Kate King, eVal, a Random Swede and the Pleasure of an Ordinary Life
There is something strangely difficult to explain about Kate King. On paper, there is very little about her that should make her an internet phenomenon. She is 27 years old, lives in Aylesbury with her parents, spends a considerable amount of time with people older than herself, has worked relatively little, has never had the conventional dating life that tends to form the backbone of contemporary social media and has built much of her online presence around things as thrilling as the weekly food shop. She is not particularly interested in performing the version of 27 that the internet has taught us to expect. There are no endless nights out, career announcements, couples holidays, gym transformations or carefully constructed declarations of having “figured it all out.” There is Costa. There is bowls. There is radio. There is her mum, Val. There is Mick. There are grocery hauls and meal plans and an extraordinary amount of conversation about what is happening next. And somehow, millions of people have found this completely captivating.
Curating Yourself to Death
Curation used to describe a specific, slow, accountable act: a person selecting and arranging objects, deciding what belongs next to what, and being professionally responsible for the argument that arrangement made. It required expertise and restraint, because the whole discipline rested on knowing what to leave out.
Somewhere in the last decade, the word got detached from that discipline and reattached to an Instagram grid, a Depop shop, a For You page algorithmically arranged for you rather than by you. Everyone curates now. Almost nobody is exercising judgement.
The shift isn’t cosmetic. A museum curator’s selections are legible, arguable and attributable; you can disagree with a hang and say why. A TikTok feed’s curation is opaque by design, optimised for retention rather than argument, and arranges you as much as you arrange it. Calling both of these curation flattens a real distinction between a discipline with standards and a recommendation engine with a retention target.
Music, Fashion, Film: How Charli xcx Continues to Rock the Music Industry’s Moulds
When I first heard Charli xcx was making a rock-inspired album, I was admittedly sceptical. However, as singles ‘SS26’, ‘Wink Wink’, and ‘Camera’ dropped, I found myself appreciating her new musical direction. Released on July 24th 2026, Music, Fashion, Film received generally positive critical reception, but has consistently been compared to xcx’s latest album, Brat. Whilst this allows for interesting discussion, I believe the discourse should more thoroughly consider xcx’s emergence as a multimedia female artist.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved both Brat and Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat, xcx’s collaborative album with artists such as Addison Rae, Lorde, and Billie Eilish. However, the creative collaboration on MFF feels integral to the album’s purpose. Shot by Scottish photographer Aidan Zamiri, the album cover depicts John Cale, Marc Jacobs, and Martin Scorsese, three respective embodiments of music, fashion, and film. Cale, who recently collaborated with xcx on ‘House’, is 84 years old but continues to make records and tour around the UK and Europe. Last year, I saw him at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow for his POPtical Illusion tour: despite his age, he performed with the same vigour as in the days of The Velvet Underground.
The Romance Economy: Pink Pill Culture & Dating Strategy
A few months ago, I realised I had become, at least in part, what the internet now calls "pink-pilled".
Not because I wanted to marry a millionaire or because I believed women should manipulate men into paying for their lifestyles, but because, after years of hearing women apologise for wanting more, something about the rhetoric felt refreshing. My TikTok feed became increasingly populated with videos about "high-value men", "provider mindsets" and Shera Seven's now infamous phrase, "sprinkle sprinkle". I found myself agreeing with more of it than I expected. After all, what was so controversial about believing women deserved better?
Cyberfeminism Now: Hopecore, Cyborgs, and the Platformed Self
There is something distinctly cyberfeminist about hopecore; the strange, dissonant meme format pairing low-resolution animals with WordArt affirmations and early, internet aesthetics. Its visual language recalls the surreal gloss of 1990s desktop environments, evoking a moment when the internet still felt unstable, open, and full of possibility. Yet hopecore is not utopian. It emerges from what Polyester mag describes as a “fragmented soup of life,” in which online culture mirrors a broader social drift toward disarray, and where existentialism and nihilism increasingly underpin everyday experience (Quin, 2026.).
Why is Gen Z Is Bringing Print Back?
With some consumers turning away from their phones and following a “digital detox,” print media seems to be not only benefitting from the change but elevating its presence from informative media to a luxury product. In an era where our consumption of news and art is controlled by algorithms, it feels like readers are slowly turning back to print.
