Welcome back! This week, popular online streamer and left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker revealed that he was detained by US border agents.
Speaking during a live broadcast on Monday (May 12), Piker revealed that he was stopped and questioned for hours about his political beliefs by US Customs and Border Protection after returning to the United States from France.
Hasan Piker/Twitch
According to Piker, he was relentlessly questioned about his job, the content of his streams, and whether he had discussed the war in Gaza or President Donald Trump. While he was being interrogated, Piker stressed that he is merely a “pacifist” who wants to see an end to all war.
It’s disturbing to see US border intimidation ramp up under Trump, but it’s clear that Piker isn’t going to stop championing the Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank.
In a recent interview with Dazed, Piker stressed that he’s conscious that the challenges he faces pale in comparison to the day-to-day reality of life for Palestinians: “None of the smears, none of the things I withstand in the lap of luxury in the Western world [...] As long as I’m alive, I’m going to use every moment I can to communicate their humanity and try to get other people to recognise right from wrong.”
You can read more about Piker’s experience at the US border here. Also in the newsletter this week is a feature on young people using tattoos to connect with their faith, plus an interview with Natasha Lyonne. Enjoy!
— Serena
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Over the past five years in fashion, there’s been a “main character” energy that’s dominated popular culture, according to culture researcher Agus Panzoni.
Every piece of clothing became an opportunity for extreme personalisation, from customising everything down to shoe charms to everyone wanting the most obscure of trinkets to hang from their handbags (adorned with bows and ribbons, of course).
The antithesis of this, it seems, is to look, dress and act so “basic” that it’s clear you’re not trying to differentiate yourself at all. Now, being a “normie” is becoming romanticised – or normanticised, rather.
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Courtesy of Jonah Slater (@jonahslater) |
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Elaborate crucifixes, kitschy prayer candles and colourful plastic rosaries – for centuries, Christianity has relied on aesthetics to communicate the Divine, drawing the faithful closer to something greater than themselves.
But today, those disconnected from institutional systems are rekindling their personal connection to the sacred, not through pews or prayer halls but instead through tattoos of religious iconography.
In recent years, more individuals of faith have begun embracing religious tattoos as personal devotion.
“Biblical angels have been my hyperfixation since high school,” says Noella, a 22-year-old artist and practising Catholic. Her tattoo of a throne angel with 44 eyes, and the phrase “fear not” reflects her connection to scripture. “The glitz and glam of Catholicism has always drawn me in… religion is art when done right.”
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In Poker Face, now in its second season, Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie Cale, an amateur sleuth with a supernatural ability to call bullshit.
This season sees Charlie still on the move but for different, more personal reasons; an internal journey that explores what she’s always running from.
What remains, however, are the eclectic, unpredictable cases – from a laxative-based reptile prank gone badly awry to a hit on a school gerbil – and, of course, the magnetic charisma of Lyonne which grounds the show even while the plot is spinning off in all directions.
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When Israel began its latest assault on Gaza, the colour drained from Malak Mattar’s work: the warm, vibrant tones for which she had become renowned were replaced by stark monochrome; she swapped depictions of everyday life in Palestine for apocalyptic scenes of death and despair.
But the Gaza-born artist’s new solo show, Falasteen, presents a synthesis of these different periods of her career: the colours have made a cautious return, and while much of the work on display is as harrowing as its subject matter demands, there is also a note of hope, resilience and the possibility, or even inevitability, of freedom.
Falasteen is a body of entirely new work she made while completing an MFA at Central Saint Martins, all of which is related to the ongoing genocide and forced displacement of the Palestinian people; it will be the first solo show by a Palestinian artist ever held at Central Saint Martins.
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Winner & Loser Of The Week
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WINNER: Fiona Apple, for releasing Pretrial (Let Her Go Home), her first single in five years.
LOSER: Cannes, for introducing a ban on ‘naked’ dresses on the red carpet. Boring x
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“I always had a love for clothes and how they make you feel, but also how they make others react,” says stylist Simone Beyene.
Born and raised in Stockholm by a Swedish mother and Ethiopian father, completed a BA in Fashion Communication at Central Saint Martins in London before beginning her career as a stylist.
Having always loved music videos, she was especially drawn to filmmaking throughout her degree. “Three minutes of communicating an artist through style – the clothes, hair, make-up and movement. It’s so fab!”.
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📱 A smartphone ban is set to be rolled out across New York City’s 1,600 public schools.
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