Culture Roundup May 2025
books / video / music / film / tv / art / more
I like to maintain somewhat of a curatorial mindset as far as my media consumption is concerned. Maybe it’s because my mother worked in a museum, maybe because some part of me loves lists and categorization, or maybe some secret third thing is at work driving this instinct. But largely i’m sharing it with you now because I want a project that demands consistency. What else is new! Welcome to the first edition of my culture roundup.
*Scroll to the end to see the concise list and links :~)
long-form video:
Cultural Nihilism and the Rise of The Grifter by Jarrett Moore
Lately my tiktok algorithm has changed. I’ve spent five years painstakingly tailoring the tiktok algorithm to suit my tastes. That’s the quid-pro-quo I signed up for. They know too much about me and sell that data, and in return I get an infinity scroll of tailor-made entertainment blared into my face. In all that time I have never, not once, not unless it was being commented on by an ostensibly left-wing user, did I see conservative leaning content. And I liked it that way.
So it’s perplexing to me that since mid-January one in every forty-or-so videos is just that: conservative content. It’s not content with millions of views. Usually the videos have zero likes, maybe as many as two or three. I seem to be the first line of algorithmic defense. The sudden appearance of right-wing videos, the timing of it all, the fact that just scrolling away or clicking ‘not interested’ hasn’t been enough to keep them off my feed…that was all weird enough on its own. But the fact that every video had a low viewcount? That’s the part that made cogs turn in my head. That’s what made it feel like a concession.
So I’ve been entertaining this pet theory of mine that tiktok got to avoid the ban by conceding in some small ways to the trump admin. Stuff that the admin would’ve considered a big win but to those in the know is at worst an irritant. Stuff like, ‘your app needs more diversity of opinion, so you should show conservative content on liberal feeds’, tiktok hitting them with something like ‘do the videos have to be high viewcount?’ and them being like ‘uhhh i dont know i guess not? whatever man *high fives the guy next to him* we did it bro. we saved tiktok from being woke’
Anyway all this to say i’ve been peeved by this development, because i chose tiktok for a reason. I liked that I never saw conservative content, and if I wanted to avoid even seeing it get dunked on, I had the means to do so. I choose what entertainment I consume. If I don’t ever want to watch a right-wing film or read a right-wing book, so be it. But with a man worse than a mule ruining twitter more each day and my only real safe refuge online being tumblr, I’ve been mourning the internet that Used To Be.
And like a beacon of light, in came good old youtube, Ol’ Reliable. Sure, her algorithm has had its many pitfalls, but for well over a decade youtube has remained one of few sites that has consistently shown me at least some stuff I’d like to see. Not always, but enough to rely on her. And today just as I was thinking about choosing to consume better art, or art more tailored to my tastes or desires, youtube put this gem at the top of my homepage.
“HATING MR. BEAST WOULD BE LIKE HATING A HURRICANE. HE WAS INEVITABLE.”
First off, this video is well-produced and excellently written, a thing worth noting in a sea of lazy ‘video essayists’. Most of them bank on the ‘video’ part and less on the ‘essay’ part. Many, somehow, produce several-hour long videos banking on neither. This, on the other hand, is good stuff. Full of thoughtful lines and clever references, as any good youtube video essay should be, but more than anything i thought its central thesis was clear, comprehensible, and thought-provoking to boot. From a video production standpoint, I liked that the editing itself contained a metatextual thesis that didn’t quite correspond exactly to the textual thesis but was in visual conversation with it. I think Jarrett edits the videos himself, so good job dude that was amazing. I wish i could have your restraint in the editing room.
I share this video in the hopes that someone else is disillusioned or bored with the grifter class of entertainment as Jarrett described, and would like at least some confirmation that they’re not losing their minds and everything is being made worse a tiny bit at a time.
Sometimes it’s really nice to be 2 dumb bitches telling each other exactlyyy
short-form video:
Fascists Love AI Art Because They Hate The Humanities by Manika (@manika3000 on tiktok)
If several hours of media critique video essay are too much of a commitment, try five and a half minutes of media critique video essay. Manika is one of my new favorite tiktok users. She produces video essays about film, TV, anime, and the media landscape more broadly.
