You’re probably reading this on your phone. In 2026, Americans spend an average of 4 to 5 hours per day on their smartphones, with active phone-use estimates ranging around the five hour a day mark.
This time block is heavily stratified by generation, with Gen Z averaging over 6 hours of daily phone use, Millennials around 5 hours, Gen X near 4 hours, and Baby Boomers just over 3 hours, according to eMarketer, Statista and DataReportal.
In addition to these stats, Americans check their phones anywhere from 96 to 186 times a day, with roughly half of all screen time devoted to social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. So it makes sense that motion graphics and video reels are in demand for brands who advertise on social media.
With the majority of consumer interactions on digital screens, senior brand and motion designer Sofia Garcia is calling for a fundamental shift in how corporations build visual identity, arguing that motion design must be integrated at the start of the branding process, rather than treated as an afterthought.
Garcia, whose portfolio spans major global brands including Samsung, Disney, Tennis Channel, Hilton, and Pampers, emphasizes that static logos and color palettes are no longer sufficient in an ecosystem dominated by video feeds and interactive platforms.
“Historically, branding was often thought of as something that lived in a logo, typography, color, and a few static applications,” Garcia said. “Motion came later as a way to bring those elements to life. But the way people experience brands has changed. A lot of the first places someone encounters a brand today are already in motion.”
Originally from Costa Rica, Garcia relocated to the United States to study at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where she earned dual B.F.A. degrees in Motion Design and Advertising & Branding. That dual focus laid the foundation for an extensive career leading end-to-end creative direction, motion systems, and integrated campaigns across agency and studio environments.
In a digital environment saturated with fast-paced video content, Garcia’s approach focuses on narrative substance and visual restraint rather than movement for its own sake. But just adding movement is not enough to capture audience attention.
“The biggest mistake is designing for the format instead of designing for the idea,” Garcia said. “I try to create something that gives people a reason to keep watching. That can be a visual hook, an unexpected transition, a strong opening frame, or simply a story that unfolds in a way that makes you want to see what happens next.”
She added that grabbing attention does not require overwhelming visuals: “I don’t think everything needs to be loud or constantly moving. Sometimes a very simple, well-timed moment can be more effective than trying to grab attention with everything at once.”
Garcia’s technical expertise as a motion designer is reflected across a wide variety of commercial and entertainment properties. Her portfolio includes projects like Warner Bros. Games’ Gotham Knights, FCB Chicago’s Leaked Secrets of Motherhood campaign for Poise, brand identity design for Berni Bean Coffee Co., and campaign work for Samsung AI and Disney Social.
Her work on Synchrony Bank’s short film The Lemonade Stand showcases her ability to align motion graphics with narrative storytelling. Garcia spearheaded the project’s title sequence from concept through execution, creating custom illustrations that animated the evolving relationship between a father and daughter.
“The story really dictated the visual approach,” Garcia explained. “I developed an illustrated visual language around those themes and looked for ways to represent the relationship between the father and daughter without over-explaining it. The lemonade stand itself became an important visual metaphor for learning, ambition, and the idea that bigger dreams can start with something very small.”
Similarly, in her work for commercial campaigns, Garcia focuses on human connection to make commercial messaging resonate. Reflecting on her work for Samsung SmartThings, including campaigns centered on everyday relatable moments like “Manifest maximum tail wags,” Garcia noted the importance of balancing product features with entertainment.
“Instead of focusing entirely on the technology itself, the story starts with an emotional outcome people can immediately understand,” Garcia said. “I could use movement and timing to emphasize the personality of the idea while still keeping the product message clear.”
Motion designers are currently expanding their roles. As brands adapt to digital-first communication, Garcia sees the role of the motion designer expanding far beyond basic animation. It veers into brand strategy and creative direction territory.
“The demand for visual communication keeps expanding,” Garcia said. “Every platform, brand, product, and campaign needs content, and increasingly that content needs to work in motion. The designers who can understand branding, storytelling, strategy, and the needs of different platforms can contribute at many different stages of a project.”
Rather than asking how to animate an existing static brand, Garcia urges executives and creative directors to rethink their initial approach.
“Instead of asking, ‘How do we animate this brand?’ the question can be, ‘How does this brand behave?'” Garcia said. “That shift opens up a much bigger opportunity for motion designers to contribute to the identity itself.”
Internationalisation, Innovation and Collaboration for the Future of Global Education
Forum Overview
On 7 August 2026, the Global Education Futures Forum: Internationalisation, Innovation and Collaboration for the Future of Global Education was held in Edinburgh, bringing together academics, education leaders, school practitioners and researchers from China and the UK.
The forum was co-hosted by the Internationalisation Futures Network (IFN) at the University of Edinburgh, the Beijing Normal University Education and Training Centre, and the Beijing Normal University Education Group, with support from the Moray House School of Education and Sport and Edinburgh College of Art, the University of Edinburgh.
Designed as a platform for dialogue between universities, schools, education researchers and frontline practitioners in China and the UK, the forum explored interdisciplinary curriculum development, drama education, scientific literacy, creative approaches to arts education and the future of international educational collaboration. Educators from a number of Beijing Normal University affiliated schools travelled to Edinburgh to share examples of curriculum innovation and educational practice from China.
