Why are the music charts full of old songs?
someone put on Mr. Brightside, please The UK music charts are full of old artists right now, featuring everyone from Oasis to Michael Jackson to The Goo Goo Dolls. It seems Gen Z is consuming youth culture from the twentieth century as if it were contemporary, leaving pop music in...
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sweeney sports meltdown + sheeran drops macklemore
Same shit, less denim Sydney Sweeney has pissed people off again, which means two things: 1) she got nude, and 2) I get to spend the morning looking at the photos – for research purposes. The latest brand to discover Sweeney’s uncanny ability to wind up half the internet is Novig,...
Gen Z’s skills seem to be on the decline…but why?
According to the latest data from the OECD’s 2025 PISA report, Gen Z’s academic skills are falling behind, with literacy, mathematics, and science skills all underdeveloped compared to students from ten years ago. What’s causing the change? New research suggests that Gen Z is struggling to develop basic academic skills...
AI agents are heisting + influencers are hot on uncontacted tribes
You can’t park there mate Aren’t AI agents supposed to be doing ‘deep work’ for those of us who’re either lazy or intuitive, depending on who you ask? Well, it turns out they may also tend to procrastinate, and though they aren’t mincing around coffee machines in actual offices, they still...
Is Gen Z running out of friends?
New research in the UK has found that young people are now five times more likely to have ‘no close friendships’ compared to 2014. Experts believe it is a mix of austerity, economic hardship, TikTok, and a loss of self-esteem that has caused a perfect storm of isolation. What...
dystopian sports betting farms + gta gooners run riot online
the beautiful game, it aint There are certain things you stumble on when mindlessly scrolling that are so dystopian you assume they’re either made up for engagement or grossly exaggerated. Sports betting farms were that for me. In a curtained-off gym or warehouse, four young blokes are playing a two vs two...
Did Meta fail to protect Gen Z?
here’s to a better Meta (supposedly) Mark Zuckerberg’s tech firm Meta - the owners of Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook - has agreed on an $18 billion USD settlement to resolve claims that its platforms actively harmed children. Was it right to do so? Meta, the tech company that owns Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, has agreed to an $18 billion USD settlement with US states and territories, resolving claims that its platforms have...
£29bn of oil, £336bn of damage + Cat in the Hat stalkers
deal or no deal? I didn’t want to read about it, you don’t want to read about it, but it’s the biggest news of the week. So let’s bathe in existential dread together. Doomscrolling is all 2000-and-late, but occasionally we have to bear witness. Climate change is among the sorest of subjects for younger folk, because we feel basically helpless to have any bearing on the situation. We spent our adolescent energy...
Does ‘nickel-and-diming’ make Gen Z stingy?
‘I’m bad at maths, let’s just split it three ways!’ After a delayed train you rock up later than your pals to the bar, and see everyone is already tucking into posh burgers with added Canadian bacon. Having had a hearty breakfast, you opt for a handful of mozzarella sticks and a simple pint. Before wrapping up, you return to the table after a quick trip to the urinal and see...
looksmaxxing wasn’t so toxic? + doing better for kid stars
When did ‘we’re gonna make it, brah’ become ‘you’re chopped’? This isn’t what Zyzz wanted for us. There are certain historical figures whose importance only becomes apparent years after their death. Van Gogh. Kafka. That bloke from the ‘Succulent Chinese Meal’ video. I’m throwing Aziz Shavershian, known to everyone other than his mother as Zyzz, in that list. Before the term looksmaxxing had any online traction, the Australian bodybuilder was the...
