after school's casey lewis on the album she listened to for six hours straight and our founder on every item in her carry-on
monthly recs #41
Each month, we ask a writer to share what’s on their minds and in their open tabs for our monthly recommendations. This August’s guest editor,
, is the youth-culture-obsessed founder of , a youth-culture cheat sheet that provides trend insight and analysis with a focus on Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Previously, she worked at Teen Vogue, MTV, and New York Magazine, and started Clover Letter, a media company for Gen Z. She owns more than 200 teen magazines.A few weeks ago, the legendary
asked me and a handful of other Substackers for their book of the summer, which I shared — mine was Big Swiss by Jen Beagin — but the whole prompt led me to reflect on how we value time spent reading books over, say, time spent reading the internet.Adam Faze — who is the founder of Gymnasium, an entertainment company behind some of the best content on TikTok, including Boy Room, which is so good it makes me want to simultaneously laugh and cry — was recently interviewed by Eli Williams and Clara Malley for Day One FM, one of my favorite zeitgeisty podcasts. They ask Adam for the hottest take he’s got, and this was his answer: There's all these inventions like this brick phone and it's not going to have these apps on it. We all love our phone time. I think our phone time is religious. Catching up on your phone after being in a movie for two hours is like one of the greatest feelings that exists today. So that's my hot take and I really love phone time.
In listening to this podcast, it occurred to me: I really love phone time! I, too, think our phone time is religious! I spend many, many hours in front of big screens and small screens to write my newsletter, After School, which is a daily distillation of youth culture. Sometimes I feel bad about it, only because there are so many headlines that make me feel bad about it! Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, points to the rise of smartphones and social media as the cause of many of modern society’s anxieties. And I’m not saying Mr. Haidt is wrong. But speaking only for myself, so much good comes from my time spent in front of a screen.
casey lewis’
1. If you asked, I’d tell you my favorite season is summer, but if I were to answer truthfully, I’d say my favorite season is Court Street Grocers’ BLT sandwich season. I grew up eating BLTs with tomatoes from my parents’ garden, and they were really, really good, but these are better. Transcendent, really! Around mid-July, I’ll start to refresh CSG’s Instagram account daily for news of the sandwich’s arrival. It actually came early this year, much to my delight (until I started to think about the potential environmental reasons for that…).
2. Kate Lindsey’s monthly column for Vulture is how I gauge how online I’ve been each month. I truly don’t know how she does it — I spend a lot of time online, but it’s nothing compared to Kate’s screen time! — and it’s consistently such a fun read. (Kate’s Substack, , is also fantastic.) ed note: read Kate’s own monthly recs here
3. The #underconsumptioncore trend is just that — a trend — but I like that consumers are beginning to understand that maybe they don’t need that much stuff? One of my favorite Substacks that emphasizes ethical shopping, doing more with less, and defaulting to secondhand is by
. She’s one of the most stylish people I know and she buys the vast majority of her stuff secondhand. She even bought her wedding dress on eBay!4. The opposite of #underconsumptioncore, admittedly, but I believe one of the best ways to spend an afternoon is to go to TJ Maxx — and specifically TJ Maxxes with those designer departments, which they call, optimistically, “The Runway.” I love to dig, but I don’t always have the patience to search for the rare gem hidden in all the secondhand fast-fashion at thrift stores. I just got a few pairs of SLVRLAKE jeans for $99 each; the same style is currently listed on Shopbop for $299.
5. I haven’t gone back to school shopping for several decades now, but for the last few years, I’ve gone back to school shopping — vicariously — through back-to-school hauls on TikTok. For those unaware, a haul is when someone takes their followers through all of their purchases, one by one. Overconsumptioncore aside, it’s one of the best corners of the internet.
paid subscribers can scroll down for more recs from Casey, including an underrated and extremely affordable NYC outing, the podcast that’s like listening in on “a dinner party with a bunch of former editors from the 2010s,” and the new album she listened to for six hours straight
more from us
6. We’re turning to movies to inspire summer wears that are heat-friendly — Éric Rohmer’s fit filmography with this green knitted Helmut Lang and MNZ skirt. Hong Sang-soo’s In Another Country with Isabelle Huppert’s red belted shirt dress. The underrated rom-com Keeping the Faith’s great 90s separates with this boat neck white tank and sequin pencil skirt, or this tank with these or these white pants, oval sunglasses, and sandals. Another favorite, How Stella Got Her Groove Back with this raspberry bikini or this black one, or this striped top with red maxi skirt.
7. Pan bagnat or this excellent vegetarian version — paired with a great summer wine (our #wines channel on Discord recommends “txakoli or picpoul or vinho verde”) setup on a blanket — makes for a great easy meal you can pack on your next picnic or beach trip. And if you want to keep it Rohmer-inspired, you can pack it all in this basket.
8. Syllabus Project provides syllabi — some straightforward, some more experimental — on a variety of topics from wonderful writers and experts. Some of our favorites are Molly Soda’s Linking the g(URL) and Yvonne Lin’s Talking Trash.
9. Additional summer reading (to help us stay mobilized and energized ahead of November) includes feminist publications Ojalá, forever-favorite Lux,
’s and this zine collection.10. What we’re listening to on any upcoming road trips: our team’s Summer 2024 playlist — it’s got music to relax to, music to dance to, and music to help you keep up your focus and motivation when the drive is starting to drag.
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#recs “Love my Tumi Calais leather backpack! So roomy and chic. Used it in law school before (it has a laptop compartment), and use it now as my son's diaper bag lol. Well made and easy to clean too”
#music “Any Laura Marling fans? Her new single is so good”
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I’m big on prepping my looks before traveling anywhere. It helps me pack efficiently (like styling a skirt as a top to get two looks out of it) and not stress about ‘what should I wear’ and be out the door within 20 minutes during my trip. Inspired by the packing tips in our last monthly recs, I’m sharing what I’m packing in my carry-on suitcase for a two-week trip (trying to travel light after shlepping so much gear all year long) along with some of the looks I’ve planned for a temperature between 34-38° Celsius. In summary, a lot of whites, cotton, and silk.
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