Scott's Tot's & Halsey's TikTok's 🐥
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I had the buzziest/ coolest day yesterday - I flew to Wellington to speak at my old uni with a couple of other really vibey founders (again, met a bunch of you and it was SO cool) and then we drove out to Kāpiti to fly in a plane that will one day be PILOTLESS (don't worry - there were pilots involved in this flight!!!) BUT, autonomous planes are not just a thing of the future besties - they're being developed as we speak by the team at Merlin Labs!! Although the tech is well out of my level of expertise, all I can say is the flight was SO fun and I am v grateful to have been taken along for the ride.
PS hi to Nick and Nicole who are newsy fans and have similar names which tickles me!!!
What ✨ SYSCA Supporters✨ are up to:
It’s a great time to be a ✨SYSCA supporter!!✨ Last week we released our HUUUUGE bumper book list to all our supporters (so if you love reading and what every rec under the sun - including the books we hated - you should come and be a supporter!!)
This week we’re giving you something else you all said you wanted in our survey… SYSCA playlists!! If you’re a recurring supporter you’ll be getting a Luce, Liv and Rubes themed playlist (not gonna lie, ever since making mine I’ve had it on REPEAT, IT’S SO GOOD.) These will be coming your way at the end of the week, so there’s plenty of time to come and support us, or change your plan from a one-off to an annual/ monthly supporter!!
Halsey is NOT here for your TikTok BS
Scotts Tots IRL: Miranda Kerr and her hubby Evan Spiegel (AKA the founder of Snapchat) are paying off student loans
Harry did a ✨live lounge ✨
New episode of Culture Vulture!!
Switzerland votes for default organ donations to save more lives in the country
Do you eat the skin on kiwifruit?
Halsey is NOT here for your TikTok BS
And SO fair. The other night I was scrolling on TikTok and I came across this TikTok by Halsey where she talks about having a song that she wants to release because she really loves it, but says her 'managers won't let her' unless she teases it on TikTok first.
basically i have a song that i love that i wanna release ASAP | but my record label won’t let me\
She captioned the video 'I'm tired' and went on to say that despite her music being super successful, the label won't release it unless she first creates a 'fake a viral moment on TikTok' (which is ironically what's happened now that she's has come clean about what they're asking of her.) I don't think this comes as a surprise to any of us - just a few weeks ago I wrote about how both Maggie Rodgers and Florence Welch have had to adopt TikTok at the request of their teams:
Maggie seems like the most un-tik-tokiest person you could possibly find - she’s literally a Harvard grad student studying “the spirituality of public gatherings and the ethics of power in pop culture.” I can’t imagine she gives a shit about TikTok clout, but for some reason, she’s suddenly become pretty bloody active on there. And then I saw a video of her in a bathroom with the caption “not me drunk at 2am in the east village remembering someone is gonna yell at me in the morning to post on tik tok,“ which answered all my questions. Of course her label wants her on here!
Was this all a PR strategy?
I mean in a way - yes - even if it wasn't intentional. I don't blame us all for wondering that tho - it was my first thought too (coz you have to question everything these days) but Halsey commented under the vid saying it absolutely wasn’t a stunt and then proceeded to post another video of her apparently having a conversation with her manager about it.
However - kinda like Maggie and Florence and all the other artists that are talking about how they 'have' to be on TikTok - the whole 'blame your management' tactic kinda is a strategy in itself. 'Exposing' anyone is going to get attention, and it's been WORKING, so I wouldn't be surprised if labels/ managers are choosing to throw themselves under the bus for a better paycheck in return (when the singer/song goes viral.)
On the other side of that - if this isn't all a strategy - I guess virality is the product of honesty when you're a celeb these days (since there's so much fake/ manufactured shit out there), so Halsey being honest gave the execs their viral moment regardless!!
Anyways, stream whatever song Halsey is about to release!
Scott's Tot's IRL: Miranda Kerr and the founder of Snapchat Evan Spiegel are paying off student loans
First of all, if you get this reference I love you. Second of all, my flatmate actually told me about this a while ago but I forgot to write about it!! Basically, Miranda Kerr and her hubby Evan Spiegel - the founder of Snapchat (why did I not know that) donated over $10million to new graduates of the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. Which is huge!!
Harry did a live lounge!!!
Holy fuck this cover is goooooood.
New episode of Culture Vulture!!
Harry Styles, Heartstopper & Taylor Swift's Speech - Culture Vulture — open.spotify.com
Naturally this week there's one thing still on our minds - HARRY STYLES, so we give you a big debrief on the listening parties we hosted, and ALL our thoughts on the news album! We also chat about Netflix making layoffs, Ed Sheeran and Rihanna's new babies (not together), Love Island moving away from fast fashion and Taylor Swift becoming a doctor!!
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Switzerland votes for default organ donations to save more lives in the country
I thought this was an interesting tidbit! Here in New Zealand when you go to get your drivers license (at age 16 for a lot of us) you also make the decision about whether you're going to be a donor or not (meaning, whether you'll allow your organs to be donated when you pass away.) But in Switzerland, they've just made it the default that you will be an organ donor, to save more lives. This 'presumed consent' model to organ donating means that you can still opt-out at any point in your lifetime (rather than opting in, as we do.)
The Federal Council and Parliament proposed the legal change on 15 May 2022, which was approved by over 60 per cent of voters with the aim to boost chances of patients on the waiting list and save more lives in the country.
According to the current laws in Switzerland, transplants are only possible if the deceased person had consented to it while alive. However, their wishes often remain unknown and, in such cases, the decision is usually left to the person’s family and relatives—who mostly opt against the donation. This system has left many waiting in vain for organ donors.
Do you eat the skin on kiwifruit?
Apparently, it differs between green/ golden kiwifruit! But:
12% of you do
88% of you do not
Harry Styles, Heartstopper & Taylor Swift's Speech (Culture Vulture)
Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)
Can You Have Too Much Therapy? (Refinery29)
Teen Babysitters Are Charging $30 an Hour Now, Because They Can (WSJ)