Latest / Open Tabs / 🎧 Brands are getting in on the ACOTAR hype

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🎧 Brands are getting in on the ACOTAR hype · Open Tabs

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to OpenTabs, our twice-weekly conversation where we talk
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: about the things taking up space in our tabs, our feeds, and our brains.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Melissa. Hi, Megan.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hello.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, memes, now your audio is weird, I think.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: No, I can. Okay.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just opening up my tiny Christmas Diet Coke.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm jealous. I want one.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want a full five. I've been asking people.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Is it Christmas where you are?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because where I am, all the malls and stuff have put up the Christmas decorations.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's Christmas here.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: At least, like, my neighborhood, they've put up the, like, lights and stuff.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: And it's also, like, on the East Coast, it's pitch black at, like, 4.30 now.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like it's easier to, like, get into the winter holiday hunker down vibe.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Did you guys have Happy Halloweens this past weekend?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: I actually didn't do much because it was raining here.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I stayed in and just cleaned house and got ready for Christmas.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Can you
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: guys hear me?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's like there's like a shuffling sound that comes on occasionally.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's me.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: Is this helpful?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: I can hear you now. Yeah.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay. Okay. Well, I just disconnected.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: I told you something happens with my phone connecting to the microphone.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what's going on. I'm trying not to touch it.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's interesting.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, first of all, I just had my Diet Coke that already has Santa on it.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm in New York right now from the Bay Area.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: We just threw a huge Halloween party on Saturday night.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: I would just love to petition for exactly how everything rolled out this year to be
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: the same every year.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: It is so elite to have the kids do all their stuff during the day on Friday,
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: have a night break, and then be able to do Halloween on Saturday night.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: It was so much fun.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: We throw this party every year.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's at my in-laws' house.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: People just like had more fun.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like everyone is usually so, so burned out by the time they get to the party.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like everything is so extra now.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just trigger treating.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: You have to go to the best street or school.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: You don't just go to the parade.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: You also like go to your kids' classrooms and they each have a party
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: and like you have to prepare for all of it.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like I had to bring a pumpkin that was like You know,
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: emptied out with dried seeds for Lucy's class
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: because that they were doing like number counting and estimation.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then I was also in charge of some fruit item because there's like also
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: a million allergies in the class.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so, of course, I got all these clementines
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: and then drew tiny jack-o'-lantern faces on all of them.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was just so much.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, I was also like, you know, it's a funny thing, by the way, that they do in Marin.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people get their lights or Christmas lights installed.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: And last week was like a hot week to do it.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's because it's a little bit discounted because it's like
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: the closer you get to Christmas, the more expensive it is.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: So like I was fully prepared, like getting on a flight to New York yesterday.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like we took our Christmas photos last Wednesday.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I'm going to get hit in the face with Christmas,
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: like when I land there because it's, you know, colder here.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's, you know, more seasonal.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you, I'm just like, it's not that bad yet.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, it's kind of warm, mild, beautiful foliage right now.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Global warming is definitely working in favor right now on the East Coast
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: in this part of the country.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it hasn't, like, even last night when we were driving from the airport,
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I'm going to see Christmas lights everywhere.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't. So I don't know why.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like for once, I actually feel like I can say for once, and this is me, like,
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: there were Halloween things at CVS in August.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: August. School hadn't started yet.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: School starts, like, August 21st or something out in California.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it hadn't started yet.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: And there was a whole...
