Everything Is Content

Hello EICustard Creams! For this week's bonus we're discussing the ethics of wearing or owning smart glasses. It's a tech that has existed in various forms for over a decade, first with Google Glass, then Apple’s Vision Pro, which caused concern on release for featuring twelve cameras, six microphones and two depth sensors. And now Meta, along with other big tech giants, are expanding their own smart glass collections, ponying up for huge celebrity endorsements and seeking to normalise the tech for everyday wear. With your help- we discuss.

Thanks so much for your takes on this topic. We love love love being In Conversation with you all!

B, R, O x

Links
The Washington Post - Smart glasses record people in public. The most online generation is pushing back
CNIL - Smart Glasses: The CNIL calls for vigilance
TikTok - Alex Haddon matches songs
BBC - Woman covertly filmed for 'humiliating' social media content - then told to pay
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Hello ‘ello EICrashouts!

Happy Friday but even more importantly- happy wedding day to our beloved Ruchira! If you’ve not sorted your wedding gift yet don’t fret. The bride and groom have requested 5 star ratings and gorgeous reviews for the pod.

Onto the episode…

First up we’re discussing a truly bonkers run of celebrity endorsements. Timothée Chalamet for controversial prediction market Kalshi, his partner Kylie Jenner shilling Meta’s new Starfire AI glasses and Gwyneth Paltrow advertising luxury real estate in Israel… are some celebrities too famous for consequences? And how fat were those paycheques?

Next up a new philosophy on the block- Bimbo Stoicism. Described as “a viral internet subculture that blends ancient Stoic emotional detachment with hyper-feminine, reclaimed "bimbo" aesthetics” with “a core philosophy encouraging women to reject rigid patriarchal beauty hierarchies and embrace self-acceptance by identifying with a "twin animal" that matches their natural features and demeanour.” Word salad or a chance to escape a lifetime of female-coded suffering?

And finally: a steamy streamer to heatedly rival Heated Rivalry: Off Campus on Amazon Prime. Adapted from a book series of the same name by Elle Kennedy, the series is set at the fictional Briar University and follows music student Hannah Wells as she makes a deal with star hockey player and team captain Garrett Graham to start a fake relationship in exchange for her tutoring him. Perfect horny show or just a load of old fluff? One of us hated it, the other two have taste. No spoilers!

Thanks so much for listening! You can follow us @everythingiscontentpod for behind the scenes content and to help us decide future topics.

O, R, B x

This week Oenone was loving Two Weeks In August on BBC iPlayer, Queenie Is Working On It by Candice Carty-Williams (out now!) and kimchi cheese toasties. Ruchira was loving Girl, Interrupted and Beth was loving True Detective series 1 and sort of maybe (??) liking Alice and Steve.

Links
Dazed - Wtf is Bimbo Stoicism? Unpacking the internet’s wildest new beauty trend
The Guardian - From Goop to ‘Gwynocide’: why is Gwyneth Paltrow starring in a luxury Israeli real estate ad? by Arwa Mahdawi
Novara Media - Gwyneth Paltrow Appears in Ad for Israeli Luxury Real Estate Developer
The Guardian - Gwyneth Paltrow 'a crucial source' in Harvey Weinstein revelations
Elle - It's Time To Connect The Dots Between Stories About Gendered Violence And What Causes It by Gina Martin
Instagram - Gwyneth Paltrow Just Goopified Drone Warfare

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Hello EICherries 🍒 This week is a very special author episode with the incredibly talented and successful Candice Carty-Williams.

It was an honour to speak to her about her highly anticipated sequel to the beloved Queenie – her debut novel exploring the highs and lows of a 20-something young Black woman. She was very open about the struggles of adapting the story for TV; why she decided to bring the character back now; chosen families, and her experience of productivity pressure and desperately needing to switch off.

We loved speaking with her. Please do give us a rating or a Spotify comment on any topics we discussed, as we'd love to hear from you <3

Love O,R,B xxxx

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Queenie Is Working On It is OUT NOW. Go get a copy ASAP.

Candice's tour dates
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Hello EIClimate worriers, we're back with a new episode spanning heatwaves, hot wedding fashion and a temperature check on Gen Z's futures.

First up, our dear, dear friend Dua got married recently and kindly shared *the* dress publicly last weekend. Was it an EIC slay or nay? Find out. We also wade into the most ridiculous discourse we've ever encountered, arguably – all centred on Anne Hathaway's pregnancy.

Then there's only one subject on the UK's mind right now: heatwave. We dive into the frustrating and unreasonable online discourse around the climate. And finally, Generation Bedroom. No, these aren't fun teens sleeping in; they're a generation of unemployed, disenfranchised young people pushed out of jobs and entering the world.

Thank you for listening to us this week! Remember to keep hydrated and stay safe in the heat. Love O,R.B xoxo

This week Ruchira watched The Alien Autopsy Scandal and read I Who Have Never Known Men. Oenone loved Legends, Rivals s2 & The Harry Styles tour (as did Beth). Beth also recommended Fantastic Mr Fox.

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Dua Lipa Has Finally Revealed Her Wedding Dress – And It Took 1,155 Hours To Make

How hot a 1976-style heatwave would be today

Why even a mild UK heatwave can feel hotter than America's worst

Pop Crave's Anne Hathaway tweet

Women who postpone having babies until they are older make happier parents, study finds

Women Who Give Birth in Their Thirties Have Longer Telomeres, a Marker of Healthy Cellular Aging

Young people and work: interim report

Being NEET in early adulthood has scarring effect into midlife

Young bearing the brunt of UK tax and wage changes, says BoE economist

Number of job vacancies hits five year-low
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Hello EIChloe Sevignys, this week, one of the big cultural talking points is can AI ever replicate taste? And should we all be actively protecting our own, regardless of how good or bad it is?

In March, Kyle Chayka wrote a piece for The New Yorker titled: Why Tech Bros Are Now Obsessed with Taste. In it, he quoted several key tech figures who present taste as the final frontier for AI tech bros - almost like the one human trait they’re finding impossible to replicate.

In May, Trend forecaster and founder of the strategy firm Nemesis Global, Emily Segal, coined the term “tasteslop” to describe the repetitive, recycled visuals littering the internet that feel devoid of any human point of view, almost like gorgeous blandness. Lots of it, she points out, feels like this because it’s generated by AI and then replicated over and over.

And of course, last week, Polyester released ‘The Polyester Book of Bad Taste’, a collection of essays edited by its editor-in-chief Ione Gamble. The book is described as an antidote to ever-creeping homogeneity and bland tastefulness. “In a world constantly vying for our attention, having faith in your own (bad) taste is more than a small subversion – it's a rallying cry to live our lives unapologetically.”

We talk all things taste, with your help! Thank you so much for all of your takes on this topic we love being in conversation with you all! O, R, B xx

The Polyester Book of (Bad) Taste

TASTESLOP: Notes on technological anxiety

Why Tech Bros Are Now Obsessed with Taste
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