"Return of the Links (once again!)" 🎵
Hi kittens, here is your latest batch of links to help stave off the Sunday Scaries and to welcome in October. I’m so pleased fall is here (even if there are still randomly too-warm days still flaring up here in London); it’s unquestionably the best time of year.
One of my favourite writers, whom I have not featured in yonks, returns to the Links List! There is a noticeable uptick in think pieces and cultural pearl clutching around marriage of late, have you noticed? Coming from a Mormon background, this of course hit way too close to home and I have a lot of thoughts on the topic. Luckily, once again Rebecaa Traister was on the case.
Simultaneous to this I’ve also noted a definite uptick in admonishments to almost exclusively women to “lower their expectations” around potential mates. I find this deeply sinister, if in a creeping sort of way. Male loneliness and angst is a very real problem, one we should take seriously and with more empathy than is often shown. But as usual, this issue is being reframed in real time as women’s problem to solve, or a result of their behaviour. As if it’s a reasonable expectation for women to sacrifice their independence, autonomy, safety, ambitions or other attributes to make men feel better and powerful. In other words, it’s asking women to uphold patriarchy in exchange…for what?
Okay, circling back. Speaking of Mormonism and our wacky cousins and offshoots, this photo essay from the New York Times on the “lost boys” of Short Creek is beautifully shot and doesn’t feel exploitative at all.
Remember NFTs? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I may have to do a video or full piece on this but I inhaled The Kingdom of Prep by Maggie Bullock, and longtime readers won’t be surprised. My love for J. Crew and subsequent disappointment with it as a brand and clothing house is well documented, so of course a deep dive on the topic was going to hit my sweet spot. But beyond the surface, it’s a pretty compelling tale of personalities, aesthetics, changing market forces, and consumer behaviours which I think is worth a read if you are at all interested in the business of brand or fashion. If you can’t commit to a full book, try her piece in Vanity Fair.
And since I have recommended a “shopping” adjacent read, here’s a counter piece from British Vogue on the staggering amount of waste in the fashion industry.
My meme loving heart loves a wacky alien story. My media literacy brain begs you to read this explainer on the weirdness of the summer.
I have my beefs with Senator Romney—a lot of them—but I also have applauded many of his actions and decisions as a person in public life as well. He doesn’t really have a home in the political party he is desperate to serve and once hoped to lead—a metaphor for a lot of things, in my opinion note least of all the wider Mormon movement. McKay Coppins at The Atlantic has released an excerpt of his biography of the man which I found more compelling than I was expecting.
Another Atlantic recommendation, my well-beloved Amanda Mull says the re-emergence of the ballet flat means millennials have lost their grip on fashion. Um, excuse me? Some of us NEVER stopped wearing them, thanks!
More favourite writers for you. If you aren’t following Anne Helen Petersen on Instagram, you are missing out on her regular TikTok archeology. Her latest on That Guy had me in stiches!
Goddamnit it, kids! Do better!
And finally, Dan Olson has dropped yet another feature-length film about the esoteric, weird subcultures of the internet, and how they are actually affecting us in politics, economics and culture. He really has developed the most deft touch of decoding and unravelling hyper-convoluted ideas and groups and laying them bare to scrutiny…but also empathy. It’s wildly talented. This time he is tackling memestocks and the layers of meaning and ambition, hope and rage that they embody. Fix yourself something nice to eat or drink, clear your evening, and dive in.