Against the wider context of change in global education, the forum placed particular emphasis on competency development, curriculum innovation and students’ holistic development. Through examples drawn from different educational stages and subject areas, participants explored diverse approaches to holistic education, local cultural inheritance and the cultivation of future-ready learners.
Opening: A Shared Conversation on the Future of Global Education
The opening session was introduced by Dr Farah Akbar, Senior Lecturer at the Moray House School of Education and Sport and a representative of the Internationalisation Futures Network (IFN).
Opening remarks were delivered by Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh; Professor Carol Campbell, Head of the Moray House School of Education and Sport; and Professor Zhifeng Hu, Dean of the School of Arts and Communication at Beijing Normal University and Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor of the Ministry of Education of China. Their contributions approached the central theme of the forum from complementary perspectives, addressing internationalisation, educational innovation, inclusion and sustained cross-cultural collaboration.
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson reflected on the ideas of authorisation, innovation and the future, highlighting interdisciplinary collaboration and international exchange as important drivers of educational innovation. He noted the close alignment between the forum’s theme and the University of Edinburgh’s longstanding commitment to openness, collaboration across boundaries and future-oriented thinking, and warmly welcomed educators from around the world to engage in meaningful dialogue.
Professor Carol Campbell
Professor Carol Campbell focused on equity and inclusion in education, emphasising the importance of collaboration in responding to global change. Drawing on Moray House’s commitment to innovation, collaboration and social justice, she highlighted equality, diversity and inclusion as important foundations for education and research. She expressed the hope that cross-cultural and cross-institutional dialogue would enable educators from different backgrounds to share experience, learn from one another and consider more equitable, inclusive and sustainable educational futures.
Professor Zhifeng Hu
Professor Zhifeng Hu considered the deeper meaning of educational internationalisation from a global perspective. He argued that meaningful international exchange should not be understood as the one-way transfer of educational models, but as an equal dialogue grounded in local educational and cultural contexts. His remarks addressed the relationship between people and technology, the long-term innovative value of the humanities and arts, and the importance of bringing established local practices into international exchange.
Session 1: Educational Innovation and Future-Ready Talent Development
The first session focused on educational innovation and the development of future-ready talent, with three Beijing Normal University affiliated schools presenting examples of curriculum practice.
BNU Taizhou Experimental School
Jin Wang, Secretary of the CPC General Branch Committee of BNU Taizhou Experimental School, presented “MEET Curriculum: School Practice of Interdisciplinary Talent Development through Drama”. Centred on students’ holistic and personalised growth, the school has developed the MEET curriculum around four dimensions: perception, inquiry, practice and critical reflection. Drama serves as a vehicle for interdisciplinary integration across Chinese language, English, arts education and moral education, supporting an integrated model of learning, thinking, creating and performing. Over eight years, the school has staged more than 40 productions, including 11 original works, delivered over 25,000 hours of drama teaching and engaged more than 10,000 students. Looking ahead, the school plans to further develop its curriculum evaluation framework and deepen the integration of artificial intelligence and interdisciplinary drama education.
BNU Nanshan Affiliated School
Ning Tian, Deputy Director of Academic Affairs at BNU Nanshan Affiliated School, presented “Rooted in Cultural Heritage, Cultivating Authentic Persons: A K–12 Approach”. The school’s twelve-year education model is built around continuity in curriculum, teaching research, student development and assessment. Different stages use approaches ranging from extended learning programmes, mathematical modelling and life-and-culture education in primary school, to interdisciplinary inquiry in junior secondary education and real-world problem solving, academy-based learning and subject competitions in senior secondary education. The school aims to continue refining an integrated model that supports both holistic and personalised student development.
Ali Hong, Head of Teaching in the Senior High School Division of BNU Asia-Pacific Experimental School, presented “Innovative Curriculum Practice for Senior High Students Aimed at Cultivating Scientific Literacy”. Responding to increasingly diverse student needs, the school has established advanced laboratories in earth and environmental science, molecular biology and traditional Chinese medicine, alongside a three-level interdisciplinary curriculum of foundational, extended and applied learning. The presentation emphasised that science education should extend beyond competition results and certificates, enabling students to develop scientific thinking, innovation awareness and social responsibility through authentic inquiry.
Session 2: Creative Pedagogies for Broader Achievement
The second session explored creative pedagogies and broader student achievement through examples from drama, physical education and school-based interest programmes.
BNU Changping Affiliated School
Yang Yang, Deputy Director of Teaching and Learning (Primary) and Drama Programme Lead at BNU Changping Affiliated School, presented “Exploring Educational Drama to Develop Students’ General Learning Capacities”. Drawing on ten years of sustained practice, the school has developed a model integrating reading, thinking and practical capacities. Educational drama supports the full learning process from input and cognitive processing to practical output. Over time, drama has developed from a single arts activity into a comprehensive educational approach spanning subjects and educational stages, supported by university experts, regular teacher development and regional drama education networks.
Yu Yan, Lead Practitioner in Physical Education at BNU Asia-Pacific Experimental School, shared work on emotional awareness and resilience through physical education games. The presentation positioned physical education not only as a context for fitness and engagement, but also as an important setting for emotional learning and character development. Through competition, collaboration and trial and error, students encounter a range of emotions; teachers can help them recognise, accept and regulate negative emotions, while process-based reflection can strengthen resilience, empathy and teamwork.
