Sunday Reads: Metabolizing for the Good of the Species

Welcome to The Enthusiast, the newsletter that's all yum, no yuck! Every Sunday I'm sending five interesting articles I enjoyed recently and think everyone should read. Friday Faves are now for subscribers only, but subscriptions are free, so why not go ahead and sign up? I've got a veritible cornucopia of goodies for you this evening, so let's get to it!

The World is Toxic. Welcome to the Metabolic Era.

Let’s get one thing out of the way from the jump: this wild but also kind of brilliant article discusses excrement, decay, and rot as a system of survival in a world we’ve made toxic, and my inner feral forest witch is into it (survival–not poop, thanks). It’s an interesting, visceral approach to existing in symbiosis with the world we've created  from growth at all costs, especially now as climate doom and plastics permeation aren’t so much looming as they are knocking on our doors, ready to feast. Just don’t read it while you’re eating, k?

(BONUS: Metabolism is also a Post-WWII Japanese architectural movement!)

Who Killed Google Reader?

I feel like we can pinpoint the exact moment that the enshittification of the Internet as we know it began: the day Google shut down their widely used and well beloved RSS feed tool, Google Reader. I think that was the turning point when we no longer had as much control over what we consumed online—with an RSS reader, you subscribed to the blogs (remember those?!) you wanted to see, the ones you were actually interested in, and you didn’t have to fight through the noise of an algorithm recommending things it thinks you might like based on your personal data. The demise of Reader popped up right around the wretched Pivot to Video as well, forcing people to follow blogs on various social media platforms and made all-consuming video the preferred format of an entire generation. If Google Reader had stuck around, we very might have had a different outcome in the 2016 Presidential election, and we definitely would not be under the current hegemony of TikTok. You think I’m kidding, but I’m so, so not.

How to Recover if You Cry at Work

I haven’t cried yet in the three months I’ve been at my new job, but I know that it’s going to happen eventually. I’ve cried at every job I’ve ever had, rage and shame and self-hatred bubbling up while I sit at my desk, trying to keep it together and eventually running to the restroom to silently sob in a stall. There’s definitely less stigma about it now, but for those of us who didn’t grow up in the new golden age of Mental Health Awareness, it still feels deeply embarrassing. This piece offers tips and advice for all types of workplace crying, so take a deep breath and know that you will be okay (eventually).

Shelly Miscavige and The Missing Scientologists: How The LAPD Made Scientology's Problem Go Away

Remember when we all cared SO MUCH about Scientology a few years ago, but somehow it all went absolutely nowhere and resulted in nothing? It’s not surprising if you don’t remember that, because the Scientology controversy has been subsumed over the last decade by legal and physical threats against anyone who speaks negatively about the group or reveals any of their secret (extremely fucked up) practices. The whereabouts of Shelly Miscavige, wife of Scientology Chief Officer David Miscavige, is one of the more insidious and frightening mysteries around the organization and independent journalist Yashar Ali recently published the result of six years of investigation into law enforcement’s handling (or complete lack thereof, to be more precise) of her disappearance. This is a dense, in-depth article that usually I would only recommend to fellow cult-watchers, but it’s so well-reported and damning of the LAPD, Scientology, AND our collective attention span that I think everyone should read it.

Is it Time to Do Away with "Good Taste?"

If “Good Taste” has gotten us into the flattening void of Millennial Gray and endless shiplap, then let’s ditch it altogether. I like to read about interior design, but somehow I don’t really care all that much about it in real life beyond a desire for comfort and coziness. I might be more into it if we entertained more and/or were independently wealthy (alas), but even still: if someone is offended by my lime-green living room or my lack of table linens, they are more than welcome to piss right off.

In Brief:

• 😇 Here’s an interesting reflection on the importance of Richard Simmons, a man beloved by millions, and the confusion that arose when he abruptly left public life for good. I still harbor a morbid interest in finding out why (yes, I listened to the podcast, and no, I’m not proud of it) but the bottom line of our perception and parasocial connection to a celebrity ultimately comes down to the fact that he simply wants to be left alone. And we have to accept and honor that as individuals and as a culture. He turned 75 a few days ago, and his rep says he's doing very well. Not very satisfying, I know, but that's what matters.
• 👯 Mary Gaitskill writes about dancefloors as the ideal venue for diplomatic conversation. I'm inclined to agree, but only if the music isn't so loud you can't hear someone shouting right next to you, and how good of a dancefloor can that actually be?!
• 🧪 Aspartame, everyone’s favorite artificial sweetener, has had a fun month—it could cause cancer (but only if you consume 12 cans of diet soda a day for an extended amount of time) according to the World Health Organization, but the US Food and Drug Administration says it's all good, nothing to see here, which, not gonna lie: seems extremely sus. Of course, few of the articles about it came anywhere close to being clear about the real information in their headlines. Shocking, I know!
• 🥗 Next time my spouse fusses at me for snacking too close to dinner, I’m going to tell him it’s just a “Girl Dinner” before I am hopefully struck by lightning and vaporized into the ether. It’s just grazing, Zoomers, and we’ve been doing it since the dawn of time—why are we now suddenly compelled to gender it and attach our cultural complications with food and dieting?
• 😍 Florence Pugh in diaphanous periwinkle with a new pink buzz cut at the Valentino Fall 2023 Couture show. That’s it; that’s the link.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, dear readers, and as always if you have an interesting article you think everyoe should read, please send it along; subscribers can share it in the comments.

See you on Friday–if you're not already subscribed, now's the time to sign up (it's free!). Be sure to confirm via email to receive every edition directly to your Inbox. If you're already a fan, share this newsletter and spread the enthusiasm!!

In love and decay,
LKH

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