Phone Feature of the Year

Where Do I Begin?: It’s hard to describe Tavi Gevinson. And it’s hard for her, too. In an essay for The Cut, the former fashion blogger writes about the confusion of coming of age as she became a brand on Instagram. "The fact that it’s impossible to parse its exact influence on me indicates that it runs deep," she writes. "I can try to imagine an alternate universe where I’ve always roamed free and Instagram-less in pastures untouched by the algorithm. But I can’t imagine who that person is inside." We think we’re broadcasting ourselves to the platform, but the platform is changing those selves in the process. We need a Jung for the social media age with updated Archetypes: the Self, the Persona, the Finstagram and the Rinstagram.

The Coolest New Phone Feature for 2019: Actually talking on it. To other people. Like friends. Remember when people used to do that? As Amanda Mull argues in this Atlantic piece, we need to "rekindle the energy of live conversation." Talking can also be so much more efficient for resolving a problem than a long back-and-forth text or email chain, there’s no permanent record of it, and it allows for less confusion. But, as Mull notes, phone calls are now considered intrusive, especially by young people. Her workaround: asking first. "Every single time I’ve asked a friend whether they’d like to talk instead of text, the response has been enthusiastic," she writes. So instead of texting or emailing someone today, just dial their number — if your phone still has that feature!

@ariannahuff / Instagram

Paging Marcus Aurelius: A new YouGov poll finds that over half of Americans (55%) worry about things outside their control. Millennials clock in at 65%. Which allows me a perfect opportunity to plug my favorite Greek export (after feta cheese and democracy): Stoicism. The whole point is that, because we can’t control everything that’s happening in the world, our happiness depends on focusing on what we can control and on our reactions to what we can’t. It’s a way of living that’s even more relevant now than it was in 3rd century B.C.E. Greece. Maybe what we need is a new gothic Netflix mini-series, “The Stoics." Or “Real Housewives of Athens"? "Calmer Things"? "Better Call Seneca"? Okay, I’ll stop, but somebody in Hollywood, get on this — there’s a market! 

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Before You Go

Neologism of the Week (new words, terms or phrases that define our time): “Mini-retirement.” Taking a break, or series of breaks, in one’s career, instead of working straight through to a final retirement. Tips from Business Insider on how to re-enter the work force after a mini-retirement here.

Book of the Week: Brian Grazer’s Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection. I love Brian Grazer (and his wife Veronica!). There’s truly nobody quite like him. He’s been able to build an amazing life out of his insatiable curiosity and desire to connect. And his book is perfect for our screen-obsessed time. “In today’s world,” he writes in this excerpt on Thrive, “we seem to be losing this key ingredient to our health, happiness and success. Everything is always go, go, go. We don’t take the time to really see the people in front of us.” So go buy it — and then read it out loud to someone you love.

Sleep Story of the Week: A San Diego woman had a dream that some “bad guys” tried to rob her, so she swallowed her engagement ring. When she woke up, she realized she really had swallowed her ring, which was later retrieved by doctors. Sadly, Dr. Freud is no longer available for a further consult.

Bingewatch of the Week: Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates, a three-part Netflix documentary series from Davis Guggenheim, director of An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for "Superman" and He Named Me Malala. It’s a look inside an amazing mind, as well as an exploration of what that mind has been able to accomplish in the world. As his wife Melinda says in the film, “when Bill stills himself, he can pull ideas together that other people can’t see.” The power of stilling ourselves was also recognized by Steve Jobs, who said, “there’s room to hear more subtle things.” The series also shows how Gates has changed over the years, and why he's broadened his focus beyond his relentless work at Microsoft. “I had the wrong way of looking at things,” Gates says. “In life, you have to decide, what’s important in the world?” You can watch the trailer here. 

Eric Pickersgill / Eric Pickersgill Studio

Photo-essay of the Week: “Removed,” in which photographer Eric Pickersgill has removed the phones people were holding in ordinary social scenes. The results are weirdly powerful — even haunting. It’s a stark illustration of M.I.T. professor Sherry Turkle’s term — and book — for our screen-filled world: Alone Together. If you’ve been looking for help in your desire to look at your phone less, look at these photos.