Camp Rock and Roblox Love

nobu 4 kids

How I Know What You Did Last Summer director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson rebooted the millennial cult classic for Gen Z; Patrick Schwarzenegger stars in Balenciaga's latest campaign; Simon Cowell is looking for yet another new boy band in an upcoming Netflix series; Harry Jowsey is getting his own Bachelor; and I enjoyed every single word of this interview with Logan Lerman.

‘I SWEAR, THEY’RE FLYING IN NOBU SUSHI FOR THEIR KIDS’, thecut
Visiting days at elite East Coast summer camps “have been twisted into one-upmanship by social media,” with parents flying in private jets, hiring glam teams, and sneaking in Nobu sushi for their kids. Once low-key reunions, these mid-July rituals now involve $3,000 cookie cakes, Alo Yoga sets, and “poster-size collages of pictures of your own child and his friends from the previous four weeks of camp, which have been downloaded from Campanion, an app camps use to post pictures of campers.” “You have to make a picture wall,” says one mom. “It’s a nonnegotiable.” And then there’s this:

What to wear on the day of has also become an art form, with moms consulting each other on bunk group chats for outfit approval. The current uniform for moms is designer-jean cutoffs, a white tank, and Chanel or Loewe sneakers. “It’s casual but very styled,” says Lebersfeld. “Everyone gets a blowout the day before they come,” confirms another mom. “My first year at Mataponi, I came wearing Hoka sneakers and I quickly realized it was not the right outfit,” says another.

HOW DISPLAYING YOUR DNA BECAME A STATUS SYMBOL, dazed
Wellness consumers are increasingly flaunting internal health metrics — DNA test results, hormone panels, full-body scans — as social capital. Clinics like Neko Health, dubbed “the Apple of healthcare,” offer £300 biometric scans in design-forward spaces that double as Instagram backdrops; “clean data” — i.e. optimal glucose, low inflammation, etc. — is the new clean eating, says trend analyst J'Nae Phillips. With the global wellness market hitting $6.3 trillion in 2024 and genetic testing projected to reach $49.72 billion by 2033, health is becoming (even more!) performative.

WHO’S READY TO FIND LOVE ON ROBLOX?, cosmopolitan
Roblox is developing a dating feature for ID-verified users 21+, aiming to ease first-date anxiety through virtual connections that could transition into real-life relationships. CEO David Baszucki cited the “loneliness epidemic,” with 73% of Gen Z reporting feelings of loneliness, as a key motivator. While in-game romance is currently banned due to the platform’s large under-13 user base, this new feature targets older Gen Zers experiencing dating app fatigue and in-person social hesitation; nearly half of young men aged 18-25 say they’ve never asked someone out in person.

HOW 831 STORIES IS BUILDING A FANDOM-FIRST BOOK BRAND, adweek
831 Stories has had no shortage of press — not only are founders Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo extremely charming, but they’ve also enlisted modern-day PR power girl

Kaitlin Phillips

to sustain the buzz — but this piece goes deep into their extremely clever “fan-forward influencer strategy,” as Adweek puts it: The company commissions fan fiction from Bookstagram and BookTok creators to promote its romance titles, with 19 stories published so far and shared across social to build fandom. They’re also using sales data from their trope hats to inform editorial decisions (i.e. creating Square Waves in response to demand for “Enemies to Lovers”).

IS ROCK BACK? LET’S LOOK AT THE DATA, rollingstone
Luminate’s 2025 midyear report reveals that rock is experiencing a surprising resurgence, with 123.3 billion on-demand streams, the highest year-over-year growth of any genre. This spike is partially driven by Gen Z interest in legacy acts, fueled by the success of Becoming Led Zeppelin, the year’s most-watched music doc. (And maybe also by Justin Bieber?) The report highlights that classic rock is charting across analog formats: Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours sold 83K vinyl units and Nirvana’s Bleach moved 4K cassettes.

WHY WE MISTAKE THE WHOLESOMENESS OF GEN Z FOR CONSERVATISM, nytimes
Gen Z might look conservative at first glance — they’re drinking less, having less sex, and getting really into knitting — but they’re actually more “moderate idealists” than political right-wingers. Jessica Grose argues that this wholesomeness stems from a desire for stability, localism, and tangible skills in a chaotic, AI-dominated world. Politically, Gen Z is drifting toward the center, skeptical of both major parties, and putting more trust in peers and local communities.

One last thought (I’m a few days late but it’s so good):

@glebullsugarfree @glebullsugarfree ♬ original sound - pl4netparker

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