#39 More Joy! 11 Ways to Elevate Your Summer Experience.
Discoveries and re-discoveries with a little help from experts.
Hiiii from Paris. I grew up devouring magazines of all kinds, and any international summer travel meant I could get my sparkle-manicured hands on Teen Vogue or Nylon if I was lucky. Their covers would fight for your attention with headlines such as 26 Ways to Have Your Most Stylish Summer Ever or 56 Bikinis: Take The Test to Find the Most Flattering One. Truly riveting stuff.
Ahead of summer, I asked my committee of experts for advice. Give Oblique Forecasting the teen magazine treatment. Craft my own catchy subject line: 11 Ways to Elevate Your Summer Experience. The brief: I want to discover newness or uncover retro finds I might have forgotten about. Real objects and abstract concepts are welcome. They delivered with cool ideas, from the easy to buy to the one that’ll make you think for a sec (looking at you, #8). I hope they bring a little levity to your day.
Sharing is caring, so don’t hesitate to forward it to your smartest friend, and perhaps press the heart button.
xoxo Esther 💋
Books. , Very Opinionated.
Ex-Libris. My boyfriend’s dad got me one for Christmas, and I love the romantic vision of someone finding a mediocre book marked as “Dagmara Reczka’s Library” in a charity shop in 2097.
Being a slow reader. The era of reading challenges is over; the chicest people take days to finish a novella. I am one of them and will not be proven otherwise.
Culture. , Oblique Forecasting.
Cult classics & deep cuts. Not to sound highbrow, but I can genuinely feel my brain atrophy as I browse new Netflix releases. The remedy: skip the algorithm. Art should be made by freaks with vision1, not committees with focus groups. Hunt for the films, books and records that survived without today’s marketing budgets. Make Archive.org your b*tch.
A how-to: there’s discourse surrounding an American Psycho remake. You could watch the 2000 original, arguably not true to the source material. Or you could go for the Bret Easton Ellis B-side instead, and watch the critically panned Less than Zero adaptation. From there, work through James Spader’s filmography, and go on to read Bad Behavior, from which Secretary was adapted.
Entertainment. , Gymnastique.
The return of old-fashioned board games. Not playing cards or Snakes and Ladders2, but backgammon or chess instead. An undeniably exquisite object (also redesigned by several designers and furniture publishers), which instantly elevates the traditional summer board game evenings.
Food. , Life Confit.
The Anti-Trend. If I’ve noticed anything within my circle of international, food-obsessed friends in Paris and wider Europe, it’s that we’ve entered a soft rebellion against the processed, influencer-curated, algorithm-optimised food moment. Instead, I’m seeing people reach back to their grandmothers. Back to handmade. Back to meals that start the day before — or even three days before — with a broth or a brine or a crust that needs rest. That is not to say we are all turning into Nara Smith, dedicating 10 hours to a performative peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But food is personal, and for people who love to cook, what you serve on your dinner table is a sign of reverence for both the ingredients and the people you’re feeding.
Interior Design. Shalise Barnes, Artemis Interior Design.
Imperfection. Imperfect is the new intentional. With lingering post-COVID recessions bringing tighter budgets and lofty goals, we're embracing rustic charm and homes with soul over shine.
Anti-Big Light Committee. We’re done with the overhead interrogation lamp. Self-acceptance means choosing soft, flattering glows over scrutiny-level brightness.
Science. Anna Morin, International Affairs & Strategic Communications Expert.
Neuro-Sovereignty: The Last Border Is Your Brain. Move over, data sovereignty. There’s a new frontier, and it’s inside your head. Neuro-sovereignty is the idea that your brain—your thoughts, emotions, memories, even your attention—is sovereign territory. And like any territory, it’s now being mapped, monitored, monetised, and militarised.
This isn’t science fiction. Brain-computer interfaces are real. Neurotech is booming. Governments are watching… and acting. The EU is drafting mental privacy laws. Chile has enshrined “neuro-rights” in its constitution. China is already deploying emotion-detection tech in classrooms and workplaces. And Elon Musk, of course, is demoing brain chips.
Even the Dalai Lama is in the mix. Alongside psychologist Paul Ekman, he launched the Atlas of Emotions, an interactive map of human feeling meant to foster self-awareness. But beneath its calm interface lies a deeper truth: if emotions can be charted, they can be influenced.
So what happens when your thoughts can be read or hacked? When influence shifts from what you think to how you think? When neurotech outpaces regulation?
Welcome to the age of neuro-sovereignty, where your mind becomes the next contested zone in global geopolitics.
Style. , Oblique Forecasting.
Smoking accessories. You’ve seen them outside your fav bar. You’re seeing them on the big screen again. Cigarettes are so back. As a non smoker3 I’ve always been against vaping but not cigarettes. Why, as an adult, are you puffing on a USB key?
You can however elevate the act of smoking with a couple of accessories, namely a vintage cigarette case and a lighter holder. It’ll lose its appeal after a while and/or cancer, so make it special and rare.
Tech. Yoann Lopez, Snowball.
Vibe Coding. As the legendary record producer Rick Rubin said, "Vibe Coding is the Punk Rock of Coding.” Just like punk rock made it easy for anybody to express their ideas through music as long as they knew a couple of chords (no need to study music for years and years), vibe coding makes it easy for anybody to create products. You just need an idea, and an ability to convey it.
The PlayStation One as a CD player. Yes, some audiophiles say that the original PlayStation One that was released in 1995 is a a great-sounding CD player. Some even say that it can even compete with high-end CD players that cost several thousand dollars. Since CDs are becoming the new records, you might want to grab one ASAP.
If you’re looking for me, here’s my Instagram and my Sicilian house’s Insta. Here’s my LinkedIn. Choose wisely, or don’t.
Sorry to report to my cinephile friends that one of my all-time favs is a plotless yet subversive and incredible-looking movie that I first watched on VHS one day after art class. I’m only human.
Jeu de l’oie pour mes lecteurs français :)
I’m not immune to a Vogue after a couple martinis!