culture porn 5/5
our weekly playlist
screenshot me:
jury duty (freevee)
the fact that this show came out right before i actually had jury duty was perfect. the show is based around ronald gladden - a juror who thinks he's part of a real trial, but is actually surrounded by actors (including a hilarious james marsden). while i hate watching shows with ads, i made an exception here. it's charming and OFFICE-like in some ways, and frankly i think we don't talk enough about how important jury duty is! i have a newfound appreciation after serving for a day.
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baby j (netflix)
if you think addiction and rehab aren't fertile ground for comedy, john mulaney's new special might make you reconsider. the comedian finds laughs in his harrowing and hair-raising adventures as a cocaine fiend – which are only funny because he survived his astounding drug habits. and, as he reminds us, these are just the stories he's willing to share publicly.
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a small light (disney +)
the incredibly inspiring story of miep gies, the woman that sheltered the frank family during ww2, was somehow unbeknownst to me. bel powely, and her intensely expressive eyes, per usual, blew me away in a role she was born to play. directed by susanna fogel, the pilot episode was riveting and fresh in a genre that can sometimes feel formulaic. i 10 out of 10 recommend it.
- @juliarabbit21, CULTIQUE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
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king of collectibles: the goldin touch (netflix)
i grew up around collectibles so seeing this peyton manning-produced reality show about ken goldin (who runs a leading collectibles marketplace) was interesting. sports and entertainment memorabilia is a whole subculture that's fascinating to dive into. i'd like to upgrade goldin's office cubicles, and the dialogue comes off a bit bro-ey at times (thankfully there's some smart ladies present!), but overall it's an interesting look into lucrative hobbyists.
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fatal attraction (paramount +)
like the recent reboot of AMERICAN GIGOLO (SHOWTIME), this resuscitation of the 1987 adrian lyne thriller lacks the bite of the original, likely because both were made in the era of a different gender dynamic. but lizzy caplan (FLEISCHMAN IS IN TROUBLE) brings her own kind of heat to the role that glenn close made famous, and which terrified legions of unfaithful men.
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the big lebowski (prime video)
it's this cult film's 25th anniversary and it was high time i watched it again, in full. it's an epic Coen Brothers' tale featuring The Dude (played by Jeff Bridges) who inspired a religious philosophy ("Dudeism"). i'm having a late 90s film moment...next up BOOGIE NIGHTS (the more julianne moore, the better!)
insights & inspo
ai and the american smile: how ai misrepresents culture through a facial expression
smile! 😃 this fascinating read on ai’s inability to capture our emotional landscape begs the question of what the fallout could be if we allow false visual narratives to overcome cultural and emotional cues. when you break down what’s in a smile, it turns out there’s a lot more to unpack than simply “happiness.”
more insights here
is mass appeal even possible anymore?
beer and mascara vs. dylan mulvaney? in the US today, division is what seems to unite us. mass polarization has proved to be the through line of all aspects of culture these days. so why would marketing be any different? 🇺🇸➗
more insights here
#LOokforward🌅 with linda ong
back in the late 80s, i interviewed karl lagerfeld soon after he took the mantle at CHANEL. the legendary creative genius – the controversial subject of this year's MET GALA and an upcoming DISNEY docuseries – had just rocked the fashion world with his generationally-disrupting mini skirts, which he proclaimed as "modern" and "chic." but only a few seasons later, when he declared the exact same thing about ankle-grazing midi skirts, i realized how meaningless my work was. to this day, i thank "kaiser karl" for indirectly teaching me about the engineered obsolescence of fashion – and pivoting my career.
i'm sad to see that the publication that broke the internet is going plain, uh, broke. with so much media consolidation and attrition (see VICE WORLD NEWS, BUZZFEED NEWS), culture needs niche, indie and counterculture voices to keep things interesting.
as the tech world hurtles towards AI dominance, convos about its massive carbon emissions are heating up as well. i hope someone is working on a green solution – hopefully ChatGPT can figure that out.
for linda’s full debrief, head here