Culture Club - Kylie Jenner’s Meta Glasses, The Surveillance State, Rebranded And Taylor Swift’s Wedding

00:00:00.000 Olivia Rodrigo launches an all-women festival, A24's AI Deal, and the rebranding of the

00:00:10.840 surveillance state. I'm Maggie Zhao. And I'm Jasmine Wallace. And you're listening

00:00:14.920 to Culture Club, where true writers and editors analyse pop culture, the internet and the

00:00:20.060 arts. Today, we're on the lands of the Wawandri people of the Kulin Nations. We would like

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00:01:58.660 you know a minute of your time that'd be greatly appreciated I was on the tram this morning coming

00:02:03.360 up to the studio and I saw some major movie media news that I want to talk about because I didn't

00:02:09.500 even know this was on the cards Aquamarine the 2006 classic classic teen movie is getting adapted

00:02:17.460 into a series 20 years on my goodness I can't believe it that movie is like such a perfect

00:02:24.360 time capsule of you know I think um Island in the Sun Weezer playing yeah I think of of course

00:02:30.860 iconic little seashell starfish earrings thank you that whisper compliments uh it was such a

00:02:38.420 like beautiful time. Pivotal movie I feel like if you were born in the mid to late 90s early 2000s

00:02:46.380 oh I actually feel like quite emotional when I think about Alan Marie. Emma Roberts is set to

00:02:52.520 return as Claire in the series as well. Yeah I'm not the biggest Emma Roberts fan so this doesn't

00:02:58.340 excite me that much but she is coming also back to executive produce it as well. Do you think that

00:03:05.420 this tv show might like ruin like the like the the joyful capsule that was aquamarine or do you

00:03:12.060 think it will like still be amazing i often feel that way about adaptations and especially like

00:03:16.760 the nostalgia train that all the studios are on at the moment with them i definitely try to see it

00:03:23.500 as like its own project same thing happened with devil was part of two i know that it's not going

00:03:28.420 to be what it was when i was 10 years old like there's no way that you can recreate like the

00:03:32.320 magic like you said the magic and the beauty of that movie and what it meant to like young girls

00:03:37.100 but i think if you objectively look at it it could be fun to revisit those characters and that

00:03:43.400 location let's talk about the plot so the log line for the pilot reads when teenage coral moves to a

00:03:50.820 dreamy seaside town she begins unraveling the truth behind her mother's disappearance and

00:03:55.980 discovers her mother was a mermaid awakening magical powers in coral just as secrets beneath

00:04:01.300 the waves threatened to surface wait forgive me it has been a little bit of time since i have

00:04:07.560 watched the movie so that's quite different to the movie yes okay yes totally different the only

00:04:12.960 thing is like her mother was a mermaid i'm like is the mom going to be the sarah paxton character

00:04:17.180 like aquamarine yeah right okay maybe i feel like i will probably watch this but my the reason i love

00:04:25.340 the movie so much was like all the details of the costuming like the coloring of the film I'm like

00:04:32.060 looking at pictures now and like the teal dress that the mermaid wears like everything is embedded

00:04:36.680 into my mind and I do think like early 2000s fashion and aesthetic like lent lent so well

00:04:42.860 into that because it was just so like fun and like textural and I'm scared that it's going to

00:04:48.200 be like beige-ified a bit on that note Elle the prequel to Legally Blonde is coming out in prime

00:04:53.900 video I got a sneaky peek of the pilot great storyline I've only watched one episode and I'm

00:05:01.280 definitely like into it but I felt that way with the costumes of Elle because it's set in the 90s

00:05:08.000 so trying to be 90s vibe but the clothes still looked modern and I don't know if it's because

00:05:13.020 of the material I haven't researched if they're like uh what they call archive pieces from the

00:05:18.580 90s and it's just like the lighting or something so i do see your worries with that because it does

00:05:24.980 take you out of it a little bit when you see clothes that are clearly modern on that note as

00:05:30.120 well there's a lot of discussion about people with botox and fillers getting cast in like period

00:05:35.280 dramas it kind of feels similar i don't even know if i've said this one on the podcast but back to

00:05:40.020 costuming guys this is my biggest pet peeve there are so many times where characters on tv shows and

00:05:46.600 movies right they're in like their quote-unquote regular clothes the clothes they wear every day

00:05:51.320 and the bottom of their shoes spotless never being worn that is my biggest pet peeve it's

00:05:56.300 what I always pick up on it just takes me out how often are characters showing the bottom of their

