Welcome to Following Studies — an adventure through subcultures, obsessions, the things we follow & the things that follow us. I’m glad you’re here. If you think someone else would have fun hanging out with us, be sure to share.
I’ve had some conversations lately with people that are pro-listicle and with others that are not. Listicles, you know, the articles that list something out. Ten ways to pack a suitcase, 100 places to visit, 45 things to buy off Amazon, 89 shoes that you can walk seven miles in, 12 reality stars & where they are after Flavor Flav’s show. I was in college when Buzzfeed, the land of all listicles, was at its height. I find them calming and organized, even when they are about something ridiculous.
So, I went on the hunt, looking for the first listicle and the first person who gave us this meditative format. I wound up on another pocket of the internet that I’ve always loved—Wikipedia.
One of my high school teachers told us that we rightly couldn’t use Wikipedia as a source in our papers. She was our AP teacher and taught The Jungle and Fast Food Nation and made me look at books a little differently, so in that regard, her classroom was more elevated than the teacher down the hall who had us fold assignments we were turning in long ways (“like a hot-dog, not a hamburger”) else we’d lose points. This AP teacher said Wikipedia was like standing in the middle of the Forum, shouting your questions, and then listening to anyone with an answer. I should note that the Forum at my old high school was where we all gathered before school started. It was between the gym and the main building, right in front of the student drop-off. It was where we all sat and gossiped and shared notes, and like Wikipedia, I learned some wild shit from the Forum too. But like Wikipedia, I wouldn’t ever cite them in writing.
According to Wikipedia, the first person who wrote a listicle was Sir John Lubbock, and that’s all I’ve got for you because just by clicking on his article, I went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and simply could not keep going (Sir John Lubbock → polymath → Eratosthenes → Library of Alexandria → Mark Antony → Cleopatra → Claudette Colbert → Mid-Atlantic accent → William Howard Taft → List of presidents of the United States with facial hair).
So, I give you this listicle in honor of the listicle farm, Buzzfeed, and most of the media. We all love a list. Here is another. It’s a short one but a listicle nonetheless. I wrote it for you.
Here are some of my current obsessions:
Instagram constantly tries to sell me stuff, and I’m doing my best to resist, but this Rotunda bag got me, and I highly recommend it.
Peaches have shown up at my grocery store, and that means my fixation summer salad is on repeat. It started a few years ago when I got Molly Baz’s Cookbook, Cook This Book, and there was a recipe for her Peach & Tomato Salad with Sizzled Halloumi. I made it a couple of times with Halloumi, but I cannot be buying expensive cheese all the time, not in this economy. So here is my take: Once you see peaches in the grocery, and I mean really good, scent-in-the-air peaches, it’s time. Chop heirloom tomatoes and peaches into 1-inch chunks. Combine with torn basil. Drizzle olive oil, squeeze some lemon, and add Maldon salt and a TON of fresh cracked pepper. Stir, eat, and repeat.
Everything related to the Netflix show Baby Reindeer. I watched it a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still thinking about it. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s about Richard Gadd and his experience being sexually assaulted by his mentor and then later, stalked by a woman named Martha. After watching, a good chunk of the internet worked to unearth who the stalker was, and then she decided to go on Piers Morgan’s talk show. The world is wild. Please read
’s unpacking of Baby Reindeer - I’m obsessed with that, too.talking about legacy on her Substack, :
Alright, it’s your turn. What are some of your obsessions this week?
In a few days, we’ll be headed back to Llano del Rio to explore some more. Get ready, friends.
Thank you so much for the shoutout. What a nice surprise to see it in my inbox.
It’s me. I’m the person who doesn’t know if she likes listicles because my editor changed my storytelling column to a listicle column, and it’s mildly upsetting.
Also, those are the BEST candles ever.