Soothing

“But then you get used to it all, is the problem,” she continued. “I feel like I’m not trying as hard anymore. When I had the flip phone, I had to put in effort to get to places, to talk to people. Everything was a task. Now it’s easy to do things. I guess I still don’t like needing the crutch of a smartphone, though I couldn’t figure out how to go... See more

BIBLIOTHERAPY: CAN READING HELP TREAT YOUR DEPRESSION? , dazed

Bibliotherapy, a form of therapy that uses literature to improve mental health and overall well-being, is on the rise, with trained bibliotherapists prescribing books to clients — millennial and Gen Z women primarily, it seems — based on their individual needs. The practice aims to prov... See more

Though divisive and terrifying, the pandemic also brought out people’s softer sides. Suddenly, comfort was king. Everyone was baking or crafting. Small-batch ceramics and upcycled quilted coats soared in popularity. There was a compulsory return to the home — and a wholehearted embrace of the homemade.

In the book, I quote Amanda Montell, who explains this perfectly in Cultish : “Modern cultish groups feel comforting in part because they help alleviate the anxious mayhem of living in a world that presents almost too many possibilities for who to be.”

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Ann: There's sort of something in the atmosphere—an aura as the days get closer. It's very different than last year. It's getting a little bit more intense. We've had a shooting and a man hunt. And also the election. I think there's a little bit of an edginess.

Glen: The second I put on the suit, people are just like, 'Santa!' They're so relieved to... See more

I’ve been writing lately about how American politics seem to have moved into a new dispensation — more unsettled and extreme, but also perhaps more energetic and dynamic. One benefit of unsettlement, famously adumbrated by Orson Welles’s villainous Harry Lime in “The Third Man,” is supposed to be cultural ferment: “In Italy for 30 years under the B... See more

THE FANTASY OF COZY TECH , newyorker

Perhaps the direct opposite of digital brainrot is “cozy tech,” a trend that “suggests that the Internet and artificial intelligence can lead us ever inward,” writes Kyle Chayka. “In the cozy era, our screens and the related accoutrements of digital life fulfill all of our emotional and sensory needs.”

‘PDF TO BRAINROT’ STUDY TOOLS ARE A STRANGE ITERATION ON A TIKTOK TREND , techcrunch

AI-based study tools like Coconote and Study Fetch are capitalizing on the “PDF to Brainrot” trend, which involves reading text from documents over “oddly satisfying” videos, like ASMR clips or gameplay footage from Subway Surfers . Why read a textbook if you can l... See more

Once I watched a trailer, I knew I had to have it right away. I’d never needed to pressure-wash the side of a house myself; I was unaware that there was a whole genre of A.S.M.R.-adjacent YouTube videos dedicated to such activities.