tiktok chip shop starts neighbourhood war + gen z loves… socialism?
salt? vinegar? lawsuit? The crime scene is littered with gulls, squashed potato, and parmesan. The latest civic disaster in a usually easy-breezy Amsterdam has begun over cones of chips, and locals are desperately trying to drive away tourists like fruit flies from a bowl of strawberries. At the heart of ground zero...
Current in The Common Thred
ai music’s guilty pleasure + sports’ geopolitical reckoning
mace windu fell out of a window (yeah). where did he go? It’s been a week, and I can’t get Anakin’s smooth buttery voice out of my head. Turns out I’m not alone. Millions are feeling the pull of the dark side – or AI, if you prefer. Music videos featuring Anakin...
stanford prison experiment rebooted + ozempic equals divorce?
chow time, maggots One of the most notorious practical disasters ever in the history of psychological study. Fuck it, let’s do it again… but for Netflix. If you’ve studied either criminology or psychology in any capacity, you’ll no doubt have heard about the Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971. While teaching...
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,...
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...
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...
£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...
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...
social change comedown + gen z go mute
right here, right now! or whenever… I ain’t gluing myself to Oxford Street or throwing orange paint at the Lamborghini dealership. I’ve got bills to pay. Remember in the late 2010s when Gen Z was synonymous with social change, a broad catch-all term encapsulating the desire for a more equitable and just world? In 2026, that link has become tenuous at best, and you’re more likely to associate the cohort with...
gen z scale back socialising + ariana grande quits public life
thank u, next If your weekend plans involve anything more expensive than a stroll around a National Trust park, chances are your Gen Z chums will mentally run the numbers the second you pop up in the group chat. ‘Will I still be a reasonable level of skint come Monday?’ Given the cohort is synonymous with moderation on just about everything, whether it’s sex, alcohol, or nights out – anything but...
