AUGUST READING LIST (Patreon)

Articles

‘Hi guys!’: what’s wrong with this greeting? - funnily enough it was my dad who actually sent me this article and this is definitely something I have contradictory feelings about. I say “guys” a lot when referring to groups of mixed gender people. Theoretically, I understand the problem - it’s male as the default - which is something I try to combat generally. But I also like saying “hi guys” or using “guys!” to get my friends’ attention and it’s an impulse for me. But I am trying to break the habit and say it less. Any non gender specific alternatives, send them my way folks! 

Are YouTube’s Algorithms Fueling Creator Burnout? - interesting article. Whilst I don’t think the algorithm is completely evil (I’ve started just using my homepage on YT a lot more recently) the topic of this article is near and dear to my heart. There definitely is this pressure to be constantly creating and never taking breaks just in case it means your channel dies. I love seeing channels like Good Mythical Morning with series so they can take a break inbetween.

At last, an Oscar for popular film. Because who needs another The Shape of Water? - okay, I really liked The Shape of Water but I get where this journalist is coming from and I’m equally excited for this new category. Awards like the Oscars are very elitist. If you see a film coming out around November/December time touching on some really heavy topics you know it’s gunning for the Oscars. But it’d be great to see films that are fun, exciting and popular win Oscars. 

Why has America approved this controversial contraception app? - following from the story I shared about this last month and my blog post talking about if I regretted working with Natural Cycles it seems the app has been approved in the USA. I’m not sure if there’s been any updates on the investigations but it’s a bit scary as the consequences of an unplanned pregnancy can be more serious in the States because of healthcare and the attack on reproductive rights.

Podcasts

Trans and the GRA - an episode of Meg-John and Justin’s podcast (which I love, they are my sex ed gurus) about the changes to the Gender Recognition Act in the UK which will make it easier for trans people to have their gender legally recognised. You can fill in the government consultation here. 

How Can You Deal With Jealousy? - another one from Meg-John and Justin (have I mentioned how much I love them?). This is a really great chat about jealousy in relationships. Is it good/bad? How should you deal with it if you are jealous or your partner is jealous?

#143 Sharmadean Reid: On Productivity & Distraction - an episode of Emma Gannon’s Ctrl Alt Delete podcast. I don’t listen to every episode just ones if the person or topic interests me and when I say “productivity” I clicked immediately. I hadn’t heard of Sharmadean before but I was aware of her company WAH nails and this episode did not disappoint. Sharmadean is my new productivity queen, I could listen to her talk for hours about her systems and methods. 

Videos

Sex needs a new metaphor, here’s one - spoiler alert, the new metaphor is pizza. Loved this TED talk breaking down why the baseball metaphor for sex is really outdated and problematic and we need something that is less goal-orientated and rigid and something more communicative and collaborative: PIZZA! 

What if English were Phonetically Consistent? - this is just interesting and very silly. It makes me giggle so much!

YouTube’s messy fight with its most extreme creators - been watching lots of the series Strikethrough on Vox recently but naturally had to share this episode as it very much is relevant to my job. Really interesting analysis.