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FT editor Roula Khalaf selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Lately I’ve been toying with the idea of a new column where we ask people what’s on their “For You” page. As social media algorithms increasingly feed our strange obsessions, “For You” is a rare glimpse into the darkest corners of our souls.
My TikTok account, for example, offers an almost constant stream of people caring for cows’ hooves: I can’t explain why. But I am addicted to watching farrier content in which various individuals scrape and file ailments from the bovines they find. I also find myself seeing a lot of pimple breakouts. Or chiropractors breaking people’s backs.
I’m sorry. That’s kind of disgusting. I don’t even know where this gross fixation started. I’m just one of those people who finds watching stress relief videos a compelling way to decompress.
Other people prefer healthier topics: cat videos, giant farm animals, babies saying bad words. Then there are those who study beauty, laundry and cleaning tricks. Or Scarlett Johansson videos. My husband is one of many whose feed is made up almost entirely of food content, and one of his main distractions is Topjaw videos. Conceived by friends Will Warr and Jesse Burgess, the brand offers a buffet of food material, but its most popular videos are those in which they ask chefs, food critics and publicans to nominate their favorite foods. Jesse, a former model with enormous enthusiasm, has gained a large following with his hot takes. In doing so, the pair have transformed London’s food scene, turning hitherto quiet and peaceful establishments into fiery viral hits. The trend of foodfluencers is only growing and, with it, a whole new generation is investigating new cuisines. Rosanna Dodds finds out What makes the Topjaw boys so attractive?as well as what the next plan is.
Manchester has been a scorching viral destination since Roman times, with a history spanning a vast expanse of British industry, social change, science, culture and much more. I visited last December to attend a Chanel Métiers d’Art exhibition, an event that some considered strange. They sniffed the place: what would a Parisian haute couture house want with a northern city famous for football and Coronation Street?
As clothing from that collection now hits stores, novelist Jeanette Winterson explores the city which the show was based on. “Manchester people love to dazzle,” he says of his birthplace. “And it’s not about cash… The brand paid tribute to the city’s textile history and the skill of those who wove and sewed fabrics to the highest standards.” Furthermore, the show “sang to the spirit of the place at its most practical and extravagant. As Mark Radcliffe says: ‘Manchester is a city that thinks a table is for dancing.’”
Oaxaca is another stunning destination, as shown in our cover story. The fashion road trip was photographed by Vivek Vadoliya who, as you may remember, photographed a beautiful cover story in Mumbai for HTSI last year. This time she collaborated with New York stylist Esther Matilla, who grew up visiting her grandparents in Mexico and for whom this was a kind of homecoming. In an accompanying essay, writer Javier Arredondo, who lives in Mexico City, describes What makes Oaxaca so special?. “When someone asks me why I like it so much, I have two answers,” she writes. “Its blue skies and its clear light.”
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