Inflation, Explained 🤑
Hi!!!! Just me popping in to tell you that Liv's Culture Vulture newsy is gonna slap this Saturday - it's got her interview with Joy Crookes, AND it's got her musings on separating the art and the artist (also, I write about Kid Cudi being pelted with bottles, and find a way to slide in an incredible Simpsons reference.) You're truly not going to want to miss this one, and to access it you just gotta be a ✨SYSCA supporter✨
An even earlier start than usual today - my flatmate Hayden and I both got up at 4:45 to buy a pair of sneakers as soon as they dropped (this is very uncharacteristic for both of us) only to find out we've had to enter a draw and will be notified tomorrow if we're successful - so it was all a bit of an anti-climax really!!
On another note, my foray into TikTok has been... something (but if you follow it you get a room reveal and possibly a bit more insight into my life) AND it's great because now you can tag me in vids!!! Like this one, where a student abbreviated analysis to anal (one of my longtime fave jokes with Liv.)
PS, Squish and I are back in your ears with a normal (well... are they ever normal?) episode of The Shit Show this week, all about inflashe, recessesh, and all those other mystifying money terms. Please listen, we will make you feel ok about it all 🥺🥺
PPS, Liv's Culture Vulture newsy is gonna slap this Saturday - it's got her interview with Joy Crookes, AND it's got her musings on separating the art and the artist (also, I write about Kid Cudi being pelted with bottles, and find a way to slide in an incredible Simpsons reference.) You're truly not going to want to miss this one, and to access it you just gotta be a ✨SYSCA supporter✨
The US are trying to strike a deal to get Brittney Griner home
'Inflation' and 'Recession,' Explained
Is Sydney Sweeney Gen Z’s Answer To Tom Brady?
AGAINST SWIMSUITS: All of them
It's Friday, so you get... horoscopes
Britney Spears Reportedly Records 'Tiny Dancer' Duet with Elton John
The US are trying to strike a deal to get Brittney Griner home
So the latest in Brittney Griner’s story (you know, the amazayn basketball player who has been unfairly detained in Russia?) is that the Biden administration have offered a deal to Russia to try and bring her home. The deal, which was apparently offered weeks ago, looks to bring home both Brittney and another jailed American, ex-US marine Paul Whelan. On their end of the deal, the US has offered to ‘exchange’ Viktor Bout, who’s a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence.
The way this sounds (and is) feels super icky. It’s literally talking about swapping and exchanging people as if they’re goods/ commodities/ pawns in a game (certainly not the first time we've treated human beings like this, but alas.) I guess it’s good to know that something is happening. but as per, I’ll keep you updated.
'Inflation' & 'Recession,' Explained
YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO THIS! — open.spotify.com
Squish and I are back to explain to you some more incredibly complex concepts in some incredibly simple ways - this week we're all about inflation! What is it? How did we get here? Should I be worried? Your questions are answered in this week's episode of The Shit Show!
Is Sydney Sweeney Gen Z’s Answer To Tom Brady?
I love a low-stakes news story on a Friday, and this report in Gawker (where else?) about the similarities between Sydney Sweeney and Tom Brady is today’s snack. What similarities you ask? Well, the most compelling similarity of the whole piece is that strikingly, none of them have tried coffee. Not even a TASTE! That’s pretty buzzy to me. You can read the rest here, but it’s all just kind of a reach if I’m honest.
AGAINST SWIMSUITS: All of them
Another Gawker piece but one that I am OBSESSED WITH!!!! Again - rather low stakes - but also… this piece makes points. We, as a society, are in the pockets of Big Swimsuit. Who told us that we needed specific pieces of fabric to dictate what's ok to wear in the water? (Does anyone else remember the ‘undies, undies, TOGS’ ad?)
On bikinis:
“Let’s start with the obvious: the glaring deficiencies of the actually existing bathing suit. Most bikinis are not really made for swimming. Every year, you see groups of girls timidly venturing out into the surf, holding their tops and adjusting their bottoms with every passing swell. This is not because women are naturally subject to some poltroonish fear of the sea. It is because the construction of most bikinis is too flimsy to allow aggressive engagement with the water unless you are clutching your tits.”
On one-pieces:
“One-pieces have their own set of problems. The drying fabric clings to your stomach unpleasantly, they are annoying to pee in, and most are still cut either right up to or well over the line of the crotch. You can make sure you are always shaved or waxed before stepping out in your suit, or you can decide that society’s standards are at fault and treat the whole issue with blithe unconcern. But I maintain that you should neither have to commit to a fiddly shave job nor embrace a full scale 1970s child of nature philosophy in order to swim. Don’t even suggest a skirtini, which drag too much in the water, and feel like a concession to the kind of tedious modesty blogger who will be leveraging her exvangelical journey into a boutique consulting firm in three years.”
And in sum:
“All varieties of swimsuits share a fundamental problem: they make you think about your body and its relation to clothes. They make you actively maintain the equilibrium of that relationship. But the sea (or its lesser manifestations) is not where you go to check your halter top or pull down fabric over your crotch. It is where you go to fling yourself into the currents and waves and let all sense of the individual body and its burdens dissolve into the glorious waters from whence we came.”
Love all of this!
It's Friday, so you get... horoscopes
Here!!
My one says: "This new moon hits the "Like" button on your latest digital interests as well: Dive into the tutorial for a new piece of software, start developing an online venture, shop around for technology that will make your life run with greater ease" and I can't help but think it's talking about me trying to use TikTok. Horoscopes, they really do know us.
Britney Spears Reportedly Records 'Tiny Dancer' Duet with Elton John
I feel like this whole story is in the headline, but it really deserved its own space to shine in the newsy! According to Page Six, Britney and Elton got together to record a duet of his hit, set to be released under Universal Music next month. Kind of iconic if it does happen, but we'll wait and see 👀
Do you wash your ears in the shower?
43% say yes
57% say no
idk what to make of this, truly
Inflation and Recession, Explained (The Shit Show)
Can you separate the art and the artist? (Culture Vulture)
BTS announce concert film, documentary shows for Disney (The Fader)
Sebastian Vettel to retire from Formula One at end of season (ESPN)
Meta Hires ‘Nope’ Star Keke Palmer to Try to Explain the Metaverse (Variety)
The Age of Algorithmic Anxiety (The New Yorker)
Go plastic-free with me and switch to shampoo and conditioner bars!! Use our discount code ‘PLASTICISSHIT’ for 25% off all full-price items for the month of July!!! (Our partnership with Ethique)
Our Love Island Debrief (Culture Vulture)
SYSCA playlist (✨Supporters only✨)
Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)