February 2025

After a very long, drawn-out, and cold January, February flew by in a snap and it kind of feels like Spring already? ?? But I'm sure that will change by next week.

While doom-scrolling and gorging on Valentine's Day candy, I actually enjoyed an abundance of great content online this month... here were my favorite finds:

How Creatives Can Raise Their Profiles Without Social Media (Creative Boom)

?? If you too require constant non-lyrical music playing to focus at your desk, Mac DeMarco's One Wayne G is my new favorite work soundtrack. The album is over 9 hours long so it will take you through your whole day. My other go-to's include André 3000's New Blue Sun and anything Hermanos Gutiérrez. (RANDOM FUN FACT: I've spotted André 3000 in the wild not once but twice, and most recently, he was walking around my neighborhood playing his flute.)

We Live Like Royalty and Don't Know It:

"...The electric grid, the public-water supply, the food-distribution network, and the public-health system took the collective labor of thousands of people over many decades. They are the cathedrals of our secular era. They are high among the great accomplishments of our civilization. But they don’t inspire bestselling novels or blockbuster films. No poets celebrate the sewage treatment plants that prevent them from dying of dysentery. Like almost everyone else, they rarely note the existence of the systems around them, let alone understand how they work." ( The New Atlantis )

???? A new way to do RTO: Cameo offers a $10,000 raise for workers to come into its Chicago office 4 days a week. (Fortune)

From academia, but relevant for everyone: How I Found Professional Satisfaction by Adjusting my Definition of Success:

"It was about choosing an environment that would allow me to pursue my professional aspirations while also attending to my personal life." ( Salahuddin Mohammed, Ph.D. for Science Magazine )

So weird, so fascinating: "After my husband left me, I paid $70 for an AI boyfriend. It made me realize AI's true potential might be emotional labor." ( Harper's Bazaar )

The Government Directives That Are Impacting Employers ( HR Brew )

Relatedly, also from HR Brew - A Brief History of the Origins of the Anti-DEI Movement:

“It’s the latest term that serves as a proxy for race, and it’s used as a politically expedient slur, as a way to stoke white grievances and to give a convenient scapegoat to whatever ails our nation”

What do you think about February 28th's Nationwide Economic Blackout? ( Newsweek )

?? And lastly, a very smart deep dive... Gen Z and the End of Predictable Progress: how AI, volatility, and changing institutions are shaping young people's economic reality. ( Kyla Scanlon )

Some of my favorite bits from this piece:

• "Every new platform creates its own economy. TikTok isn't just a social network, but it's a wealth generation machine that can turn attention into currency. When someone can make more from one viral video than their parent's monthly salary, it fundamentally reshapes how we understand value creation, especially in an era of dismantling government and changing workforces."

• "Different generations don’t just use different tools, they operate in different economic realities and form identity through fundamentally different processes. Technology is accelerating differentiation."
• "This is a form of the paradox of abundance where we have more opportunities for extreme wealth creation than ever before, but the reliable paths to modest prosperity feel like they are disappearing."

That's all for this month! Thanks for reading ??

P.S. Get ready for March with this: 6 Ideas for International Women's Day Videos