Wenzhi Wu, Lead Practitioner in Physical Education at BNU Asia-Pacific Experimental School, introduced more than two decades of work on interest-based education and distinctive school-based curricula. Since 2001, the school has developed six broad curriculum areas—arts and crafts, sport, arts and humanities, science and technology, practical skills and traditional culture—with more than 140 course groups and over 80 distinctive learning options. The school plans to further expand the international dimension of its curriculum and broaden students’ global perspectives.
Session 3: Interdisciplinary Learning and Cross-Cultural Collaboration
The third session focused on interdisciplinary learning and cross-cultural collaboration, presenting examples that connected local culture, mathematics and Chinese language education with wider international perspectives.
BNU Haikou Affiliated School
Bingrong Lu, Head Teacher of BNU Haikou Affiliated School, presented “Rooted in Local Aesthetic Education, Empowering Cross-Cultural Creativity: Cultivating Creative Talent through Hainan’s Regional Culture”. The school draws on Hainan’s tropical ecology, maritime culture and Li and Miao cultural traditions to create a locally distinctive arts curriculum. Primary pupils work with natural materials such as coconut shells, seashells and mangrove leaves, while junior secondary students engage with intangible cultural heritage including Li brocade, indigo dyeing, pottery and embroidery. Music lessons incorporate Hainan soundscapes, local instruments and comparisons with musical cultures from other countries. The presentation argued that cross-cultural creativity grows from a deep understanding of one’s own cultural roots.
BNU Asia-Pacific Experimental School: Mathematics
Xuli Liu, Lead Practitioner in Mathematics at BNU Asia-Pacific Experimental School, discussed competency-based mathematics education in the context of Beijing’s junior secondary academic proficiency examination reform. As assessment moves from knowledge recall and imitation towards core competencies, classroom learning increasingly asks students to observe the real world mathematically, analyse it through mathematical thinking and express it in mathematical language. The school incorporates real-life modelling, open inquiry, interdisciplinary tasks, student-led problem explanation and question design into classroom practice.
Ruijuan Li, Lead Practitioner at BNU Asia-Pacific Experimental School, presented classroom reform in primary mathematics. Drawing on fourteen years of teaching experience, she outlined work across four areas: redefining objectives, integrating curriculum, transforming classroom practice and iterating assessment. Authentic problems, such as designing improvements to a school car park, are used to move mathematical knowledge beyond textbooks and into real-life contexts, while process-and-outcome assessment supports ongoing observation and feedback on student development.
BNU Asia-Pacific Experimental School: Chinese Language and Interdisciplinary Learning
Xueli Ji, Lead Practitioner in Chinese Language and Literature at BNU Asia-Pacific Experimental School, explored the school-based implementation of the “interdisciplinary learning” strand in junior secondary Chinese language education. Drawing on China’s 2022 compulsory education curriculum reform and placing it in dialogue with interdisciplinary learning in Scotland, the presentation considered whether interdisciplinary requirements might dilute disciplinary depth. Examples including micro-theatre adaptations of Rickshaw Boy and visual responses to classical poetry demonstrated how well-designed interdisciplinary learning can strengthen close reading and subject understanding rather than weaken them.
Strengthening Connections Beyond the Forum
Towards the close of the forum, Zhongmei Xing, Deputy Director of the Beijing Normal University Education and Training Centre and Vice President of the Beijing Normal University Education Group, formally invited representatives from the Moray House School of Education and Sport and the Internationalisation Futures Network (IFN) to visit China and continue the dialogue in Beijing.
The invitation reflected a shared interest in building on the connections established through the Edinburgh forum and exploring further opportunities for collaboration in areas including international education research, teacher professional development, curriculum innovation, interdisciplinary learning and school-to-school exchange.
Participants discussed opportunities to extend the ideas and practices shared during the forum through future visits, academic dialogue, school partnerships and collaborative educational projects. These continued exchanges could provide a foundation for deeper and more sustained connections between the University of Edinburgh and its educational networks and the Beijing Normal University Education and Training Centre and Beijing Normal University Education Group.
Forum Conclusion
Across drama, science, arts education, mathematics and physical education, the forum highlighted a number of shared priorities: competency-oriented learning, interdisciplinary integration and personalised approaches to student development. The event brought frontline educational practice from China into direct dialogue with the Scottish education context and created opportunities for reciprocal learning and exchange.
The conclusion of the forum marked not an end to the conversation, but a starting point for further educational collaboration. Participants expressed a shared interest in continuing cross-cultural dialogue and educational research, exploring approaches that combine innovation with cultural continuity, and contributing to a more equitable, diverse and sustainable future for global education.
Roundtable One: From Curriculum Innovation to Sustainable Educational Practice
The first roundtable focused on how innovative curriculum models can move beyond theoretical and experimental exploration to become sustainable approaches operating across schools and universities. Experts from the University of Edinburgh, Beijing Normal University (BNU), and the wider school education sector discussed how universities and schools can work together in curriculum development and how barriers between academic research and educational practice can be bridged.