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: The whole Halloween display was up.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: I've really been on it,
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: how annoying this is right now with the way things are jumping ahead.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I'm in a weird breathing zone.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: That was a really long answer.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy for you.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm enjoying it, personally.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Megan, how was yours? Did you do anything fun?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because you did write our Gen Z Halloween piece for us.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't do much this year, no.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was raining here in LA, and I didn't have anything I was excited to dress up for,
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: so I was mostly just taking stock of everything online.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: I was a Sir Waitress from Vanderpump Rules.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good costume.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: I had four people ask to take pictures of me.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Did you have, like, the long sleeve one?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: No, I had the, like, paisley
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: dress that they wore.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Or at least, like, a dupe that I found on ThredUp.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: And then, like, I made a tray and had drinks.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: And a statement necklace, of course.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I dressed up as Wally.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think I told you guys I was doing that.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: It was, like, me, Jenny, and Carly dressed up.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: It has like the baseball one-on-one aesthetic and we wore like PSD underwear
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: and like we had like light up shoes and like the whole thing.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it was fine.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it didn't, we ended up putting on wigs last minute
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: from Carly's husband Jeremy's like extensive wig collection.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it sort of threw the costume off.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like actually I think it would have been better if I just had my hair in like
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: a ponytail personally.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: But I ended up seeing a costume yesterday that I was like, oh, that would have been a good one.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: It was the crew from Blue Origin.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, that was pretty funny.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, that's a creative one.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Also, my friend Jen and her husband, they're so funny.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: He's hilarious.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: He's this really high profile cardiologist from Puerto Rico.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: And he dressed up as Bad Bunny and she was like the grass in the show.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good one.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like really funny, like very creative.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's fun.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: That is very funny.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like maybe the best costume, I feel like.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Or like the most, you know, creative.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: There was, at my favorite bar, that's where I spent, they had, and it's a drag bar,
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: so, like, people really, like, dressed up for Halloween.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: This guy had a Carrie costume, and he, like,
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: He jigged it up so there was a bucket above him with fake blood spilling out
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: and he was wearing like a blue or whatever color her dress is in the TV show
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: and drenched in blood. He won the costume contest.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: It was very good. But it's so fun to see.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: The dedication.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: I know how creative people get.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, but I guess this is like kind of Halloween-y.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's fantasy.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: And that is the brand gold rush around the latest ACOTAR book.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: And ACOTAR stands for A Court of Thorns and Roses.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: It is like the adult fantasy series right now, or romanticy series.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: And the latest book came out, was it last week, Memes?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it was like- Or the week before, maybe?
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like I want to say it was like last Thursday.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know at all. Yeah.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm losing track.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know. It was weird with Halloween.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: But anyway, so and is this the fourth installment? Oh, no.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's like I want to think it's six. Maybe six.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: Let me see.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's hold on.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, my God. It's so funny. Oh, my God.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: I just went to go search for it on Google and it has like a Google thing.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Easter egg.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Did you know that?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: It just turned into nighttime on my...
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, that's a fun Easter egg. Do you see it?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's one, two, three, four, five.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's the six.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it's part of a two-part thing that's coming out that is like a mini...
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Remember I was telling you guys about how she's doing all sorts of creative stuff
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: with books, which is what I really appreciate.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like a two-part thing.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it's split up.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: So the second one, the second part is coming out in January.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: And this is like the series, I feel like, of BookTok.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like we talk about the books that continually go viral.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like this is like the series of BookTok, at least to me.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I have never seen so many brand collaborations around a book publishing.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: So we have Target, Finery, Bunko Pop,
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: NYX, like, Amazon, TikTok did a huge push.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like, so many.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think last week, The Cut released a guide to all
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: of the brand collaborations around ACOTAR because there were so many.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: You have to like that in this.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it's kind of on par with the Barbie craze
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: where every brand had some sort of Barbie product or collection or activation.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I just think it's really interesting that this was for the sixth book in a series.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like I've never seen that happen before.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I know, Melissa, you're a major fan of it and currently reading it.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: Currently reading.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Here's what I'll tell you, and I'm going to use a little bit of Megan Collins theory
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: with this one.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think that absolutely by the time Sarah J.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: Moss was writing this one, the like show was already in development
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: for what this is going to be.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that like
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: While it is still currently a book series,
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: I would really think of this IP as beyond that.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's definitely turning into new actors that are going to be in it.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: There was a lot of uproar.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually really interesting because I am sort of in the pool
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: of people that's like, I wouldn't mind if it was AI done because I love the fan art
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: so much.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of it is AI-generated fan art.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I actually feel a little bit like, I don't know, like,
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if the show creators can win with this.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think that there's just so much out there that,
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: like, it's not in their favor. You know what I mean?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's a lot of visuals that have already sort of been created for, like,
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Volaris and, like, the different worlds and, like,
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: All the things that are happening that I think it's going to be really hard to do it
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: with real people. I, like, hate to say it like that.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I hope that they surprise me and I'm sure I'll, like, watch it and like it.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, like, do either of you guys read this series? Are you guys into it? No.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: No, but I'm, like, the only one in my circle who has not.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: I've read it. I feel like I'm kind of being like a contrarian about it because
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: so many people in my life...
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's such an easy one to pick up.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think the first book is fine.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: The second and third books are just like such joy.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Those two books are really, really, really fun and satisfying.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: As a reader, it's not...
