Checklist for if you've been living under a rock
Vol. 2 Issue 33 – 17th August 2025
It was a big week for pop culture, with such monumental developments that I seriously doubt I would be telling you anything brand new today that you haven’t already seen in some capacity on your social feeds in the past week(s). Hence, treat this as a checklist, or even a litmus test, if you will, of just how online you are.
Level: Easy
Taylor Swift announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl on her boyfriend, Travis Kelce’s podcast New Heights (and the Easter egg hunt and reactive marketing that followed): Need I say more? Yes, I do actually.
What started with Taylor’s official team dropping a post hinting at a “new era”, and the New Heights podcast teasing a very special guest, even though they are currently off air, culminated in the internet breaking.
For her first-ever podcast (and first sit-down interview in over a decade), Taylor shared about the process of buying back her masters, the intention behind the Eras Tour, being hyperfixated on baking sourdough currently and obviously, the new album. The 2 hours also gave us a closer look into her relationship with Travis Kelce, as his brother Jason turned interviewer-extraordinaire.
As for the album, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know. It’s called ‘The Life of a Showgirl’, it comes out October 3rd, has 12 tracks, with the title track having a Sabrina Carpenter feature. The rest of the tracklist has also been revealed, the album is produced by Swift, Max Martin, and Shellback (her collaborators on hits like Blank Space and Style, so expect some absolute pop bangers). I’d say anything else you see online is strictly on a need-to-know basis since the Swifties are busy digging through the info-dump to find clues and the brands are playing into the hype by joining the bandwagon.
Cristiano Ronaldo proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Georgina Rodríguez, with a ring that can probably be seen from outer space: After 8 years of dating, and 4 children together Ronaldo finally popped the question with the 30-carat ring estimated to cost anywhere between 3-5 million dollars.
Demi Lovato made a surprise appearance at a Jonas Brothers concert on their 20th anniversary tour for a Camp Rock reunion: She performed This Is Me and Wouldn't Change a Thing and called the experience 'healing' after years apart.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Wednesdays: Do the words “Team Conrad”, “Team Jeremiah”, “80% cacao-mirror glaze-raspberry coulis” sound familiar to you? Everyone’s tuned into the Prime Video teen drama based on the books by Jenny Han. After a new episode drops every week, the internet sees a litany of discourse and memes about which boy the protagonist Belly should pick, and just how insane the premise of the story is…
Level: Medium
🎶Alexander come back to sleep🎶 short form trend from the musical Hamilton: Women are dressing up as the American founding father to escape through their windows…
Trailer for Timothee Chalamet’s new movie, Marty Supreme, is here. We truly are watching the upward trajectory of one of our generation’s greats…:
Trailer for the new season of Only Murders in the Building:
Grasshopper on Jennifer Lopez: As fans screamed in warning, JLo truly thought she was having a moment on stage. Until the grasshopper creeped further up her neck and she realised what was happening.
Ryan Reynolds will return as Deadpool in Avengers: Doomsday: I meannn, anyone could have guessed that, but I guess this is the official confirmation.
Rachel Brosnahan kissing her Superman co-star after the director yelled cut: A clip has surfaced where, after the kissing scene in the new Superman movie, Rachel Brosnahan, playing Lois Lane, is seen pecking David Corenswet even though the scene has wrapped. Her real life husband has also taken to Instagram to ‘like’ shady comments about her under his posts…
Level: Difficult (read: niche)
K-pop Demon Hunters (!!!): Sony Animation’s newest movie on Netflix is kinda becoming a big deal. And rightfully so. The people behind the Spider-Verse movies have made a movie that’s visually stunning, explores the themes of identity/friendship/trust and has songs that are SO. DAMN. CATCHY. No seriously, go look at this week’s Billboard charts (yes, the real one, not in-universe). The fictional K-pop group Huntrix has become the first girl group since Destiny’s Child after 24 YEARS, to get a number 1 on the charts!
The film is also already getting Oscar buzz. So, don’t judge the name, don’t think it’s “just a kid’s movie” and just watch the K-pop idols moonlighting as demon slayers.
KATSEYE: Speaking of girl groups, Katseye was formed on a reality show by Hybe Corporation (the company behind K-pop groups like BTS and Seventeen) and consists of 6 members from around the world. Even if you don’t know them, there is a definite possibility you have unknowingly watched their TikToks or others’ TikToks on their songs. Go listen to Gabriela and Gnarly.
Book to screen adaptations: The book girlies have been going crazy over the breadcrumbs they’ve been getting from the production of the Prime Video Off Campus series (based on books by Elle Kennedy), and also The Love Hypothesis movie, thanks to Lili Reinhart doing TikTok trends with her co-star.
Singers Lana Del Rey and Ethel Cain are beefing: Lana’s new album has lyrics that shade Cain, who didn’t hold back and retaliated online. Frankly, it’s… a lot. Thankfully, Forbes has summed it up for you and for me.
Jeff Bezos wants to cast wife in the new James Bond: Since Amazon has taken over the franchise, it’s no surprise that this is happening. But rumour has it, this is not just fantasy casting, he wants to make her a star…
The Gilded Age, and The Buccaneers: Who doesn’t love a historical drama series? And what’s better than 1 historical drama? 2 historical dramas! The Gilded Age from HBO and The Buccaneers by Apple TV are both the kind of low-stakes, high-drama watches you need in your life.
Sombr announces his debut album, I Barely Know Her: Out next Friday, August 22nd.
