Zeitgeist
The Social Scribe Tribe
The hottest chroniclers of what’s new, what’s happening—and who matters now.
The only thing changing faster than the fabric of our society is the people on the front lines reporting back. Not so long ago, there were clear lanes for social commentators: high society scribes who tracked the climbers with Capote-esque attention to dress and status; observers of social and sexual mores like Candace Bushnell, and a slew of business insiders who took us behind the scenes at power lunches. (Remember those?)
The new cohort has no intention of sticking to lanes. The one thing they share (along with pithy observations and enviable access) is an innate understanding of the overlap between the worlds of society, media, business, and culture. Here, five of the most influential to follow now.
Meet: Emily Sundberg
Why she matters: Sundberg writes the buzzy Substack newsletter, Feed Me, which is tangentially about business and very much about how we live (and spend) now—and, essentially, a digest of all other news we might have missed. Her insights are gossipy, smart and about as far away from the Wall Street Journal as you can get, but we can guarantee the WSJ is keeping its eye on her.
The beat: Janice Min, one-time editor of Us Weekly, had this to say in a New York Times profile of Sundberg, “She’s almost like a Carrie Bradshaw of her generation. . . If Sex and the City was about the search for romantic fulfillment, Emily’s voyeurism is about money and that same sense of it being possibly unattainable, frustrating and, for some, something that comes easy.”
The back story: Sundberg, who grew up on Long Island, is a graduate of The Fashion Institute of Technology. She worked at New York magazine and as a creative strategist for Meta before launching Feed Me in 2022.
Hot take: Feed me after dark. Like any good entrepreneur, Sundberg keeps her overhead low and her tone informal. “The highlight of my day was the ginger scone and salty whipped butter at Gem Home. . . Most of the people dining (if you could call it that) there were young women on laptops, switching between shopping tabs and Substack. Who needs a members’ club when you can enjoy $7 scones and fat focaccia sandwiches at a table full of happy women in Alo leggings. I’m serious, who needs the former if you have the latter? Not me.”
Meet: Jessica Testa
Why she matters: Testa covers new media from old but still influential media, the New York Times. If you want to learn about the latest podcast, newsletter, and video trends first, she’s who you turn to.
The beat: Testa has the inside track on the wide range of people shaping the conversation—from Kylie Kelce to the still going strong podcast, “Call Her Daddy”. Fellow Times reporter, Vanessa Friedman, has said, “Jess is both a wonderful writer and one of those interviewers who can get her subjects to tell her things they never intended. . . She got the beleaguered designer of Givenchy to admit he had a water filtering machine from Japan meant to keep his blood at ‘a neutral pH.’”
The backstory: Testa got her start at the Times in the Styles section before moving over to Business. Before going to the Gray Lady, she reported on crime and gender for Buzzfeed.
Hot take: A Political Reporter Takes Her Scoops to YouTube, where Testa reports on the trend of journalists moving to YouTube to offer up longer form commentary.
Meet: Brock Colyar
Why they matter: Colyar is a features writer at New York magazine but their stories quickly move on to the national stage. They were a recipient of the 2023 ASME Next Award for Journalists Under 30.
The beat: Colyar takes us behind the velvet rope where politics and parties overlap. In a New York magazine cover story, The Cruel Kids’ Table, Colyar described the latest DC social class as “young, imposingly well connected, urban, and very online. They are rebels once again storming Capitol Hill, though without the pathetic scariness of the January 6 rioters.” Conservatives quickly threatened a lawsuit. But really, isn’t being sued the new Good Housekeeping Seal of approval?
The back story: Colyar studied gender and journalism at Northwestern University, starting a LGBTQ magazine Queer Reader in their sophomore year.
Hot take: Obvs, The Cruel Kids’ Table, where Colyar wrote of the new Capital Crowd, “they are crypto nerds and influencer girlies and recent MAHA converts and gays of all stripes, plus your standard-fare Rogan-listening bros. . . Some are the black sheep at their own family Thanksgivings, yet they project confidence that they’re the relevant ones now.”
Meet: Alex Vadukul
Why he matters: Vadukal, a correspondent for the New York Times, goes to the parties and cultural events we pretend to have invites to and tells us what we missed.
The beat: Vadukal seems to have a finger in every pie—sometimes literally. Along with his work for the Times, he is the US Editor of Port magazine and food columnist for Opening Ceremony. Plus, he has thoughts on people like Meghan (Sussex, not Markle, thank you very much.)
The backstory: Vadukal, who was born in Milan, covered crime and local politics before joining the Styles section. In an interview with Ryan Sartor, he said, “It all started in college with a small story that had a miniature-sized byline. It probably should have ended there. But then that (painstakingly) turned into two and then that became three. And then I wrote something that actually got a normal sized byline. And then after that, I was sort of like a cockroach that wouldn’t die.” Moral of the story: Never underestimate the power of a NYC roach.
Hot take: “The New Yorker Celebrates 100 Years”, where Vadukal takes us past the bouncer (keeping those crazy cartoonists out) to the literati party of the year.
Re-meet: Tina Brown
Why she matters: Brown has somehow managed to never not matter. The makeover maven famous for sprinkling fairy dust on old media staples like Vanity Fair and the New Yorker now has one of the most read (and quoted) newsletters on Substack, Fresh Hell.
The beat: Brown’s strength has always been putting razor-sharp takes (and take-downs) of the celebs, social queen bees, politicians, and culture phenoms into a blender and coming out with a witty stew of intel. Fresh Hell covers the serious and the silly, from Hollywood up-and-comers to DC upstarts, all with a dose of Brown’s signature snark.
The backstory: As a young thing in London, Brown zoomed out of Oxford to the Sunday Times and quickly moved on to the top job at Tatler, morphing it from a staid society log to a must-read with the smart young set. Having set her sights on America, she oversaw the two titles at Condé Nast before embarking on an ill-fated venture with Harvey Weinstein, Talk Ventures. Along the way, the ever-restless Brown wrote a number of bestsellers and became a go-to commentator on all things royal.
Hot take: Brown’s recent bromide on Megan Markle’s Netflix show, With Love, Megan is anything but loving. “With her unerring instinct for getting it wrong, Meghan has come out with a show about fake perfection just when the zeitgeist has turned raucously against it.”
Hero photos by Sansho Scott/BFA.com; Sansho Scott & Yvonne TNT/BFA.com; Mina Magda/BFA.com; Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com; Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