Dr Wendy Timmons, Senior Lecturer in Dance Science and Education at the University of Edinburgh, drew on the University’s experience in developing dance education to illustrate how partnerships with professional organisations, schools and community groups can connect academic learning with professional practice and students’ future development. Since the establishment of the University’s dance-related degree programme in 2009, partnerships with professional organisations, schools and community projects, alongside opportunities for practice-based learning, have provided important foundations for the programme’s continued development.
The discussion also highlighted BNU’s experience of deeper curriculum collaboration between universities and schools. Participants suggested that partnerships between UK universities and primary and secondary schools could similarly move beyond one-off visits and individual projects towards long-term relationships based on the co-design and co-development of curricula.
Professor Zhen Wei, Vice Dean of the School of Arts and Communication at Beijing Normal University; Professor Ren Shengshu; and Dr Derek Williams from Edinburgh College of Art contributed perspectives from arts education, higher education and interdisciplinary practice.
A key consensus emerging from the discussion was that meaningful educational innovation cannot be sustained through individual courses or short-term projects alone. Instead, it requires stable, long-term partnerships between schools, universities and external professional organisations. Such collaboration should begin at the project design stage, enabling partners to reflect together, address real-world challenges and bring their respective expertise directly into curriculum and teaching practice, while also supporting teachers’ professional development and wider knowledge exchange.
Roundtable Two: Creative Pedagogies and Broader Understandings of Achievement
The second roundtable explored how innovative, competency-based approaches to teaching can be implemented across different stages of education and within different national education systems.
The discussion brought together Dr Paul McMillan, Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh’s Moray House School of Education and Sport and President of the Scottish Educational Research Association; Professor Shen Jiliang of Beijing Normal University; Dr Julie Smith, Vice Dean of Moray House School of Education and Sport; and Associate Professor Xiao Yan from BNU’s School of Arts and Communication. Together, they exchanged Chinese and British perspectives and practices relating to the development of creativity and innovation in education.
Participants discussed several ways in which China’s basic education curriculum is responding to the challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. These included strengthening connections between schools and their communities, developing more integrated curricula that break down conventional disciplinary boundaries, and diversifying the forms and resources through which teaching and learning take place.
The discussion also considered Scotland’s experience of educational reform, highlighting the importance of sustained interaction among different stakeholders. Educational leaders, researchers and teacher educators regularly come together through professional events and annual conferences to share ideas, debate emerging issues, develop new approaches and build collaboration.
Participants emphasised that forums of this kind provide an important opportunity to share educational innovation internationally, understand how innovation takes different forms in different contexts, and learn from one another. Innovation is a dynamic process: ideas may travel between countries and schools, but meaningful change takes time to become embedded. Effective innovation therefore requires adaptation to local contexts rather than the simple transfer or “transplantation” of a model from one education system to another.
Roundtable Three: Interdisciplinary Learning and Cross-Cultural Collaboration
The third roundtable examined how collaboration between universities and schools, as well as between Chinese and British educational institutions, can move beyond individual projects to support sustained interdisciplinary learning.
The discussion brought together Dr Hui-Chuan (Jane) Li, Lecturer in Mathematics Education at the University of Edinburgh’s Moray House School of Education and Sport and Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications; Sonia Edwards, Deputy Head (Academic) at St George’s School; and Professor Jie Wang from the School of Arts and Communication at Beijing Normal University.
Participants emphasised that meaningful exchange requires the development of shared values and common goals, while also creating opportunities for students to engage with different cultures and broaden their perspectives.
A key point emerging from the discussion was that an international outlook should not simply be treated as an additional component attached to the curriculum. Rather, it should form part of the curriculum’s core purpose. International education encompasses not only cultural understanding, but also academic capabilities and transferable skills, particularly communication, collaboration and the ability to engage confidently across different cultural and educational contexts.
Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan: From the City’s History to International Educational Exchange
Opening the forum, Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan warmly welcomed guests from the Chinese and British education communities.
She noted that August is one of Edinburgh’s busiest and most international months of the year. With close involvement in the city’s cultural, arts and science festival organisations, her schedule during the festival season is particularly demanding. Nevertheless, she stressed the importance of the forum’s focus on internationalisation, innovation and global collaboration in education, and expressed her pleasure at joining educators from China and the UK for the occasion.
Councillor McNeese-Mechan also reflected on the particular significance for her of the forum being held at the University of Edinburgh. As an alumna of the University, where she completed postgraduate study and a PhD in Social Anthropology, she recalled her own experience of studying and living in Scotland and her longstanding interest in Scottish culture, history and questions of identity.
Drawing on this background, she highlighted the close relationship between history, culture and education, noting that the ways in which a city and a society understand their own histories also shape how they understand the contemporary world and engage with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Turning to international exchange, she described Edinburgh as a city with a strong international outlook and a long tradition of building connections around the world through education, culture and city-to-city engagement. She also highlighted Edinburgh’s longstanding links with Chinese cities, including Xi’an and Shenzhen, which continue to create opportunities for deeper educational, cultural and youth exchange.
