Down the Rabbit Hole
Patterns, peculiarities, and the odd epiphany
Trends & Artefacts: housefishing edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Cinema Attendance Has Not Fully Recovered
Wired Headphones Are Back as a Cultural Statement
Teen Sleep Deprivation Reaches Epidemic Levels
Explainer: housefishing
WhatsApp Launches Parent-Managed Pre-Teen Accounts
Trends & Artefacts: choppelganger edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Freeze-Dried Candy Turns Chewy Into Crispy
Fortnum & Mason Chocolate Bars Include Sheet Music
Red Berries Reshape Luxury Perfume
Explainer: Choppelganger
Barbie Doll Cakes Fade From Celebrations
The iPod Is Back. And It Has Nothing to Do With Nostalgia.
Parents are buying iPods in 2025 as a hardware-level parental control. A device that stays in airplane mode. No mic. No algorithm. No rabbit holes. YouScan data shows this isn't nostalgia. It's a considered opt-out. What have you deliberately removed from your life recently because the alternative felt like too high a price?
Trends & Artefacts: poetcore edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Aldi Maps the UK's Grocery Price Gap
Radisson RED Hotels Launch Music Tourism
Divorce Rings Replace Wedding Bands
Explainer: Poetcore
Claridge's Opens Nostalgic British Bakery
Trends & Artefacts: bookstreaming edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Men's Makeup Market Reaches $7.1 Billion in US
Pet Deathcare is Getting Digital
Competency P*rn Becomes 2026's Escapism
Explainer: Bookstreaming
Sony Launches First Turntables Since 2019
Trends & Artefacts: disgustingly educated edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Reddit Becomes UK's Fourth Largest Social Platform
Camping Trailer Doubles as Home Backup Generator
People Build Apps Just for Themselves
Explainer: Disgustingly Educated Trend
Tokyo Cassette Café Turns Friction Into Feature
Trends & Artefacts: soft partying edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
IKEA Launches Broccoli Leaf Soup
Premium Beverages Thrive as Affordable Luxuries
ASOS Charges Serial Returners Handling Fees
Explainer: Soft Partying
Beauty Brands Resurrect Exact 1990s Formulas
Handwriting, Reconsidered
I’m oldschool. I need to write things down by hand when I need to think. But I increasingly found that I was one of the few people who had a notebook and a pen, instead of typing on a smartphone or taking screenshots.
Then I started see in @YouScan social listening data, that what was once tagged as a "grandma hobby" tag, is now resurging as digital detox.
When AI can be generated everything instantly, the things that take time increase in value. Handwriting is becoming a proof of presence. A way of saying: I was here, I chose these words, and that mattered.
I wrote about handwriting as post-AI behaviour, why people are reconsidering pen and paper again, what they're really opting out of, and why the resurgence is more complicated than it looks.
#sociallistening #culturalinsights #culturalstrategy
Trends & Artefacts: glomad edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Vinyl Sales Rise for 19th Consecutive Year
Comfort Becomes Fashion's Design Standard
Set-Jetting Becomes an $8 Billion Industry
Explainer: Glomads
Amtrak Ridership Jumps 10% as Flying Worsens
Trends & Artefacts: protein fatigue edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Consumers Shift Focus From Free-From to Benefits
Banana Water Enters Plant-Based Hydration Market
Fibre Overtakes Protein in Snacking Priorities
Explainer: Protein Fatigue
Comment Sections Drive Brand Discovery
Trends & Artefacts: anti-AI aesthetic edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Beauty Industry Adapts to GLP-1 Side Effects
Libby Users Learn to Spot AI Audiobooks
TikTok Teacher Lunch Sparks Butterkäse Shortage
Explainer: Anti-AI Aesthetic
Volkswagen Brings Physical Buttons Back to EVs
Trends & Artefacts: solar grazing edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Data Centres Expand into Hot Climates Despite Risks
iFixit Launches AI That Diagnoses Repairs
Butter-Dipped Ice Cream Goes Viral
Explainer: solar grazing
K-Beauty Brand Targets Melanin-Rich Skin Market
Trends & Artefacts: commute penalty edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
People Consistently Underestimate Others' Kindness
Streaming Diversity Declines as DEI Programs End
WikiFlix Offers 4,000 Public Domain Films Free
Explainer: Commute Penalty
Nostalgia Dominates Streaming as Reboots Multiply
Trends & Artefacts: whycation edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
TikTok Shop Pushes Secondhand Luxury Sales
British Countryside Fashion Dominates Urban Wardrobes
Hermès Birkins Outpace Gold as Investments
Explainer: Whycations
Women Migrate to Reddit as X Loses Users
Trends & Artefacts: facial harmony edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
UK Food Inflation Falls but Prices Remain High
Local Grocers Hold Trust Edge Over National Chains
Publishers Launch Substack Newsletters to Reach New Audiences
Explainer: facial harmony trend
Bots Drive 28% of Taylor Swift Backlash
What We're Really Consuming When We Watch What They Eat
Do you watch "what I eat in a day" videos? Be honest. You've probably scrolled past at least a dozen this week, maybe lingered on a few.
On the surface, these videos look like pure lifestyle content: routine + precise macro mathematics, all performed for an algorithm that's learned exactly what keeps you watching.
Under the hood, they can be a lot more problematic – both in what they’re showing and what is missing.
I've done a deeper dive on them, including tracking conversation patterns using YouScan
Trends & Artefacts: new year bumper edition
In this week’s bumper edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Tonga Proposes Whale Legal Personhood
Solar Buoys Reduce Sea Turtle Bycatch
Half of Top ADHD TikTok Content Misleading
Hotels Become Luxury Restaurant Destinations
Infrasound Technology Suppresses Building Fires
Streaming Subscribers Cancel and Resubscribe Frequently
Italian Brain Rot Memes Become Physical Toys
Trends & Artefacts: friluftsliv edition
In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:
Filipino Coffee Shops Serve Cultural Gateway Drinks
Starbucks Tests Predictive AI Ordering
Menstrual Blood Test Detects Endometriosis
Explainer: Friluftsliv
Women Pay for Digital Intimacy in Chinese Romance Games