Teens are driving less, rich people are... beekeeping
as your president, i've got lots to say
Greetings from LA! This letter’s got range: Britney Spears as the perpetual Pop Goddess, the book that inspired Grey’s Anatomy, teens, bees, partying, and museums. I also thank a bartender by name for his hospitality chops after the paywall.
WHAT I’M INTO
Press Play: “Piece of Me” by Britney Spears
This month, I’ve listened to a lot of Britney Spears (there’s time for things other than Charli XCX if you’re a real music head). A throwback Pitchfork album review of Blackout (Britney Spears) by Meaghan Garvey resurrected the album in my August rotation. Blackout is Britney’s pièce de résistance, released as she rose from the ashes of public humiliation. A defiant rebuttal to a world that had written her off. Backed by a battalion of electro-disco-pop symphonies, she taunts, “I’m Miss American Dream since I was 17.” She’s unapologetic. She’s pissed off. She was ahead of her time. The album flopped or was a slow burn, depending on who you ask. Today’s pop girlies strive for this.
Borrow from ur public library: Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
Atul Gawande is a rare breed. He’s a public health researcher, writer, public servant, surgeon, journalist, former CEO of the now-defunct JP Morgan x Amazon health collab, and Brooklynite (technically)—an amalgamation of classically left and right brain skills. No one does it like Gawande. Complications is a collection of essays that unveil doctors’ humanity. Gawande’s Complications offers a candid look at the fallibility of doctors, blending stories of surgeries gone awry, unforeseen challenges, and the pursuit of perfection in a high-stakes field. We can all point to moments where we’ve screwed up at work, the difference is that people die when surgeons do it. Gawande nudges us to consider uncomfortable questions like who’s at fault when interns and doctors make mistakes?
If that isn’t enough to convince you to read this book, consider that there would be no Grey’s Anatomy without Complications. Ellen Pompeo mentioned it inspired the show and was required reading for the actors. Grey’s mirrors and adapts his surgical chronicles, showing that teaching hospitals give doctors the necessary hands-on experience to learn their craft. This can sometimes be fatal.
Anti-algorithm news: “Fewer Teens Want to Drive. It’s Changing How They Spend” by Margot Amouyal (Washington Post)
In addition to declines in drinking, partying, and fornicating vs their predecessors, teens are also driving less. America loves cars, so this is a fascinating finding. Particularly because they’re pursuing retro hobbies like matchbox collecting, boom boxes, and Walkmen. Amouyal reports on the downward trend and explores why 68.7% of 19-year-olds owned cars in 2022 vs 87.3% in 1983. It’s a cost issue. Reasons include insurance costs and rising high car prices. Others attributed their choice to a preference for public transit, bikes, or parent chauffeurs. For Thanksgiving Dinner, one person opted to walk 10 miles. I suppose this is one way to prepare for marathon eating. I’d like to see if there’s a variance between teens + twenty-somethings living in cities and those living in famously car-forward regions. Is it driven by proximity to strong urban transit systems?
WHAT I’M GRATEFUL FOR
Champagne + French swords, a beautiful pairing
Twitter to IRL friendships! Thanks to Madison, I’m eager to check out The Museum of Jurassic Technology when I go home this week. I grew up in LA and never knew this museum existed!
Beekeeping as a trend! I trained as a beekeeper on Roosevelt Island in 2017 and am hoping this means I’ll be able to come keep bees at my rich friends’ houses soon.
WHAT I’M UP TO