00:06:01.260 shoes like I've never noticed that before like if they're like it's like a low lower camera angle

00:06:05.480 like they're maybe like sitting down with the legs stretched and the camera's like where their feet

00:06:09.120 are like there's a bit I think it happened in heated rivalry um which is one recent example

00:06:14.420 but no it happens yeah everyone's gonna look out for that yeah look out for that one guys

00:06:19.800 and let me know on your travels if you see it sorry to people who do not care about taylor

00:06:33.760 swift or travis kelsey but as a pop culture podcast i feel like we need to keep the people

00:06:38.220 updated on this freaking wedding every episode is in the show notes and i'm like why are we still

00:06:44.360 talking about Taylor Swift. Okay. Okay. I would like to say that this is only the second time

00:06:49.240 we are talking about her wedding. No, it's not. I swear to God, we talk about it every episode.

00:06:54.160 Okay. Like obviously we talked about her engagement all those two years ago. I would

00:06:58.800 like to say that last week was the first time I think we talked about the rumors explicitly. Okay.

00:07:02.540 Okay. And then I genuinely think this might be the last time before it actually happens

00:07:06.920 because guys, we have firmer rumors now. They're still rumors, but they're firmer. Okay.

00:07:12.740 so it turns out that Madison Square Garden does look like the go-ahead okay I think it's a decoy

00:07:20.700 it's a decoy I still think it's a decoy why would you get married in Madison Square Gardens in New

00:07:25.320 York City okay when you're not even from New York City yeah but neither of them are from New York

00:07:29.660 I don't understand the thing is according to the New York Times a permit has been quietly filed

00:07:36.340 not so quietly anymore dare I say has been filed to shut down the streets that surround Madison

00:07:41.900 Square Garden between July 2nd to July 4th okay and people are saying that the ceremony will be

00:07:48.080 July 3rd. I saw in this New York Times article there are like four esteemed journalists

00:07:53.900 collaborating you know when like journalists like work on the same piece collaborating on

00:07:58.500 an article about this potential wedding. No it's like a scientific paper where it's like so many

00:08:02.720 names and it's like there's just so many brains have worked on this. So the permit has been filed

00:08:08.680 by Winnick Productions and reportedly asked for the streets around the arena to be closed to make

00:08:14.520 room for a tent to be set up outside the venue and that will include between 500 to 999 guests

00:08:21.860 according to the New York Times. I don't know. Look and I've seen so many other rumors we're

00:08:27.480 not going to get into it. I saw another headline which was like Taylor Swift is only inviting

00:08:31.320 people she's met at least twice. Who knows? Like that's a normal rule at a wedding right? I know

00:08:37.320 but like 999 people that you've met. That's a lot. July 3rd is this week. So we'll see if

00:08:45.000 it really is happening at Madison Square Garden.

00:08:57.520 Closer to home, Jacob Elordi has brought his girlfriend, can we use the G word,

00:09:03.480 Kendall Jenner to Australia. The pair were spotted in Japan and now they've been papped walking

00:09:09.960 Jacob's dog Layla in Byron Bay where he owns a property. At first I was like whose dog is this

00:09:16.120 because they have just been traveling around Japan as we've seen. I have loved the pics like

00:09:21.080 they're at some restaurants together. There's this really cute video of them like holding hands like

00:09:25.700 leaving a train station. I know it sounds a bit creepy but they just they look really good

00:09:29.900 together oh they're definitely a hot couple like they make sense so according to paparazzi they

00:09:35.400 went to the byron bay general store cafe together they looked quite cold and wrapped up in their

00:09:40.480 puffer jackets which is surprising because even in winter byron bay is not that cold no but it

00:09:45.420 is cold i checked the weather forecast right now for them and i was like it's pretty cold there

00:09:49.620 like kendall has a house in the alps like surely byron bay in june isn't that cold it's so funny

00:09:55.280 seeing these pap shops because I'm like that um general store cafe is like one of the main cafes

00:10:01.160 I was like I've been there I know exactly where they are and they're just walking around there

00:10:05.540 obviously Byron Bay isn't um like it's not uncommon to see celebs there like one of which

00:10:10.760 Hemsworth brother owns a property there I think Zac Efron lived there for a little while correct

00:10:15.520 so celebs do like it but it was a strange feeling like whiplash seeing Kendall Jenner like

00:10:21.820 photograph there just like in a cash puffer her little bandana on I was like she's one of us

00:10:27.440 definitely definitely one of us definitely the same tax bracket when do you think they're gonna

00:10:32.660 make their like official I don't know red carpet appearance together or something I think it will