She concluded by encouraging participants not only to engage fully with the forum, but also to experience Edinburgh’s culture, history and international atmosphere during its most vibrant month of the year. She expressed the hope that the gathering would provide a new starting point for sustained and deeper educational and cultural collaboration between China and the UK.
Xing Zhongmei: Building Sustainable China–UK Partnerships in Education
Xing Zhongmei, Deputy Director of the Education and Training Centre of Beijing Normal University and Vice President of the Beijing Normal University Education Group, noted that the forum had created a valuable platform for dialogue under the themes of “internationalisation, innovation and collaboration”, connecting university research, classroom practice in primary and secondary education, and wider approaches to educational development.
Drawing on BNU Education Group’s experience in connecting university and school education, promoting innovation in basic education and developing international educational exchange, she emphasised the need to build sustainable models of collaboration across different stages of education, promote students’ holistic development through diverse approaches to teaching and learning, and advance the sharing and co-creation of educational resources between China and the UK through long-term, equal and reciprocal cross-cultural partnerships.
She particularly stressed that future China–UK educational collaboration should move beyond short-term visits and one-off projects towards sustainable mechanisms including reciprocal professional development, joint research, curriculum co-development and collaborative programmes for young people.
Building on the forum, the BNU Education and Training Centre and BNU Education Group proposed further collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and local schools, including the development of joint communities of educational research and practice, the sharing of high-quality curricula and teaching approaches, and continued China–UK youth exchange through BNU’s network of affiliated schools.
She concluded that the forum should be seen not simply as an exchange of ideas, but as a new starting point for long-term collaboration between BNU and Edinburgh’s universities, schools and wider education community.
There’s so much music coming out all the time that it’s hard to keep track. On those days when the influx of new tracks is particularly overwhelming, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated list of the most interesting new releases (the best of which will be added to our Best New Songs playlist). Below, check out our track roundup for Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
CHVRCHES – ‘Roses’
CHVRCHES are back with their first new music in three years. ‘Roses’ “serves as a mission statement for the band’s sonic shift,” according to a press release, “letting us in on the opening chapter of an entirely new era.” Even though the song’s political commentary scans as new territory for the band, the sound, swirling and propulsive, should satisfy longtime fans. “This is the longest break we had ever taken between albums and when we got together to write new music, we wanted to really push ourselves and not be retreading ground we’d walked before,” Lauren Mayberry commented. “I really think we achieved that. It feels like the most coherent vision we’ve had as a band. We’re excited to be back…”
Krill – ‘Dominate’
The recently reunited Krill have announced a new LP, Secret Language, out November 13 via Exploding in Sound. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the chugging new single ‘Dominate’, alongside a Heavenly Tedious-directed video. “‘Dominate’ is a song about growing up in the 90s and 00s in the heart of empire, the violence of wanting to win, how we teach our children to want to dominate others, a US TV culture of watching gladiator-like scenes of rule by power,” vocalist-bassist Jonah Furman explained. “It’s about war, it’s about basketball, it’s about childhood.”
Perfume Genius – ‘Natural High’
Our 2024 AOTY was Fashion Club’s Scrutiny, which featured a collaboration with Perfume Genius. Now, Mike Hadreas’ luminous new single ‘Natural High’ was co-produced by Fashion Club’s Pascal Stevenson. It was written for a new dance work called The Lesson, which reunites Hadreas with choreographer Kate Wallich, following their 2019 collaboration The Sun Still Burns Here, which led to the 2022 LP Ugly Season. “I’ve always thought of my albums as soundtracks to films that do not exist,” Hadreas commented. “There is a freedom to inhabiting something imagined and purely sonic. I can be every character or not exist at all or body swap at will. Scenes can shift immediately just because I feel like it. That doesn’t change when creating a performance with Kate, all the mystery and thrill of going somewhere lawless and dreamlike stays intact — but I’m not alone in building the world and it literally fleshes out in real time. Body swapping feels very different when you are actually in a room holding the other person.”
Lily Konigsberg – ‘Free Byrd’
Lily Konigsberg has returned with her first new music in four year, ‘Free Byrd’. It follows the singer-songwriter’s 2022 album with Nate Amos of This Is Lorelei/Water From Your Eyes as My Idea, and if you’ve been enjoying This Is Lorelei’s recently country-leaning material, the new song, which teases a forthcoming album, will definitely be up your alley.
Catherine Elicson – ‘Figure’
Emapth’s Catherine Elicson has announced her first solo album, River of Fat. Out November 6 on Community Music, it’s led by the stark yet gauzy single ‘Figure’. She record, using a droning Korg, a Roland SP-404, a vintage Stratocaster, and a Tascam 4-track tape machine.
Julia Jacklin – ‘If I Had the Hand of God’
Julia Jacklin is tapping into the If I only could make a deal with God genre of songs with the latest preview of The Gem ahead of its release on Friday. The song was, in fact, written about a trip to Nashville, meditating on the life of a touring musician and the idea of legacy. It comes paired with a video filmed by Nick Mckk.
Snooper – ‘Mouth Closed’
Nashville punk outift Snooper are back with a frantically infectious new tune, ‘Mouth Closed’. It arrives alongside a video directed by Teddy Cruz.
