cultural commentary Archives - Page 4 of 17 - Postcards from The Pug Bus

Netflix adds new category illustration showing a confused woman studying a detective board of forgotten TV shows linked by red string and vague memories.

"Who the hell is Gerald, and why did I spend seventeen hours with him?"

Netflix Adds New Category: Shows You Started and Forgot About

T.J. Eckleburg cultural commentary 5 months

In news from Los Gatos, California: Netflix adds new category designed for viewers who began watching a program, abandoned it somewhere around episode 3, and… Read More

Attractive but exhausted couple sit in separate rooms scrolling phones late at night, illustrating a new dating app built around mutual fatigue.

"U up?"

Culture

New Dating App Matches People Based on Mutual Exhaustion

T.J. Eckleburg cultural commentary 5 months

The new dating app Enough promises to connect adults not through shared interests, physical attraction, or long-term compatibility, but through the simple, intimate question: How… Read More

Adult friendships illustration showing two adults with goofy emoji faces maintaining a relationship through a red heart reaction on a computer screen.

Two lifelong friends exchanging the modern equivalent of emotional vulnerability.

Culture

Most Adult Friendships Now Maintained Through Reaction Emojis

T.J. Eckleburg cultural commentary 6 months

The Mid-Atlantic Institute for Social Continuity (MAISC) is reporting that most adult friendships (67 percent) are now maintained primarily through reaction emojis, abbreviated acknowledgments, and… Read More

Couple on couch using mediation app overlay

They finally resolved everything, including the part where they stopped talking to each other.

Culture

Couples Outsourcing Their Arguments to Third Party Arbitrators

philmaggitti cultural commentary 6 months

Third Party Arbitrators are changing the way couples argue. Previously, couples argued poorly, at inconvenient hours, and with a level of emotional imprecision that ensured… Read More

Older man stands in bright hotel lobby beside poster of his life’s ending, comparing himself to curated version, theme: deciding how a life ends

One if by land, two if by sea.

Culture

Focus Groups Now Deciding How a Life Ends

philmaggitti cultural commentary 6 months

Because few decisions carry more finality than deciding how a life ends, it has become difficult to justify leaving that decision to fate. A case… Read More

A ghost of a dead lifestyle influencer sits on her marble tomb, glowing as she scrolls her phone. A sunlit glass of water and magnesium chews rest on a nearby pedestal.

Staying hydrated is vital even when you are just a shimmering cloud of data.

Culture

A Dead Lifestyle Influencer Keeps on Posting

philmaggitti cultural commentary 6 months

Death, like most things, has become a scheduling issue. When dead lifestyle influencer Lila Fenwick, then 34, died last month following an undisclosed medical event,… Read More

Rock star dentist smashes guitar in exam room as terrified patient recoils in chair, blending dental routine with chaotic concert energy in absurd scene

Routine cleaning, now with encore.

Culture

Everyone’s a Rock Star, Baby

philmaggitti cultural commentary 6 months

Being a rock star used to involve leather, volume, and a willingness to disappoint your parents in public. Now it requires a LinkedIn profile and… Read More

A true crime podcast delivered from a Subaru with a Blue Yeti microphone and ring light, aimed toward a suburban cul-de-sac with complete seriousness.

Kelsey Dunbar in her studio. Tuesday, Overland Park.

Culture

Portrait of a True Crime Podcast

T.J. Eckleburg cultural commentary 6 months

On a Tuesday afternoon in Overland Park, Kansas, Kelsey Dunbar, who publishes a true crime podcast, climbs into her 2021 Subaru Forester. She adjusts the… Read More