POP CULTURE MONDAYS...ON THURSDAYS

Recorded on Election Day, before any results—so naturally, we know nothing. We do have political memes, an AI teacher confidently misspelling “seventeen,” and Martha Stewart doing Halloween crisis comms after an Instagram OOPSIE. 
Plus: Jennifer Lawrence’s plastic surgery backlash, her new hair care brand, and the latest kid lingo. 
Democracy is pending. Pop culture is relentless.
This week’s newsletter:https://popculturemondays.com/2026/11/02/oopsie/

This week on Pop Culture Mondays on Thursdays, Brooke unpacks “Black October,” AI-powered hacking, and why everyone from healthcare companies to financial institutions is having a very bad month—plus what you can do to protect yourself. Doomsday? No. Password change? Probably.
Then: an Atlanta Falcons profile pic sends the internet straight into Third Reich territory, Obama gets the Cheesecake Factory trending (requiring a tiny breach of our Trump-free policy), and Conan meets his match thanks to a viral Subway Takes moment.
Grab your headphones. Everything’s fine. Ish.
How to protect yourself:https://somethingbig.ai/how-to-update-your-devices
Full Subway Takes with Conan:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igtUSJlxgJQ
This week’s newsletter:https://popculturemondays.com/2026/10/26/its-all-falling-apart/

Happy Thursday, you pop culture junkies!
 
This week Brooke’s going to the movies! First up, Nathan Fielder’s absolutely bonkers Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything. No spoilers, but plenty to say about the internet’s reaction and Brooke’s own personal experience with Elizabeth Holmes, which tells her that Holmes is lying in the film. So what else isn’t true?
Then there’s Brooke’s love affair with Digger and the growing Digger Nation of fans wondering what on earth the critics were watching. Plus, the wild protests in France, the viral Pink Panther who turned out to be AI, and a little reflection on the power of grief and Kaia Gerber’s beautiful tribute to her brother.
 
This week’s newsletter:https://popculturemondays.com/2026/10/19/you-dont-see-everything/

This week, nobody escapes unscathed. 
Kelly Clarkson takes on a tiny Brooklyn shop—and I have thoughts about using a massive platform to punch down. 
Susan Dell gives away billions to America’s kids while the internet talks about her appearance (although, yes, her team did her dirty). 
Shane Gillis returns to SNL and apparently “whores” is still his idea of a punchline. 
And finally, some good news: sleeping with your dog may actually help you sleep better. Justice for bed dogs everywhere.
This week’s newsletter:https://popculturemondays.com/2026/10/12/no-one-looks-good-here/

It’s hot as hell in LA, so naturally we’re heading straight into the jungle.
This week: extreme adventurer Ash Dykes has TikTok in a chokehold as he makes his way through the Congo Basin — and somehow we’re all emotionally invested. Then, the internet has turned on Stella Lefty: accusations of copying other artists, billionaire-daughter discourse, and the inevitable question of whether the backlash has officially become bigger than the crime.
Plus: Pete Davidson has some thoughts about female creators making money online — and boy, does he have thoughts. Elon Musk’s now-ex Shivon announces their breakup publicly on X and invites the entire internet into the group chat.
We also remember Brooke Eby, who died at just 37 after turning her ALS diagnosis into extraordinary advocacy, humor and awareness.
And finally, what Brooke is consuming: Ari Emanuel’s Roll the Calls, Netflix’s East of Eden, HBO’s War, and Prime Time on the big screen.
Welcome to the jungle, pop culture junkies.
On with Kara Swisher with Ari Emmanuel:https://youtu.be/eqy920J4u7I?is=IaPJSFdzgd2vYd3f
On with Kara Swisher with Justine Musk and Alex Gibney:-
Obituary for Brooke Eby:https://tinyurl.com/yc72zcp6
This week’s newsletter:https://popculturemondays.com/2026/10/05/welcome-to-the-jungle/

Happy Thursday, you pop culture junkies.
 