Dis Fig – ‘The Snake You Built’
Dis Fig has unveiled ‘The Snake You Built’, a brooding preview of the Berlin-based vocalist and producer’s first solo album in seven years, What To Make Of These Mortal Hands. “For most of this record, I was quite intentional with lyrics,” she explained. “But this one beamed out differently. Rather than writing lyrics to replace the original take, I used my own kind of language, dictated by emotion rather than fitting meaning to what could not be expressed in linguistic form.” The track features drums from Lee Buford (The Body), strings from Diana Miron, and bass textures from Liam Andrews.
gash – ‘holiday time’
Ahead of the release of their new album and label debut, at least you know what you’re laughing at, Eau Claire experimentalists gash have shared one more entrancing preview, ‘holiday time’. It follows previous cuts ‘good and bad’, ‘risking heaven’, and ‘data master’.
Elissa Mielke – ‘Lemon Tree’
Canadian singer-songwriter Elissa Mielke has shared a strikingly gentle new song, ‘Lemon Tree’, which is produced by Philip Weinrobe. It follows ‘Don’t Have to Hate You’, which came out earlier this summer.
Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ has become the longest-running No. 1 hit in the US, having spent its 23rd total week atop the Billboard Hot 100. Last week, on a run that started July 4, it tied Mariah Carey’s perennial hit ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’.
Ella Langley has two hits in the top 10, with the follow-up to ‘Choosin’ Texas’, ‘Be Her’, lingering at No. 10. Langley released ‘Choosin’ Texas’, which leads her third studio album, Dandelion, in October 2025, and it first topped the Hot 100 back in February. The album also debuted atop the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts. Langley’s July single ‘Loving Life Again’ and the Morgan Wallen duet ‘I Can’t Love You Anymore’ also charted, with the latter peaking at No. 4. Her duet partner currently holds the No. 3 position with ‘Been By Now’.
Outside the US, Langley also became the first country artist in more than 20 years to reach No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. ‘Choosin’ Texas’ claimed the title of longest-running No. 1 single by a female artist in Canada, too, and by a country artist in Australia.
Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius, has reunited with choreographer Kate Wallich for a new music and dance work called The Lesson. Commissioned by Seattle Theatre Group, it follows their 2019 collaboration The Sun Still Burns Here and was inspired by The Piano Teacher. Today, Hadreas has shared ‘Natural High’, a resplendent single from his score that was co-produced by Fashion Club’s Pascal Stevenson. Check it out below, and scroll down for dates for The Lesson.
“When we started searching for a framework for this new piece, we kept coming back to The Piano Teacher,” Wallich said in press materials. “We are all drawn to the dynamics between what is good and what is bad…how we’re supposed to behave, and how we aren’t, how to balance desire and restraint.”
Hadreas added: “I’ve always thought of my albums as soundtracks to films that do not exist. There is a freedom to inhabiting something imagined and purely sonic. I can be every character or not exist at all or body swap at will. Scenes can shift immediately just because I feel like it. That doesn’t change when creating a performance with Kate, all the mystery and thrill of going somewhere lawless and dreamlike stays intact — but I’m not alone in building the world and it literally fleshes out in real time. Body swapping feels very different when you are actually in a room holding the other person.”
Perfume Genius’ most recent album was last year’s Glory.
The Lesson 2027 Tour Dates:
Feb 6 – MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (Work-in-Progress Showing) (Tickets)
Feb 18–20 & February 25–27 – REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA (World Premiere) (Tickets)
Mar 4–6 – Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York, NY (Tickets)
Mar 17–18 – Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France (Tickets)
Mar 21 Barbican Centre – London, United Kingdom (Tickets)
Mar 24 – Birds of Paradise Festival – Utrecht, Netherlands (Tickets)
Mar 27 – National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland (Tickets)
Apr 1 – Liquid Music / Northrop, Minneapolis, MN (Tickets)
Apr 9 – The 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, WA
Crime drama MobLand is back with season 2. Available on Paramount+, the series follows a skilled fixer who works for a powerful crime family. The fact that the cast features the likes of Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren is the cherry on top.
That said, reports of behind-the-scenes drama hinted that the show’s future may be in jeopardy. Could that be the case, or will fans be able to enjoy more episodes? Here’s what we know so far.
As for when the third installment will drop, we estimate late 2027.
MobLand Cast
Tom Hardy as Harry Da Souza
Pierce Brosnan as Conrad Harrigan
Paddy Considine as Kevin Harrigan
Joanne Froggatt as Jan Da Souza
Lara Pulver as Isabella “Bella” Harrigan
Anson Boon as Eddie Harrigan
Jasmine Jobson as Zosia
Mandeep Dhillon as Seraphina Harrigan
Helen Mirren as Maeve Harrigan
What Could Happen in MobLand Season 3?
In MobLand, Hardy plays Harry Da Souza, a highly capable fixer who works for the Harrigan family. At the centre of the clan are ruthless patriarch Conrad and his equally formidable wife, Maeve.
Harry’s job? To solve problems before they escalate. Over the course of the first season, however, a violent feud with a rival family exposes fractures within the Harrigans themselves. Once you tune in, you can expect betrayals, assassinations, corrupt police officers, drugs, and power struggles amid London’s criminal underworld.
