In this episode, Brent reads his July 25th, 2025 essay titled, “Is the Yungblud Army Here to Save Us From Our Collective Nightmare?: On the performative intimacy of a budding British rockstar weighed against the ongoing discourse of the Gen Z Stare,” about how a torrent of unsolicited social media content from the official Yungblud fan account, most focusing on the topic of intense eye contact, paralleling the ongoing discussion of the Gen Z Stare, causes him to consider if we are (probably not, but maybe?) approaching a moment of cultural reckoning over longing to truly see each other again.

You can read the print edition of this essay and see pictures, graphics, and evidence of the Yungblud army’s onslaught here.

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In this episode, Brent reads his July 18th, 2025 essay, Our Shared Symbology of Dread: How Carrie Bradshaw helped me connect with my ancestors, process my emoji trauma, and come to accept things as they are, about how what started as an ambient watching of season 3, episode 2 of HBO’s And Just Like That… spiraled into a deep contemplation of how he compares to his ancestors and an examination of existential dread stretching from 1730s Germany to 2025 Carrie Bradshaw.

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Some footnotes included in the print version of the essay:

1

Footnote: I recognize that my ability to trace the family history discussed in this essay is a privilege—one tied to the fact that my ancestors came to this country voluntarily and, though fleeing religious persecution, their story unfolds in the wider context of settler-colonial systems that erased and displaced Indigenous communities.

2

Footnote: As I reflect on the military service of my ancestors, I want to be clear that my intention is not to glorify war or romanticize its violence, nor the often troubling history of American military expansion and imperialism and the Military Industrial Complex, but to consider how the fear, courage, and uncertainty they experienced, when faced with the very real threat of imminent death, compare with my present day life and anxieties.

In this episode, Brent reads his July 4th, 2025 essay “Brent Henry’s Sexcellent Adventure and Other Lives I Might Be Living,” a candid, funny, and deeply personal exploration of alternate lives, questionable choices, and the search for meaning in a world that rarely makes sense, all spawned by a case of mistaken identity.