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's a really easy reading. Like it's not high level.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's like literally like young adult,
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: but it can't be because there's like a lot of sexual stuff that happens in it.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: But it's a fun series.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think this current book, I'm 25% of the way in.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not the only one who has said this.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like a lot of people are kind of like a little disappointed with it.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's a little slow going.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: There is so, like the only way I can describe, so Feyre, Feyre,
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Feyre is the protagonist throughout the series.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she like, there's different books that other characters kind of take
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: the main stage, but she's sort of like the through line.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: And she, uh, she ends up with like, she's the high lady of the night court.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: And, um, She has a baby in like one of the books. It's like a whole thing.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: And every other scene in this book, she is breastfeeding.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it is like distracting how much breastfeeding is happening.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's like everything.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're discussing like, you know,
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: like they're going to go to war and who's going to do this.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like politics and like She switches the baby from breast to breast
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: and unlatches him and touches his soft hair and milk and blah, blah, blah.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it's so interesting. I'm like, okay.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: And as someone who has breastfed three babies, I'm like, that's fine.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, It was just so interesting.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then they're also, I can't help it
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: because I really keep I feel like my Kindle signals how far into the book I am
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: and content gets fed to me.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not kidding.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm not getting like...
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't come across anything that seems to be giving stuff away,
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: but there is stuff that is sort of analyzing the characters.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: And one of them...
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's Asriel is how you say his name.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: They call him A-Z. Oz? Oz? Oz? I don't know.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, he...
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of, like, discourse around, like, him and his backstory and all this.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's fine so far. I'm, like, into it.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: I also know that these books are, like, Throne of Glass is, like, seven or eight,
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: and it's, like, connected to this.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I actually do think it's like you have to look at the series in its entirety
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: and not get sort of like too sucked into one book because it's
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: so much more satisfying to think of it like as a whole.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, you know, anyway, okay, I'm going to stop.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Guys, I'm really like going on and on today.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: What I've seen of the ACOTAR collabs,
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: I saw the For Love and Lemons collection that they did, which, like, clothing,
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: which what I thought was very interesting about that was it wasn't so much, like,
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: merch. It was clothes that were in the style of the universe.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Did you see these memes? These clothes?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was beaded.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And really intricate designs.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was giving couture more than it was giving something you would buy
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: at a merch stand in a way that I thought was really interesting and elevated.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: And in general, I feel like that's the big difference between this and a Barbie is
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: that it isn't just about simply putting the logo on something.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: You also have to really understand the universe and the audience and why they're
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: into this to really deliver on something that they're going to want to actually buy.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: I have also seen that in a lot of, I think like my algorithm knows that I read books.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like, oh, she's a woman and she reads, she's probably, ACOTAR is probably on her radar.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: And all of the collabs I have seen so far, like very wearable as well.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like if I saw somebody wearing them out on the street,
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't know that they were ACOTAR merch.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I love that.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think that's like, If something's wearable beyond, like, the hype of something.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: As somebody who, like, shops secondhand and really doesn't enjoy overconsumption,
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's amazing.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: I also wonder if that it being so different from what we saw with Barbie is
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: because the fan base of this is older and maybe is thinking more about, like,
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm a mom and I have kids
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: and I don't want to drop a ton on random merch.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like I need something that has practicality to it.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: I wonder if that had something to do with it.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: I was also going to say, I mean, it's,
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: it's like not totally from that fandom,
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: but I have, I think I've talked about her on here too.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: My friend, Danielle Snyder-Shorenstein, she, um,
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: She owns the clothing company Danny Joe and like Danny Joe Pro.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it's interesting.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: She does a lot of merch that is for like they have like the licensing agreement
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: to do it for like the NBA, the NFL, like different sports leagues and whatnot,
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: which a lot of companies get that, you know,
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: like Disney will get that or like Target has that or McDonald's gets
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: that so then they can like do stuff with, you know, professional sports teams.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: But it's interesting because she does a lot of pieces that are kind
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: of like Christina Ukick or whatever her name is,
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: where it's actually like upcycled vintage stuff that's more like bespoke
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: and like kind of more one of a kind than it is mass marketed.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: And she was saying that it's like,
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think you can get away with That's actually a way in,
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: which is sort of interesting.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's for paying for licensing or how that whole world works,
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: but she actually had created something that was for Spike Lee
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: that he ended up wearing in the NBA Finals for the Knicks,
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: which was really cool and a big moment for her.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's interesting just this idea of what you're saying, Em,
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: like this upcycling vintage Kind of thing,
