media consumption: articles, video essays, podcasts to make you smarter (vol. 10)

hello.

i hope you’re finding ways to get through this much needed (strange) week off before the new year.

there are a lot of feelings and strong opinions about new years resolutions. i believe these goals should be intimate and personal- there’s obviously nuance to this and certain things are fun to chat about amongst friends and strangers on the internet. for example, one of my goals in 2025 is to start a youtube channel. but i’m not making any promises- this is simply a dream of mine and something i’ve wanted to start for a long time. i guess i finally feel ready? i have other goals as well, like journaling every day, not eating dinner at 11:45pm every night, and the list goes on.

but your biggest dreams (the ones you’re working towards right now)- i challenge you to keep those to yourself, with the exception of your closest friends and mentors. there are a lot of people in the world who hate to see others succeed and you never know who might be lurking around the corner trying to sabotage the things you want most in life.

on that note, this is the last roundup of media consumption before 2025 and i hope you’ve enjoyed these sunday posts. i’m brainstorming ways to add more to these letters in the new year so if you have any specific requests for things you’d like to see (or want more of), please let me know.

oh, and since starting a youtube is top of mind, any ideas for content you’d like to see?

weekly report:

reading:

star by yukio mishima
a sharp, self-aware exploration of fame and vanity through the perspective of a disillusioned movie star, filled with mishima’s trademark intensity and biting wit.

the idiot by fyodor dostoevsky
an exploration of innocence and moral idealism in a world consumed by greed and ambition, centered on prince myshkin, a character both saintly and tragic.

no longer human by osamu dazai
a deeply introspective and unsettling account of alienation and despair, told through the fragmented, haunting confessions of a man struggling to find his place in society.

anna karenina by leo tolstoy
an epic, emotional exploration of love, betrayal, and the search for meaning, set against the vivid backdrop of russian society.

popeye magazine: i just received all the girlfriend editions of popeye for christmas and i’m in love.

eating:

panettone and black coffee for breakfast

more porridge!

lychee gummies

playing:

phantom thread (2017)

2046 (2004) wong kar wai’s films make me feel something

ratatouille (2007)

obsessing:

edmund fallot mustard: this on everything

raspberry rose poppi: the best flavor

recommending:

this matcha candle for something fresh and cozy

rice cooker - this is ones of the best christmas gifts i’ve ever received. my home smells like steamed rice and i feel whole again. i must add that the level of perfection in which this machine cooks rice is unmatched.

annie bunnies fruit friends apple sauce pouches

hermes cuticle oil: i know the level of being insufferable with this one is palpable, but this is some of the best (and best smelling) cuticle oil i’ve ever used.

treating:

onitsuka tigers

one of my close friends is in china and she’s getting me osmanthus perfume from to summer and i’m so excited.

for today’s media consumption, i’m sharing media about how self help books are failing readers, an underrated kafka story, murakami’s barn burning, the moral dilemma of loving art created by monstrous men, how to read a book according to virginia woolf, being a quiet girl, the joys and fear of trans motherhood, and so much more.

if you’re new to this newsletter, every sunday i share a list of interesting articles, video essays, podcasts and more for paid subscribers. if you have the capacity to support milk fed, it would mean the world to me <3

media consumption

articles:

invisible women: victorian mothers erased
this essay examines the victorian practice of cropping mothers out of portraits, reflecting on the cultural erasure of women’s identities in the domestic sphere and its lingering echoes today.
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