on the pulse of pop culture

The technology of TikTok might be new, but the shift itself has precedence. The history of celebrity gossip is the history of the power of meaning-making pinballing between 1) the studios that create star vehicles; 2) the publications that collaborate closely with the studios to promote those vehicles; 3) the scandal/gossip publications and paparaz... See more

The ability to pivot the brand into different spaces and eras is the main reason why we shouldn’t count the Kardashians out just yet. Their genius — and Kim’s in particular — is that they understand the importance of change. Whether it’s evolving into something new or bringing back something from the past, they have an awareness of where they need ... See more

Part of what makes fall so accessible to Gen Z is that you can create content about it from inside your bedroom, with a string of orange LEDs, a hot beverage, and a few pumpkin throw pillows. Summer doesn’t offer the same accessibility: Conjuring summer on the feed means vacations (costly) or bathing-suit content (not everyone’s thing). Fall is a g... See more

Nostalgia and scatological humor can be eye-catching, but to build up the kind of sustained interest and devotion Gerasimov has, there needs to be a story in its own right. The narrative of Skibidi Toilet isn’t communicated directly, but that only adds to its intrigue for many viewers, especially younger ones who are used to having to put in extra ... See more

We are now entering the Hannah Montana Generation of pop stars: young artists who are not just evoking the frilly and bold aesthetic and unapologetically sugary sweet music of the show but also the type of larger-than-life persona Montana had in comparison to “real-life” Stewart. Carpenter is the prime example of leaning into the Hannah Montana-ifi... See more

The energy given to the act of reading and explaining helps musical moments transition into cultural ones. Take Kendrick and Drake, a feud that escalated from jousting about reputation (on Kendrick’s verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s track Like That , and Drake’s retort Push Ups ) to later trading allegations about domestic abuse (Drake’s Family M... See more

“The internet has broken the distance that a lot of artists used to have,” Charli xcx told The Observer ahead of the release of Brat . ​“What gets me interested in an artist is when they have – not really a backstory, it’s more like lore ...”

In that moment, she defined the common thread between 2024’s biggest pop successes. From Brat summer to Tay... See more

NEW DELHI—One of the most lavish weddings in recent years wraps up in India this weekend, after giving the world an eye-popping look at the spending power of a fabulously wealthy billionaire family—the Ambanis.Anant Ambani, 29, the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, head of industrial conglomerate Reliance Industries and India’s richest man, is marryin... See more