00:10:37.620 happen on a red carpet I think it would be at least like end of the year earliest nothing too

00:10:44.380 urgent he's probably having a break right because he was in so many movies last year yeah and the

00:10:49.800 reason why they're apparently here is that it's Jacob's birthday June 26th so he's like having a

00:10:56.700 party apparently in Byron in Byron if you're around Byron keep an eye out Olivia Rodrigo is

00:11:12.860 absolutely killing it at the moment to the cure her single is like number one album's going

00:11:19.520 amazingly and she's also adding festival organizer to her resume oh when i saw this drop on social

00:11:27.460 media i was so happy and like proud of her and then at the same time insanely jealous that

00:11:33.640 obviously we don't live in cali in california where this festival will be held come august 29

00:11:39.660 so this festival is called daisy chain fields my friend rachel she tried to get tickets to this

00:11:45.840 where does she live she lives in sydney oh my god yeah she like dm me yesterday i was like i tried

00:11:51.340 to get um olivia tickets i was like what you would have traveled to california for this she's like 0.60

00:11:55.960 yeah i was like willing and then she said that she didn't get the tickets and she was put on a

00:12:00.240 wait list and there were over one million people on the wait list no so she's like i don't think

00:12:04.980 fair enough okay the lineup is amazing so it's an all women lineup of course olivia rodrigo is

00:12:14.360 performing alongside Cat's Eye, Chapel Road, Dochi, Bikini Kill, Dye Spits, Eli, Garbage,

00:12:22.340 Mitski, Not For Radio, Quiet Light, Rachel Chinoriri, Santee Gold and The Breeders.

00:12:28.360 Incredible. Karen O, Sarah McLachlan and Stevie Nicks are also set to appear as special guests.

00:12:34.260 What a dream festival. I wish I was there. It shows there's an appetite for it if Rachel's

00:12:40.300 saying like there were over a million people on the wait list and it's all female really I think

00:12:45.600 a really cool initiative from Olivia because the other thing it's not just about the music and

00:12:50.400 like supporting and celebrating female artists there's also like a lot of values put behind this

00:12:57.060 so apart from the music there will also be non-profit activations educational resources

00:13:02.680 community art experiences local vendors and like fan pop-ups when olivia announced this she had

00:13:10.460 like this beautiful quote about it she said it's a place where inspiration and curiosity lead to

00:13:15.420 knowledge strength and action daisies are wild and beautiful as a chain they are strong and unbreakable

00:13:21.340 that's so nice all net proceeds from daisy chain fields will also go towards supporting

00:13:27.560 non-profit organizations, supporting child poverty, motherhood, reproductive rights,

00:13:32.980 domestic violence, women's health, and indigenous health. So it's got the trifecta. Great artists,

00:13:39.540 good values, and proceeds going to charity. And I think we need more people in the world

00:13:44.540 who are creating things like this, especially under all of our tech oligarchs at the moment.

00:13:49.000 Keen to see it, and I hope that it continues every year.

00:13:57.560 Film production company A24 and Google have struck an AI research partnership deal

00:14:06.860 that will see the studio working with Google's DeepMind unit to develop new AI-powered

00:14:13.720 technologies for filmmakers. And people are not happy, Jan.

00:14:19.240 Let's get into it. Apparently, it's a $75 million USD investment that translates to

00:14:26.680 roughly 108 million AUD so it's not a small drop in the ocean but interestingly enough they're

00:14:33.360 really trying to make it clear that this is about research and like infrastructure and planning that

00:14:39.640 it's not going to like take over the process of making movies right it's mostly allegedly about

00:14:47.580 storyboarding which is obviously when you are working on a story and you can like I don't know

00:14:52.980 hypothesize and like create storyboards of what's going to happen in the movie i saw tiktok last

00:14:58.580 night from an former a24 storyboarder who said that she's been out of work for three years

00:15:03.860 because a lot of the kind of comms around this is like it's not taking people's jobs it's just

00:15:09.340 for research and then this woman was like you know it's unverified it could just be but like

00:15:13.820 why would you make a tiktok about that but hey but she was saying yeah she's been out of work 0.79

00:15:17.740 as a storyboarder for three years. Yeah, Dan, because they are trying to make it clear that

00:15:22.260 the deal doesn't give Google access to A24's content library or its data. And the A24 partner,

00:15:30.400 Scott Belsky, who leads the tech division A24 Labs, said that it differed from other tech deals

00:15:38.860 that we've been seeing with AI because AI developers, quote, mistakenly advertise their

