The Sunday Digest 115
Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room.
Welcome to The Sunday Digest — a free Sunday newsletter featuring long (and some short) reads, original columns, things I’ve saved over the last week, relaxing playlists, episodes releases, exclusive product drops, and more. Yes, you can reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you. Or, if podcasts are more your speed on Sundays, we’ve got that too.
Sunday Read › Americans Need to Party More
by Ellen Cushing for The Atlantic
Most Sunday mornings, “partying” is probably the last thing most people think about — unless you’re under the age of 28 or you’re trying to kick the after-effects from the party the night before. But as you’ll see during this week’s Sunday Read, we’re simply not partying enough.
If you’ve followed me over the last few years, I’ve had a tongue-in-cheek approach to the concept of loneliness when comparing the current state of “friendship” to what it was like even 10 years ago. Collectively, we’re all seeing less of each other than we were and it’s causing us to shrink our social circles. While you can blame pretty much anything (covid, social media, etc.), I don’t think we have anyone to blame but ourselves.
Here’s an excerpt:
Simply put, America is in a party deficit. Only 4.1 percent of Americans attended or hosted a social event on an average weekend or holiday in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics; this is a 35 percent decrease since 2004. Last month, Party City, the country’s largest retailer of mylar balloons, goofy disposable plates, and other complements to raging, announced that it would close after years of flagging sales and looming debt. Adolescents are engaging in markedly fewer risky behaviors than they used to; Jude Ball, a psychologist who has extensively researched this phenomenon, told me recently that a major cause is just that teenagers are having fewer parties. Six months ago on Reddit, someone asked one of the saddest questions I’ve ever seen on the social platform, which is really saying something: “Did anybody else think there would be more parties?”
Read in full here.
The Sunday Haiku
No football today,
At least, not for me, I hope.
Maybe next season.
New Episode › Retail Therapy 101: Freak or Don't Freak
A very food/drink-driven episode featuring a new segment, "Freak or Don't Freak" with a series of Retail Therapy-coded things that we're on the fence about — from Arc'teryx wine to caesar salad cheesecake to going "jazz mode." We also dub our Drink of 2024, discuss the Prince William's beard, the top "pick me" foods, Jeremy Strong's Golden Globes fit, the reason Americans need to party more, and wishlist items.
Listen to Retail Therapy on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube (see above), and anywhere else podcasts are found. And a reminder to follow Retail Therapy on Substack!
Things I Saved This Week
“How can I support Sunday Scaries?”
Buy our zine, Scenes of Note.
Listen to our Retail Therapy.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Subscribe to all Washed Media Podcasts.
Or, you can simply subscribe here: