Personal stories, pop-culture takes, and brand collabs.
I handed three real brand pitches to the most opinionated group chat I have and let them approve, reject, or roast each one before I replied to a single email. The vote was brutal, the reasoning was better than any deck, and one veto saved me from a partnership I would have been apologizing for by spring.
For four weeks this fall I watched everything — premieres, comfort rewatches, a dating show I refuse to defend — with my phone charging in another room. My attention came back in weird little increments, my group chat got quieter and sharper, and I learned exactly where this whole phone-free-viewing thing breaks down.
This year I’m skipping the endless new-release carousel and curling up with the teen dramas I already know by heart. Here’s why comfort rewatching feels less like nostalgia and more like a survival strategy for the 2026 holiday season—plus a few shows worth queueing up.
Brand partnerships can pay the bills and grow your site—or they can quietly chip away at audience trust. Before I sign anything in 2026, I run through these seven questions, from creative control to usage rights.