The rage bait economy is officially a public safety issue
Controversial streamer βChud the Builderβ has been charged with attempted murder after a heated altercation with a stranger ended in a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse. If Dalton Eatherly, better known online as βChud the Builder,β has somehow escaped your feed, consider yourself lucky. His brand of rage bait is...
Current in Culture
Is Gen Zβs obsession with ‘mogging’ becoming toxic?
Gen Z streamers have brought βmoggingβ into the everyday vernacular of young people. Is the trend dumb and fleeting, or does it have the potential to cause lasting harm? If your algorithm isnβt full of streamers in their early 20s telling people theyβre βlow-key choppedβ, consider yourself lucky. Iβve clearly lingered...
AI will not be winning any Oscars
As artificial intelligence continues to threaten intellectual property, the announcement is a sigh of relief for those working in the creative industries.Β The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has clarified that only acting and writing for films done by humans will be considered eligible to win an...
Where are all the women on the Times βBest-ofβ list?
A list of the 25 best non-fiction books of the century has sparked debate after it featured just eight female writers.Β A gender disparity in the Sunday Times list of the 25 best non-fiction books of the century has stirred up a gender debate, after it listed only eight...
Michael Jackson biopic shows how far fans will go to protect an idol
A critical bomb but a commercial success, the new Michael Jackson biopic proves fans will do anything to preserve a dream of their idols. There is an absence at the heart of Michael, the new biopic charting the rise of Michael Jackson. And it doesnβt take a forensic specialist...
Jeremy Kyle and the politics of poverty
Television in the 2000βs and early 2010βs had βiconicβ shows like The Jermey Kyle Show and Fat Families, but were these truly a reflection of social transformation by Third Way politics? Older Gen Z or βZillennialsβ may remember watching daytime television on their old boxy TVβs, enjoying classics like...
Why is Andrew Tate #1 on Substack?
Manosphere figurehead and notorious misogynist Andrew Tate has the #1 bestseller spot on Substack this week. Is the platform at risk of becoming as toxic as every other social media platform?Β Andrew Tate has found his way onto Substack. The long-form essay sharing platform (where we publish The Common Thred and The Gen Zer every week) is mostly used by progressive, creative types and has built a reputation for...
Young Africans are creating comics that reflect their culture using AI
While the Global North debates AI ethics, young Africans are using it to tell stories rooted in their own cultures. In the Global North, whether AI use can ever be considered ethical in creative spaces is becoming a gray area. But for many Africans, the conversation is shifting away from who owns what and more about access and opportunities for creative expression. At the heart of it all is Kelele...
Is the Therian trend actually about rejecting modern life?
From TikTok Howls to dark academia, the Therian trend might look like just another online craze. But what if itβs really about rejecting the pressures of modern life and capitalism itself. As an English person living in Colombia, it can sometimes feel like certain trends - or at least, niche corners of the internet - take a while to gain the same traction that they would in the UK or...
What Love Is Blind US reveals about the politics of fitness
Countless studies cite a correlation between gym-going and conservative ideology. So when did exercise get so political?Β On the most recent US season of Love is Blind, a gym-obsessed contestant named Chris told his new fiancΓ©e Jess that he wasnβt physically attracted to her. This revelation would be abhorrently hurtful in any case, but Chrisβ reasoning was what most shocked viewers: he didnβt fancy Jess because she didnβt βdo pilates...