00:15:44.260 products as a means to make films cheaper and faster? Basically saying that like all the AI

00:15:49.740 comms out there is that like it's going to make movies yeah cheaper and faster which we see I

00:15:54.940 don't know if you get this on your x feed but I always see film bros and style filmmakers

00:16:01.840 being like Hollywood is dead because I made this at home in an hour and it looks like absolute

00:16:08.220 trash so I think that's like the rhetoric around AI in film but the head of the A24 labs is like

00:16:16.540 no it's for research and development and workflows which I feel like we hear all the time when it

00:16:22.020 comes to AI because people are scared of it people don't want to have their jobs taken

00:16:25.320 so there is a backlash towards it. It's a slippery slope because yes he's saying that it's not going

00:16:30.920 to look like the prompted generation type of AI that people are uncomfortable with but where do

00:16:36.980 we draw the line because that planning that iteration stage of storyboarding is still like

00:16:42.160 instrumental to the process of making a film like the inspiration the planning side is so important

00:16:47.880 so it's like i'm trying to apply this to us as writers it's like if someone was like oh all the

00:16:53.760 planning is done by ai but you'll still write it i wouldn't feel comfortable with that that's part

00:16:59.380 of the process. Kane Parsons, the director of Backrooms, who just made A24 roughly $300 million

00:17:08.220 like this month, still continuing to climb, spoke out about using AI in filmmaking recently in an

00:17:16.000 interview with The Australian. Quote, if I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear

00:17:21.040 forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using these tools. It defeats the

00:17:26.660 purpose entirely for me. Can I just also add to that because I am glad to see conversations and

00:17:34.080 processes change. I actually was pitching to a publication and can I read you, they had an AI

00:17:39.880 policy attached to their brief. They said, while AI is now impossible to avoid when it comes to

00:17:45.780 functions like spellcheck or freelance contributors, I expected to follow our editorial

00:17:50.760 code of practice and it says like any significant use of gen ai in a piece of journalism must be

00:17:57.120 explicitly approved and must be clearly signaled to the user so good also locally um the design

00:18:03.280 files is a local melbourne design publication online and with a print magazine and they recently

00:18:09.120 were advertising for a writer role and they posted on instagram and it was like pretty anti-ai it was

00:18:13.580 like we want an actual writer someone who will actually get paid to write words and everyone in

00:18:18.940 comments was like really supportive like oh it's so great to see you like denounce ai so there is

00:18:24.180 an appetite for people who are consuming these products as well too or this content to know

00:18:30.280 whether something's ai or not honestly that's kind of dystopian that it's just like a regular

00:18:34.880 writer job like you know listing and everyone's like wow congratulations on not using ai but i

00:18:42.700 guess that's where we are that is the culture and that's also something kane parsons said in the

00:18:47.920 interview as well. We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards

00:18:52.100 and signs that are obvious AI slop. That's become part of our visual reality. To me,

00:18:57.800 generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.

00:19:04.160 Speak on it. He ate with that one. Do you remember a couple of years ago,

00:19:09.780 maybe like four years ago, when there was a huge NFT hype? Celebrities like on Jimmy Fallon talking

00:19:15.120 about the freaking pixelated monkey and like it's going to be worth 600 billion dollars and that

00:19:19.840 like no one talks about nfts anymore do you think we are in like an inflated ai bubble right now

00:19:25.260 that will pop and we'll get to a point where it is integrated into our society a bit more a bit

00:19:31.040 less on the nose than it is now with the ai tech people being like everything is ai and like we're

00:19:35.480 converting to ai and like it feels really intense right now do you think it's going to like level

00:19:40.120 out oh this is such a big it's a big question for you but it's a big i don't know yeah i'm

00:19:45.100 I think it is going to be integrated into our society more.

00:19:48.680 I think the reason why it's so loud and similar to the conversation around NFTs is both of

00:19:53.640 them have been pushed so hard because so much money has been invested into these industries.

00:19:58.820 Our economy is literally resting on AI's success right now.

00:20:03.300 That's why it feels inevitable as well, even though it might not be to the extent that

00:20:08.220 they're pushing it.

00:20:09.080 I also think that I found with this AI24 conversation a real like parasocial love for the brand. I know that they are, were, are an indie kind of studio, but I think it showed when people are like, I'm so shocked by this or like, I can't believe this, I can't believe you do that.

