Are small plates a scam?
I can’t help but wonder whether London’s most fashionable way to eat is leaving us full of regret and not much else. In London’s ever-expanding constellation of small plates restaurants, you’re not really here to eat. You’re here to experience. To share. To marvel at the micro greens. To spend...
Current in Culture
Is it wrong to monetise our pain?
Shakira is back from her musical hiatus, and while her new album is intended as empowering, it forces us to question whether the monetisation of our pain makes our suffering more or less valuable. Colombian singer known mononymously as Shakira is back on the scene and our screens. After a self-professed...
Sidemen launch venture capital firm called Upside VC
The UK’s biggest YouTube group The Sidemen have launched a new venture capital firm called Upside VC that will reportedly support tech startups. The YouTube collective The Sidemen have announced that they are launching a venture capital firm that will support consumer tech startups. Called Upside VC, this new firm...
Are ‘divine feminine influencers’ actually anti-feminist?
Social media loves a good portion of cosplay. First, it was 50s family values, and now we are back in ancient times. Do you remember tradwives? The familiar soft voices and long dresses are back. This time, though, the kitchen has been swapped by nature, adhering to mostly Western influencers'...
Giant bronze statue in Times Square sparks controversy
A 12-foot tall bronze sculpture of a young Black woman has been placed in times square. It seems the public has completely missed the message that its artist hoped to convey. On April 29th, a statue called Grounded in the Stars was placed in the middle of Times Square...
Why are we conflating our jobs with our identities?
All work leaves no room for self. So how do we separate our careers from our lives? If you took away your Slack status, your email signature, or your LinkedIn profile, how would you define yourself? In other words, do you know who you are without your career? Whenever I meet...
The fatalism of the ‘lucky girl syndrome’ trend
The autonomous-less fatalism of the 'lucky girl syndrome' trope joins the long list of individualising and infantilising trends adopted by privileged women who present themselves as too incompetent and irrational to engage critically with intellectualism, politics, or financial responsibility. Whether you’re willing to admit it, or (like me) you’re not, many of us have little things we habitually do to try and avoid bad things happening to us. For instance, you’ll...
Podcast industry revenue over double previous estimates
As a global format, the podcast industry reportedly surpassed $7.3 billion USD in revenue last year. The sector is now twice as large as previous estimates initially suggested. Do you listen to podcasts regularly? It seems like many of us gravitate toward long-form audio content, as podcasting has now been found to generate over $7.3 billion USD in revenue per year, according to research firm Owl & Co. This means...
Opinion – Do we really need another biopic?
From the Beatles to Anthony Bourdain, nobody is safe from the biopic treatment. It’s the symptom of a creative industry high on nostalgia and low on imagination. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood came for Anthony Bourdain. The man who made a career of evading easy categorisation (chef, anti-celebrity, philosopher of the palate) has now been posthumously slotted into what is arguably the most reductive genre:...
Why is Gen Z turning to religion?
In the face of digital disconnection, faith is emerging as an unlikely refuge for today’s young people. You’d be forgiven for assuming Gen Z might be the most secular cohort in modern history. They’re famously left-leaning in their politics, fly in the face of many traditional values surrounding marriage and child-rearing, and have also become a generation staunchly aligned with environmental concerns (the inherently scientific nature of these issues sitting...