This media critique video was the first of hers I saw— I found it early on in its virality when it was at 800-ish likes, all thanks to the clever tiktok algo (listen I said the algorithm was showing me more schlock than usual not that it only shows me schlock)
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I like the stripped-down and straightforward production in Manika’s essays (yes, tiktok is production even if it’s lo-fi.) My aforementioned problem with the vast majority of youtube video essayists is that the ‘essay’ part takes a back seat. This is less of a problem on tiktok, and not at all a problem in Manika’s work. The essays are front and center. She’s a great reader and I envy her delivery and tone, as well as the fact that many (at least to my recollection most of the ones i’ve seen) were recorded in a single take. Really impressive subtle production work to make the important content shine. I think her writing is incisive, clever, and clear, which is obviously why it’s resonating with larger and larger audiences. Congrats on the brain, Manika, it’s a pleasure to learn from it.
book:
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
Full diclosure: I bought this book because I thought the googly eyes on it were real.
I promise they look even more real in person.
I read the jacket, of course, just to be sure I could commit to it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the first book set in Ancient Greece i’ve seen in years that actually beguiled me enough to read it.
I’m beginning to realize this post may have a theme.
Lord knows the book world has been inundated with Greek myths and Greek settings for years now, and none of them ever did much for me. I remember enjoying Troy by Adéle Geras, but that was in the sixth grade and that novel predates the current (thankfully waning) obsession with Greek books. This one’s about two potters in Syracuse during the Peloponnesian wars. After a battle, the remaining Athenian soldiers are starving in a quarry, and the potters offer them food in exchange for their performance of Euripides. How very delightful.
A few points: What was nice about this book is that I didn’t once feel compelled to put it down to google something for clarification. I prefer when historical fiction can remain so much in the world of the mundane that I don’t need contextual geopolitical info to feel immersed in the story. That’s a minor thing compared to how much I adored the prose and humanity of this story. I won’t give much more away, but it’s a lovely book. Bring it to the beach, I think I was wrong to read it on the subway. one needs to hear the sea while reading this book, i think.
You can find my reading log and reviews on storygraph and goodreads (but I use storygraph more)
film:
conclave (2024)
I am so late to this game it’s embarrassing. i watched this on a very unpleasant flight from milan to newark (if i may ask the universe for one thing let it be that i never fly in or out of newark again). Not only were my seatmates nightmarish ghouls that don’t exist in the real world— one only seems to discover these specimens on >5h flights— but my period started that day and thus I spenta miserable seven hours crumpled into a twisted posture closely resembling the spiral-shaped meat you wrench out of a conch shell.
But Conclave was a wonderful, wonderful distraction.
The twist was like “ohhhhh OKAY fine”; almost struck me as unnecessary. had they cut the twist entirely I think the film still would have moved me as deeply as it did (I was sold by the fifteenth minute)
I also watched nosferatu, but forgot I was on a plane so with all the important r-rated scenes cut out the movie made no sense. I liked the vibe they created and I’ll watch most things with Nicholas Hoult in them. He and the rest of the cast of Skins will forever have my goodwill. I still get excited when I see Joe Dempsie because I’m reminded he’s not Chris Miles and he’s not dead. He is alive and well and played Robert Baratheon’s bastard in Game of Thrones. Phew!
You can find my film log and reviews on my letterboxd
music:
Furèsta - LA NIÑA
I’ve been into LA NIÑA (Carola Moccia) and her neapolitan electronic fusion music since I first heard her feature on a M¥SS KETA song. But she’s only gotten better with each year that passes.
I describe her to many people as ‘Rosalía, but from Naples, singing in Neapolitan’, but she’s more than that. I respect an artist who dedicates herself to the maintenance of a tradition, of a linguistic history, but without ever stagnating or being too precious with that tradition either. Moccia is careful but bold with her experimentations. She knows when to stop herself. She knows when to push herself. This album, in short, is a masterpiece. I haven’t been so excited for an album rollout since Lorde’s Melodrama, and the payoff for this album was (all love to Lorde you have a very special place in my heart) better.
tv:
The Rehearsal - Nathan Fielder
There is nothing I can say about this show that will successfully compel you to watch it. I cannot verbalize what it is, why it works, why it’s moving, or why I love it. I simply do. Such is the way of Nathan Fielder.
The Compiled List:
long-form video:
Cultural Nihilism and the Rise of The Grifter by Jarrett Moore
short-form video:
Fascists Love AI Art Because They Hate The Humanities by Manika
book:
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
film:
conclave (2024) - stream on amazon prime, rent for $5.99 on youtube and apple tv
music:
tv:
The Rehearsal - Nathan Fielder - stream on the newly renamed HBO MAX