Sycophantic Simulations and Reading Retreats

free lunch exists after all

Demetra Dias, the most influential teen girl in America, designed a back-to-school capsule for Aéropostale; Simone Biles wore custom Zac Posen for Athleta at the ESPYs; and boom times for rom-coms: Lewis Pullman and Maya Hawke are starring in a “surrealist relationship comedy,” and Millie Bobby Brown and Gabriel LaBelle, who played a young Spielberg in The Fabelmans, are doing a Back to the Future-ish flick for Netflix.

THIS YEAR'S TRENDIEST VACATION? A READING RETREAT, elle
Literary-as-an-aesthetic has yet to peak, it seems: Page Break, a New York-based retreat series, invites guests to read an entire book aloud together over a weekend, an experience founder Mikey Friedman says “enhances the way you experience a book.” Luxury hotels are also leaning in: Teranka in Formentera hosts literary salons, Hotel Lilien partnered with Books Are Magic to curate its in-house library, and Reese’s Book Club has teamed up with World of Hyatt for glamping-style book club vacations. I like reading, too, but the commodification of books cannot keep going like this.

STUDENTS WANT THE LIBERAL ARTS. ADMINISTRATORS, NOT SO MUCH., nyt
Despite hand-wringing about Gen Z’s disinterest in reading, students at the University of Tulsa embraced a rigorous liberal arts curriculum centered on classic texts and Socratic dialogue. Over a quarter of each freshman class voluntarily enrolled in the reading-heavy Honors College program, but even with sustained student demand, the university’s new administration dismantled the program. As former Tulsa dean Jennifer Frey put it, “The real threat to liberal learning is from an administrative class that is content to offer students far less than their own humanity calls for.” (A few months ago, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed that made a similar point: students aren’t inherently incapable of reading, but universities have stopped asking them to try.)

A.I. IS ABOUT TO SOLVE LONELINESS. THAT’S A PROBLEM, newyorker
Psychologist Paul Bloom explores the rising popularity and existential risk of AI companions, particularly among younger users facing social disconnection. While AI chatbots are increasingly providing emotional validation ("ChatGPT has helped me emotionally and it’s kind of scary," said one Reddit user), Bloom warns that these systems could actually short-circuit the discomfort that drives real human connection for teens. AI may alleviate loneliness in vulnerable populations, but it risks muting the social “corrective feedback” young people need to grow, replacing genuine connection with comforting, sycophantic simulations.

MORE COLLEGE STUDENTS NOW LEARN ENTIRELY ONLINE THAN COMPLETELY IN-PERSON, npr
For the first time, more U.S. college students are enrolled fully online than on campus, even though virtual degrees often cost the same or more than in-person programs. The outcomes are also worse: online students earn lower grades, drop out more frequently, and take longer to graduate. Still, many choose remote for its perceived flexibility and affordability. NPR spoke with a 25-year-old grad student who opted for online but now regrets it: “I have a lot of FOMO. I have friends who are in in-person grad programs, and I'm so extremely jealous of them...I feel like right now I'm just, like, clicking through slide shows and taking online quizzes.”

THESE RESTAURANTS, SALONS AND WORKOUTS ARE FREE FOR HOT PEOPLE—IF THEY POST ABOUT THEM, wsj
I was absolutely rapt reading Lane Florsheim’s dispatch on Neon Coat, an app that’s completely reshaping how Gen Z models and influencers access luxury experiences by offering free meals, salon services, and fitness classes in exchange for social media posts, effectively giving businesses a way to fake it ‘til they make it. The app now has over 12,500 users and 1,500 participating businesses, and claims to have generated more than 350,000 pieces of content. Aspiring members must meet minimum follower counts (1,000 for models, 5,000 for influencers) and high engagement rates to join.

One last thought / me every day:

@daisyypopeI was laughing and then laughing again and there were so many good edits

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