Welcome back to The Spread <3
Tomorrow is my 5 year anniversary of living in New York City, an anniversary I’m incredibly proud of. Today also marks one month since I started publishing here on Substack, so overall a celebratory weekend.
Interestingly, today was the first time I got caught up in the comparison game on this platform. I woke up with 10+ newsletters in my inbox, and I found myself reading them and wondering if what I had to say was as interesting, as relevant, as good. And you know what, it might not be! But I’m here trying something new, which is how every good thing starts. If I’d been afraid to try something scary 5 years ago, I wouldn’t be sitting here in my cozy Brooklyn apartment, living a reality I dreamed of. More importantly, I’m enjoying myself. Hopefully we’ll find our groove here, but I’m along for the ride one way or another.
Some things you can expect in your inbox from me soon:
An analysis of the death of the girlboss, hustle culture, and what it means to have it all as a woman today (with accompanying book recs)
A searing review of the state of plus size fashion in the age of Ozempic- side note, this is my background and my usual specialty, but I haven’t brought it here yet. Let me know if this is an area you’re interested in.
A look at speculative dystopian fiction’s prevalence in culture
And more! Let’s get into it.
I published my July reading wrap up yesterday, so you can head there to see what I loved last month.
Parable of The Sower | Octavia Butler | Sci Fi | Currently reading
The Myth of Making It | Samhita Mukhopadhyay | Memoir | This one is factually dense & taking me quite a bit! I typically don’t like to start another book before I finish one but I’m taking this one in chunks.
My library holds for Long Bright River and The Most Fun We Ever Had both came in today and I’m looking forward to tackling both.
I also got my first book mail from a publisher this week, which has me feeling very grateful and giddy. Henry Holt Books sent me a copy of The Wedding People, which I’ve heard such incredible things about.
Also, in exciting book adaptation news, Every Summer After by Carley Fortune has been optioned by Amazon Prime Video for series development!
I’m aiming to use better discretion in my purchasing, so I’ll share precious few items here that have really caught my eye - mostly so that you can dissuade or persuade me accordingly.
I’ll be honest- there’s nothing that I’m really itching to buy this week. I think once fall hits I’ll do a wardrobe refresh, but for now I’m keeping it simple. My bank account thanks me.
I’ve been working hard to reduce my social media doomscrolling these days, which means I’m reading more articles and consuming more intentional content - which I LOVE. These are the things that caught my attention this week.
This is, by far, my favorite part of this newsletter, and I’ll likely be adding in another weekly letter that is similar to this section. I’m toying with the idea of a deep dive on a particular topic each week or something similar, giving you my thoughts and supporting articles/content on the matter. Let me know if there’s another format you’d like to see in your inbox from me.
Some quick picks:
Fascinated by these “10 charts that capture how the world is changing”, courtesy of my favorite newsletter
I can tell you one thing I don’t want, and that’s a return of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show
Just purely enjoyable journalism from The Cut in this photo story highlighting what the people on NYC beaches are reading
Polka dots are a rising trend- am I the only one who hates them?
I wanted to talk more about Blake Brown Beauty but this section is lengthy this week (I’ve also been thinking about Wyn Beauty and wondering how they’re performing)
Loneliness in the Pursuit of Beauty (and Botox)
I encountered an abundance of content this week regarding botox and fillers and their ever-evolving place in society. I had never considered the emotional implications of neuromodulators (aka Botox) until I read this Dazed article, courtesy of
who says the beauty industry is “selling an aesthetic pursuit devoid of real human attraction”.“We're weighing the cost-benefit of the socio-economic status of becoming beautiful versus the existential consequences in areas of our lives that are about meaning, connection and communication,” she says. “And it’s because we are not conceiving the concepts of beauty, desire and attraction in the multidimensional way that they exist in our lives.”
Something I found extremely interesting was the assertion that altering your body used to be, at least partly, in pursuit of connection and sexual or romantic partnership while now it’s in an attempt “to achieve a physical standard set by some invisible Other.” In other words, a concept I take great interest in - social capital achieved by “optimizing” your beauty + body. She also notes the loneliness epidemic that has loomed over us in the post-pandemic years. So in a world where we’re increasingly lonely, this intense aesthetic focus on the self seems to be antithetical to the community and connection I’d argue we need more than ever.
