Seeing Greatness Up Close
The greatness, in this case, is Train Daddy’s biceps.
Last night, we got to go to a fancy party with Train Daddy!! Today, we’re talking about RFK Jr. (again), who wants to know how you slept, and how Gen Z is abstinence-coded now. —Emily Gould
RICH PEOPLE THINGS, 1800S EDITION
Gilded Age Stars and Influencers Frolic at the Frick
You guyssss, I was in the same room as Train Daddyyyyyy.
Last night, HBO Max — which is what it’s named now, again — hosted a screening of The Gilded Age’s fourth episode at the newly renovated Frick Collection, followed by a panel discussion featuring “stars of the show.” A bunch of social-media Influencers and a few lucky members of the press were invited, which is how I scored a plus-one. I was guessing we’d only get a few butlers and maids on the panel, but as it turned out we were treated to Denée Benton, Christine Baranski, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, and the guy who plays Larry. Okay, his name is Harry Richardson, and surprise, he’s Australian!
The panel was moderated by content creator Kalen Allen, who has 2 million TikTok followers and I’ve never heard of him because I’m 43. He did a great job, and all the actors were incredibly charming. Highlights included Christine Baranski getting a round of applause for being there, Denée Benton being refreshingly straightforward about getting the show to create fully realized (i.e., not saintly) Black characters this season, Morgan Spector wearing a semi-sheer skintight Helmut Lang shirt and existing in the same physical space as my own self, and Louisa Jacobson suggesting that her character Marian should go downtown and find the queer ladies. The best moment was toward the end, when an audience member asked about costumes. Benton said she wished people still wore brooches and then Baranski silently yet emphatically indicated the large gold brooch she was wearing. The audience cackled.
Then we were all excused to go into the galleries, normally off-limits to photography, and Make Content. Themed drinks and passed hors d’oeuvre were available in the lobby, including an Aunt Ada–themed temperance mocktail. As we left, they gave us free hats that said “Hot Gilded Summer,” which looked great on Jacobson, Spector, and Benton.
In short, dreams do come true, especially if your dreams are very specific.
MAHA MADNESS!
RFK Jr. Would Like to Know When You Ovulate … Ew
Wearing a wearable? Perhaps it’s time to reconsider that choice!
It wouldn’t be hard for a government or law-enforcement agency to obtain your personal data. “We have this legal precedent in the United States where if you give your data to a third party, what they do with it is up to them because you have theoretically already relinquished control over that data when you gave it to a third party,” says Guariglia. “In my opinion, this is a very backwards and wrong way of doing data protection. But it means that police can simply send an email to a company saying that they want your data and really there’s no obligation that a company asks for a warrant signed by a judge” before complying. And while HIPAA protects your private health information when it’s used by your medical provider or insurance company, the law does not apply to the data collected by health-tracking devices.
The Cut senior writer Andrea González-Ramirez reports on the amount of data devices like the Oura ring and Apple watch can deliver legally into the hands of government agencies, and the answer seems to be all of it. Since RFK Jr. has told Congress he wants all Americans wearing health-tracking devices, which some of his cronies have a financial stake in, Andrea talked to some experts who recommended a few ways to cut down on potential risks, like taking your wearables off when you’re not using them and using “dumb” devices that don’t connect to a server. I would add that you could even just throw them in the trash and never worry about your heart rate again. But also I just looked at my phone and learned that on Sunday I took a mere 879 steps, so maybe don’t listen to me on this.
SEX ED
Gen Z Just Isn’t That Into the Whole ‘Sex’ Thing
A new book examines the latest generational moral panic.
Hookup culture may be exaggerated, but it is true that the sexual habits of young America are in flux. Gen Z really is having less sex, with each other and by themselves; Sherman points out that rates of masturbation are declining too. Observers are right to wonder why, even if their hysteria obscures the truth. In The Second Coming, Sherman speaks with young adults to understand the sex they’re having, or not having, and discovers that Gen Z is not frigid. Some say they prefer the trad life, but most do not; the generation still polls liberal overall. Instead, young adults are rational actors confronting an unforgiving reality. Their sexual lives are constrained by generations of moral panic while the social contract is fraying around them. As one told Sherman, “The world fucking sucks.”
The fall of Roe v. Wade, the rise of social media, high rates of depression, and other bummers are among the things Intelligencer senior writer Sarah Jones extrapolates from The Second Coming, journalist Carter Sherman’s book about her generation’s attitudes and practices around sex. It’s almost like rising social conservatism is bad for horniness in a multitude of ways.
Click Your Way Out
When beauty writer Carol Lee talks, I listen, click, and buy.
The rumors that have swirled for months about Jeff Bezos buying Condé Nast for Lauren Sánchez as a wedding present are published now, so we have to take them more seriously. Can’t wait to read Lauren’s New Yorker.
Another book about the affair that broke up Hannah Pittard’s marriage, another article. In my opinion, btw, her new novel is very funny and interesting.
Putting another quarter in the “wrote about The Gilded Age again” jar.