Season 2, which premiered recently, picks up following the chaos of the season 1 finale. Harry has to clean up after a bloody shootout as his personal life is slowly but steadily falling apart. He also continues to be caught in the middle of the Harrigan drama, so it’s safe to assume that he might reach a boiling point soon.
As for MobLand season 3, it’s a bit early to speculate. Given that Hardy will be back, though, it will be interesting to see for how much longer Harry will remain an ally to the Harrigans rather than turn against them. For now, you can catch season 2 episodes weekly on Paramount+. The finale arrives in late November.
Are There Other Shows Like MobLand?
If you enjoy MobLand, shows with similar vibes include The Sopranos, Ray Donovan, Gangs of London, Top Boy, andPeaky Blinders.
If you think Michael Fassbender, you quickly conjure up a diverse filmography. Over the course of his career, he has played everything from addicts to soldiers, revolutionaries, assassins, historical figures, superheroes, and businessmen.
Rather than sticking to one genre, he gravitates toward intriguing characters with a lot going on under their rough exterior. This versatility makes him particularly sought-after. As a result, Fassbender’s net worth should be impressive by now, right? Here’s what we know about the actor’s earnings.
The bulk of it is due to his acting career. Fassbender made his debut in 2001 in acclaimed HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. He spent much of the early 2000s taking television roles. Credits include Hearts and Bones, NCS: Manhunt, Hex, and Agatha Christie’s Poirot.
The actor’s big break came in 2007, when he played Spartan warrior Stelios in 300. The following year, he appeared in Steve McQueen’s Hunger, a role that transformed his career. Fassbender lost weight for the part and performed an extended single-take confrontation with Liam Cunningham. The film earned him a reputation for committing to difficult material.
He followed it with titles including Eden Lake, Fish Tank, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Centurion, Jonah Hex, andJane Eyre. In 2011, he played Magneto in X-Men: First Class, one of his most recognisable roles. That same year, he starred in Shame as a man struggling with compulsive sexual behavior. The performance earned him the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.
Over the next few years, Fassbender became an integral part of the X-Men franchise. That said, he alternated between large studio productions and challenging dramas. He appeared in Prometheus, 12 Years a Slave,The Counselor, Frank, Macbeth, and Steve Jobs. You might have also seen him in Assassin’s Creed or Alien: Covenant.
After X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Fassbender stepped away from acting for several years to focus on motor racing. He had been interested in racing since childhood and began competing professionally.
Fassbender returned to Hollywood in 2023 with The Killer and Next Goal Wins. In 2025, he appeared in spy thriller Black Bag, and he’s been starring in TV series The Agency since 2024. Besides acting and motor racing, Fassbender is a successful producer.
Michael Fassbender Salary
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about Fassbender’s usual fee, since actor salaries are typically kept under wraps. He was among the highest-paid actors in 2014, however.
It’s safe to assume he can command a few million dollars per role, depending on the production’s budget.
Michael Fassbender Highest Grossing Movies
Fassbender’s highest-grossing movies are X-Men: Days of Future Past ($747 million) and X-Men: Apocalypse($544 million). 300 and Prometheus also did well at the box office.
This year, fans can catch Fassbender in South Korean sci-fi thriller Hope, currently in cinemas. Next up, he’s set to appear in comedy Kung Fury 2 and western The Origin of the World.
Milwaukee based illustrator Yuanyuan Zhou builds a distinctive visual world through vibrant color, stylized figures, and richly narrative scenes. Zhou has long been interested in the subtle yet enduring connections between people and the rhythms of everyday life: how a cup of tea can connect land and culture, how a plant can carry historical memory, and how an everyday custom can become a way for humans to engage with the natural world.
Looking through Zhou’s work, one rarely encounters grand theatrical gestures or scenes driven by dramatic conflict. Instead, the momentum of her storytelling comes from quieter moments unfolding through everyday life: the relaxed expression of a stranger in a café, the ways people gather and interact at a market, or the small rituals of making tea and preparing food. Such observations of the real world form the most immediate source material for her characters.
The figures in Zhou’s work bear a highly recognizable personal signature. Their bodies are gently exaggerated and their contours simplified, while subtle emotional nuances remain visible in their eyes and expressions. They possess the warmth and approachability of characters from a fairy tale without drifting into pure fantasy. Rather, they function as parallel reflections of the real world, carrying traces of the places and cultures from which they emerge. In scenes inspired by neighborhood tea houses in Türkiye, for example, people simply sit together and talk. Nothing overtly dramatic occurs, yet the atmosphere and texture of local life are preserved in their entirety.
Color, in Zhou’s hands, is more than a device for attracting attention. Highly saturated hues give her images an exuberant sense of life, yet restrained compositions keep that intensity in balance, preventing the work from becoming visually overwhelming. She also adapts her visual language to the demands of each subject. In observational scenes of everyday urban life, contours may be crisp and decisive, accompanied by abundant detail. When working with subjects rooted in cultures and places farther afield, she may soften or remove those hard edges, shifting the emphasis toward material texture and atmosphere.
This flexibility is also informed by her engagement with a wide range of media. Alongside digital illustration, her hands-on experience with RISO printing, bookbinding, and GIF animation continually introduces a tactile sensibility into her digital work. For Zhou, style is not a fixed template but an expressive tool—one that serves the story and changes with the subject at hand.
