Alex Burns

At first blush, the Rodrigo-Carpenter dynamic doesn’t seem to be that different from the way culture has always pitted pop princesses against each other. Whether it’s Britney and Christina, Debbie Gibson and Tiffany, Brandy and Monica, or Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, there’s always been an inclination that every female pop star needs a rival.

I define third-order vanity not by performed modesty but by performed confidence . Think of the influencer who pouts casually for 30 versions of the same photo, edits every pixel of the chosen image, then tortures a caption about feeling hot before posting it. Now, this distinction could just be a matter of taste—some prefer to come off bashful,... See more

Audiences want romance. Stars want romance. We have a formula for romance that works when given the benefit of strong direction, witty writing, charming leads, a slightly unexpected soundtrack (Maggie Rogers, what are you doing here?!), and on occasion, a lithe and spirited British muse.

It felt like proof of something I’ve often sensed but have been unable to express, which is that trying too hard to control people’s impression of you is an insult to both your humanity and theirs.

Lore is valuable online currency these days. A finalist for Oxford Dictionary’s 2024 word of the year (it lost to “brain rot”), this Old English word for knowledge has become slang for dramatic, and often traumatic, details that define a person’s existence. Driven by the impulse to self-mythologize and spin yarns, young people are enshrining even... See more