In what Rolling Stone called a “cultural recalibration,” the revival of print media is, according to online sources, consumers responding to an overstimulating digital world. Social media is still an active creative outlet, but it largely depends on what ‘side’ of the algorithm you find yourself on. The constant shift of topics and issues shared online can become an overwhelming aspect of having any kind of online presence whatsoever.
Where Girls Aloud meets Fiona Apple: Medb - Glasgow’s new rising star
Glasgow’s music scene has a new star on the rise: Medb, a singer-songwriter whose unique blend of pop, post-punk, and experimental sounds has been turning heads across the UK. From her early days in Belfast to her current life in Glasgow, Medb’s journey has been defined by resilience, creativity, and an unwavering commitment to her artistic vision
Music was in Medb’s blood from the very beginning. Both of her parents were recording musicians, regularly played on local radio, and introduced her to the thrill of performing from a young age. Alongside her brothers, who also formed their own band, Medb grew up immersed in music, singing into tape recorders and experimenting on a second-hand Yamaha keyboard. By her mid-teens, she was writing original songs, setting the foundation for the career she is pursuing today.
Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, and the Closest Thing America Has to a Royal Wedding
When Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got engaged, the news didn’t just land as a pop star marrying a football player; it was treated like history. Headlines declared it “the closest thing to an American royal wedding,” as though an engagement could double as a coronation. People magazine even called it “our answer to a royal wedding,” complete with balcony-kiss comparisons to Charles and Diana. TikToks flooded timelines, NFL dads shrugged in amusement, Swifties wept, and for one surreal moment, America behaved as if it finally had royals.
The Great Lock In: 2025’s Reset Trend For Self-Improvement
This phenomenon has taken the world by storm and interested not just the health fanatics, but another wave of Gen-Zs who want to buy into the latest craze. From 5 a.m morning routines, to breathing exercises, to extravagant facials, self-improvement and wellness trends have given people an outlet to de-stress and feel invigorated. “Locking-in” is another Gen-Z trend which has taken the internet by storm. Cue the thousands of TikTok videos all about it. Just in time for the autumn season, we’re buying planners and new stationery, beginning the ascent to achieving our own goals. Mass consumerism, an occurring trend many of us buy into like clockwork each year, seeks to perpetuate these high standards of “goal-achieving”. Perhaps we should make an effort to reduce our consumerist habits, especially in an age of climate change and the cost of living crisis. We don’t need to be buying expensive notebooks and planners. Vision boards, early mornings, and feel-good routines that work for us make it easier to “lock in” and be productive in this new phase of the year.
Simone Rocha SS26: The Next Chapter of Girlhood
Simone Rocha has spent over 15 years quietly reshaping what femininity can look like on the runway. Recently, we’ve been on a journey of femininity and girlhood with Rocha’s collections. Last season, Rocha gave us a full-on nostalgia trip full of childhood memories, messy adolescence, that space between play and reality. This time, she’s clearly taking us on a journey through the early years of girlhood. Spring/Summer ‘26 felt like chapter two of her coming-of-age story. Think secret diaries and sleepovers, all filtered through Rocha's narrative-driven, subversive flair
(Don’t) Stop Filming me Courtney: Paul Black on Virality, Class, and all things Glasgow
When Paul Black speaks, it’s as if Glasgow itself has picked up the mic: fast, self-aware, and never quite willing to take itself too seriously. He’s the kind of performer whose offhand catchphrases end up tattooed on fans, whose earliest “punk edits” on Tumblr made him internet-famous before he even showed his face, and whose Glaswegian humour now pulls in thousands who see their own lives reflected in his work. In conversation, Black moves between razor-sharp wit and moments of sincerity, weighing the chaos of viral fame against the realities of being a working-class artist from his home city.
Critical Thinking Is Dying and ChatGPT Is Holding the Knife
For generations, education has prided itself on more than just memorising facts, but also the ability to think critically, to ask questions, to weigh arguments, and to sit with uncertainty. That habit is now slipping away, and the culprit is not ignorance, but convenience.
ChatGPT and similar tools offer a sense of quick clarity on demand. They generate paragraphs that flow, essays that read well, and convincing arguments. But fluency is not the same as thought. By outsourcing our thoughts to a machine, we risk losing the very skill education was meant to protect: critical thinking.
