“Yearning has been showing up in pop culture, with the succession of films like Netflix’s One Day , Bridgerton and the recently concluded The Summer I Turned Pretty all depicting the sweet torture of pining and longing for someone. And it goes beyond the media industry to manifest in the types of content we see brewing on social—people are... See more

Gen Z are experimenting with something new: meta-sincerity; embracing earnestness in full awareness that it may look cringe. Rather than a naïve return to sincerity, it is a conscious choice to care, try, or feel despite knowing that detachment is the safer cultural posture. Nowhere is this clearer than in their embrace of hobbies: roller-skating,... See more