In a column for Substack, culturework argued that the platform’s rapid growth has compromised its core functionality, leading to lost drafts and a frustrating user experience.
The author also highlighted a mix of cultural commentary, from a fixation on Jude Bellingham to critiques of Kim Kardashian’s business tactics and Russell Brand’s legal woes, framing the newsletter as a constant, post-election commitment to truth over hype.
According to culturework, what began as a “mostly perfect platform” was undone by its own boom. The author detailed a late-Sunday-night scramble to rewrite a newsletter on the Club Kid subculture after Substack “wiped the draft (embeds and all).” This technical failure, they wrote, came as the platform “boomed too quickly this past year, and the core product got messy and glitchy.”
The newsletter’s content is a curated snapshot of modern cultural obsession. “Discovering Jude is the best thing that has happened to me this year,” the author wrote, reflecting on their new fixation with the soccer star introduced during the World Cup.
This fandom is juxtaposed with pointed industry critiques, including the titles “Kim Kardashian’s Infinite Money Glitch? Your Stupidity!” and “Dior’s “Hand Drawn” Art is Actually AI.” The author also noted a “fabulous thoughts on Club Kid” piece that was lost, promising a future installment.
Celebrity Transgression and the Desensitization of the Public
Culturework’s commentary also touched on the public’s desensitization to celebrity transgression, using the cases of Russell Brand and R. Kelly as examples. “Men don’t really care that their fellow men are terrible, so long as they’re not terrible to them,” the author asserted.
They drew a parallel between Brand’s current legal battles and Jay-Z’s long-standing professional relationship with R. Kelly, noting Jay only dropped Kelly from a tour after a crew conflict, not amid the sexual abuse allegations.
The author noted that it always comes back to Jay-Z, reminding readers of the time when Jay-Z went on tour with R. Kelly the same year R. Kelly was arrested on 21 counts of child pornography.
A Post-Midterms Reality Check
Addressing the recent midterm elections, culturework dismissed the narrative of a sweeping political victory. The author stated that if they were being real, not much had changed: “Black men still vote more progressively than White women,” while “White women are still basically tracking 50/50, but want to claim this win as their own so they can check out for the next two years?”
culturework wrote that they are “woke over here every day. Exhaustingly. Before and after elections. Long after the “I Voted” stickers get peeled off and thrown away.”
The NFL’s Tuskegee Allegation and Celebrity Feuds
The column also waded into more contentious territory, alleging that “The NFL Is Running The Modern Day Tuskegee Experiment” and referencing a fight between Chris Brown and Usher in Atlanta. On the NFL, the author suggested a systemic disregard for player health, drawing a parallel to the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The fight between Brown and Usher was presented as another example of male celebrity conflict.
The Business of Hype and the Cost of Authenticity
The critique extends to the fashion industry, with a jab at Kim Kardashian’s Skims and its advent calendar, and to Hollywood, with a post about Anna Wintour’s “Final Sabotage” at the Met Gala.
The lost Club Kid piece, a promised deep dive into a 1990s subculture, symbolizes this struggle.
The author’s frustration with Substack is not just technical; it’s personal. As they put it, “Because I love you,” a direct address to their readers, suggesting that this commitment is an act of care in a chaotic world.
