๐ I donโt want to talk about Taylor Swift and Matty Healy ๐
But I DO want to talk about the news (and Speak Now Taylor's Version) ๐
Holy shit - WELCOME to the few thousand new newsy readers who signed up through our Instagram story on the day of the Met Gala! Iโm sorry it took so long for me to add you, but since your details land in the question box on insta, I literally have to go through and type them ALL out individually and add them here (a true labour of love!) This weekend I sat at my laptop for three hours doing this, blurry-eyed and squinting by the end of all that data entry, but so glad youโre here (and please stick around!!!)
By way of intro, Iโm Luce - I write this newsletter for ALL OF YOU from Monday-Thursday, and in it, you can expect a round-up of pop culture, headlines from around the world, internet-y things, and whoever Iโm crushing on at the moment.
You can also expect to hear from Bel, who โChimes Inโ every Wednesday with softcore philosophy and cute musings on life, and Laura, who writes our โShit You Should Cook Aboutโ column every Thursday and helps people who hate cooking (me) actually do it (and even enjoy it.)
And if youโve decided to pay for the media you love and become a SYSCA supporter, you can also expect:
Membership to our monthly book club ๐Shit You Should Read About๐ (starting in June)
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My Friday โdiary entryโ where I let you into my soul/ all my embarro thoughts
Belโs Sunday newsy ๐No News Is Good News๐ where she talks about all the cute things in this world that ARENโT news
Access to supporter-only competitions (weโve given away 1975 tickets, Rupi Kaur tickets, a signed Lorde poster, a box of Harry Styles goodiesโฆ) and have more competitions to come each month!
Other cute subscriber-only chats
The knowledge you're keeping the SYSCA Universe alive ๐ฅบ
Now, on with the show!
We need your breakup stories AGAIN
The Coronashe happened
Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency
Some fucking horrible events have happened in Texas
I donโt want to talk about Taylor Swift and Matty Healy, but I do want to talk about Speak Now (Taylorโs Version)
Todayโs mundane poll: What's your fave Taylor Swift album?
We need your breakup stories AGAIN
We're starting to plan the second half of our podcast series 'Own the feels' so we need your stories again!
This time around we're looking for some specific stories from you about:
Situationship breakups
Online breakups
Feeling shame in a breakup
The lessons you learnt from your first breakup
Make them as detailed as poss and leave em on the form below - love you!!!
The Coronashe happened ๐
And no I did not watch it. Rubes made a really good point the other day about why we donโt give a shit about the royals (apart from the obvious) but all weโve EVER known about them is controversy/ bad stuff. We werenโt born when Diana died, but knew of all the controversies surrounding it, we saw how they treated Meghan Markle and Harry when they did that HORRIBLE thing (what was it? Oh, going to live their lives!), Kate and William have given us nothing much except a couple of kids and some pegging allegations, and I think weโre allllll just straight-up disgusted in Prince Andrew.
Even though I didnโt watch it, naturally I couldnโt escape seeing it all over social media (I scrolled past so many TikTok Liveโs of it which just feltโฆ mind bending.) I saw that Katy Perry couldnโt find her seat, Prince Andrew had the honour of wearing full royal robes while Prince Harry wore a suit (all because he moved to the US, remember), and every shot of King Charlesโs hands made me have to look away because those fingers look SORE.
The only person I know who actually did watch it was Dunc, and since Iโm always trying to be soooooo objective in these newsies I thought Iโd put his POV in here as to why he watched:
Did you read Nick Caveโs quote about why he was there? Thatโs also why I watched. I guess it was weirdly thrilling, because it was so unlike anything you ever see on TV or any other screen. Everything on screen was assembled according to centuriesโ old tradition, and many of the people in the key roles have been doing these weird jobs even as the world has radically evolved. Iโm not here to defend any aspect of the institution, but to watch it was just as strange and eerie as I had hoped. Also the whole presentation was bonkers - no ads, almost no commentary about from some occasional near-inaudible over-reverent mumbling. You zone out and fixate on little rebellions, like the horse that couldnโt stand still, the boy with the massive afro or when Charlotte picked her nose. The lady who held the heavy sword up for about four hours was my personal hero. Really odd night, Iโll definitely do it again in 30 years or so, by which time, unfortunately, I will look as old and confused as Charles did on his big night.
