In Defense of "Little Societal Brain Worms"
Going down the rabbit hole with Clara
In a shocking turn of events, I discovered something good on Instagram. It was a year or so ago, and a celebrity had done something embarrassing as they are WONT TO DO. I had read think pieces about this celebrity, I had read Serious Journalism about this celebrity, but
brilliantly and hilariously shot to the heart of the matter by simply pretending to be a much-beleaguered celeb publicist.
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SUCH TROOPERS ⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️
Somehow, on Instagram (@colormeloverly) and Tiktok Clara turns bad news into algorithmically sparkly lemonade. Time and time again. It’s never not a delight.
Clara not only highlights the chaotic evils of the world via her dramatic stylings, she also writes one of my favorite newsletters.
is about everything I’m interested in. Books, music, TV, food, and people. It is, in short about culture. Sometimes pop.
And sometimes not.
Clara contributed her wisdom to this Very Important In Pursuit Investigation, and I was so excited to ask her ALL the questions in this interview, which covers everything from the death of traditional journalism to sexism to unpublishable obsessions. Enjoy!
Sara: You are multi-talented. I first discovered this via your beyond-hilarious-and-correct PR videos, but you also write eloquently about politics, identity, and duh Taylor Swift. How do you describe your work when a stranger at a cocktail party asks you what you do?
Clara: First of all, thank you, and second of all, this is a great question as I've (very) recently moved back to Miami and am meeting new people at which point I inevitably experience mild heart palpitations when they ask what I do. Because many people tend to be Judgmental and because my videos require a certain unhinged degree of chronical onlineness and pop culture fluency to fully get, I usually lean into the writing and say I have a newsletter with cultural criticism and personal essays "that does pretty well" (these are my exact words! when I don't want to brag but also want to make it clear that I have a job! it is very intentional language and makes me want to throw up!). Some people are very nice about it (I went to a wedding last month and a stranger at my table who quickly became my favorite person in the world was like wait can I subscribe? and proceeded to immediately buy an annual subscription right in front of me) and some look at me with the kind of skepticism I usually only allow my imposter syndrome to exhibit. It's a good time!
Sara: SUCH a good time lol (and I deeply relate). I really appreciate the way you write about the function of newsletters like ours while also being clear about the fact that such newsletters should not/do not replace traditional journalism. Please expound!
Clara: I love writing for the newsletter. I have been Online for a very long time, and Hmm That's Interesting is my favorite thing I've ever done. It makes me feel useful and smart and in community with everyone else who cares about the same things I do. That said: I am constantly concerned about the state of journalism and media literacy. I don't think these are conflicting points of view. When I write for my newsletter, I am one person who chooses what to write about and when, who has to pay for her own health insurance, and who lacks an editor, a legal team, and the legitimacy granted to a traditional press outlet. A staff writer for The New Yorker does not have to worry about these things (they have their own issues), and it's not irrelevant to point out the differences and the impact it makes on the product. My work for the newsletter is work, but it does not replace a journalist's, and it would be unfair to both me and my audience to pretend otherwise.
Given the hyperfocus on clicks and eyeballs and ad revenues ever since news fully entered the digital age, I think it's become much easier to neglect, if not altogether forget, the purpose behind the fourth estate, which is to investigate and release the news that those responsible for making the news are not forthcoming with. To be meaningful, the press needs independence and objectivity from those in power, and for the most part influencers and content creators lack a sturdy foundation of both. It is not a moral failing -- journalism is a hard occupation with specific parameters, and it is irresponsible to pretend that most people without the logistical, legal, historical, and financial backing of a media institution are able to supplant the role that traditional journalists occupy in society.
When they read the above, some people choose to make a wild leap and assume that I think influencers and content creators and people-with-newsletters-who-are-not-journalists should not express their opinions or are incapable of informed thought. As someone in probably all three of those camps, that could not be further from the truth. I am simply skeptical of a system that is beginning to make journalism an impossible career choice for anyone without independent wealth and that increasingly attempts to replace a newsroom with online personas whose personal concerns, for often-valid reasons, stand in the way of journalistic integrity and ethics. Again, not a moral failing, but the reason why I find it so important to differentiate between the two roles.
Sorry to be dramatic, but in the midst of a weakening democracy and diminishing media literacy, I am wary of losing a robust, independent, and questioning press to the tune of promotional collaborations.
Sara: When I sat down to write about a cursed product called "MOM WATER," I did so with unabashed glee. There's nothing I like more than ripping apart a shitty brand or a condescending ad. What sort of subjects do you have the most FUN writing about?
Clara: I love writing about opinions we've begun to take for granted, little societal brain worms that slowly make me lose my mind. Remember when Barbie wasn't nominated for as many Oscars as people who loved Barbie expected and seemingly overnight everyone was all, "Sexism!" Which is a very real thing, but objectively not the reason why Barbie received eight Oscar nominations instead of the ten it was apparently owed.
