Newsletter #27: Something New
~knew thangs~
Hey guys! Happy start to your work week! I got a suggestion to make this newsletter more discussion and “take-y” when revealing my links to you guys, and to take more care in explaining why I chose them and thought they were interesting—SO we will be doing this today just for kicks to see what happens!
“Youth, Vigor, a Sense of High Purpose”
This is a good read about why “Kennedy” allure is still so potent so many years after JFK and RFK’s respective assassinations, and an examination into why 2020 hopefuls like Beto O’Rourke (his Vanity Fair cover SCREAMED Kennedy-esque) and Pete Buttigieg are seemingly following suit—using their “outsider” perspective, youth, hopeful demeanor, and vague-ish policy to inspire Democrats without alienating those in the middle.
Beto and Pete aren’t the only ones who have seemingly used this model. Barack Obama is another obvious example of these tactics being used successfully in the modern era. Ditto with Bill Clinton. Even the show West Wing kind of had that aura (youth, change, hope, “best” of America, whatever) and it was extremely popular! (Not gonna lie, I also had a phase of really enjoying that show)
Racism and Dating (A Podcast Ep)
This is a 55-min episode of Invisibilia that was kind of a hard one for me to listen to, just because it hit close to home and it was a lot to digest. It discusses the role of “race” and the possibility of “internalized racism” in the way Asian women date. In essence, how Asian women are often seen dating white guys when they date interracially. Is this really a preference, or is there a level of internalized racism going on here?
It’s well known in the Asian community that Asian often knock on Asian women for not dating within their own race, particularly if they date white dudes. The most extreme of them are called “Mens Rights Asians” and say things like how women of their own race only want “colonial white d*ck” so that’s why they’re being rejected by Asian women. They claim that Asian women who date white guys are just as racist as your neighborhood white nationalist. While there ARE patterns to suggest that Asian Men-White Women partnerships don’t really happen as often as Asian Women-White Men partnerships do, this podcast recognizes that there’s a lot of factors that go into romance in the first place—let alone interracial romance (i.e. history).
I’ve previously had this discussion with another Asian friend of mine after noticing that I, too, had only seriously dated white men. We talked about how it could be a good idea for us to “decolonize” our dating sphere and try seeing some men of color—just like the girl interviewed in this podcast described (although not to her extent). This podcast, however, explored how doing this intentional “decolonization” could be more objectifying, gross, and ill-intentioned than following your natural desires. However, opening up your sphere to more varied races could be a good thing as well!
Beyond how white men can fetishize asian women (every asian women you meet will probably have stories about this, myself included), flipping the topic and exploring how asian women may or may not fetishize white dudes is—obviously—a sensitive and uncomfortable topic for some people. But I saw this one reporter’s endeavor as a really worthy and brave one. I encourage you to listen.
Giving Birth While Held Captive in Syria
This is an INSANE story about a German journalist who was held captive in Syria while pregnant and have birth while imprisoned. This is a really simple Q&A format with her from Süddeutsche Zeitung (it’s in english, don’t worry) lets her tell her own tale—why she went to Syria in the first place, how she was imprisoned, what imprisonment was like, etc.
I really encourage you to give it a read, a light skim even (when you skim it you’ll just end up reading it because it’s so interesting). One of the most interesting bits? She believes she was liberated from her captors (likely al-Nusra Front, who used to be aligned with al-Qaeda) by another jihadist group because a judge “apparently ruled that it had been un-Islamic to kidnap [her] and that freeing [her] had re-established Islamic law.”
Globalism in Pop Music? Discuss.
While this Guardian article doesn’t necessarily press this question—I think its an interesting one! While the U.S. can still claim pop-sensation Ariana Grande, I don’t think anyone can doubt Spanish-language (“Despacito” and “Taki Taki”) and Korean-language (BlackPink is playing at Coachella, okay?) are rising in popularity.
With large markets like India reportedly getting Spotify soon—will Indian pop also be making a rise? Do streaming services have a role in the diversification/globalization of today’s pop scene? So many questions!
Kendall Breaking Her Silence
Maybe you missed this, because it was pretty deep in the NYT article—but Kendall Jenner spoke out for the first time re: her endorsement of botched music fest Fyre Festival:
“You get reached out to by people to, whether it be to promote or help or whatever, and you never know how these things are going to turn out, sometimes it’s a risk,” she said. “I definitely do as much research as I can, but sometimes there isn’t much research you can do because it’s a starting brand and you kind of have to have faith in it and hope it will work out the way people say it will.” Even when she trusts her collaborators, “you never really know what’s going to happen.”
Also, if you’re wondering, Kim Kardashian is not considering a run for presidential office (despite her apparent political interest in criminal justice reform):
“It would be probably the most stressful job in the world, and I don’t think that’s for me.”
Stragglers
(These links don’t get 2-4 paragraphs but they’re still WORTHY of ur time)
Remember how I posed about that one woman who had no qualms about being rich in the last newsletter? Here’s an interview with the daughter of a Disney, with her basically saying that money isn’t everything:
They did a study at the Chronicle of Philanthropy years ago where they asked people who inherited money, “What amount of money would you need to feel totally secure?” And every single one of them, no matter what they had, named a number that was roughly twice what they inherited. So that’s what you need to know about money, right?
Get ready for the next OBNOXIOUS reveal trend: College Decision Reveal videos have been popping up on YouTube (barf).
Did you hear? Cowboy Bebop (an iconic anime) is getting the live-action treatment on Netflix. I am excited for this and will be watching.
The New Yorker had book cover art designers make a cover for when the almost 400-page Mueller report eventually gets released and sold in book form. (The second one is my favorite)
I was wondering the other day how neat it would be if I took some fitness teacher training and was able to teach classes as a side hustle but WOW, THAT SEEMS TO BE A SCAM AS WELL !!!!!
Music for Your Monday (and K-Pop plug)
A lovely string cover of Taeyeon’s Four Seasons. (The title of this newsletter is also a Taeyeon song)
That’s all folks!
Let me know how you liked this new format! You can reply to me directly, DM me on Twitter, or just chat with me about it (I think a lot of people who read this have my # haha).
