58: The Streaming Services As Fictional High School Characters

as well as the recommendations

In this week’s edition, I equate the streaming services with fictional high school characters from pop culture as well as some recommendations, BUT FIRST…

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🏠 House Business 🏠

Last week, I mentioned that the branding changes would be commencing. They are now HERE, as you should be seeing a new name to the newsletter:

“BINGE THINKING”

I found the new name appropriate as I like both to binge and to think, and often I like to combine these things so that I can think deeply about something I’ve just binge-watched.

I know change is annoying, but I thank you for your huge reserves of grace and elegance for me as we’ve navigated these tumultuous waters together. ONWARD…

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💡Group Chat💡

If you missed last week’s group chat, make sure to check it out as we discussed what we thought the Devil looked like. VERY interesting conversation on influences and iteration.

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🎉 The Recommendations 🎉

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📚 Careless People

WHERE: Amazon / Audible

This is a memoir that offers a candid and, honestly, insane look into the inner workings of Facebook. The story itself is a personal account of Wynn-Williams’ time as the inaugural global public policy director at Facebook, spanning from her early optimism about the platform’s potential for positive change to her eventual disillusionment and departure from the company.

There was a lot of buzz around Careless People given that Facebook sued to keep Wynn-Williams from promoting the book, which they won, but it only served to give the book more press, which I’m thankful for, because if there was any misunderstanding about how craven or ambivalent Facebook is towards our society, our mental health, and our children’s mental health, this book comprehensively pierces the veil on that delusion.

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📺 Friends and Neighbors

WHERE: Apple TV+

It’s difficult not to watch this show and imagine Hamm as a modern Don Draper or get momentarily confused that you’re watching a Mercedes commercial with Hamm providing the voice over, but if you can get past those two things, Your Friends and Neighbors is a really enjoyable experience.

I’m a season pass holder for Amanda Peet, and I love any show where the wealthy are skewered and hijinks of status and accumulation are employed.

There are several different story or character beats where you can feel the progression veering into a tired or expected territory only for it to zig at the last minute, which I’ve quite enjoyed as it’s encouraging to see a show that could so easily aim for the lowest common denominator aspire for something a little different.

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✍️Essay: The Streaming Services As Fictional High School Characters ✍️

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As we all settle into the forever war that is ATTEMPTING to understand tariffs, I’m reminded of another forever war requiring immense mental burden: the one about keeping tabs on all the streaming services. How much they’ve increased prices this month, what exciting new innovations they’re offering, and whether any of it justifies us going through multi-factor password authentications to reset forgotten passwords.

Is it a new MOVIE with Pedro Pascal?

A new SHOW with Pedro Pascal?

Is it a live event where Jake Paul beats up an elder celebrity while Pedro Pascal looks on?

The options are limitless, which sounds great until you realize how exhausting it all is.

So, for the sake of clarity, I’d like to level set on the streaming services by recasting them as people you went to high school with. It’s like The Breakfast Club, but without the melodrama.