I really enjoy writing essays with a persuasive bent -- it's when I'm at my most thoughtful, I think, because I'm considering an issue from all perspectives, especially those of someone who disagrees with me.
Sara: Have you ever stumbled across a theme/subject/public figure who you found personally fascinating but didn't think the fascination would translate into a viable cultural essay? Honestly, this seems almost impossible to me lol.
Clara: I can't think of anything or anyone who wouldn't translate into a viable cultural essay, but there is something to be said for timing. Sometimes I'll sit on a subject for weeks or months, writing little notes to myself here and there while I wait for the right moment. See, for instance: Chiara Ferragni, the Italian megablogger. Ever since her pandorogate fall from grace moment back in the winter, I've been trying to write about her attempted comeback and I've even faced my fear to (badly) pitch a couple pubs about it, but it hasn't yet felt like the right time.
Sara: I adore recs. I adore someone's list of what they ate in a day. I adore someone's "the best purchase I made all month." I also love SHARING my own recs. Can you talk about the nature of links and recs and the purpose they serve for you personally and maybe take a stab at why so many people gobble them up?
Clara: Fun fact, I used to watch hours upon hours of "what I eat in a day" YouTube videos in college until I realized it wasn't the healthiest thing for me, but I've replaced them with Grub Street's food recaps from celebs and celeb-adjacents -- they make my heart sing.
There's a voyeuristic aspect to it for sure, but mainly I think -- and forgive me, I'm about to get slightly sentimental -- we all want to know people. Really know them. What did you eat, what did you buy, what book did you cry over, what movie do you rewatch every autumn, what wallpaper fills your living room, what music do you listen to while you're making dinner? These are everyday things, but they are intimate things. The details of your life that someone would only know if they spent time with you, and we're sharing them with strangers on the Internet so that we can create this community of people who understand us. Here's a little something about me, you say, perhaps linking a book you treasured as a child that you are now reading to your children. It's very much an exchange of I want to be known, and I want to know you, and that's a little bit beautiful to me.
Sara: I love pop culture analysis because it's always always always a great (and fun) entry point to exploring the power structures that constrain most of our lives. What do you say to people who accuse you of "overthinking" or "looking too deeply" into a particular niche obsession?
Clara: I am always re-examining my relationship to pop culture, to be honest. There's this idea that because I am interested in something, it needs to be deep and meaningful, like silly things are not worthy of my interest. But sometimes my interests are silly, and that's fine -- I don't have to inject significance into them to make them worthwhile. And sometimes I probably do overthink my little obsessions, or see too many things through a lens that's not as all-purpose as I previously thought. I don't necessarily enjoy getting called out for this, but I appreciate a thoughtful nudge.
However, I do mostly agree with you: when I write about [how much I despise] Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, for instance, I'm really writing about my wish for a system with sturdier regulation and a more progressive tax structure that would limit the influence and power of such individuals. When I write about how difficult the Taylor Swift fandom is to traverse, I'm really writing about how we've perverted the definition of feminism to fit within capitalistic ideals. I try to make my mission, if you will, very clear in my essays, because I understand how irritating it is when someone sounds like they're repeatedly trying to make a subject deeper than it is by connecting it to a subject or a person people have Lots of Feelings about.
Sara: RELATED - I deal with the occasional email accusing me of being, like, personally obsessed with a public figure, and I do wonder if this is gendered (lol of course it is). Like, are the dudes obsessed with writing about sports people or politicians or like David Foster Wallace accused of being "unhealthily preoccupied?" Or are their professional writing interests taken seriously as a matter of course?!
Clara: There is 100% a gender aspect to the "pop culture is silly" takes, although to be fair: don't we often criticize men for being overly-obsessed with sports? Maybe not as much as we should, but I think we do!
The problem, I think, is that historically only men have written (and been allowed to write) Seriously about Serious Things (politics, science, important(tm) arts, etc.), while women have historically written about topics oft-considered less consequential (cooking, fashion, beauty, etc.) by virtue of being written by and catered to women. So we are conditioned to undermine women's writing, to think of it as less than. Women question the validity of our own writing and our own pursuits more than men do theirs, and therein lies the rub. Good writing is good writing and to reach it sometimes requires an unhealthy obsession with a subject -- so what?
Sara: What are some of your fave Substacks?
Clara: My favorite question! Of course I love the classics: yours,
. But lately I've been reading a lot from other newsletters who also deliver incredible and thoughtful writing: - There's so much great writing on this platform that does not get amplified as much as it should.Sara: Anything at all you want to talk about that I didn't mention?
Clara: SARA I HAVE SAID ENOUGH.
