The image of Hailey Bieber smoking in Interview Magazine has been analysed by numerous publications. But to understand what it really means, a feminist lens is necessary. Is smoking back? Is the queen of the clean girl aesthetic promoting this seemingly off-brand habit? The moment captured is not about her potentially having a secret nicotine habit. It represents something much deeper. The problem with our culture today is that we don’t care about how women are feeling. The o

New York Times bestselling author, philosopher and social critic Bell Hooks explores the notion of love in her 2001 book 'All About Love: New Visions'. Succinctly, she states that “love saves us only if we want to be saved”. For many children, their first introduction to the idea of romantic love is through film and television. When we’ve watched endless Disney princesses find their Prince Charming, is it really our fault that we may hold unrealistic expectations for love? Me

It seems as though every launch or gathering now comes with a wellness twist; Pilates pop-ups, matcha tastings, daytime DJ sets. So when did late-night bar hopping give way to sober raves? For Gen Z and millennials, “going out” no longer has to mean staying out. Fitness and wellbeing have evolved from solo pursuits into social rituals, with Pilates replacing pre-drinks and coffee raves standing in for late-night dance floors. Alcohol is swapped for coffee, matcha and non-alc

When you were a kid and someone asked what your dream job was, you probably gave the simplest answers: “teacher”, “doctor”, or “vet”. As children, we had a very two-dimensional view of our dreams and aspirations. So you can imagine my surprise when I recently asked my nephews what their dream jobs would be, and the five and seven-year-olds both responded with, “YouTuber!” It wasn’t the answer itself that surprised me. Being a YouTuber has proven to be a successful career path

I've had Taylor Swift on repeat again, which used to mean something specific, a bridge on loop like a diagnosis, or a lyric doing the emotional work I couldn't. Lately, it's one song in particular: "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived," her quietest, most clinical takedown, off of an album largely about being entangled with someone who performed depth without ever having it. It isn't really about height. It's about a certain kind of smallness, the refusal to be accountable, the a

On a phone call home, I tell a friend that the language barrier might be a good thing. I think it makes me talk less on dates. I’ve also started saying that I write about love. It just sounds more poetic, more romantic that way. “Un verre de Sancerre.” I don’t need another glass of wine… Me: I write about Lamoooghr. Him: You write about death? Me: Um no, l’amouuuur. Him: Oh, you mean love? L’amour, he says with the graceful ease of a native speaker. I hear la-meeeuure

What Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey reminded me about temptation, identity and the long journey home.

Lately, it feels like every one of my girlfriends has a partner. Whenever we meet, the conversation inevitably drifts toward relationships. Most of them have these sweet, almost cinematic stories about meeting their partners on dating apps. They admit it’s rare, but somehow it happened to them. Meanwhile, every attempt I make at online dating turns into material for my friends’ group chat an endless sequence of absurd, tragicomic episodes that feel more like a sitcom than rea

Almost every other book seems destined for the screen. From glossy YAs like The Summer I Turned Pretty to campus dramas like Off Campus, stretching back to reimaginings of classics like The Odyssey. But now it raises a sharper question: are these novels being written less as literature and more as blueprints for adaptation? Increasingly, authors appear to craft stories with an expectation that an agent or studio will eventually scoop them up, while Hollywood leans on these re