Media to consume this week instead of doomscrolling - 21.09.25
Notes on happiness and meaning, friendly fascism, post-literate society, the meaning of labor, attention, and more.
Welcome to this week’s media roundup! I’m finally back in Florence after being home for the summer, and with this change of setting came a lot of reflection as I get ready for my last year of uni. I was most definitely left with more questions than answers this week—but isn’t that what life’s about? Either way, I hope you enjoy. <3
The meanings of life on Aeon
Essay begging the question of whether living a happy life is better than having a meaningful life by analyzing how these both differ and overlap, and the factors that go into “measuring” them.
Would you rather live a happy life or a meaningful one? But first—what even are happiness and meaning? I’ve had to grapple with these concepts for as long as I can remember—particularly the first of the latter—as it’s taught to us as one of the most basic emotions in childhood. Funnily enough, happiness is often associated with children and that phase of life, as it’s directly connected with innocence.
The reason this always seemed confusing to me is that my innocence about the evil in the world and the weight of life never really translated into my definition of happiness—obviously, I say this in hindsight. Either way, as I grew older and the concept of meaning was introduced, things started to make a little more sense. When people said their goal in life was to be happy, I felt so much confusion, because to me, it was still that basic emotion I learned about as a little kid. I had also learned from experience that emotions are temporary.
I don’t think the questions above have a definitive answer, though this essay does a wonderful job presenting evidence and potential frameworks for how they could be answered. Perhaps this is one of the most elemental and persistent questions that emerge as a natural result of the human condition—and perhaps they act as self-fulfilling prophecies when we do our best to try to answer them.
Video essay outlining the aesthetic pipelines across multiple facets of culture, politics, and society that have resulted in the current rise of a new “friendly fascism.”
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had to take a step back from the insanity we’re witnessing—particularly over the last couple of years—and ask: How did we even get to this point? I suppose a lot of it comes down to mostly experiencing the world within our own bubbles, but now the bubble has been popped, and I’m in genuine disbelief.
This video essay is one of the best I’ve seen lately, offering a detailed and clever analysis of the many factors that have contributed to this shift. He talks about everything from architecture and technocrats to the manosphere and AI as a propaganda tool. There’s far too much to go into here, so I suggest you go watch the video yourself.
Things To Do Instead of Doomscrolling on Perfectly Imperfect
Recommendation list created by me, where I share things to do instead of doomscrolling. In this week’s installment, I revisit things from the past—including books, activities, movies, websites, and more. :)
This week, I’m sharing some of the things I’ve been doing over the last few days that have brought comfort and joy into my life. This space is a bit more personal and casual, as you get to see a different side of me. I talk about how I do my best to live mindfully—and try to keep myself sane—so I hope I can help you do the same! In this installment, I share a few moments from my last week in my hometown of Bogotá, and the things I did to reconnect with my past.
Substack essay outlining the history of the reading revolution and contrasting its enormous benefits with the current counter-revolution, where literacy and intellectual capacity rates are declining.
You may see me now—reading a book per week (or more) and living a very rich literary life—and assume this habit has been fostered over many years. I mean, yes, I have built it up over time, but probably not as many years as you might think. I don’t think I ever read a single book assigned in school—and besides my Hunger Games and Divergent phase—I didn’t read consistently until late high school.
I remember trying to read as a kid and getting frustrated when I accidentally read the same lines over and over again. I remember looking up video summaries of books to study for literature quizzes—surprisingly, I always aced them. I also remember reaching a point where I genuinely wanted to read, but every time I picked up a book, I simply couldn’t do it. I hated the feeling of shame and stupidity that came with that.
Those horrible feelings didn’t defeat me—instead, they fueled me. I started listening to audiobooks, which helped a lot, though I still got easily distracted and probably missed important plot points. But it was a start. Eventually, I began reading physical books while playing the audiobook at the same time. Somehow, that trained my brain to actually read, and I haven’t stopped since.
All of this is to say: I’ve been on both sides of the equation. I know firsthand how damaging low literacy can be—not just academically, but emotionally and mentally. That’s why seeing declining literacy rates truly breaks my heart. I hope that by sharing my media recommendations and making reading feel more approachable, I can be a small part of reversing this trend.
In Defense of Thinking Small on Byline
Essay analyzing how societal pressure has conditioned us to always have huge and often unrealistic aspirations, and how focusing on smaller things and slower living may be more fulfilling.
I’m about to start my last year of university, so over this summer, I’ve been faced with the fact that this is where the instruction manual of life comes to an abrupt end. Get good grades, be compliant, respect authority, don’t break the rules, go to university, graduate. Done. Now what?
This series of actions started to crack as I kept going down the checklist—many of them began to not make sense anymore. I felt uncertain, which is always scary. I suppose this uncertainty was just the preamble to this point in my life.
“I do not dream of labor” is a phrase I’ve heard floating around—but I think I disagree. The definition of work is activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result. I think we need to reevaluate the capitalistic thinking that has been ingrained in us—what labor means to us, instead of just what it produces for others.
We’ve been taught to dream big—but in favor of whom? Big and small dreams are relative to our purpose, so that’s what I’ll be holding on to as I approach this new era of my life.
First podcast of a four-part series breaking down the life and ideas of philosopher Simone Weil, focusing on her perspective on attention and how it can transform the way we experience the world.
Attention is one of the few things I’ve realized we seemingly have control over. There are many ways to understand what attention is—we could sit here all day discussing whether or not what we pay attention to is actually a product of free will—but I think it’s worth putting that aside when we want to understand its importance to Simone Weil. To her, attention was a "negative effort" of suspending thought and ego to allow the world to freely penetrate one's mind.
Throughout the years—whenever I’m questioning whether it is worth it for me to dig into the work of a particular philosopher—I always check if I can find a few episodes on them on Philosophize This. Stephen always does a wonderful job not only dissecting the ideas of each thinker, but also providing solid guidance regarding how to approach the person’s body of work. After listening to this series, I will undoubtedly begin to explore Simone Weil’s work.
Substack post coining the term The Dua Effect—after the singer Dua Lipa—which is meant to make us question what success means and how it can go beyond traditional conceptions of labor.
The other day, I was talking to my mom and told her that if I could exchange lives with any celebrity, it would be Dua Lipa. I said this half-jokingly and half-seriously, as the sentiment is obviously slightly parasocial—but it did make me dig deeper into why I feel this way. I think this piece breaks down my thoughts on the matter surprisingly well, so it ended up being quite an insightful and pleasant read.
In a way, I noticed that some of the things I admire most about her, I’m already mirroring in my own life—particularly through her newsletter and the way she presents herself as a student of life. Connecting this back to my commentary on one of the essays above, I’m now reflecting on what entering the workforce really means for me. I truly hope I can continue doing what I love—which is sharing my words and knowledge with you all here.
my show is on 🥸
Thank you :)