00:20:27.820 they have like a real love and a parasocial relationship to a brand and at the end of the day

00:20:34.040 we live under capitalism etc etc and like big companies will try to make more money and grow

00:20:41.640 so I think it's more important to support the filmmakers and the directors rather than the studios

00:20:57.820 we are entering a new era of the surveillance state thanks to meta number one who have just

00:21:06.400 released a new line of their meta glasses that are cheaper and not attached to any like designer

00:21:11.920 brand names anymore we've seen the meta air glasses that are like ray-bans or oakley branded

00:21:17.580 they looked a little i'll say it chuggy yeah and they look cheap they've been around for nearly

00:21:23.580 a hundred years but i don't see younger people wearing ray-bans maybe the dare wears ray-bans

00:21:31.720 on stage and he's gen z meta has taken notice of that and to capture the younger market they

00:21:37.100 have partnered with none other than miss kylie jenner herself so kylie jenner has designed her

00:21:45.440 own pair of meta glasses called the meta star fire glasses kylie edition she's also like starring

00:21:53.200 in the editorial, you know, promotional shots of it.

00:21:56.200 And they are very fashion-forward.

00:21:57.880 They are quite cool and people are praising that.

00:22:01.860 But we are questioning it.

00:22:04.680 The range also is launching with two other frame styles.

00:22:08.720 There's the Meta Adventurer, which are classic rectangular frames,

00:22:12.540 and the Meta Fury.

00:22:14.100 It's a bit intense.

00:22:14.560 Ew, sorry.

00:22:15.600 Bold statement frame.

00:22:17.760 So those two glasses start from $469 Australian

00:22:21.840 and the Metaglasses, the Kylie ones, are $629, so a bit more expensive.

00:22:27.380 For those who might not know about Metaglasses,

00:22:30.380 this is how the website is promoting them.

00:22:32.960 So they say, quote,

00:22:34.140 The best things in life are hands-free.

00:22:36.280 Do more without missing the moment with voice controls

00:22:38.680 that allow you to record and share hands-free.

00:22:41.300 Can I just say, how annoying is it when you accidentally

00:22:43.380 get Siri activated on your phone?

00:22:44.880 You're like, get away from me!

00:22:46.980 So I'm like, no, it's not.

00:22:48.540 Like, I don't want that.

00:22:49.980 the best things in life are hands-free what is hands-free that is best

00:22:54.940 I also just think like our phones are attached to us at all times anyway I've never thought like

00:23:02.800 I wish I didn't need to use my hands right now I wish I didn't need to get my camera out

00:23:07.740 I feel like even just pulling out a phone swiping or like in the new phone like you click a button

00:23:12.560 and your camera's open that's fast enough yeah it's really the copy I find really interesting

00:23:18.080 women's wear daily the publication is really leaning into like the rebranding of the kylie

00:23:25.820 meta glasses they had a subheading they read go from pilates to brunch to work and back again

00:23:31.840 with the it girl whispering her affirmations directions and suggestions in your ear i'm sorry

00:23:37.680 that literally sounds like satire it feels like black mirror it feels so black mirror they're

00:23:43.000 saying the it girl whispering affirmations because kylie voices the ai on the kylie glasses it's so

00:23:49.080 black mirror and to be honest i just looked at their article because i was like one sounds like

00:23:53.760 sponcon if it's not perhaps they got like a kylie jenner interview from it no none it's like a

00:24:00.040 shopping article yeah an editorial choice perhaps of course is affiliate attached to it but i'm like

00:24:04.720 why why are you framing it in this way because their audience is like the market for this

00:24:10.580 pilates brunch girls but are they pilates isn't it about like wellness and stuff like this doesn't

00:24:16.780 feel wellness we're like getting a bit off track but associating pilates with this it's like because

00:24:22.320 pilates is fashionable right now sorry who's wearing sunglasses in the pilates class no but

00:24:26.840 like you wear them between pilates and brunch oh yeah go from recording their pilates class in

00:24:33.480 sunnies it's like a very fashionable like because they're trying to capture the fashion market

00:24:37.880 I just don't think that this is actually going to catch on when I see very rarely I'll see

00:24:43.540 meta glasses content on my social media feeds the main person I'm like the type of person I'm seeing

00:24:50.120 is this like random type of male interviewer who's like going up to strangers on the street and being

00:24:55.000 like like trying to interview them or trying to rag on them or what or trying to pick up chicks

00:24:59.500 I see that a bit also I feel like they're a brand new technology the ads I saw that Kylie was

00:25:05.160 posting on her Instagram feed. When she's like looking through the glasses, she's like looking

00:25:09.000 at a closet or something. It doesn't actually look that good quality. I know it's like brand

00:25:13.480 new groundbreaking technology or whatever, but the whole point is like what if it's a worse camera

00:25:18.560 than your phone, you're just going to use your phone. This is for the camera specifically. What

00:25:22.160 else do the glasses do? We need to go through. Let's talk about that because meta AI is built

00:25:26.680 into the glasses. You can ask it questions. Apparently it can give you recommendations.

