25 Things to Read, Watch and Listen to This Long Weekend

 

By Stacy Lee Kong

 
 

Image: instagram.com/oliviarodrigo

 

First of all: summer is not over yet. Technically speaking, we have three more weeks of this season and I insist that we savour them. However, I will acknowledge that the impending return to school and busy-ness of September does make it feel like we’re at the end of the season, and there’s some melancholy to that. So: if you actually want to be outside for the next four days, soaking up sunshine, warmth and real human connection, I understand entirely. But if you also want to do some light scrolling from the park, I have you covered. Read on for my curated list of longreads, silly internet moments and music to enjoy this long weekend.

… Starting with something you can’t really read yet. But please do keep some space on your reading lists for 2028 because I’m writing a book!

Okay, onto the real recommendations:

The New Yorker on why people want to believe Lindsay Clancy conspiracy theories so badly.

This excellent photo essay in Equator about what extreme heat looks like in Mumbai—which wasn’t even on the list of the world’s hottest 50 cities as photographer Ishan Tankha was reporting, btw.

Angelica Jade Bastién’s very convincing essay on why Miss Piggy is the last real movie star in Hollywood.

The bane of my entire (online) existence.

Kylie Cheung on Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival, a modern take on Lilith Fair—and the rare example of a pop star unabashedly embracing feminism in 2026.

Asterisk magazine EIC Clara Collier’s essay on the ‘AI will take all our jobs’ trope, and specifically what the historical ultra-wealthy can illustrate about finding meaning outside of labour. I don’t know if I like this essay yet, but I’m thinking a lot about it.

New York mag’s longread on kids’ travel leagues, which was very eye-opening to me.

Any Human Ever, a website where you can read about a random person’s life throughout history, each fictional biography taken from real academic research. So far, I’ve read about a baby girl named Meena who was born and died as a newborn in Rajahmundry in 1885, a woman named Lakshmi, who lived in the Ganges Plain in 845 and another baby girl named Quilla who lived near Cusco in 331, and died of dysentery at nine months. I’d prefer significantly less AI-generated imagery, but it’s a really interesting tool with impressive sourcing. (And the creator has posted a little on Reddit about the project.)

Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero”—which I’d absolutely classify as a millennial classic—performed on a harmonium.

This entire concept.

Writer Daniel Kolitz’s funny, sharp essay on how he got sucked into a never-ending cycle of payday loans, and what that journey says about the American financial system.

Daejon Love, the romance scammer who pretended to be a football player to con more than 20 women out of $1.3 million.

New Yorker’s longread on the MAHA movement, and what happens when one parent wants to vaccinate their kids and the other doesn’t.

Pablo Torre’s vindication. (Also: Torre, a former ESPN and Sports Illustrated staffer who went out on his own and won a Pulitzer for the kind of investigative work his former employers refused to invest in, is not wasting time on his next big story.)

This excerpt of author Jon Ronson’s book, The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men, about early lawn care influencer Greg Chism, who began making jokey content featuring his daughters—encouraged, he says, by YouTube reps. From his perspective, the skits they filmed were harmless examples of gross-out humour that racked up hundreds of millions of views. But in 2017, the videos caught the attention of an online sleuth who called family services on Chism, alleging he was abusing the girls. It was a really interesting look at the unintentional and long-lasting consequences of influencing, and a reminder that’s what good for platforms is often not good for the people who are creating the content that makes them run. 

Queer R&B singer Destin Conrad’s dancehall record, Roadrunner, which is very listenable—and also fascinating, politically speaking. 

This interesting conversation about ugliness. (And, a related longread.)

Construction kitty!

The incomparable Robin Givhan on the recent Met Gala drama, which she argues would be solved by cancelling the Gala, and not the exhibition. ICYMI, the Metropolitan Museum of Art decided to make controversial designer John Galliano the subject of its spring Costume Institute exhibition, and by extension the theme of the Met Gala, which sparked A LOT of (totally predictable) backlash, which led to Galliano withdrawing from the exhibit.

The surprisingly funny Reddit AMA/movie marketing moment featuring Wile E. Coyote, animated icon and star of Coyote vs. Acme.

This ranking of Forbes 30 Under 30 scammers.

(P.S., if you enjoy these recommendations, a reminder that paid subscribers get access to curated list of the most interesting things on the internet at the end of every newsletter. Upgrade here!)

Thank you for reading this week’s newsletter! Still looking for intersectional pop culture analysis? Here are a few ways to get more Friday:

💫 Upgrade to a paid subscription to support independent, progressive lifestyle media, and to access member-only perks, including And Did You Hear About, a weekly list of Stacy’s best recommendations for what to read, watch, listen to and otherwise enjoy from around the web. (Note: paid subscribers can manage, update and cancel their subscriptions through Stripe.)

💫 Follow Friday on social media. We’re on Instagram, YouTube and (occasionally) TikTok.

💫 If you’d like to make a one-time donation toward the cost of creating Friday Things, you can donate through Ko-Fi.

CelebrityStacy Lee KongLindsay Clancy, Missy Piggy, Angelica Jade Bastién, Olivia Rodrigo, Enrique Iglesias, Daejon Love, Pablo Torre, Greg Chism, Destin Conrad, Robin Givhan, John Galliano