Movie Clubs and Corporate Nostalgia
"the girls and i are already going through enough"
Haim announced their new single via a meme; Netflix is releasing a Judy Blume series adaptation of Forever; Clairo is on the cover of The Face; and I want to go see Sadie Sink (of Stranger Things fame) in this Broadway comedy John Proctor Is the Villain.
ANDY DUNN’S NEW APP PIE USES AI TO HELP YOU MAKE FRIENDS, techcrunch
Last fall, Bonobos founder Andy Dunn announced his latest project: An app that aims to defeat social isolation by facilitating in-person gatherings. (The target audience isn’t explicitly Gen Z, but given the loneliness epidemic plaguing young people and the evident youth of Dunn’s team, I think it’s clear who they’re going after.) In the last six months, Pie’s jumped from 30,000 monthly active users to over 130,000 and they’ve just announced a new AI feature that matches attendees at events based on compatibility to increase the likelihood of meaningful connections. (This is the third app I’ve read about this week that purports to foster IRL meet-ups; there’s also Left Field, which I mentioned on Monday, and Cerca, covered in yesterday’s
MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ‘MEANS YOUTH IS NO LONGER ONE OF HAPPIEST TIMES OF LIFE’, theguardian
A UN-commissioned study across six English-speaking countries found that youth happiness has sharply declined, especially among young women, disrupting the traditional U-shaped model of well-being over a lifetime. Researchers link this decline to social media, cyberbullying, and — as it just so happens! — reduced in-person socialization.
THE $5 MOVIE CLUB THAT WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE FILM, hollywoodreporter
The IRL Movie Club is revitalizing independent theater attendance by offering $5 screenings followed by audience discussions — an approach that resonates with Gen Z’s desire for in-person experiences. (Are you sensing a theme?) Since its launch in September, the club has expanded from 23 to 67 participating theaters nationwide.
HOW “SEVERANCE” MAKES A FETISH OF THE OFFICE, newyorker
Severance presents itself as a dystopian critique of corporate life, but its oddly appealing aesthetic reveals a deeper fascination with the workplace, particularly among Gen Z. As writer Katy Waldman notes, younger generations are increasingly drawn to the “clarity of org charts, the stability of set hours” and the nostalgia of office culture, as seen in trends like last summer’s viral “man in finance” TikTok.
MILLENNIAL MOMS WANT MORE KIDS — THEY JUST CAN'T AFFORD THEM, businessinsider
Millennials and older Gen Z parents say a second child is financially impossible, citing skyrocketing childcare costs (which can cost upwards of $20,000 annually), student loan debt, and rising living expenses. “It's hard for us to be like, ‘let's have another baby’ when, two years out, I'm still paying off just literally the act of having one baby,” said one mom.
P.S. My friends at Day One Agency just published their first Almanac that’s delightfully full of Almanac-y things like key dates, horoscopes, and classifieds. There’s even a very zine-like physical version! (You know I love a zine.) Enjoy.
One last thought:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Whoever is only paying $20,000 for childcare, can we talk?
20,000 for a nanny?! More like 75 in LA…