00:25:31.820 it can manage daily tasks and it also has meta AI which translates spoken conversation and text

00:25:39.460 instantly apparently in different languages it is a limited selection of languages so far

00:25:44.400 also advertised on their website one thing I found interesting yeah was the like match the vibe of

00:25:51.000 what you're seeing which I feel like plays so into the main character energy that like everyone's

00:25:57.920 living through with our with the technology that we have the example they gave was like hey meta

00:26:03.620 play the perfect song for this view so if you're looking at the beach or the sunset it will play a

00:26:09.380 song to match the view and like who needs to say but who's to say what matches the view right

00:26:14.440 I feel like sorry my first thought is like I feel like their vibe is like they're gonna play

00:26:19.180 beautiful things by Benson Boone like and that's not what I want so the glasses of course you can

00:26:25.000 take photos and take videos without using your hands it's also got open ear audio for music

00:26:30.700 podcasts and calls so that's like almost like a the audio comes out of the arm of the glasses

00:26:37.160 I've actually used something like this before so it's like not in your ear but it plays and it is

00:26:42.080 quiet I don't know don't ask me about the text specifically and there's also microphones obviously

00:26:47.520 so you can hear your voice commands and such as we said Kylie is voicing the AI on the Kylie glasses

00:26:53.420 in that Women's Wear Daily article. I found it so funny. They wrote, she even made sure to record

00:27:00.040 some of her most iconic phrases, sending you off to work with a rise and shine in that husky,

00:27:07.580 seductive, slightly lilting voice. Girl, what is that copy? I know I'm focusing on the copy

00:27:14.420 of this article more than like the glasses, but in that husky, seductive, slightly lilting voice

00:27:19.880 is so funny to me. The like branding of Kylie and her voice, that being a feature that you'll

00:27:26.160 pay $630 for. It's just really odd. And I don't know how these conversations came about in the

00:27:32.160 marketing boardroom being like, yes, and she'll voice it. And she will say some of her like

00:27:36.860 catchphrases. It just feels bizarre and not what people have asked for. Like, I don't think anyone's

00:27:42.440 asking for this. People aren't asking for it, but it's working. I've already seen on X, like

00:27:48.220 the editorial people going crazy for it I think people will buy anything Kylie Jenner sells

00:27:54.280 interesting yeah I don't know how I feel about that part but I think the reason why we're talking

00:27:59.680 about this is less so about like the validity of this product but more about the dangers that

00:28:05.000 it produces in terms of surveillance culture I think that's what a lot of people's main concern

00:28:09.720 is you're wearing these glasses you don't know if you're getting a photo or if you're being video

00:28:14.000 recorded. It's something out of, I know it's used all the time, but 1984. You made a great

00:28:19.940 comparison this week on TikTok. And when I saw this post that you referenced, I thought the

00:28:24.780 exact same thing. I made a TikTok video about something I've been seeing recently on social

00:28:31.120 media. And that is the normalization of using kind of security camera footage as part of social

00:28:38.400 media content the person who i like saw most was alexa chung it girl british it girl fashion girl

00:28:45.580 who has been posting these outfit dumps on her instagram but they're screenshots from her front

00:28:51.480 door's security camera and it's very like off the cuff like she's returning home or she's like

00:28:56.520 leaving the house and like has the keys in right and it's cool and it's effortless but i was like

00:29:02.200 hang on I just don't think like it's a great idea to be normalizing like this surveillance aesthetic

00:29:09.980 yeah it's like cctv aesthetic another example of this is Claudia Saluski who is a youtuber

00:29:16.140 and influencer and also the founder of her own skincare brand as well as being engaged to

00:29:21.020 Phineas Billie Eilish's brother she recently posted an ad for Sephora shot in the style of

00:29:26.400 a Ring camera. Yeah. So it's like that fish eye kind of camera lens. It's at her front porch

00:29:33.020 and she's like receiving a delivery. I've actually been seeing a lot more organic content like this

00:29:38.740 recently, like funny moments or sweet moments of couples like at the front door as well. Have you

00:29:42.860 been seeing that on your TikTok? Yes. And what is so interesting about this is people in the

