THE MUSTS

World

you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?

 The Definitive GenZ Guide to Political Candidacy

With the turnaround of Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's candidate in the US elections, and the memefication of her candidacy & Brat summer - from the album recommended two issues ago - I decided to make a very interesting parallel and talk today about the small country of Cyprus and the candidacy of a 24-year-old Youtube influencer that made history as the first GenZ to be elected as a member of the European Parliament.

This is the story and strategy of Fidias Panayiotou in last six months:

• Step 1: He went down the traditional route and announced his candidacy on a TV show while wearing a suit and samba cane underwear. It went viral, but the audience thought he was joking.

• Step 2: Then he decided to go straight to his audience and creating a poll on TikTok and letting the audience choose the format of his candidacy and whether he should join a party. With a lot of engagement, the public voted 70% independent.

• Step 3: Fidas realized he didn't need intermediaries and launched his own podcast, distributing it on his social networks. It quickly became the most listened podcast in the country with an identifiable personality..

• Step 4: He made education the main motto of his campaign and began recording tutorial videos explaining the European Union, politics, corruption and transparent vlogs about his personal life. He won the support of young people, becoming a hot topic of dinner table conversation.

• Step 5: He decided to run 80km across the country, visiting schools and universities while doing a live stream. The campaign was to encourage people to vote, including young people who needed to register. He broke the voting registration record from 15k to 26k!

• Step 6: He made a speech in parliament and was invited to join the televised debates. One young man in a T-shirt, against 6 “old men” in suits. He re-formatted the same content to distribute on social media.

• Step 7: Then he was attacked and what did he do? Cuts of his opponents' attacks criticizing him that went viral and generated a network effect in the comments supporting him.

With a totally organic campaign, young people became Fidas ambassadors and convinced older people to vote for the young candidate. The result? Fidas, who had never voted before, became the most voted candidate in the country's history with 19.4% of the vote and the youngest member in the history of the European parliament.

Fidas opened the door to a transparent politics that involves the population in decisions, that has direct communication with an identifiable language. Perhaps an example to be followed for the elections to come.

What else in on

• Palestine: Enemy Palestinian factions agree to deal brokered by China. (Read)

• Spain: After 140 years, the Sagrada Familia will be finished in 2026. (Read)

• Taiwan: Taiwan begins military combat exercises for the first time. (Read)

• Russia: New record signing-on bonus for new recruits to fight in Ukraine. (Read)

• Uruguay: The country has established itself as the most important technological hub in South America. (Read)
  

Technology

when the sky is the limit

The 5 steps to artificial superintelligence

OpenAI never misses an opportunity to emphasize that its great mission is to develop an AGI that benefits humanity. In other words, a super-AI capable of performing any human task, better than humans.

But as the roadmap for building something that has never been built (and even its feasibility) is somewhat abstract, the startup has built a step-by-step to get there:

• Level 1: Chatbots (what we already have now with ChatGPT and others)

• Level 2: Reasoners (ability to solve problems at PhD level)

• Level 3: Agents (systems that can spend days working for you)

• Level 4: Innovators (in addition to obeying, they create and innovate)

• Level 5: Organizations (a single AI doing the work of the entire company)

We're currently in the transition between Level 1 and Level 2 - but if you think it's going to take a while to get to Level 5, remember that the first of OpenAI's products was launched less than 18 months ago.

More tech:

• Too much data for too little planet. A study has confirmed that it is “technically possible, economically viable and environmentally beneficial” to send data centers into space. (Read)

• Brazil ranks 2nd: Scientific output by women grows to 41% in 2022. The highest share of women researchers from 2018 to 2022 was in countries with Hispanic and Latin backgrounds. (Read)

• Smartphone, Smartwatch... Smart ring. Samsung has launched the Galaxy Ring, with a battery that lasts a week, the idea is to show you everything that happens during your day. (Read)

• Commercial breaks. If you can't stand the obligatory 5-second ads on YouTube, it seems you'll have to deal with the same practice on Instagram. At least that's the app's latest test, in which a countdown and the words “Ad break” simply appear before the user scrolls back through the feed. Disgusting. (Read)

Today I learned: Due to the overvaluation of NVIDIA shares in recent months, 76% of the company's employees have become millionaires.

Past Lives by Celine Song: Past Lives is a Korean language film by A24 that follows the relationship between two childhood friends over the course of 24 years, as they contemplate their relationship when they grow apart and lead different lives.

• The film is highly relatable to a vast audience as, besides unpacking a love story, it also tackles universal topics like love, marriage, coming of age, career, and life dreams.

I was impressed by the realistic and emotionally charged dialogue between the three main characters. This is a story of lost love and childhood crushes; the roads not taken, the lives not led, the luxury of regret. In the absence of dialogue, the non-verbal communication forces the audience closer to the characters, showcasing their intimacy.

Past Lives is a film that leaves you breathless and your heart aching, but in a good way. There’s something deeply comforting about knowing these feelings are universal.

 (Rating 9/10)

This week we are talking about her.

After a year-long saga to get tickets for The Eras Tour, I finally saw Taylor Swift live. Naturally, I dressed in an outfit inspired by one of her albums and naturally, I brought friendship bracelets to share with friends. If you follow me on social media - and nowadays, who doesn’t? - you probably knew all of this already. But today, I want to share something I don't often talk about: Why do I like Taylor Swift so much?

The main reason I started to enjoy Taylor Swift when I was little is that she doesn't just identify as a singer who writes her own songs, but as a songwriter who sings. As you guys know, I've been writing songs since I was young, and although I love singing them, I believe my songwriting abilities are far more developed than my singing. I've always identified with Taylor in this sense because she proved that you don't have to be the best singer of our generation to be a good lyricist and tell your story through music. She also put songwriting on the map when no one else was doing so.

I've also always agreed with her stance on art and the valorization of artists in our society. You might not remember, but when Spotify broke barriers with streaming, she was totally against it due to the way they didn't pay artists and the production chain. She took years to put back her work on the platform and only did so when they changed their policies after Apple Music emerged, paying more royalties to composers and artists. Similarly, I've always been against consuming media illegally and have almost never done so. Up until today, I struggle to understand how people can condemn theft while being okay with watching movies or listening to music they didn't pay for. Why shouldn't art be recognized as valuable? And why does its immaterial nature give people the right to take money from hardworking individuals in the industry? Taylor was the only one addressing these issues at the time, and I completely agreed with her. This is just one of the many ways she has shaped the music industry that people might not be aware of.

I obviously enjoy her songs - which is an important part of liking a singer - and I draw a lot of inspiration from her writing style for my own songs. But more than that, she has managed to reinvent herself while maintaining her identity throughout her career, standing up to critics - which have never been few.

Lastly, I also appreciate how she doesn't aim to be sexy. While everyone else is trying to be sexy all the time, doing sexy dances, taking sexy photos, looking sexy, having foxing eyes and big dick energy, she's said time and again that her goal in life is not to be sexy, and I think this is a great example for the younger generation.

I didn't want to make this post just an ode to Taylor Swift, but rather to explain to you guys the reasons why I like her so much - after all, this is the "What About Me" section. In fact, her biography was the first biography I’ve ever read it.

Now, I'd love to hear from you. Who are your favorite artists, and why do you admire them? How have they influenced your life or your perspective on art and culture?

With love,

Micael.

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