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: like sort of becoming more connected to like mainstream fandom things and like less
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: about like, you know, making more junk and plastic to go into like landfills
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: and more about creating like memorable pieces that are collector's items.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: I know that we'll talk about it on Thursday,
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: but that also goes to the cool Disney adults who are tapping. Yeah.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: Disney merch.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: Danielle has a licensing thing with Disney too.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it was kind of cool because like,
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: One of our friends who we played tennis with was like, oh,
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to Disney like next week.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: And Danielle's like, do you want me to make you a shirt?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: And she did. And it's like really neat.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: She has this like very like cool aesthetic, like a signature thing.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's like big stitches that she does.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: She made a shirt for our friend Lauren. It was like so neat.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, cool.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: I want one.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's really interesting.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm interested to see how this ACOTAR step builds with the part two in January
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: and them starting to announce the cast for the show.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know, I wonder, let me Google, how many more books she has planned.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: For ACOTAR, I know there's at least that one in January,
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: but I don't know if there's anything beyond that.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: But again, like I've said, Throne of Glass, which is like a seven or eight part book series.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then also Crescent City, which is a three part series.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: They're all like sort of connected too.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot to this world. Got it. Okay.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: It looks like there will be a book eight after this part two that comes out.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Very cool. Okay, so second thing that I wanted to talk to you guys about,
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: I am prepping our monthly Once to Watch for November where we kind
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: of pull out three interesting niche categories of creators
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: and pull out three examples and deep dive on what they're doing,
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: inspo people can take away, all that good stuff.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like we've kind of talked about this type of creator randomly
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_02: and like sprinkled throughout episodes for like the past few months.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: But I want to do a formal ones to watch about them.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: And that is co-working and studying live streamers.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like the Study With Me content has been big on YouTube for a very long time,
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: like when I was back in college.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: I know. I feel like you've talked about this so much.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've never had the urge to find a creator.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: I find this to be so interesting.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: I would mostly do it with...
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Lo-fi girl because it was just like the generic lo-fi music in the background.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: But I did typically do most of my studying in college,
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: like in the library physically with other people.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: But I feel like with COVID, it kind of really blew up in the 2020s.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: And basically the premise is that you have a live streamer.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: They have, you know, a video of them and they're just on their Computer working
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: or studying or doing whatever.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe they have like very subtle music in the background. Maybe they don't.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: They usually like it's very cozy.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: There's ambient lighting.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of ASMR with like the clacking of their keyboard.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: They have a coffee or maybe a Diet Coke if it's in the afternoon.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: And their chat is mostly like geared towards people who work from home and want
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: to feel like they are in some type of community while they're getting work done.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so the chat is like Hyping people up to be productive.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: And it's interesting, Twitch has built up an entire section
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: on their site specifically for this kind of content.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: It has over 36,000 followers.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I think it's like very interesting.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I've even, I was trying to find, I wasn't able to find
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: an article like specifically around We're co-working influencers,
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: so we're on the pulse.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: Brands have come out.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: I found this one, Focusmate,
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: which will pair you with a virtual co-worker and will pair you with somebody else
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: who is working from home and you basically act as productivity partners.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: You're like, I'm working on this, I'm working on that,
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: and it's very structured and they're calling it Pomodoro timing.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: So like you work heads down for 25 minutes and then you get a five minute break
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_02: where like you can get a cup of coffee.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: You can walk around for a little bit.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: You can scroll on your phone, whatever.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then five minutes are up.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: You both sit back down.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: You work for another heads down for another 25 minutes.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's very interesting.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's like basically like WeWork, but virtual.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can't decide if it's dystopian or if it's nice and quaint.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like I would have to try it out for myself to see and I haven't.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: But part of me is like this is so incredibly dystopian where it's like we're all
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: at home on our computers like talking to strangers in virtual rooms
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: and then we're like two steps away from is this person even real or is it just
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: an AI bot that I'm hanging out with right now, you know?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: I know. I mean, I kind of agree.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, on one hand, if it helps with the loneliness epidemic, I'm, like, in support of that.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: In the same way that I'm in support of, like, AI with that as well.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: But, yeah, I mean, if that doesn't sound, like, literally, like,
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: The prompt for a Black Mirror episode, I don't know what does.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: It definitely could devolve into a Twilight Zone situation really quickly.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: Either of you guys, because we all work.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: Have any of you guys ever felt the need to have a little co-working buddy,
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: somebody else who is also working from home that you kind of just sit next