00:29:47.840 comments going, this should be an ad for Ring. Do you see that all the time? It's like people

00:29:52.300 coming home like leaving the house and they wave to the ring camera and they're like pregnant and

00:29:57.120 then they come back and they're holding a little baby and they wave to their ring camera again and

00:30:00.580 the people are like oh my god so cute send this to ring i think this content performs so well

00:30:04.980 because it feels on stage in some way but then ultimately if you're choosing to post something

00:30:11.960 on social media you're editing that you're choosing to publish like there's so much

00:30:15.660 conscious thought behind it so ring is a doorbell security camera company that picks up on motion

00:30:22.240 and you can like answer the doorbell from inside your house you can answer it from your phone like

00:30:26.320 if someone was at my door right now I could look on my phone and be like oh there's a package for

00:30:29.700 me thanks leave it at the door during the Super Bowl there was a ad called like the search party

00:30:34.840 ad that got people talking oh god I hated this it was so dystopian so the story is supposed to be

00:30:41.080 heartwarming it's about finding a lost dog and the way that they do it in the ad it's like it's so

00:30:46.460 like they're using all the neighbours' Ring cameras and AI to locate this dog. So as you

00:30:52.580 can imagine, people were kind of freaked out about that, being like, what? Like we're accessing

00:30:56.440 like our data and like this company has a way to do that. And then the conversation went even

00:31:03.620 deeper because there was this news about Ring's planned integration with a company called Flock

00:31:09.440 Safety that resurfaced, that caught people's attention again. So Flock Safety is a company

00:31:15.240 that supplies automated license plate readers

00:31:18.580 and other monitoring tools to law enforcements.

00:31:23.200 Yikes.

00:31:24.280 So it's like a narc.

00:31:25.300 It's like an inbuilt narc.

00:31:27.000 Fully surveillance state.

00:31:28.260 Yeah, yeah.

00:31:28.760 Like not surveillance state culture, just surveillance state.

00:31:31.840 A lot of people after the Super Bowl ad ran,

00:31:36.320 like warned that this was just a step too far,

00:31:40.200 that the combination of smart cameras, AI,

00:31:42.340 and law enforcement access was just giving big brother.

00:31:46.480 So in response, actually, I'm actually quite surprised about this

00:31:49.520 because typically we do see tech companies just carry on as per usual.

00:31:54.280 But Ring and Flock Safety issued statements saying

00:31:57.340 that they were ending that planned partnership.

00:32:00.900 Ring said that the work, quote,

00:32:02.280 would require significantly more time and resources.

00:32:05.760 And they also said that no customer videos were ever shared with Flock.

00:32:09.180 I can see why fashion people are drawn towards this aesthetic because there is an edge to it.

00:32:14.940 It's counterculture to like an iPhone photo.

00:32:18.280 But I think we just with everything going on with AI and tech at the moment, we need to be a bit more critical and like think.

00:32:26.020 And especially with the Kylie glasses, just think for a second, like, what is this normalizing?

00:32:31.140 And is an aesthetic worth perpetuating surveillance state culture?

00:32:35.840 Completely, because these baby steps do add up.

00:32:38.740 if we are okay with taking the security front door photos, then we become more okay with the

00:32:45.120 fact that Palantir is in Coles and it's monitoring. This AI data defense company is in one of our

00:32:52.360 major supermarkets. And slowly but surely, we just become accustomed to these types of behaviors

00:32:57.900 and they become so normalized. And that's why I think we should push back even at this early

00:33:02.920 stage because I know some listeners will be like, it's not that deep. It's okay. She's just posting

00:33:07.460 her own like front door outfit photos but it does add up it's now time for bookmarked where we share

00:33:24.280 a recommendation from our week that we have loved reading watching or listening to you know the drill

00:33:29.680 jazz what are you sharing today last week i was house sitting and i binge watched a whole series

00:33:35.400 by myself which was so rare and nice to do and that was margot's got money troubles which is an

00:33:42.460 apple tv production this was originally a book that got adapted into a tv show and it tells the

00:33:48.480 story of a former hooters waitress and ex-pro wrestler daughter what that's a crazy prep sorry

00:33:55.480 i did not realize the backstory of the character her name's margot she finds herself pregnant

00:34:01.820 when she's in college like early in it she's a freshman and she drops out and she has to earn 0.99

00:34:07.720 money somehow and she finds a way to pay them through OnlyFans work. Question do they explicitly 0.98

00:34:15.660 say OnlyFans in this? Yeah they explicitly say it's OnlyFans the platform. Margot is played by

00:34:22.360 Elle Fanning who I would say is one of my favorite actresses of all time. Everything I see her in

00:34:26.360 I adore. Love her so much. Nick Offerman plays her ex-pro wrestling dad and Michelle Pfeiffer

00:34:32.840 plays her mum. Nicole Kidman is also in it. She plays a lawyer and also a former ex-pro wrestler.

