No. 19 - Pearls, Instagram fatigue and the launch of the Storm Journal Book Club!

Dear reader,

What have you been up to since last week? My oldest son turned 5 and I spent last Sunday hosting a birthday party at a massive indoor playground with 17 sugared-up kids. I ran around with/after my two boys for almost 4 hours straight and was completely drained afterwards. How on earth these kids are so damn fast remains a mystery. They sure didn’t get it from me.

One thing I noticed though, was how nice it was to be without my phone and social media for a few hours. I don’t know about you, but I have felt so uninspired by Instagram lately. I don’t know if it’s the algorithm, the fast paced format or simply an overload of content, but I find myself longing for the good old days of blogging with its slow pace, longer formats and sense of community.

Last week my friend Antonia sent me this fascinating podcast episode from the Ezra Klein Show titled “How to Discover Your Own Taste”. In the episode, Klein and his guest, writer Kyle Chayka, discuss the problematic ecosystem we’ve created, where algorithmic recommendations prevents us from being challenged or surprised, because almost everything we consume is molded to our own preferences. In a sense, we’re constantly being shepherded towards the same things and I find that both depressing and alarming. It’s a thought provoking episode that is well worth a listen.

One of the main reasons why I started this newsletter, besides giving the middle finger to the algorithm, was to build a closer connection to you, dear readers. So, this week I’m launching an online book club for those of you who are interested (more details below). Also, I’m going to give the chat function on the Substack app a go. I’m still figuring out the format so I thought we could do some sort of Q&A perhaps? Hope to see you there!

Love,
Carolina