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: to silently while you guys work?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: I've done that with my friends before, and every now and then we'll do it.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's also not on days where I actually really need to get something done
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: because it's hit or miss where it's like one of those things
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: where it's like I could go to their house and we could both just lock in and be
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: the most productive we've been in weeks or we could evolve into a gossip session
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: and then realize we never actually got anything done.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's like unpredictable to do an IRA with friends.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I do see the value in body doubling.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think that that is like a thing that is a phenomenon like you're More productive
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: if you feel like someone else is around.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, I get it.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just, I think, especially right now in our AI-reliant context,
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hesitant to fix interpersonal emotional problems with technology, you know?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah. I mean, I think,
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: you know, in college, I would always, we would call it, like,
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: working out of, like, a high traffic area.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like, let's go study in like a cafe or like let's go to the library just
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: because then we're around like more people and we're not isolated.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: There was like only like one actually moment in college where I would work with my friend Julia.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: And she had a very different major than me.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: She was like more finance, but she was very good about being like, OK, we're going to the park.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: And what are you going to work on?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to work on this.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: And like, let's not talk for an hour.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get up and stretch. Let's go get a coffee.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I actually thrived in that.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: But it was unusual, I feel like, at the time.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: And most of my work was done by myself. I don't know.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, I was an English major.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: So like, a lot of it, there weren't really as many, like, I feel like group situations.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, I minored in Russian,
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: but even then it was like small group.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know. You know what I mean?
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like, oh, I like really just want to hang out while I study with like my classmates.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think. And what we're talking about is like alone togetherness.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something that is like a very 21st century phenomenon.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think even Emma, you were saying once that you and your friends meet up to read.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: And like you don't even necessarily have to talk to each other,
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: but you're just reading in proximity of one another.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll go to happy hour.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: And now that I'm doing it, we definitely do like the Pomodoro type.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like we'll be heads down reading for like 25 minutes.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: Then we'll take like a five minute chitchat break.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then we'll literally be like, okay, heads back down.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah. Yeah.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like I see, I see the impulse for this type of content and it also,
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: a lot of it is reminding me of the radio.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think Emma, you made the connection last week with like Ethan Klein
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: and that being kind of a hangout space and Lo-Fi Girl is a radio channel.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is all just sounding like radio with video plus live.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I think when I think back to the radio, it was both local,
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: like you would listen to your local station.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I felt like, okay, this is my community.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then also there was more of a like call-in element that I feel like, yes,
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: there's the chat, but because it's like everybody has access to the chat,
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: you're having a ton of really shallow interactions with your audience as opposed
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: to the radio where someone calls in, you're having fewer,
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: more meaningful interactions with your audience.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that there's like definitely an opportunity here for these creators
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: to like, Meaningfully add something and meaningfully build community.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: But my dystopia senses are tingling.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Just like continue to prey on the loneliness of people based
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: on like what life is like today, you know?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: I also think it's like a very specific type of work from home
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: that these creators are attracting like I don't know.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like we regularly have calls, like always constantly slacking people.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like I don't feel like I feel like I'm constantly in communication with other people.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm never like I'm so lonely.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't talked to somebody all day.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: So true. That's true. Yeah. Yeah.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I'm talking to people all day.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: Granted, it's not face-to-face, you know, sitting next to each other at a desk,
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: but I don't know, maybe that's just like the Gen Z in me where I'm just so,
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: it like counts virtual and like digital interactions basically count as IRL.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want someone to do that research.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: I want someone to measure how satisfied someone walks away from an interaction
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: in person, over video, with an AI.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think there are probably measurable differences in what each of those do for you.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: That would be so interesting.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I know there have been studies
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: about those day-to-day IRL interactions.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: Having a pleasant exchange with the barista at your local cafe and like how
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: that majorly boosts serotonin or like the checkout at the grocery store,
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: like those little IRL moments.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I mean, I know Lo-Fi Girl has a Discord
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: where they will have more like in-depth threads and conversations.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: But from what I've seen from co-worker live streamers,
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: it is very kind of H3H3 vibes where it's just like quick random things in the chat
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: and like nobody's actually talking or like having discussions.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I guess we'll know more on
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: Thursday about it.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you guys so much for a great conversation as always.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: And we will be back on Thursday.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, guys. See you Thursday.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.