00:34:40.240 I'd heard about this story because it was a huge book, but I just never got around to reading it.

00:34:44.780 I don't know. Something about the cover put me off. Me too. Very purple, very like illustrated.

00:34:48.860 Yeah. And I thought, oh, that's not really like my, the books that I like reading, but

00:34:52.120 i think the tv show was great i started it for the like oh what's she gonna do she's like gonna

00:34:58.760 have this baby and she has no money like that premise but then the character studies are so

00:35:03.640 great that you really begin to like root for the family it's like a lovable group of misfits all

00:35:09.740 figuring it out together it's nice to see characters who are imperfect on screen i'm pretty

00:35:15.720 fatigued by like morally correct characters all the time so i highly recommend that it was really

00:35:21.480 good to watch I would watch like three to four episodes and then wait a day and then do another

00:35:25.960 two to three because it's some themes are quite heavy there's you know addiction yeah poverty

00:35:30.920 and a custody battle as well so there are heavy themes but it's heartwarming and I think really

00:35:38.300 really great writing so I recommend that show that's making me want to try it again because

00:35:43.700 I did actually watch an episode a while back I didn't really know the premise or the vibe of the

00:35:50.340 show so I think it's just bordered on more chaotic than what I was expecting and it's quite like

00:35:55.580 not garish but it's like a bit like in your face right there's quite a lot of sex in the first

00:36:00.100 episode and like I'm not being prudish but I was just like oh it's like quite like a chaotic story

00:36:05.600 I'd say. Yeah I definitely can see why the pilot would seem that way as well but the deeper it gets

00:36:11.700 the more invested you get. Cool. So yeah give it another go. And Maggie what are you recommending

00:36:17.160 for us this week i've also got a tv show this week i love when we match i do i do too uh this one i

00:36:24.000 actually feel like i might have recommended season one but i did try to search and i couldn't see it

00:36:28.620 it's called the four seasons it's on netflix season two has just dropped and i'm loving it

00:36:34.580 it's a drama it actually stars tina faye who is a creator of it there's also will forte colman

00:36:42.000 Domingo, Kerry Candy-Silver and Steve Carell. So it's like a very great comedy forward cast

00:36:48.940 and what's really beautiful about it, it's essentially, it's actually an adaptation from

00:36:53.460 a film that was from 1981 but the show is split up into the four seasons of the year and it follows

00:37:00.920 three couples and they meet up like every season for like a little holiday and like every two

00:37:06.760 episodes is in a new place and like time jumps it's really nice what I really like about this

00:37:13.200 is that yes on the surface it's very like light-hearted it's like these different types

00:37:18.560 of couples but they're all really good friends it's like feel good show but the characters are

00:37:23.780 all like in their 40s and 50s and there's something so nice about seeing just like their

00:37:30.300 life on screen and the problems and like the beautiful parts and the dilemmas that come with

00:37:36.160 middle to later life because I felt stupid being like oh my god yeah I hadn't thought about it this

00:37:42.140 way like the way they talk about grief or life goals or friendships and like changing identities

00:37:48.160 and relationships it was just like so nice to see and it like took me out of my like late 20s bubble

00:37:55.860 I think in our like youth obsessed culture yeah we only kind of see the stories well also we're

00:38:02.600 in a bubble because we're at that age so we're consuming that content but yeah you do often

00:38:06.900 only see coming of age stories or in your late 20s so that's nice yeah and it's just like a lovely

00:38:13.680 show to put on like it's quite endearing heartfelt and it's like nicely keeping me company like I'm

00:38:19.320 watching it by myself and it's like a cozy watch perfect for winter it is that is all we have time

00:38:24.740 for today on the podcast thank you so much for listening to this episode we hope you enjoyed it

00:38:29.800 If you did, maybe share it with a friend or give us a little written review on Spotify or Apple.

00:38:34.740 Otherwise, we will chat to you next time.

00:38:36.660 Bye.

00:38:37.600 Bye.

Culture Club - June 29, 2026

Kylie Jenner’s Meta Glasses, The Surveillance State, Rebranded And Taylor Swift’s Wedding

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