New Essay: I Can't Keep Up With Culture

When did it stop being possible to know what everyone was talking about?

Photo by Skyler Smith on Unsplash

Welcome to the first installment of new writing from me! For now, let’s call this Diary of An Aging Gen-Xer: Entry 1

Last week while settling into my seat on a flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, the pre-recorded boarding announcements informed passengers that in addition to selecting from hundreds of streaming options on the in-flight entertainment app, we could access Apple Music in order to “enjoy more than 70 million songs.” 

Seventy million. This made for an especially strange contemplation because it so happens that about a month ago I downloaded a new album* and have been listening to it nonstop on repeat ever since. (Does anyone use the word “album” anymore? It sounds outdated, but “record” makes even less sense.) There’s one song I like so much that more than once than once while driving I’ve played it four or five times in a row, hitting the backtrack button on the steering wheel again and again like a dope-addicted rat hitting a lever.