I know I said I wanted space, but not nine months up here!
+ Julian Baker and Lucy Dacus are official, and Instagram is testing AI generated comments so now the trolls don't even have to think of their own stupid things to say...
Hi babies!! Lol big week of Luce being in everyone’s faces this week, but I was featured in this week’s edish of Salient, which is my old uni mag!! It’s super 90s and cute, and it’s also funny because back in the day Salient wouldn’t hire me. Life comes at you fast huh?
My flatmates and I also started watching ‘Adolescence’ last night after seeing praise for it EVERYWHERE and holy shit. I’m so interested in a show about how young boys get red-pilled in the comfort of their own homes, literally under other family members’ noses.
OMG also, look at Abby turning my handwriting into a font!! It’s so sick!!
Love you so much, enjoy the newsy xxx
'Stranded astronauts' Butch and Suni set to begin journey home
Not sure I’d call nine months stuck in space ‘epic’ like the BBC did (actually, now that I’ve thought about the actual definish of the word, maybe I would), but we have some actual good news today: Butch and Suni - the NASA astronauts who’ve been stuck in space for the past nine months, are set to return home!
In case you missed it, Suni and Butch were supposed to be on the International Space Station (ISS) for eight days, but ended up being there for nine months after the spacecraft they arrived on had some technical difficulties.
The pair are travelling back to Earth in a SpaceX capsule, and it hasn’t yet happened at the time of writing but I’ll keep you updated.
Actually, live updates here, because I feel like things will happen while I’m sleeping (I’m writing this the night before you receive it.)
Mōrena bookies!!
here to let you know we announced our April book pick to give our members plenty of time to purchase/borrow from their local library and we are so excited to start it!! The winning book of our poll, voted by our cute book club members was I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, a dystopian novel where thirty-nine women and a girl are being held prisoner in a cage underground by male guards who never speak to them… sounds COOKED.
If you want to stay up to date with our book club picks, have a BTS look at what Luce and I read in our spare time and see the silly book memes we’re giggling at, follow the Shit You Should Read About Instagram account! (Go comment a book emoji on our latest post so I can say hi hehe)
Happy reading, Abby xx
Instagram Experiments With AI-Generated Comments on Posts
Wait… so now trolls don’t even have to think before they comment some unoriginal version of ‘this isn’t shit you should care about”???? Seems insane that META would want to do this, but it’s META so I’m kinda unsurprised that they’re now testing out AI comments on IG.
Some users have seen this feature:
As you can see, shared by app researcher Jonah Manzano, “some IG users are now seeing a “pencil with a star” icon next to the comments field when you go to post a comment, which, when tapped, then generates a list of possible comments that you could make on a video or image.”
Hate it. Hate it all.
We got confirmation of Lucy Dacus and Julian Baker’s relationship
I don’t care if you don’t care. I do. And I know this will be interesting to a select few boygenius fans in the audience, so this is for you xxx
In a profile of Lucy in The New Yorker, we learn this:
“This spring, Dacus, who is twenty-nine, will release “Forever Is a Feeling,” her fourth solo record. It’s a gorgeous and tender album about falling in love—Dacus is now in a committed relationship with Baker—and how the tumult of that experience has forced her to reckon with the unknown.”
Dacus and Baker have mostly kept their relationship private. Dacus didn’t want to hide it, exactly, and anyone who pays attention to her new lyrics could probably piece it together, but she was still working out just how much she wanted to disclose into my little recording machine. Boygenius has an unusually fervent and engaged fan base—perhaps because the band became very popular during the pandemic, when parasocial relationships were all we had, or perhaps because they make confessional music about intimate entanglements among various genders, which can be rare to find in popular music. In recent years, the scrutiny has become intense. There are long and detailed discussion threads online, speculating about the romance between Dacus and Baker. Dacus said that her followers have been respectful of her boundaries, but “it only takes a handful to make your life feel like a really easily threatened thing.” Then she added, “I’ve been practicing not reinforcing that narrative to myself.”
I told Dacus that I might not have asked about her love life if it weren’t so plainly central to the songs. “It’s been interesting, because I want to protect what is precious in my life, but also to be honest, and make art that’s true,” she said. “I think maybe a part of it is just trusting that it’s not at risk.” She paused. “Maybe a healthier way to think about it is that it’s not actually fragile. These songs are about different people. But, you know, ‘Most Wanted Man in West Tennessee’—what are you gonna do?” (Baker was born and brought up outside Memphis.)”
Also, I relate to this SO HARD:
“Dacus said that she has only ever found romantic love with friends or collaborators. “How are you doing romance without friendship?” she said, laughing. “I can’t imagine. That feels so hollow. It makes me feel ill! Someone that’s not my friend? Are you serious? Almost every relationship I have been in, we’ve had some business or creative dealings. I don’t mean this just sexually, but it turns me on.” She went on, “To have your minds meet on something, and be, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you said what I couldn’t say. I love your mind.’ ”
Also, keen for her new album. Long live the boys x
Order our book Make It Make Sense here!
Join our Book Club here!
Become a Close Friend on Instagram here!
Support the independent media you love by becoming a paid supporter here!
PS, if you wanna chat to me about anything I’ve written today, your latest crush, or if you just want a pen pal, reply to this email and we can be friends 𓆩♡𓆪
