The Top 5: Fake illnesses, masculinity, Threads, music-making
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Welcome to your weekly edition of the Top 5 articles we’ve read this week. Each week, we read dozens of articles in the hope we find essays and reporting that speak to big ideas, trends, future looks, and incredible human stories. We hope you enjoy our list, and do always let us know if you have a suggestion or a recommendation! Please also consider becoming a paid subscriber if this is one of those newsletters you open up all the time or look forward to each week.
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The Top 5 articles for your week:
“Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness.” (Washington Post)
Because Christine Emba wrote an essential article on the state of masculinity.
“The Best Way to Find Out If Someone Is a Trump Voter? Ask Them What They Think About Manhood.” (Politico Magazine)
Because Katelyn Fossett writes about a new Politico/IPSOS study about how Republicans and Democrats view masculinity and how to solve issues facing men.
“The Bad Patient” (The Drift Mag)
Because B.D. McClay has written an important piece on trends in medical discourse online. “In recent years, mysterious, chronic ailments — chronic Lyme, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and a whole host of auto-immune diseases — have become household names. Hot girls have IBS (or so the meme goes), and singers as varied as Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, and Shania Twain are open about their struggles with chronic illness. As the visibility of these sicknesses has seemed to increase, so too has popular skepticism — ranging from casual dismissal to outright denial.”
“The Number of Songs in the World Doubled Yesterday” (Substack
)Because AI is creating music at a huge rate, but it’s not quality music. Corporations will have to work within that paradox of profiteering and creativity.
“Zombie Twitter Has Arrived” (The Atlantic)
Because Ian Bogost and Charlie Warzel argue that the new Threads app shows how we’re not allowing social media to evolve.