EGO Recommends Issue 3
And we’re back with another edition of EGO Recommends! These posts include a mix of stuff I’m reading, watching, listening to, using, consuming; silly and serious; superfluous and practical.
It’s been a few months since the last “Recommends” post so this one is lengthy.
Product: Centella Sunscreen
Again, no one asks for my skincare routine, but my IG crush @dermarktologist recommended this K-Beauty sunscreen brand that is SPF 50, leaves no white-cast, doesn’t sting my eyes, and isn’t $1 million. The link above is affiliate, so if you use it to buy, there’s a chance that I might see a tiny, near negligible amount of money from it.
Youtube: Interior Motives
The premise is simple but genius. Viewers submit their (sometimes absolutely batshit insane) rooms and host Ben Mara and his comedian guests have to identify the habitant’s gender, location, age and sexuality.
Reading: Two Pieces from Food Power-Couple Ham and Sohla El-Waylly
One, a few months old at this point, featuring Sohla lambasting the New York Times for their jaw-dropping treatment of her. The other, from Ham, about why it’s nearly impossible to make even great new restaurants work in New York City.
Reading: Two Pieces by Derek Thompson
Listen, I wouldn’t call myself Abundance-pillled, but Derek Thompson has a way of taking the half-ideas that tumble around in my head, things I have a feeling about but can’t name or prove, and writing something that actually addresses them. Here are two pieces on his Substack I recently loved, and I’ll just include the most distilling quote from each to entice you.
“94 percent of YouTube views come from 4 percent of videos, and 89 percent of TikTok views come from 5 percent of videos.“
“I decided that the article I would write wouldn’t be about technology taking jobs from capable humans. It would be about how humans take away their own capabilities in the presence of new machines”
Social Media: Two Very Different Makers
@TheDoorknobGirl makes crafting videos with funny, but also eerie, voiceovers that mix charm with a sense of existential unease.
I go to Youtube shorts when I want to tap into my handy side and watch tile-grouting videos — and on one of those scroll-binges I found these guys. You know those annoying problems you have with everyday objects that almost seem too dumb to fix, like a pen clip that doesn’t bend far enough or wine keys that you have to adjust halfway through opening the bottle? This manufacturer takes the time to fix them — and they make pretty engaging videos about the process.
Music: ELIO
I got really into ELIO last year — and they have a few songs you’ve probably heard before, such as “Jackie Onasis”. “Lucky October,” “Sugar, Baby,” and “I Got the Boy” are all some recent faves.
Music: Robyn, Sexistential
Swedish pop icon returns for her first album in eight years, and it’s pretty much a no-skips.
Music: “Outbound” by After
TikTok proves it is a music marketing powerhouse since I’ve started streaming this song from a relatively unknown (to me) band after hearing it backtracking this Panera nostalgia fan-edit. The song also exudes early-aughts singer-songwriter nostalgia for me and I’m excited to listen to more of their music!
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Television: This 60 Minutes special on Havana Syndrome
If we didn’t live in hell; if the 24-hour news cycle wasn’t focused on the dumpster fire of this presidential administration; if social media could look up from their Summer House obsession, this absolute bombshell of a a story might have made a bigger splash than it did.
Reading: They Found Banksy, I Guess?
Another story that, if our algorithms, cable channels, and brains weren’t totally pickled, might have been a bigger deal.
Reading: An Article that Expanded My View on NYC’s Housing Crisis
If you live in NYC, you care about housing policy — or at least you should —because it’s the reason your rent is astronomical. This interview was a response to a study that Hell Gate (which I subscribe to!) featured and I think is a pretty good primer on the debate between those who believe more rent control and tenant protections is the solution, and those that believe that simply building more housing (no matter the consequences) is more important.
Reading: An Insane True Crime Story about Surrogacy
Okay, let’s be honest, I listened to this article as a podcast on The New Yorker’s website. It centers on a wealthy LA couple who had dozens of children through surrogacy — and the bizarre situation that lead to many of the surrogate mothers trying to get them back.
Youtube: A Mini-Doc Exposing The Shadowy Boys Cub that Runs Our Country
The doc — on a real secret society of elites (judges, billionaires, presidents) and their weird little camping trips — again had me asking, Why aren’t we talking about this more?? It’s a good reminder that the term “conspiracy theory” only makes sense if it’s just a theory; If it’s proven, then it’s just called a “conspiracy”.
And you can read more about it below.
