Welcome to 5 Quick Things that I saw since last month that I thought were interesting enough to share with you. None of them are particularly timely so feel free to just enjoy 🙂

>Number One<

Trash Textiles

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before or maybe you might have noticed it yourself, but clothing seems to be getting worse. Not just fast fashion clothing but clothing quality for mid-tier and even higher end pieces aren’t like they used to be. Sometimes when I have these thoughts I just assume I’m getting older but it turns out I’m on to something with this one. When I was growing up we weren’t able to afford good clothing and we bought almost everything from second hand stores so it was impossible for me to compare but the first time I bought a $150 sweater and it was just as thin and made from the same low quality fibers as a $25 H&M sweater it made me think that pricey fashion has always been a scam but it turns out that maybe, it wasn’t at some point.

>Number Two<

Okay Internet, Show Me Content

This short piece about kinship and how its solidarity causes us to only enact performative behaviors is about a shooter from 2016 but it’s basically eternal and I am kind of feeling it right now. I know history is just a bunch of repeat performances but also, maybe we could not do that?

>Number Three<

Watch They Cloned Tyrone, It Was Good!

I really enjoy voice memos for the void‘s videos and I am so happy just to see absolutely anyone talking about the amazing They Cloned Tyrone. I won’t spoil the movie but this should be your sign to hop on Netflix, have a wildly fun 2 hours, and then come back and catch this fantastic analysis of the movie!

>Number Four<

The Internet Is For Advertising

You might sometimes hear people talk about how the internet should be safe for children and on some level that sounds somewhat reasonable but the truth is probably closer to, “advertisers want to the internet to be free of controversy so they aren’t associated with it.” That’s why you can’t curse or say certain words on YouTube or Tiktok without being demonetized and having your videos buried in sludge. It stifles the types of expression and thoughts people are allowed to say and be heard for on the “free” internet. And even large companies feel that pressure with the recent shut down of Jezebel which covered “advertiser unfriendly” topics like sex, abortion, drugs, and trans rights. If you’ve ever made fun of the fact that younger generations of folks can’t or won’t say words like “suicide” and “porn” this is contributing to that. They’re not just being reprimanded in school or by their parents but they’re being shaped by advertisers to make these topics taboo and unspeakable.

>Number Five<

Tell Me A Story (about the past and present)

I’ve been really appreciating J Draper‘s videos about history (she has a pretty zero’d in focus on the history of London and the UK because she a professional tour guide there) but something about this one really hit a deeper chord. Maybe it was because I’ve had so many discussions like this surrounding both the interpretation of history and the stories we tell about it but also because it can be really hard to see how we are currently using narratives to craft political actions. Maybe thought a slightly zoomed out lens of a story told by different people for different ends, it might knock some thoughts around in your head about which stories which histories are being told now and how people use them to embolden their stances.

That’s all for this month and hopefully I’ll see you back again next month with some more exciting and cool things!