Welcome to the Monday Memo — your pop culture snapshot from Manifesto.
Hey friends, Mondays can be tough. Here are 7 things to make July 10th, 2023, a bit better. We're back, baby!
1. Artist of the Week: Lily Kwong
Los Angeles-based landscape designer Lily Kwong works at the intersection between horticulture, urban design, contemporary art, fashion, and wellness, reconnecting people to nature through transformative landscape projects and site-specific botanical art installations.
2. What we're listening to: Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
Last Friday, Taylor Swift dropped the re-recording of her 2010 smash album, Speak Now. It includes the 16 songs featured on the original deluxe album, plus six brand-new tracks. Drop everything now and listen to Speak Now (Taylor's Version).
3. What we're watching: The Afterparty - Apple TV
Each episode of “The Afterparty” explores a different character’s account of one fateful evening, all told through the lens of popular film genres and unique visuals to match the storyteller’s perspective. Watch the first season on Apple TV+ and stream the new season on July 12th!
4. Trend & Advertising Highlight: Bitter with Twitter, Users Try on New "Threads" Ever since Elon Musk officially bought Twitter in April 2022, the app has been in some very public turmoil— massive layoffs, selling blue check marks, and now a maximum number of tweets users can read a day. Well, besides offering to cage fight Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have responded with their own version of Twitter—Threads. Connected and authenticated through Instagram, which is owned by Meta, users can post short updates, including text up to 500 characters; links; photos; and videos up to 5 minutes in length. In short, it's Twitter without the mismanagement. With 30 million sign-ups on the first day, is Threads here to stay? Or is it simply another flash in the pan for Meta? Only time will tell.
5. Cognitive Bias of the Week: Peak-End Rule
The peak-end rule is a psychological heuristic that changes the way we recall past events. We remember a memory or judge an experience based on how we felt at the peak moments, as well as how we felt at the end. For example, the dentist can be an unpleasant experience for many of us. When we only remember the peak points of pain, we may delay or push off appointments to the detriment of our health. But, the peak-end rule can be used for good in the world of advertising and marketing. By focusing on developing product experience peaks and positively ending experiences, customers will tend to remember the product more fondly. This can come in the form of surprise discounts, giveaways, or small departure gifts. Making the last impression a good one, customers are more likely to return and think highly of a product.
Disability Pride Month is a time for the disability community to come together, uplift, and amplify one another’s voices and be heard. Disability pride has been described as “accepting and honoring each person’s uniqueness and seeing it as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity.” 6. Good News of the Week:
The number of people who die after a breast cancer diagnosis has decreased by two-thirds since the 1990s (CBS News)
July is National Disability Pride Month, learn more about how you can help support disabled individuals in your community (ABA)
Detroit is going to power 100% of its municipal buildings with solar (Electrek)
Robotic glove lends a hand to individuals relearning the piano after a stroke (GNN)
7. Bonus: Foxes of Hydesville - Apple Podcasts Inspired by the true story of the Fox Sisters, this 9-episode swirling family epic (starring Carey Mulligan) follows the infamous mediums as they rise to fame in the 19th century when they begin conjuring up the dead... and inadvertently spawn a new religion: Spiritualism.