Is cash a bad Christmas gift?
Here's the best things I found on the internet in the past week!
Happy holiday week friends!
One of my favorite weeks of the year is upon us. Feasting, family, football (and don’t forget Feast Week college hoops!). We have not one but TWO big hits up and running at the box office in Wicked (I’ll be responding to all of your feedback from last week) and Gladiator II (this week’s featured movie). Good times in the pop culture world.
Online content does tend to trickle this week since traffic is down and a lot of outlets are on holiday — or, after Hearst announced 200 more layoffs, it’s because there aren’t many journalists left.
That’s not going to stop me from serving up my own Thanksgiving side, a fresh batch of my “conversation starters,” a roundup of the best, most interesting and most entertaining content on the internet in the past week. Read, watch, and enjoy!
What’s the coolest story or thing you found on the internet this week? Reply to this email and shoot me a link. Would love to hear from you!
The Atlantic put its finger on something I’ve noticed in my own little world of LA — how “friendsgiving” took over millennial culture. For several people I know, hosting (or attending) a blowout for friends the week before Thanksgiving is almost as big of a deal as the real thing.
This little news item is going way under-covered — Instagram will soon allow users to reset their algorithm. “Clear your recommended content across Explore, Reels and Feed and start fresh.” Think about it! That’s a massive deal when you consider how much of an impact your personal algorithm has on the stuff you consume (the stuff that shapes you every day!).
Vox opens a can of worms with this one: Is cash a bad Christmas gift? In Japan and Korea, it’s accepted (even encouraged), but the stigma in the U.S. around the world’s most useful (and coveted) gift remains strong. Let’s debate!
When actors/artists/filmmakers get into longform conversations about their art, they often get extremely high minded and pretentious about it. That’s basically really the entire point of Zane Lowe’s Apple interview series, but Timothee Chalamet explaining his process for trying to capture the illusive Bob Dylan in the upcoming biopic had me rapt — Timmy doesn’t do a lot of interviews like this and Dylan is endlessly fascinating to discuss.
This has to be the greatest in-flight meal on the planet. Delta will begin offering Shake Shack burgers on board for select flights.
Reader Will K is this newsletter’s unofficial Broadway correspondent, and shared this fascinating article with me this week — did you know, the only place in the world where Les Misérables has never been popular is France? How could that be true! The New York Times explains, and previews a new attempt to rework the show so its home country will finally embrace it.
He also recommended to me this breakdown of “Defying Gravity” by the Wicked composer for all you who have been blasting it at full volume since watching the movie.
It may be the week for turkey but here’s how to never lose at a game of “duck duck goose” ever again (“which is essential if you ever want to be taken seriously”).
Thanks for reading and sharing! We’ll be talking movies on Friday per usual, with a focus on Gladiator II!