Social Media & Internet Culture: #PrivateChefs Go Public

Across TikTok and Instagram, private chefs turned content creators are ushering in a new era of food and lifestyle storytelling, giving millions of followers a glimpse into how their well-heeled clients eat and live. Audiences are luxuriating in the sensory delights of high-end small batch cooking, while taking inspiration on how they can treat themselves like billionaires.

Gaming: Starfield Mainstreams Single-Gaming’s Social Side

Bethesda’s new sci-fi space exploration game Starfield lets single players roam 1,000 alien worlds in search of storylines to follow, presenting near limitless choices and unique experiences for each player. Social media has become a natural extension of the Starfield experience, as players enhance their community by sharing their adventures and gameplay strategies.

Music & Sound: Strike Force Five Highlights Surge in Long-Form Audio

The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2023, fighting for fair remuneration for its screenwriters. Prompted by a desire to help generate income for striking staff while staying connected to their audiences, the star hosts of US late night TV are taking their banter to a limited podcast series. They join other pop-culture entertainers who are benefitting from audio audiences’ increasingly voracious appetite for long-form conversational content.

Publishing & Broadcasting: Suits Makes Triumphant Streaming Comeback

Suits, a procedural comedy-drama series set in a New York law firm, has become Netflix’s hit show of the summer, despite ending in 2019. As people post about the addictive allure of procedural dramas, the format’s popularity exposes a gap in streaming giants’ production slates.

One to Watch: Gossip Gets Reclaimed

When US musician Joe Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) and British actress Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) recently confirmed their marriage was over, gossip media tried to capitalise on the ensuing online interest – but found broad swathes of the public soundly rejecting the typically sexist framing via TikTok video essays and commentary threads on X.