Disney makes mass layoffs to reduce overhead costs
Entertainment company Disney has announced it will be letting hundreds more employees go across various departments including film, television and financial services. Disney has said it will be laying off hundreds of employees across the globe in order to cut costs and soften current financial pressures. The company has reportedly...
Current in Culture
Why is it so triggering when celebrities lose weight?
With the advent of diet drugs like Ozempic, plus size stars are increasingly losing weight – and gaining haters. To see a plus-size woman on a red carpet was, for a time, rather revolutionary. I hesitate to use that word for fear it sounds gouache and trite, but I'll admit...
Are small plates a scam?
I can’t help but wonder whether London’s most fashionable way to eat is leaving us full of regret and not much else. In London’s ever-expanding constellation of small plates restaurants, you’re not really here to eat. You’re here to experience. To share. To marvel at the micro greens. To spend...
Is it wrong to monetise our pain?
Shakira is back from her musical hiatus, and while her new album is intended as empowering, it forces us to question whether the monetisation of our pain makes our suffering more or less valuable. Colombian singer known mononymously as Shakira is back on the scene and our screens. After a self-professed...
Sidemen launch venture capital firm called Upside VC
The UK’s biggest YouTube group The Sidemen have launched a new venture capital firm called Upside VC that will reportedly support tech startups. The YouTube collective The Sidemen have announced that they are launching a venture capital firm that will support consumer tech startups. Called Upside VC, this new firm...
Are ‘divine feminine influencers’ actually anti-feminist?
Social media loves a good portion of cosplay. First, it was 50s family values, and now we are back in ancient times. Do you remember tradwives? The familiar soft voices and long dresses are back. This time, though, the kitchen has been swapped by nature, adhering to mostly Western influencers'...
Giant bronze statue in Times Square sparks controversy
A 12-foot tall bronze sculpture of a young Black woman has been placed in times square. It seems the public has completely missed the message that its artist hoped to convey. On April 29th, a statue called Grounded in the Stars was placed in the middle of Times Square in New York City. Standing 12-feet tall, the bronze figure depicts a young Black woman with braids wearing casual, everyday clothing....
Why are we conflating our jobs with our identities?
All work leaves no room for self. So how do we separate our careers from our lives? If you took away your Slack status, your email signature, or your LinkedIn profile, how would you define yourself? In other words, do you know who you are without your career? Whenever I meet someone new, the details of my job tend to crop up in the first few minutes. And likewise, if I’m...
The fatalism of the ‘lucky girl syndrome’ trend
The autonomous-less fatalism of the 'lucky girl syndrome' trope joins the long list of individualising and infantilising trends adopted by privileged women who present themselves as too incompetent and irrational to engage critically with intellectualism, politics, or financial responsibility. Whether you’re willing to admit it, or (like me) you’re not, many of us have little things we habitually do to try and avoid bad things happening to us. For instance, you’ll...
Podcast industry revenue over double previous estimates
As a global format, the podcast industry reportedly surpassed $7.3 billion USD in revenue last year. The sector is now twice as large as previous estimates initially suggested. Do you listen to podcasts regularly? It seems like many of us gravitate toward long-form audio content, as podcasting has now been found to generate over $7.3 billion USD in revenue per year, according to research firm Owl & Co. This means...
