Hey all,

We’re hiring! We’re looking for a project manager to join our team. The role is full-time and at least two days per week will be in our central Brighton office. If you understand creative processes and have good experience in supporting creative teams deliver their best work, we’d love to hear from you.

Hugh’s back next week. Have a wonderful weekend.

Chloe

How to fix the internet (13-min read)

The 50 greatest British TV episodes of the 20th century (34-min read)

Why Samsung factory workers in Vietnam are becoming beauticians (12-min read)

“No grid, no rules”: How the Spotify team created the identity for this year’s Wrapped (5-min read)

Birdsong: The dying whistled language of the Hmong people in northern Laos (17-min watch)

Trends in 2024 (Google Drive with 90+ PDFs)

“We sleep fearing we might be dead”: 60 days in Gaza (3-min interactive)

Ewww I love it. When did illustration get so gross? (7-min read)

How Miknaf Ha’aretz is building a decolonial movement through land justice (7-min read)

Lights Out: Dust (28-min listen)

How we can help you

Storythings is the content marketing agency of choice for some of the world’s most forward-thinking B2B brands and organisations. If your content isn’t getting the results you need, let us help you understand why. Here are 3 reasons to get in touch. 

1. Audience Research – We help B2B brands understand modern attention patterns and how they can get more engagement with content.2. Content Strategy – We use our bespoke process to develop unique content formats that hold audience attention, build community, and increase brand salience.3. Content Production – We craft beautiful and diverse stories of impact that capture and hold attention using podcasts, videos, editorial, and newsletters. We do other things too. We're very friendly and always enjoy meeting people, so get in touch for a FREE 30 minute consultation. 

How to fix the internet (13-min read)This MIT Technology Review piece does a great job of tracing the rise of the internet to where we are today, highlighting that something truly new and different might be happening with the way we communicate online. And this isn’t a dark, depressing image – it’s one filled with potential and joy. “The stranglehold that the big social platforms have had on us for the last decade is weakening. The question is: What do we want to come next?”

The 50 greatest British TV episodes of the 20th century (34-min read)It’s official: Storythings’s favourite TV episode of the 20th century comes in at number four on this list: Celebrity Big Brother – Series 17, “Day 7” (2016), better known as the “David’s dead” episode. “On 10 January 2016 David Bowie passed away, kickstarting an absurd sequence of events that nobody could have predicted. And all of it happened on one episode of Celebrity Big Brother. Housemate Angie Bowie had just been informed of her ex-husband’s death and decided to confide in American reality TV star Tiffany Pollard with the immortal whisper: “David’s dead.” Pollard assumed that she was referring to David Gest, the ex-husband of Liza Minnelli, who had been in bed all day with the flu. She began hysterically screaming, doubled over in anguish, which quickly turned to anger upon realising that Gest was very much alive and hadn’t “dropped dead from cancer”.

“The magic of the episode doesn’t just lie in the comedy of errors, but in the motley crew of characters at the scene: Danniella Westbrook from EastEnders with a ciggie going “what’s happened now?” Christopher Maloney from The X Factor yelling “No!”. Gemma Collins looking on in shock. West End star Darren Day lifting the sheets off Gest to check whether Channel 5 really had just left his body there. The way that Pollard charges at Bowie, who’s still understandably bewildered. Upon leaving the house, David Gest would go on to announce an upcoming tour, “David Gest Is Not Dead” before sadly dying three months later.”

Why Samsung factory workers in Vietnam are becoming beauticians (12-min read)Samsung employs more than 250,000 people worldwide. This piece zooms in on the women who work in Samsung factories in Vietnam, who are frequently replaced when they hit 35. Rest of World speaks to trainee beauticians in the Yen Phong district about life after Samsung. “Much like her current trainees, [Nguyen Thi Lan] had dedicated all her days off during her last year at Samsung to learning the basics of the beauty business.” 

“No grid, no rules”: How the Spotify team created the identity for this year’s Wrapped (5-min read)How do you build a robust visual campaign that will work across countless countries, languages and formats?

Birdsong: The dying whistled language of the Hmong people in northern Laos (17-min watch)Following the stories of three people from Long Lan village in northern Laos, this film reflects on the experience of practitioners of a vanishing musical language that straddles the boundary between music and speech. It’s a beautiful visual feat that immerses you in the sonic registers of an ancient tradition.

Trends in 2024 (Google Drive with 90+ PDFs)This Drive repository contains more than 90 recent trend documents from companies around the world, including major consultancies and agencies as well as the likes of TikTok and Deliveroo. A good one to bookmark.

“We sleep fearing we might be dead”: 60 days in Gaza (3-min interactive)A New York Times interactive that traces first-person accounts of the past 60 days in Gaza against a map of the region. Amid a never-ending news cycle of devastation and international political stagnation, witness testimony remains a powerful and urgent insight into the crisis facing Palestinians.

Ewww I love it. When did illustration get so gross? (7-min read)Welcome to the gross-out renaissance. This piece speaks to artists and illustrators about their contributions to a new wave of grotesque visual work across disciplines and asks: why does it makes us feel so weird, but we just can’t look away? The reflections provide some great food for thought about the general disconnect we have with our bodies induced by the “beautiful, bland and beige” lifestyles we’re shown online. “Maybe there’s a need or a desire to come back to the weirdness of being in a body, and feeling odd or uncomfortable.” 

How Miknaf Ha’aretz Is Building a Decolonial Movement Through Land Justice (7-min read)This is a great insight into Miknaf Ha’aretz, a Jewish-led organisation dedicated to building an earth-based, radical-diasporist Jewish community in the UK. Talia Woodin and cofounder Sara Moon talk about Jewish land justice, solidarity with Palestine, and working towards the liberation of all peoples.

Lights Out: Dust (28-min listen)Lights Out is a very special podcast. The stories are quietly full of awe and always centre luxurious sound. Dust follows Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason and Scottish artist Katie Paterson who ask how humans can connect to nature as the planet changes. In the background is erupting volcanoes and the crunch of snow.

We hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter. I'm sure some of your friends would love to read it. Sharing it would be really appreciated. If you've received this from a friend, you can subscribe below and get it direct to your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for reading. We’ll see you all next week.

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the whole team at Storythings.