Happy Labor Day!

I’m writing this while watching the US Open on TV. I can hear the buzz of the West Indian Day Parade outside. It’s a perfect start to fall!

I was going to talk about the Song of the Summer today, but I’m going to save it for Thursday so we can wait for more data to come in. Subscribe to the Yapper tier so you don’t miss it. Today’s playlist, however, features my personal picks.

In today’s newsletter, the Jonas Brothers hard launching a Fifth Harmony reunion, what people expected from Man’s Best Friend, and age versus looks discourse.

Where were you on August 31, 2025?

The Jonas Brothers have been giving Zillennials every nostalgia hit possible at their recent JONAS20 shows!

A day after the Fifth Harmony X account posted for the first time in seven years, the girl group reunited at the JONAS20 concert in Dallas to perform “Worth It.” Camila Cabello was not present, but she did show some love for her ex-bandmates on Instagram.

Fifth Harmony is teasing a full comeback, but nothing has been officially announced. The group has experienced some renewed interest over the past year, especially on TikTok. They are now selling “Where were you on August 31, 2025?” merch on their website. (An aside: Why hasn’t Normani done any shows or promo for her debut album Dopamine from last year? I loved that project!)

My wishlist for upcoming JONAS20 shows:

• Miley Cyrus comes out to play “We Got the Party” and “7 Things” (just to be cheeky)

• Selena Gomez comes out during “Burning Up” in a red dress and then does “Hands to Myself” (an homage to DNCE opening for her Revival tour and covering the song)

• Cheetah Girls come out to perform “Strut” (this one is an actual pipedream)

• Avril Lavigne comes out to sing “Sk8er Boy” and “Girlfriend”

Why are people being weird about Man’s Best Friend… 

I’ve really been enjoying Sabrina Carpenter’s new album. The disco country flair is so fun and cute. I’ve been waiting for her 1970s-inspired album since she debuted the look of her new era at Primavera Sound. This is more or less what I expected! Sugar Talking is my favorite track. 

The album rollout was already plagued with outrageous discourse when the album cover was revealed. When it came out on Friday, I saw many negative reactions on Twitter, remarking on MBF as a failed feminist body of work.

The satire was lost in translation, as it always is on the internet. I thought it was clear what she was communicating with the cover, music, and visuals. Sabrina’s whole schtick is having fun, doing things for self-pleasure, and giving men a taste of their own medicine — all with a wink and a nod. This Slate review put it best: “Man’s Best Friend is a witty report from the frontlines of heterofatalism.”

I actually think the biggest issue people are having with MBF is that it doesn’t have much hit potential. I think people get especially disappointed with chart-topping artists when they don’t continue to make indisputable bangers. This doesn’t mean the album is bad. It’s happened with Doja Cat, Lorde, and Dua Lipa in recent years. That’s how we got Scarlet, Solar Power, and Radical Optimism. 

The way people talk about aging and appearances is strange

People like to shit on Gen Z for looking old. In some cases, this can be attributed to the rising pressure to follow cosmetic procedure trends, which can often age young people up. In other cases, it’s just genetics — which has been the case for young people in every generation. 

But all of this discourse about aging combined with increasingly unrealistic beauty expectations have rotted some people’s brains. There are many twenty-somethings who look their age but are told they look older. People have been attacking one girl on X, who celebrated her 28th birthday, because they insist she looks older than her age. Older people have been trying to humble her in her replies by showing how young they look comparatively. This only works to instill stressful aging standards in all of us!

It’s all part of a strange, recent phenomenon I’ve noticed of people embracing aging by… framing it as getting younger. If that doesn’t make a lot of sense, it’s because it’s a bit nonsensical. Instead of emphasizing how much there is to look forward to at every age, I’ve seen a lot of weird (albeit, cheeky) age math posts. These posts insist that 30 is the new 25, but your late twenties are equivalent to being 30. They seemingly try to get people excited about getting older, while simultaneously aging them up. I’m not sure what to make of it, but it’s weird! 

Every Monday letter gets a playlist. This week, my personal songs of the summer.

In this week’s playlist:

• SEE U DANCE - Joey Valence and Brae ft. Rebecca Black

• Stateside - Pinkpantheress

• Sugar On My Tongue - Tyler, the Creator

• Victory Lap - Skepta, PlaqueBoyMax, and Fred again…

• Midnight Sun - Zara Larsson

• gossip - Confidence Man ft. JADE

• Easy Lover - Miley Cyrus 

• Nice to Each Other - Olivia Dean

Other things I want to share with you.

• Today is a good day to rewatch the Labor Day episode from Jersey Shore’s first season.

• I wanted to share the recipes for a great coffee cake and vegan lemon olive oil cake that I made this weekend (: For the olive oil cake, I swapped almond milk for oat.

• There is an ongoing debate on TikTok over what teachers should and shouldn’t wear. It all stems from one teacher’s posts showing her own outfits at school.

• Sabrina Carpenter changed the ending to her “Tears” music video from her killing her boyfriend herself to him getting crushed by a tree.

• Jeremy Lin announced his retirement from professional basketball. The impact this man has had on contemporary Asian American culture… Thank you for your service.

• Ayo Edebiri deactivated her Letterboxd  💔 Scroll through some of her greatest hits.

• Geoguesser legend Rainbolt found a lost desert memorial to help a fan fulfill their late grandmother’s last wish.