(almost) break time: some pre-holiday notes
Because there's no post on aesthetic this week.
The next post in our exploration of aesthetic1—on aesthetic and authenticity—is due right about now. But it’s not coming for a while because of stuff and things. I’m currently in the waning weeks of another semester; I’ve been working on a couple of big papers and need to study for final exams. And as soon as those exams are submitted, I’m going on holiday.2 It’s gonna be a good time, and it’s gonna end at Hutchmoot UK 2023. Fingers-crossed and Lord-willing. I hope to see some of you there.
In the meantime, my fellow secret-keepers and society-dwellers, there will be a few things going on here! Next weekend, there will be the monthly roundup of really good longform reads, and the month after that too. (I plan to read a lot on holiday.) And two weeks from now (when the next regular post is due), I’ll share a story about what happened when I lost my book at a hotel in Toulouse.
Also, I be publishing some Notes, which is a new thing Substack is doing. But you have to download the app or browse the website to see them.
Wishing you as much luck as I wish myself!
Now for some asides + signal boosts!
I thoroughly enjoyed the latest season of The Mandalorian, and I wrote a little piece about one of the themes it explores titled, Why The Mandalorian Makes Sense in a World That Masks Creedal Religion. It’s published at Lorehaven. But if you’re not gonna read it and want to know what’s up with that Star Wars show about some guy who refuses to take off his helmet, read this:
We live amid an ongoing social identification crisis, especially in the West. A breakdown in religious belief and an increasingly fractured cultural landscape has led to waves of internet labels, political subcategories, irreligious designators, gender and sexual identities, and trauma-based descriptors. No one knows quite where they belong. But everyone wants to belong. We are always trying to draw boundaries, to say I belong with these people and they belong with me.
This is why The Mandalorian makes sense. This show’s thematic clashes resonate with our deep desire for community, our desire to belong. For millennia, people have found this impulse satisfied by creedal religion.
There’s likely more to come on the Mando front!
If you’re also in study season, check out this Iacta Radio playlist. It’s based on a song by palence and pulls together some of my favorite tracks from METAHESH, Klimeks, Monomi, and more. It’s the soundtrack to this semester’s reading, writing, and research.
I listened to an episode of the Relevant Podcast from late January and was fascinated by the discussion about Americans’ favorite movie director(s) and, more specifically, American Christians’ favorite movie director(s). If you don’t know already, who that is might surprise you. Morning Consult conducted some major research early this year trying to find out how Americans feel about nearly 100 movie directors as well as how they feel about TV and streaming services. That research resulted in a nearly 400-page document which you can read here. The results were stratified along age range, gender, college education, political identification, social leanings, and religous beliefs. (Like: Jobless 18-year-olds who voted for Joe Biden, think the country is going down the wrong track, and identify as Buddhist say Ridley Scott is their favorite movie director. It’s that specific.)
But if you don’t want to scroll through 400-pages of data—I’ve done enough of that this semester, thank you very much—you should listen to the Relevant hosts discuss the results and the surprising name that comes up as many Christians’ favorite director. They offer ideas on why that is and that’s the best part.
The segment starts at 08:50 and ends around 24:30.
I keep trying to come up with a good, unifying title for this series, but nothing’s happening in my brain in that regard. If you have ideas, feel free to share!
My brain: vacation, vacation, vacation