Spotify's fumble, Pantone's pick & a PhD thesis going viral
Vol. 1 Issue 37 – 7th December 2024
Wrapped or warped?
The 2024 Spotify Wrapped feature was finally released on 4th December, but it was a major letdown as there were no statistics for albums or genres, nor any fun segments decoding the listener’s personality, which they’ve come to be known for over the years. It’s being speculated that this has been a result of the massive layoffs Spotify did earlier in the year, and their reliance on AI for this year’s Wrapped.
Either way, as anticipated, Taylor Swift and The Tortured Poets Department were the top artist and album of the year, while Espresso was the most played song.
LGBTQ dating app, Grindr on the other hand, did not disappoint with its Grindr Unwrapped, listing the hottest men of 2024.
For the cinephiles who have been diligently logging in their movies and shows (and their critiques), Letterboxd Wrapped comes out on 8th January 2025!
Oxford has declared ‘brain rot’ as its word of the year, while ‘demure’ is Dictionary.com’s word of the year.
‘Brain rot’ is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration”. Well, do I know a thing or two about that 🙂↕️
Going viral
When Dr Ally Louks posted a simple tweet, celebrating the completion of her PhD, she could never have imagined the uproar and subsequent impact it would create.
After the topic of her thesis in the picture, Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose, caught people’s eye, many promptly provided their uninformed opinions, as netizens usually do, questioning the need for her research and niche; while others, in support, provided real-life applications of why her topic was important and more prevalent than one would imagine. The outcome of all this though, was the original tweet getting 117.5 MILLION (and counting) views and Dr Louk’s research being the most downloaded and read in her field in the last 100 years!
A masked assassin shot the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, an American health insurance company in broad daylight in New York City. While the internet couldn’t find it in them to mourn, given how the company is known to deny legitimate claims, they did readily thirst after the assassin when CCTV images of his face surfaced. Oh, and he also stopped for a Starbucks after the assassination.
Fashion & trends
Pantone’s 2025 color of the year is Mocha Mousse! The warm, neutral and creamy brown hue has been a favorite this season, from nails to lip tints, shades of brown have definitely been having a moment. Pantone says the color was chosen to evoke comforting warmth and indulging in simple pleasures. While I see the vision, personally I don’t think it’s the IT color of 2025. Color of Fall/Winter 2024? Sure, but not the following months.
As we enter 2025, going into Spring and Summer, I think we will lean into colors like pale blue, clay green and powder pink. Butter yellow was the talk of the town in 2024, so its time for other pastels to rise to the occasion. We’ve already seen an inkling of this with blueberry nails trending at the tail end of summer, powder pink on the runway shows of Miu Miu and Alaïa, and a general likeness towards sage green and it’s cousins on the color wheel. I do think Pantone got it right choosing a soft and neutral shade, given the collective steer towards minimalism and quiet luxury, but I believe 2025 will go for a brighter look.
Donatella Versace looks like a completely different person, debuting her new look.
After making waves at this year’s Met Gala, Mona Patel showed up to The Fashion Awards wearing the Christian Lacroix Haute Couture crystal corset!
Alex Consani became the first trans woman to win Model of the Year at The Fashion Awards, but Anok Yai was seemingly unhappy as she thought she deserved to win the award.
Bag charms are here to stay but the newest obsession is not Jellycat plushies, glittery cherries or scooby strings, but a line of dolls called ‘Labubu’. Labubus are monster characters from the series The Monsters. Lisa of the Kpop girl group Blackpink is a fan.
Hollywood happenings
Variety has dropped its Actors on Actors interview line-up and schedule!
Sabrina Carpenter and actor Barry Keoghan have allegedly broken up after news came out that he has been cheating on her with TikTok influencer Breckie Hill.
Actress-Singer Hailee Steinfeld got engaged and her Into The Spider-Verse co-star Shameik Moore, who plays the alternate universe Spider-Man Miles Morales, coincidentally tweeted at the same time, making everyone wonder if he’s alluding to the news since he has been trying to shoot his shot with her, repeatedly.
Timothee Chalamet's Instagram vs. Twitter reaction to Bob Dylan's tweet about A Complete Unknown, where Chalament plays him, is representative of every fanboy/girl.
The trailer for the live-action Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot has been released. Aaaand it serves as a reminder why every classic/animated film does not need a remake. Especially, with a budget of $240 million.
The Gotham Awards unofficially kicked off the awards season!
