Helloooo0o0oo!
I hope you’re having a lovely week. Thanks for bearing with me through my hiatus! I’ve been holidaying in Japan and am now suffering from a big case of post-holiday depression.
In this week’s edition of Yikes: Rupert Murdoch’s life seems an awful lot like Succession, a YouTuber adopts Andrew Huberman’s routine for a year, Alison Roman’s on her comeback tour, facial filler reversals are on the rise, Hokas are the shoe of the moment and influencers don’t want to influence anymore.
Here are six things I consumed recently:
Inside Rupert Murdoch’s Succession Drama by Gabriel Sherman for Vanity Fair
If you read one thing this week, make it this recount of Rupert Murdoch’s recent woes. It reads like an episode of Succession – a source even says that Lachlan, (Murdoch’s son) believes James (also Murdoch’s son) has been leaking to the show’s writers. From a Fox News defamation lawsuit to health scares and family squabbles, Murdoch’s had a hectic few years.
Read this snippet about how Murdoch broke off his last marriage:
At the age of 91, Murdoch blew up his fourth marriage. Hall [his wife at the time] was waiting for Murdoch to meet her at their Oxfordshire estate last June when she checked her phone. “Jerry, sadly I’ve decided to call an end to our marriage,” Murdoch’s email began, according to a screenshot I read. “We have certainly had some good times, but I have much to do…My New York lawyer will be contacting yours immediately.” Hall told friends she was blindsided.
Hall and Murdoch finalized their divorce two months later. (One of the terms of the settlement was that Hall couldn’t give story ideas to the writers on Succession.) Hall told friends she had to move everything out of the Bel Air estate within 30 days and show receipts to prove items belonged to her.
🗞️ Read it: Inside Rupert Murdoch’s Succession Drama
I Did Andrew Huberman’s Routine for 1 Year *Science Based Productivity Hacks* by Keltie O’Connor on YouTube
I’ve had Dr. Andrew Huberman, who hosts the hugely popular podcast Huberman Lab, on my radar for a while. He’s a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine and the bee's-knees of bringing research and science to the masses.
Each episode of his podcast is meticulously referenced and timestamped. Although many people rave about it, especially his episode on What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health, I find the episodes too science-y for my morning commute.
For this reason, I loved this vlog by YouTuber Keltie O’Connor who tries a different Huberman habit every month for a year. I’ve tried to incorporate some of the tips, including delaying my caffeine intake by 90 to 120 minutes each morning (a game-changer), and viewing morning sun light and evening sunset to help with sleep and energy throughout the day.
📺 Watch it: I Did Andrew Hubermans Routine for 1 Year *Science Based Productivity Hacks
Alison Roman’s Private Party by Samantha Leach for Bustle
What’s it like to live out a social media shit-storm? Alison Roman, a home cook to the millennial masses, knows a thing or two.
During the pandemic, Roman became Twitter’s punching bag after making a comment about Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo ‘selling out’, saying, “[creating a cookware line] feels greedy. Unless something just simply didn't exist that I wish existed, but that would make me an inventor, which I'm not. There's just too much stuff in the world”.
Roman, who’s known (and loved) for being bold, saw backlash for her comment, with people accusing her of hypocrisy and targeting Asian women. She apologised and was suspended from her role at The New York Times. Chrissy Teigan lamented the suspension on Twitter and publicly forgave Roman.
Roman spoke to Bustle about the incident:
“Imagine any time you think someone’s mad at you because they don’t text you back, or you see them at a party and they’re weird to you and you’re like, ‘What the f*ck?’ Imagine that happening on the absolute largest f*cking scale,” she says.
And although she’s weathered the storm, she’s certainly not unscathed:
“I’m like, ‘I just hope that I’m around long enough where some people that hated me now like me again.’”
🗞️ Read it: Alison Roman’s Private Party
The Great Deflation by Jessica Defino for The Unpublishable
I want to preface this by saying that I don’t think anyone who’s had or is thinking of having a cosmetic procedure should feel guilty or any-which-way about it. It’s common to feel the pull of the cosmetic surgery industry and placing the blame on individuals excuses the industry and the role it plays in making women feel like they need to change their appearance.
Defino talks about ‘The Great Deflation’, which refers to the increase in women having their facial fillers reversed. She calls it a “sisyphean trend cycle”, which sums it up perfectly.
Injectors have a tendency to use too much filler too often, due to financial incentives — an ethical issue, sure, but an aesthetic issue and a health issue, too (filler is known to disrupt lymphatic drainage, a core function of the body’s immune system). Meanwhile, consumers are using the term “filler fatigue” to describe the psychological consequences: They’re tired of inflating their faces — the look, the cost, the upkeep, the obsession.
[The increase in facial filler reversals] speaks to the cyclical nature of beauty standards and beauty trends. There's a limit to how much you can inflate your lips! Where was the beauty industry supposed to go from there? Dissolving lip fillers keeps the trend cycle cycling.
🗞️ Read it: The Great Deflation
How Did Hokas Become So Popular? By Reyhan Harmanci for The New York Times
This is a really interesting piece about how a comfort-first shoe evolved into a fashion item. Now that you’ve seen this headline, I bet you’ll start noticing Hokas everywhere! It reminds me of the Boston Birkenstocks (the ones that look like clogs) – there hasn’t been a massive marketing campaign for the shoe, in fact they’ve been out of stock for months, but everyone I know wants a pair. On an unrelated note, if you come across any taupe suede Boston Birkenstocks in size 39 narrow, let me know.
Hokas have been on a rocket ship to the upper echelons of sneaker brands, buffeted by the trend winds of “ugly shoes” during the pandemic, word-of-mouth among older and injured people and the brand’s utility to serious runners.
🗞️ Read it: How Did Hokas Become So Popular?
Is There Life After Influencing? By Mattie Kahn for The New York Times
Kahn writes about the growing number of influencers who are ditching content creation for a regular job.
Ms. Tilghman was wellness culture, a warm-blooded mood board of Outdoor Voices workout sets, coconut oil and headstands. She had earned north of $300,000 a year — and then dropped more than 150,000 followers, her entire management team, and most of her savings to become an I.R.L. person.
The corporate gig, as a social media director for a tech platform, was a revelation. “I could just show up to work and do work,” Ms. Tilghman said. After she was done, she could leave. She didn’t have to be a brand. There’s no comments section at an office job.
🗞️ Read it: For Lee Tilghman, There Is Life After Influencing
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Came for the links, stayed for the Moose