Love You To The Core

Well, Taylor Swift’s worst album just dropped and we are giving our fulllllll review. That's alongside some updates we’re making to our business (and the podcast!) this quarter, a truly brutal FMK surrounding french delicacies, and Xanthe’s passionate take on read receipts in relationships. ENJOY.

Finally, some optimism! Online dating is dying! Flex culture is just faking it! Butter yellow is still in style! We don’t have to move again for a long fucking time! Also, we ask a question at the end that we’d genuinely love to know: what are 3 things you can talk about for 3 hours with no prep? Send Xanthe a DM at @xanthe.appleyard once you have your answer!

Except, no we don’t! Today’s episode goes deep into:

• The implications of government censorship in the U.S. as Jimmy Kimmel gets taken off air

• Trump’s new TikTok project and what an insular MAGA-led social platform could mean

• How to keep our private spaces safe from hateful viewpoints

• Why it can be valuable to follow people who don’t share your politics

• Impacting positive political change by taking your head out of the sand

• We also share a little update around our move to Barcelona as we get setup and settled!

LINKS:

The Nutshell

Social Life

This week's episode gets into ↓

• Why Xanthe’s had a violent change of heart about re-entering TikTok

• Another super creepy initiative from Meta’s AI department

• How social media is informing the way books are written and promoted

• “Performative intellectualism” and Taylor Swift’s role in it

• The new Sabrina Carpenter album and its influence on the youth of today

• Alo Yoga’s alarming foray into luxury handbags

• The ghosts of the cottage trying to keep us from leaving

Annnnd, Social Life is launching to the waitlist right now and so you can save major money! Hop on it here.

Just a full-on LIFE UPDATE EPISODE detailing the BTS of securing our long-term lease in Barcelona, a status report on the cottage Airbnb launch, and everything we’re focusing on for the week before we officially relocate to Europe! ENJOYYYY.

XANTHE’S MOM IS ON THE PODCAST!!! We cover:

• Her career journey from pregnant college student to CEO of a major healthcare organization

• How she balanced being a present single parent, healing herself, and making ends meet

• Living below the poverty line and resourcing community as “her village”

• Our family dynamic of loving roasts, self-awareness, and intellectual intimacy

• Her experience as an artist whose relationship to creativity has evolved over decades

• Being the parent of an entrepreneur and how she really feels about all the risks we take

And so, so SO much more.

Sue Phipps is the CEO of Hamilton’s Canadian Mental Health Association. You can learn more about their work here.

UMMM WTF — THIS IS OUR 50TH EPISODE!! We didn’t do anything special for it but you will be graced with a chat that goes in every possible direction which honestly feels like the BEST way to celebrate. We cover:

• Frank’s birthday weekend recap! Ft. pregnancy smut fetishes

• Being ~perceived~ in a tiny town and the rumours we’re hearing about… ourselves

• How we’re managing coming up $75K short on our pre-move money goal

• Being in our “no goals” era and letting our Spain chapter surprise us

• How to find your way in a new city by following what feels good without expectation

• The collective decline in BOOK READING (for which we blame TikTok, obviously)

PS. The Social Life content creation membership is launching again this month! Make sure you’re on the waitlist here to get first dibs + lowest pricing!

The banter is on POINT this week if we do say so ourselves!! Including:

• Money check-in one year since we did our “Spending Diet” and started actually budgeting!

• DEEEEP analysis on the entire Taylor and Travis Internet-breaking situation

Plus lots of life/cottage updates because there may not be much to do around here but let me tell you, WE ARE DOING THINGS.

LOTP IS $800 OFF ‘TIL THURSDAY ↓

Jump in right here.

FRANK’S BDAY SALE ↓

Get 38% off the Leisure Ethic template with code HBDFRANK this weekend only, starting Friday, August 22!

Get it here.

TRUCK GIRL SUMMER IS NOT CANCELLED! On this week’s episode, we force you through a 20-minute tale recapping our obscene vehicular drama of the last several weeks. BUT THEN, we get to the realllll good stuff, like:

• The sex recession and how current culture has shaped our intimacy habits

• The dying art of hanging out (and why our social lives can feel like such a strain as adults)

• Becoming the vibe you see for yourself and what it actually takes to “be aesthetic”

We reference several links in this episode, including:

How Social Media Is Fuelling Gen Z's Sex Recession

The Dying Art Of Hanging Out

How To Become More Of The Vibe You See For Yourself

Also, LIFE OF THE PARTY IS $800 OFF!! Grab your spot here.

Three is not a crowd when it comes to running this business smoothly, and Sam is the glue holding Frank and I together 99.99% of the time (this interview, included). Today, we have the pleasure of sharing her strategic brilliance with the whole class, sharing a behind the scenes look at our own operations as well as the structures, mindsets, and even data (ew!), that have allowed us to run our business like a business, and catalyzed the success we’ve seen as a result. We cover:

• The intersection of intuition and information, and why making business moves based on vibes alone could be holding you back from your bigger vision

• Sam’s experience starting from scratch on Instagram and why she’s thriving with fewer followers

• The real reason why most creatives are so data-avoidant, what it’s costing us, and how to move through it to face the facts that will get your further

• The controversial “Charisma Factor” when it comes to finding success as an online leader

• How to set milestones you’ll actually reach, so you can finally stop scootching the same goals into the next month, every month

• Sam’s experience rebuilding her business during mat-leave and forgiving herself for having different priorities as she grew her family

• Simple structures and ideas for managing your marketing and working in your business without sacrificing family time, mental health, or rest

This episode is inspiration for the visionary who can’t seem to get their goals off the to-do list, packed with tons of practical tips and a sprinkling of tough-love… which TBH, we needed too.

CONNECT WITH SAM ↓

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Reach out directly here