“We don’t view our bodies as vehicles for pleasure but as investments to be optimised”
If you’d like to read more from Jessica on this topic, see her related Substack post here
Let E.L.F. Run For President
I loved this deep dive on cosmetics brand E.L.F. - I knew they were doing a lot of things right, but I had no idea they were a billion dollar a year business. I remember when they launched as an online-only DTC brand back in the early 2000s with their $1-$5 makeup products. One thing I found fascinating from Sabena’s deep dive was that E.L.F. had a recent collaboration they promoted primarily on Roblox that led to major customer acquisition success (which is harder than ever for brands now). But - Roblox!? Apparently they’re also testing immersive commerce on the platform as well. I’ve noticed in my own line of work that brands are really interested in reaching Gen Alpha right now, and this is such a fascinating way of doing that. All this to say, they’re absolutely killing it - probably because 2/3 of their board members are women.
The Trad Wife Takeover
I don’t know how you could possibly have missed The Times’ Ballerina Farm article, but it has created quite an impressive ripple effect - I personally cannot escape the Trad Wives. There are many perspectives on these women and whether they’re causing harm, whether they’re being harmed. They are undeniably, solidly wedged into the zeitgeist and online culture, for better or for worse (Anne Hathaway is starring in an impending “trad wife thriller” movie, FYI). I found this article, “The Imagined Victimhood of Conservative Women” to be quite interesting - not to say that I don’t see a million red flags with Ms. Ballerina’s husband or doubt his tendency toward manipulation (did you know he’s a billionaire baby, heir to JetBlue!?). One thing I do know about Trad Wives on the internet is that they are making more money than you or I will ever see in a lifetime, ushering in their own era of influencer marketing.
The Ballerina Farm put out a response video to The Times article today
She’s So Lucky
She’s a star! It seems there’s a resurgence of early 2000s celebrity culture upon us, from a litany of fake celeb fiction books released this year to this Britney themed collaboration to Halsey’s release of Lucky, a take on the Britney classic. I also just saw that Britney is also getting a biopic from Wicked movie director Jon M. Chu. Nostalgia hasn’t left the trend cycle in a while, but it’s interesting that we’re seeing it here concentrated on the celebrities of yore. I wonder if the parasocial aspect of celebrity culture today is getting old - do people miss the more elusive, untouchable version of fame where the only insights we had into celebrity life was through the paparazzi?
This section will be an amalgamation of products, rituals, and more - anything that I’m just really into.
I only have one thing on my mind lately and that is fall.
I am so ready for summer to be in the rearview mirror. I grew up in the south, and we went back to school in early August, so for me the end of July should mark the end of summer, and therefore the end of hot weather. Of course, that isn’t the case (and wasn’t in Georgia either - it’s always hot) but I’m growing impatient. I love New York City, but summers here are miserable. God awful. So, I’ll be here, thinking about fall temps, crisper weather, butternut squash and pumpkin recipes, and hot lattes.
I’ve been obsessed with Jensen McRae for a couple years now
so I was very excited to see her in Paper Mag. Her 2022 debut album Are You Happy Now is literally a masterpiece, no holds barred. She has the most incredible mind for lyricism and is often compared to Tracy Chapman’s level of genius. She gained a lot of traction when a clip from a then unreleased song went viral, which resulted in her signing to a new record label and releasing the song, below. It’s an incredible gift to write a song about hyper-specific details from your relationship that still resonates as relatable to millions of people. She was on tour opening for Noah Kahan, and she has the same effect on me that he does - the “we made the right person famous” effect.
If you listen to one thing today, let it be this other clip of a different unreleased song that is probably the best thing I’ve ever heard and which literally just made me cry despite having listened to it probably 100+ times before. I’m actually begging you to listen.
Jensen is also a book girly and a fellow Substacker. Hey
<333I was on my way home from work last night on a rare in-office day when I was suddenly hit with an intense need for chicken noodle soup, hold the chicken. I placed an Instacart order from the Uber (I’m working on my usually unnecessary convenience spending in August okay) and when I got home I immediately got to work dicing the mirepoix. It was 85 degrees outside, and 79 degrees in my kitchen by the time the soup was ready. I also baked some biscuits which was an A+ decision. When the soup was ready, I broke up a biscuit in my bowl which took on a dumpling-like quality, exactly what I was going for. I grew up always eating parmesan on my chicken noodle soup (specifically grated from a green shaker, not the fresh stuff for this) so that was an essential topping. I sat in my hot kitchen and genuinely enjoyed my faux fall evening with my no chicken noodle soup.
My only other attempt at cooking this week was, to say the least, a major fail. My boyfriend and I tried to make cod, broccoli, and mashed potatoes, and somehow we just obliterated every part of the meal beyond the point of being edible. Is anyone else a great chef when you’re making meals for yourself but a complete failure when cooking for or with anyone else??
Now I need to ask YOU for recs: what are your favorite podcasts and who are your favorite YouTubers? Let me know what you’re listening to + watching.
Jensen McRae supremacy!!