After School by Casey Lewis

This article collection highlights various Gen Z trends spanning entertainment, competitive fishing, lucrative internships, viral content creation, cinema advocacy, and a social media glitch. It showcases how young people are reshaping industries from traditional careers to finance, while also documenting emerging cultural phenomena and digital absurdities.

A cultural commentary on emerging trends in entertainment and youth culture, including flag football's explosive growth among teen girls, the rise of young influencers in fashion, boy bands' evolution, and the troubling prevalence of fake fan accounts run by record labels and agencies to artificially boost artist visibility.

This entertainment and tech culture roundup covers trends ranging from celebrity news and anti-technology movements to how social media platforms are reshaping consumer behavior and product design. Key stories include an influencer ditching smartphones, concerns about headphone use damaging attention spans, TikTok's impact on teen time perception, beauty brands redesigning for camera appeal, and Twitch's entry into livestream shopping.

This transcript covers emerging Gen Z trends across fashion, design, professional networking, and fintech, including the decline of millennial midcentury modern aesthetics, the rise of selfie-based LinkedIn engagement, an AI relationship advice app, and young traders profiting millions on prediction markets.

Pinterest has launched an anti-phone campaign called 'Wilderkind' in collaboration with Emma Chamberlain, featuring nature-focused products including a $98 picnic blanket. The campaign reflects a broader trend of tech companies promoting digital detox while simultaneously relying on mobile app usage, with Chamberlain herself having recently reduced her phone consumption through what she calls 'The Great Emma Offlining.'

A media roundup covering entertainment news, concert economics, a poorly-received MrBeast collaboration book, and several pieces on Gen Z's political disengagement and shifting attitudes toward higher education. The letter also highlights a campus sexual assault case that challenges young women's assumptions about safety.

A cultural roundup examining Gen Z's distinct political and social attitudes, including their embrace of feminism and abortion rights, their disproportionate attraction to surveillance-themed media, and their preference for group-based dating over traditional app swiping. The digest also covers emerging trends like Tinder's new group hangout feature and Japan's resurgence in traditional matchmaking services.

A cultural roundup examining Gen Z and millennial trends including the Chrome Hearts resale market driven by young entrepreneurs, workplace feedback expectations among 20-somethings, the rise of prepared grocery meals as a delivery alternative, declining reading habits, and AI's homogenizing effect on book recommendations.

This transcript covers entertainment industry developments, New York City's emergence as a creator hub, a resurgence in socialist politics, a new matchmaking app replacing swiping with human curators, rising AI companionship among middle schoolers linked to loneliness, and investigative journalism uncovering alleged sexual assault patterns at Cornell University.

This fashion trends newsletter covers viral retail moments including Walmart's $30 Khaite dupe that has generated significant buzz, along with Gen Z fashion trends, celebrity culture moments, and upcoming collaborations. The piece highlights how budget-friendly alternatives are paradoxically increasing brand awareness for luxury labels.

A cultural commentary newsletter covers emerging Gen Z trends including an adapted Jane Austen novel marketed to younger audiences, kids using NPR Spotify comments as secret chat rooms, and a diverse range of consumer and entertainment phenomena from luxury goods to music to fashion.

This transcript covers emerging trends across celebrity culture, business expansion, generational behavior, and digital influence, including MrBeast's wearables launch, Gen Alpha's use of "AI" as an insult for inauthenticity, extravagant first birthday parties, traditionalist dating app features, and progressive creators' social media strategy.

A roundup of tech and education trends shows venture capital funding alternative colleges focused on "building," universities struggling with AI-written essays, startups converting textbooks into TikTok-style feeds, Gen Z parents offering more financial support despite narratives of financial nihilism, and a growing phenomenon of older generations creating AI-generated images of family members.

A culture piece examining how Gen Z is optimizing various aspects of life—from dating and partying to dining and social media—while simultaneously grappling with wellness culture, financial constraints, and skepticism toward corporate influence in traditionally authentic spaces.

Frida, a parental care company, created a fake children's skincare brand called Lil' Retinol to expose how adult beauty culture has infiltrated kids' marketing. The stunt, revealed through a New York Times ad, served as commentary on the plausibility of such a product while simultaneously promoting Frida's new line of 32 body, hair, and oral care products for children ages 6-11.

The transcript discusses recent high-profile celebrity and influencer endorsement deals, including Kylian Mbappé's partnership with On replacing Nike, Like Nastya's Disney development deal, and Paige Paul's Dairy Boy camo collection campaign. The content appears to be commentary on how Gen Alpha influencers and athletes are shaping luxury brand and marketing trends.

A entertainment and pop culture roundup featuring recent celebrity news, including Charli XCX on the Playboy cover, Olivia Rodrigo's arena rock success, Francesca Keller's fashion coverage, and Hulu's development of Mary Beth Barone's rom-com series Hard Feelings with Benito Skinner.

A brief entertainment and fashion industry update covering celebrity brand partnerships and media appearances, including Elle Fanning and PinkPantheress for Coach, soccer players Trinity Rodman and Tara Rudd for Sol de Janeiro, Kristin Cavallari in an upcoming rom-com, and internet personality 2Hollis featured in i-D magazine.

The transcript highlights recent marketing and celebrity collaborations in the fashion and entertainment industry, including fragrance launches, runway shows, and social media influencer campaigns. A notable finding is that despite the prevalence of TikTok culture, a survey of 50 kids revealed that none listed TikToker as their dream job.

After School's paid newsletter covers current trends affecting millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha, including Squishmallow collecting as a midlife crisis indicator, Venmo-ghosting as a social phenomenon, and emerging behaviors like AI shopping chatbots and anti-capitalist coworking spaces.