Latest Stories from Charlie
noughties celebrity ‘lad’ culture faces reckoning + Instagram pays for long-form content
it’s always the ones you most expect TW: This article contains comments and references to sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised! It’s been a big, revelatory week for celebrity culture in the UK. On Monday, comedian and actor Russell Brand was sentenced to over ten years in jail for rape and sexual assault offences, with additional allegations currently being investigated by police. One day later, a major article and documentary regarding...
Is TikTok shaping Gen Z’s eating habits with new ‘Must Eat’ feature?
TikTok is launching a new feature that will help users easily identify places to eat in big cities. The move is indicative of a wider shift toward algorithms and AI for recommendations, rather than traditional SEO-based searches. I’ll take the chef special with a side of doom scrolling Feeling peckish? Unsure where to eat? Visiting a city and need somewhere to start? Rather than turning to Google, Gen Zers are increasingly...
homeless Halloween costume controversy + spiders might have dreams?
Martha Stewart dressing up as a homeless person for Halloween…what could go wrong? If I asked you to think of an effective awareness campaign for homelessness, what would you suggest? I’m guessing you probably wouldn’t put multimillionaire Martha Stewart in a fake, homeless Halloween outfit, with a sign that reads ‘I am hungry, help me!’ and post it all over Instagram. Yet, despite the obvious and easy approach of simply *not*...
We spoke to Gen Z… here’s what they really think of AI
We came together with Next-Gen Media (NGM) to explore how young people are using AI and what they really think about its growing influence. Most of us are using AI in our working lives in some way, whether it be to plan workflows, manage projects, schedule meetings, or even generate images and press releases. With AI tools evolving rapidly, we’ve seen a media frenzy about its usage and consequences...
Gen Z is bringing medieval culture back
RIP William the Conqueror, you’d have loved Lime bikes From Lime bike jousting to tapestry touring, Gen Z seems hungry for third spaces, cultural enrichment, and a fashion refresh. Are medieval times the answer? Yes, you heard it here first: the Middle Ages are back…well, some aspects of it are, anyway, rampant disease and devastating famine aside. Gen Z appears to be embracing a new wave of fashion, music, and pastimes that...
Ethan Klein cheats on his wife + Binface to clean up space
no more Mr. Wife guy (allegedly, anyway) For the chronically online Gen Zers and younger millennials amongst us (I know you’re out there, don’t deny it), it’s been an intense week. One of the pioneering channels of the modern commentary YouTube scene, H3H3, abruptly announced it was placing its popular podcast on an ‘indefinite hiatus’ amid allegations that its leading man, Ethan Klein, has been having a six-month affair. Announced...
Has social media killed clubbing?
man don’t dance (though man would secretly like to) A recent study has found that almost half of all Gen Zers say they ‘skip dancing’ to avoid being filmed and posted online without their consent. Have TikTok, online virality, and the normalising of filming strangers in public ruined our spontaneity? Do you ever hit the dance floor at the club? Or are you more inclined to sit on the sidelines, vodka-coke...
Is Gen Z bringing back the office cubicle?
let’s discuss by the water cooler Open-plan offices used to be the standard, expected approach for modern companies that wanted to encourage collaboration. Now, as Gen Z steadily floods the workplace, some are asking for a return to cubicles to regain their privacy and better balance themselves. If you’re employed in a big, corporate office, chances are you work in an (at least partly) open-plan space. We’re talking laptops, massive shared desks,...
Megan Thee Stallion partners with Gymshark in new campaign
A week after Shane Gillis’ controversial SNL monologue, Gymshark has announced its first celebrity ambassador, Megan Thee Stallion, as part of a new fitness campaign. Rapper Megan Thee Stallion has partnered with Gymshark as part of a new fitness campaign called ‘Megan Does Gym.’ This new marketing push includes a ton of photographs and video shot by Jack Bridgland, with Megan training alongside women from the fitness community. She leads...
Why is Gen Z flocking to historic places and heritage sites?
The National Trust has reported that young people are signing up for new memberships at an exponential rate, with over 50,000 joining last year, a growth of 26% over 2024. What’s causing this growth? More Gen Zers are taking an interest in The National Trust, new data shows. The UK conservation charity says that the number of young people signing up for memberships (which require a donation of £4.20 per month)...
