Soothing

Prescriptions for S.S.R.I.s among young people are on the rise, with two million 12-to-17-year-olds in the U.S. currently on the drugs, and researchers are beginning to worry that the well-documented sexual side effects in adults may be shaping adolescent sexual development at a formative moment, especially since no dedicated studies have ever... 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.

Many commenters have said they found the videos “therapeutic,” he said. “Even though I presented in an educational format, they were using it as more of an entertainment source.”

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.”

The machinery for learning new things becomes creaky. It’s not easy or comfortable to get that old mainframe up and running again. So many things in life are not easy or comfortable already! Why opt in to another one? And do I even have room in my brain, on my calendar, for another thing that I do ?

But that’s another thing I’ve learned: you can’t have it both ways. You have to decide what’s important to you—convenience and comfort, or agency. Is it nicer to be ensconced in a soft web of silk, or do we miss flying?

When the World Feels Messy, I Turn to PowerWash Simulator

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... See more

amazon.com NeeDoh Nice Cube Sensory Toy with a Super Solid Squish Wished for 15K+ times $9.40 Price as of 12/23/2024 buy now wish champssports.com Nike Heritage Crossbody Wished for 15K+ times $27.00 buy now