This week, we’re talking etiquette. Not which fork to use or whether you can wear white after Labor Day, but the increasingly complicated rules of existing among other humans — online, offline, at a job interview, at a bar, on a college campus and, God help us, in a comment section.
We start in Massachusetts with the lesbian bar story that swallowed the internet: masks, rules, reactions, counter-reactions and, yes, clown school. How did one local story become a national discourse? And what does the response say about the way we judge one another — and occasionally lose our collective minds — online?
Then we turn to Cornell and a story that is anything but funny: a young woman’s allegations that seven fraternity members drugged and sexually assaulted her over the course of seven hours two years ago, and the questions now being raised about how the university handled her case. We look at why the student newspaper’s reporting has ignited such outrage and how the story is reverberating across social media.
On the considerably lower-stakes end of the etiquette spectrum: Iced Coffee Interviewgate. Apparently we now need rules about whether arriving at a job interview carrying an iced coffee is a professional faux pas. Naturally, the internet has opinions. Many, many opinions.
And finally, some music: Taylor Swift has new music, which means Swifties have thoughts, theories and reactions. And we meet NeNe Royal, the latest America’s Got Talent winner, whose story may make you believe there are still some genuinely lovely corners of the internet left.
Boston Globe story:https://tinyurl.com/3w8xzcaz
Cornell’s college paper:https://tinyurl.com/ymct2ah6
Taylor Swift new video:https://tinyurl.com/55kca2f2
This week’s newsletter:https://tinyurl.com/ymv479ud

This week, we’re staring down the end of the world as we know it. Or at least that’s what a former Anthropic employee would have us believe. We get into the global freakout over his AI doomsday warning and, more importantly, the internet’s absolutely unhinged response.
Then, a little consumerism to soothe the existential dread. Apple has a foldable phone, the memes are already folding in on themselves, and Gap has somehow dropped the must-have bag of the moment and muscled its way back into the fashion conversation.
Plus, Sydney Sweeney has another ad controversy on her hands, this time with women in sports weighing in. And finally, HYROX gives us a story so down and dirty, so deeply gross, that naturally we have to discuss it.
Happy Thursday, you pop culture junkies.
 
This week’s newsletter:
https://tinyurl.com/mpzuy8mb
The Daily’s episode on AI:
https://tinyurl.com/4s8zju2v
 

Happy Thursday you Pop Culture Junkies!
This week, we’re going out with Amy Sacco and Bungalow 8, inspired by Vanity Fair’s fabulous look back at the club that defined an era of New York nightlife.
We’re also talking Dolly Parton, her extraordinary cultural impact, and some of the controversy that followed her death. Plus, the Callaway golf scandal and its increasingly messy fallout.
And finally, Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival was a massive success. We get into why it worked, why it mattered, and what it says about the kind of cultural world Olivia is building around herself.
Dolly. Bungalow 8. Golf drama. Olivia. Let’s go.
Vanity Fair/Bungalow 8:https://tinyurl.com/339n8v83
This week’s newsletter:https://popculturemondays.com/2026/08/31/oh-dolly/

We are Trump-free, but we cannot ignore the bunny boiler of the moment. Natalie Harp has the internet in a chokehold with those letters. We break down why everyone from Secret Service to Saturday Night Live writers is paying attention.
Brand drama alert. LoveSac picked a fight with a comedian over a 24-box couch and lost the internet's sympathy fast. Then Hermes did Hermes things to comedian Zarna Garg and her daughter, and the girl did not hold back on socials. More brand chaos is brewing, so tune in next week for the full scoop on Calloway Golf and that driver ad nobody should have approved.
Gwyneth strikes again. This time it is a very fancy, very off the record dinner for Sam Altman that nobody asked for. Her clapback invite list, featuring M3GAN and Chanty Beluga, might be the best part of this whole saga.
Oh, Ben Affleck is a meme again!
And finally, I am staying far away from the genuinely heartbreaking Lindsay Clancy trial itself. But I cannot skip why the internet cannot stop talking about the prosecutor. Specifically, her bows. We unpack the theory, the backlash, and why courtroom fashion is somehow a whole debate now.
This week’s newsletter:
https://popculturemondays.com/2026/08/24/lovesac-drama-hermes-lock-up-shoe-madness-gp-strikes-again/

This week, we are diving straight into the chaos and glamour across our feeds. We kick things off out East with Bethenny Frankel’s Supermodel Cafe pop-up in the Hamptons—and, more importantly, the brutally honest influencer reviews that have taken over TikTok. 
From there, we pivot to campus culture: the ever-evolving spectacle of Bama Rush and SEC RushTok, alongside the wild rise of professionally designed, ultra-luxe dorm rooms.
Then, the generational warfare heats up as Gen Alpha creators ruthlessly parody Gen Z influencer food reviews (and honestly, we can’t look away). 
We’re also breaking down the viral "RATATA" lip-sync craze taking over FYPs, and wrapping up with the rise of the natural birther movement and the ever-expanding world of TikTok granola moms. 
Tune in for all the cultural commentary, laughs, and hot takes!
This week’s newsletter:https://popculturemondays.com/2026/08/17/rushtok-evolution/