Prigozhin is dead, Fyre Fest is alive?

+ Happy Donald Trump mugshot day!

shit you should care about

and

London Laura

Aug 24, 2023

Hi besties!!! Hot and cute and cool to see a group of internet/pop culture enthusiasts over on my new lil ★culture vulture★ newsy!!! I’m planning on getting some of my fave writers to pop in every now and again over there, I just want it be a chill and creative space you know?

SOOOOOOO many new Close Friends to say HI to, so HIIIIIII angels!!! You all know this, but Bel has landed safely in Portugal and I’m HOPING to have an update for you all on when I depart soooooooo soon. Eeek!

Bookies - ur new pod is dropping tomorrow, yay!

Love you all, thanks for making these crazy dreams come true every goddamn day.

Yesterday Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was in a plane crash with no survivors
Fyre Fest 2.0?
We could be getting Donald Trump’s mug shot today
This week in podcasts
Shit You Should Cook About: Comfort Spanakopita

Yesterday Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was in a plane crash with no survivors

This is huge news. You might recall Squish and I talking about Yevgeny Prigozhin on The Shit Show, or me writing about him in the newsy when he re-entered the news for leading a very short-lived attempt at a coup against Putin in Russia.

A quick refresher on who Prigozhin is:

Well, until a few months ago he was a fervent supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and was in charge of the Russian private military contractor known as the Wagner Group.

Since he turned on Putin he’s been seen as a ‘dead man walking’ and yesterday this seemed to ring true as his ‘plane fell out of the sky.’

@twodoomedmen @twodoomedmen ♬ original sound - TwoDoomedMen

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The Russian Emergencies Ministry said that the private aircraft "came down” near the village of Kuzhenkino - killing everyone on board. A criminal investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash, but unconfirmed reports floating around on Twitter (X) are saying that the jet had been shot down by the Russian military.

Fyre Fest 2.0?

If at first your festival doesn’t succeed, star in a Netflix doco about it and… try again? That seems to be Billy McFarland’s mantra, who organised the disastrous Fyre Fest in 2017 and is now out of jail and straight into his latest venture (which is virtually the same as his last.) It’s Fyre Fest 2.0, and it’s set to take place in the Caribbean in December next year.

The first round of pre-sale tickets (of which there were 100) have already sold out, but my prediction is that they sold to media people, influencers, or anyone who had a spare $499 lying around and could spot a good content opportunity.

Also, his Wikipedia title is just… so true.

We could be getting Donald Trump’s mug shot today

We already have those of his alleged co-conspirators and the internet is doing exactly what we expected… turning them into Succession memes:

Just like his 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case, Trump is expected to get his photo taken when he’s booked at the Fulton County Jail and has announced on Truth Social that he will “PROUDLY BE ARRESTED.”

Now we just wait.

Culture Vulture: Leave Taylor Swift Alone & Comfort Things

On today's episode:

Fans swarm Jack Antonoff and Margaret Qualley's wedding to try and catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift (and all the ways that is NOT okay)
Anna Paul and Glen broke up and then internet is reacting in a unique way
A list of the people who have potentially dropped Scooter Braun as their manager
All the shows, movies, books, and THINGS that bring us comfort

Spotify:

Apple Pods:

The Shit Show: Prigozhin crash, Fukushima splash

This week on The Shit Show:

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was in a plane crash with no survivors
Japan has started releasing treated water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the ocean
The NZ National party, explained

Spotify:

Apple Pods

Shit You Should Cook About: Comfort Spanakopita

Shit You Should Cook About is written by London Laura - our resident ray of sunshine and co-host of Culture Vulture (our weekly pop culture podcast!) She’s a new London dweller, chief of romanticising literally everything, and will definitely ask you all what your love language is at some stage. You can find more Shit She Should Cook About over here!

Kia ora!! In case you missed it, this week’s podcast was on comfort shows/food/songs /places that we turn to when we just need to cocoon, and honestly, if you need to self-soothe this is the one to listen to!! I find listing all of those things, or picking favourites quite a daunting task BUT Luce has made a bumper list in her diary from last weekend of every single comfort/influence in her life and it made me feel tooo much (Laura’s Star anyone else?!?!).

And on that theme, today’s SYSCOOKA is straight from the kitchen of my childhood - spinach and feta filo pie or spanakopita! Growing up vegetarian, this was a staple dinner in my house and is without a doubt one of the meals I return to when I need something simple, soothing and foolproof to make.

It’s the first meal I ever made for a group of friends, the dinner I requested my mum make for countless birthdays, the only thing I would take to potlucks for years. Despite looking (in my opinion) quite impressive, it needs relatively few ingredients and is almost impossible to mess up (no excuses Luce!). It also uses ready-made filo pastry because if there is one thing you need to know about me, I will never ever be telling you to make a pastry / pie crust because honestly the idea alone makes me sweat.

See you next week !!! (after I will have likely lost my voice from screaming every lyric at HAIM!!!)

Comfort Spanakopita

500g baby spinach
1x block of feta
250g packet of filo pastry sheets
2x eggs
1x onion, finely diced
2x garlic cloves, chopped
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ tsp nutmeg
Salt & pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180 fan-bake. In a large bowl, crack the eggs and add the oil, nutmeg & salt and pepper. Mix well, and combine with the chopped onions and garlic. Slowly add your spinach in batches, trying to coat all the leaves in the mixture (honestly this is messy, I’ve tried all sorts but the best way is simply using your hands). Crumble in the feta in medium-size chunks and try to spread evenly through the mixture. Grease a rectangular pie / casserole dish, and lay about 5 sheets of filo in it, brushing each layer with oil as you go (if I don’t have a brush I scrunch up some paper towel blotted with oil and use that!). Spoon in your spinach filling, crumble some extra feta over the top if you have it going. Layer again with filo, brushing with oil in-between and bake for about 35-45 minutes until it’s goldeny-brown. Xx