Never News: Looking closer
Greetings all and welcome to Never News, the every-two-weekly newsletter that I, Producer Georgia, type out with my delicate writer's hands for you to enjoy. Let's jump in, shall we?
Some Internet aperitifs...
Watch the Internet Archive preserve documents in real time! More horrible news from the surveillance state. A fabulous exploration of the sword as a potentially integral part of trans culture. Elsewhere, AI's newest target: OnlyFans. And finally, for the thespians: in case you missed the drama, this is the New Yorker piece that everybody's talking about online re: Patti Lupone and her newest beef against another Broadway legend.
And now, for the main courses...
DEFECTOR: in defense of close reading
As the infinite scroll of the social internet picks up speed little by little at all times, I am sure we will find more articles like this one, which try to gently put the proverbial foot on the break and slow things back down. This piece in particular is a delightful exploration of the joy of close reading, not just in terms of spending time paying attention to whatever text you have in front of you, but also as an encouragement of learning the context around that text, as well. There's much here about the importance of close reading within the world of academia, but it also does a good job of following through on the promise that its headline presupposes: that close reading is for everyone.
VULTURE: an exhausting piece on an exhausting kind of content
I'm taking a slightly different approach including this article because, frankly, it was extremely annoying to read. Judging by its headline, I was hoping this piece would be an interesting examination of the kind of content that Subway Takes represents — buzzy, content-mining schlock that pretends to offer a man-on-the-street authenticity but instead says virtually nothing at all. Takes that are just...a thing to say, and ideas with a shorter shelf life than raw fish. And reading this article, I got more fluff. Beyond broadly gross phrasing present throughout (the phrase "after I got my wife pregnant" sent a chill down my spine), it's basically just a big smile at the camera. You certainly don't have to read all of it. But I have been thinking a lot about this kind of online-first content and I do think it's important that this piece came out, if only to underline the very problems that these sorts of videos create and repeat online.
WIRED: the battle against "Skinnytok"
I truly believe that an essential truth across any social media platform is this: inevitably, the diet culture cometh. On TikTok, this is no exception, where the trend du jour is now Skinnytok, which is exactly what it sounds like — videos encouraging disordered eating, self-starving, and an obsession with weight loss thinly veiled under the guise of a supportive community of likeminded women trying to reach the same goals. But luckily, as this content has spread, so too has a vitriolic response to it, with many people rightfully declaring that we are NOT going to be doing this here and to encourage anyone who sees these videos to ignore their messaging. While it feels depressingly familiar to see the same E.D. talking points masked as "hacks," I'm glad to see this groundswell of response attempting to rip it out at the root.
That's all from me on this installment of Never News. As summer slowly but surely peeks out from behind the curtain of spring, I hope you find moments to enjoy the temperate weather before the threat of imminent sunburns becomes a dominant part of your days (or maybe that's just me). Ciao!