“What You See Is What You Get”: Kira McCaffery on Growing Up, Going Viral and Staying Real
There’s a certain type of warmth that some people carry with them, a brightness that doesn’t beg for attention, but draws it anyway. Kira McCaffery, content creator and self-described “centre of attention Leo”, is exactly that kind of person. You hear it in the Glaswegian lilt of her laugh, the way she names her childhood teddy “Sharpay” after High School Musical’s finest diva, or how she tells you, quite frankly, that being on telly just felt right.
Ethel Cain: Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You - Album Review
Have you ever heard of Cancer Alley?
In Louisiana, there is a stretch of land, about 140km, with a massive concentration of America’s petrol refineries. In this naturally stunning area of the United States that stretches out into the Gulf of Mexico, residents are 95% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer. This image of an area in the marshy south of the United States, radiating with carcinogens is one that I could not escape when listening to Ethel Cain’s new album, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You.
Hayden Anhedönia, performing as the character Ethel Cain, has always had this element of tortured southern gothic tone to her music. Her debut album, Preacher’s Daughter, rides a fine line between Bible-Belt nostalgia and post-modern doomerism. Her recent follow up Perverts dives head first into the doom, with an industrial ambient album that was far removed from the almost-pop music of before; the drones of the album would almost be more fitting with the sound of a geiger counter clicking in the background.
The Far-Right’s New Muse: Sydney Sweeney and her “great genes”
Well, so much of Sydney Sweeney’s public image as it existed before was her straddling herself between the two camps. She has had several appearances on the left-wing comedy show SNL, while a surprise party she threw for her mum's 60th birthday drew attention when photos were shared of guests wearing MAGA-style hats and “Blue Lives Matter” shirts. Whenever her public appearances garner attention from the right wing, she never comments on where she stands or condemns the attention.
Love Island 2025: Society on Steroids - Power, Race, and Gender Dynamics
UK Love Island Season 12 is a revealing microcosm of society’s persistent tensions around patriarchy, misogyny, and racial bias. As the contestants navigate love, friendship, and conflict under the relentless spotlight, we witness a condensed performance of social codes and power struggles that shape everyday life. The Majorcan villa becomes a pressure cooker, intensifying the complex intersections of gender, race, and power in ways that are uncomfortable, captivating, and all too familiar.
From Underdogs to Icons: The Lionesses and the Rise of Women’s Football
With another victory under their belt, England’s Lionesses have once again captured the nation’s attention, highlighting the continued rise of women’s football.
What was once a side-lined sport is now firmly in the spotlight, with growing audiences, increased investment, and a new generation of fans. The momentum behind women’s football reflects a wider cultural shift: attitudes are evolving, representation is expanding, and young women are seeing new possibilities, both on and off the pitch. A game long dominated by a male narrative is finally opening up to new voices, and they’re making themselves heard.
Addison Rae Sheds Her TikTok Persona, and Her Last Name, with Debut Album
Released to mixed reviews in 2021, Addison Rae’s single ‘Obsessed’ was praised by some but regarded by most as dull and uninspired. As an artist she was viewed as just another influencer exploiting the utilities at their disposal brought on by the privileges of fame. With such an overwhelming outpouring of negativity, it was back to the drawing board for Rae. Leaks of an original scrapped album that was led by ‘Obsessed’ went viral, and were later released- in 2023, leading some to re-evaluate opinions on her music, although some were still left sceptical. Either way, fans and critics alike have been anxiously anticipating an album from Addison Rae for quite some time now.
Review: Mike White’s ‘The White Lotus’ (Season 3)
Mike White’s The White Lotus has, for many years, depicted the monstrosity of affluence among wealthy Americans. From Hawaii to Sicily, we were rocked by the twists and turns of events throughout their stay at the iconic hotel. Season 3, now set in Thailand, was perhaps the most hotly anticipated TV series this year, and it certainly did not disappoint! We were introduced, yet again, to another ensemble of wealthy Americans eager to put their minds at rest from their everyday materialist lives. A holiday in Thailand was quite the choice!
The Social Class Satire: How the Ultra-Rich Lost Their Allure
Poking fun at those in positions of power or privilege is nothing new; in fact, it’s the very foundation of satire. Yet, the 21st century has introduced a new generation of the rich and famous, complete with a fresh set of mannerisms and stereotypes for those on the outside to laugh at. Films such as Triangle of Sadness – a scathing satire centred on models, influencers, and oligarchs – and TV series such as The White Lotus – a darkly comedic take on luxury resorts – suggest that being inordinately wealthy has lost its chic, if fact, it’s actually quite embarrassing.