Sex And The City I have maybe ever seen. I would have dumped her too!
“humans will be able to live”
This Tweet got absolutely roasted for inserting a single word. Can you guess which one?
"It does just… cut right?"
Yes, I grew up in a glass-fearing home.
“Mind your own business”
I love any and all posts related to Dream’s face.
“schoolëndayen”
I feel like I’ve definitely had this conversation since moving to Europe.
"THE SIZE OF THIS SPIDER"
Happy Halloween! I hate this video.
"the wrong dog yall"
This dog is a FREAK. I love it.
And, finally, my real identity.
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