Speaking of Corona, itโs no longer a global health emergency!
Get it? Corona-tion, corona-virus? My writing might not be too strong today as I am watching the Miami GP as Iโm writing this for you (priorities!) BUT, I did read over the weekend that the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Covid-19 no longer represents a "global health emergency".
This comes three years (can you believe that) after it was declared a pandemic, and even though we have this big new declaration, it doesnโt mean we can forget about our immune-compromised buddies who still need us to look out for them!
Some fucking horrible events have happened in Texas
Content warning: Gun violence, death
Gunman kills eight people in Texas shopping centre
Itโs not very often that we go a week without talking about some sort of mass shooting in the US in this newsy, and todayโs incident is as horrible as the rest. On Saturday, a gunman shot and killed eight people, including children, at a shopping mall north of Dallas.
Adding to the horror of this event is that as I was scrolling through Twitter in the weekend, I saw a video of the aftermath, including dead bodies (in detail that I will not describe) because Elon has decided to fire all the moderators on that website, making it an incredibly unsafe place to be.
And I donโt think I even need to remind us all that this comes no more than a week after five people were killed in a Texas home by a suspect with an AR-15-style rifle.
A little refresher about gun laws in Texas:
โMost adults aged 21 or over in Texas are allowed to carry a handgun without a licence, unless they have a previous conviction. In addition, there are few restrictions on possession of rifles and shotguns. Republicans control the Texas state legislature.โ
And in other Texas news: At least 7 people have been killed after a car drove into a crowd in a Texas border town
Just this morning, a car drove into a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop in Brownsville, Texas, killing seven of them, and injuring up to six others.
This is a breaking story, and itโs not clear whether it was intentional, but the driver of the vehicle has been charged with reckless driving.
I donโt want to talk about Taylor Swift and Matty Healy, but I do want to talk about Speak Now (Taylorโs Version)
Tough weekend to be online if youโre a 1975 OR Taylor Swift fan, and as much as I appreciate you all keeping me in the loop, EVERY TAG, EVERY MESSAGE, HURT. I donโt really want to talk about those dating rumours (why canโt we just leave Taylor alone!!!) but all I will say is that I donโt for a second believe them. Matty was at the show because heโs Phoebe Bridgersโ bestie (she opened for Taylor and Matty played with her one night), because he and Taylor are longtime friends (maybe they dated once before? whoโs to knowโฆ), AND because he loves to commit to a bit (the man loves attention.) And also, them mouthing the same things on stage was either to take us for a riiiiide, or for one of Mattyโs ATPOAIM films (iykyk.) Or maybe Iโm in denial. But enough about thatโฆ.
WEโRE GETTING SPEAK NOW TAYLORโS VERSION ON JULY 7TH!
Huge for fans of Taylorโs country stuff (ME!!!) Speak Now was the first album miss girl FULLY wrote herself, it has my fave song of ALL time of hers (Long Live) and honestly, I just couldnโt be more excited about it - just LOOK at this announcement:
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Iโm also LOLING at this email that I got about the Sky Tower in Auckland being purple, not for the Kings Coronashe, but for Speak Now TV:
โI have the funniest story from this past weekend to tell you! So I was up in Auckland this weekend to visit a friend for the night and we were out on the viaduct on a Saturday admiring the Sky Tower all lit up purple, at the time not really thinking too much of it. The next morning at a hilariously dusty brunch I get a text from my older sister in all capitals very excitedly saying the sky tower was purple to celebrate Taylor Swift announcing Speak Now (Taylorโs Version)! I text back that the Sky City team must be major Swifties. Then on the drive back home Iโm on the phone to my mom, telling her about the purple sky tower for Taylor and she laughs right at me saying it was purple for the coronation.โ
Honestly, only Taylor Swift could announce something more culturally significant than the conronashe and steal its glory ๐
Todayโs mundane poll:
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can't think of a more enjoyable way to be up to date with the world. thanks for writing this for us, bestie! x
I think Iโm like the only person who likes Matty and Taylor together! They seem to oddly balance each other, and still share some things in common. Regardless if the rumors are true, I hope they are happy (whether it be together or separately)!