Her recent personal practice has increasingly centered on herbs, plants, and flowers, a body of work whose origins, once again, can be traced back to the ordinary rituals of eating and drinking.
Freshly Picked! began with something as simple as a tea recipe. As the project developed, Zhou’s attention gradually moved beyond the recipe itself toward an entire cycle of life: seeds germinate, plants grow, people harvest and prepare them, and they eventually become part of food, social interaction, and everyday ritual. Rather than turning the work into a botanical catalogue, Zhou employs a multi-scene composition in which harvesting, food preparation, gathering, and tea drinking unfold as miniature narratives scattered throughout the image.
If Freshly Picked! looks inward to uncover the poetry embedded in everyday food rituals, Mate de Coca extends outward into a more complex exploration of cross-cultural understanding. The work grew out of Zhou’s own travels in Peru. The meaning of coca tea can shift dramatically depending on its cultural context. Rather than reducing the plant through the assumptions of an outsider, Zhou deliberately sets aside preconceived ideas in order to understand what coca means within local communities—as a gift from nature deeply rooted in everyday life and Indigenous traditions.
On the canvas, Zhou uses images to create spaces for cultural dialogue. Beyond the studio, her parallel roles as an educator and juror allow her to return the experience she has accumulated through her own practice to the wider artistic community. These roles do not compete for her attention; instead, they form an interconnected cycle in which each continually nourishes the others. Teaching prompts her to revisit and articulate her own creative process, while reviewing the work of emerging artists continually broadens her perspective on the field, feeding new insights back into her own artistic thinking.
As an AICAD Teaching Fellow at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), while also having taught at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design (PCAD) and MICA Open Studies, Zhou’s teaching extends far beyond technical instruction. Drawing on firsthand experience with international commissions, gallery exhibitions, and public-facing projects—including her ongoing editorial work for The Guardian US, her solo exhibition Fresh at iidrr: Gallery in New York, she gives emerging artists a practical understanding of the profession: how to preserve an individual artistic voice within the constraints of commercial assignments, and how to build a sustainable long-term creative career. At the same time, the process of translating her experience into teaching gives Zhou an opportunity to reconsider the decisions and compromises that have shaped her own path.
Her frequent participation as a portfolio reviewer and juror has opened another window onto the contemporary illustration landscape. Through roles including Milwaukee National Portfolio Day Reviewer, 40th Anniversary Artscape Artist Market Juror, and PCAD Junior Student Portfolio Review Juror, Zhou has encountered the work of numerous emerging artists. For her, jurying is not about measuring every artist against a single standard or simply selecting winners. It is about protecting the plurality of artistic expression. Encountering the fresh ideas of younger generations allows her to recognize new currents within the field while simultaneously reconsidering the boundaries of her own practice—a process of continuous artistic renewal.
If teaching and jurying provide a path of inward reflection, exhibitions and international commissions propel Zhou’s practice outward, beyond the white cube of the gallery and into editorial pages and public spaces.
Her exhibition practice spans solo presentations, institutional group exhibitions, and public art. Her 2024 solo exhibition Fresh at iidrr: Gallery in New York brought together a body of work reflecting a particular stage in her artistic development. That same year, she participated in Dreams at Home, a MICA faculty group exhibition in Maryland, as well as Everyone Deserves Art at the Delaplaine Arts Center.
Zhou’s ongoing commissions for The Guardian US form an important part of her editorial illustration practice. Her contributions have ranged from title and spot illustrations for food features to a series of illustrations for Radical Thinking, as well as the title illustration for the social commentary feature The Lousiest CEOs of 2022. Through these projects, she uses images to engage with contemporary issues while balancing journalistic immediacy, the seriousness of the subject matter, and her own artistic language.
Beyond The Guardian, Zhou created a series of illustrations for The Enterprising Farmer for Full Bleed Magazine, developing a visual narrative around the relationships between agriculture, land, and people. She has also produced commissioned illustration for the independent publication Cake Zine, contributing her visual voice to independent editorial culture.
This sustained practice has also brought Zhou recognition across the international illustration community. Her accolades include Creative Quarterly CQ74 Runners-up, the iJungle 2024 Merit Award, and LICC 2024 Official Selection. She also received the 2024 PCAD Faculty Research and Practice Professional Development Grant, providing institutional support for the continued development of her creative practice.
Zhou exemplifies the multifaceted possibilities for contemporary illustrators: she responds to public‑interest themes through commercial commissions, pursues in‑depth cultural reflection in her personal work, and gives back to the industry through jury practice. Rejecting exoticized cross‑cultural narratives, she draws upon universal everyday experiences such as food and plants to foster empathy and understanding through imagery. Moving forward, she will keep exploring the cultural depth embedded in natural motifs and further expand the intellectual boundaries of illustration as a medium.
Remember the classic Perya Game experience? Colorful booths, noisy surroundings, people gathered around games, and enough lights and sounds to make a quiet evening feel impossible.
Now imagine taking that entire concept and squeezing it into a screen. That is essentially what digital entertainment has done with Perya-inspired games.
A familiarPerya Game can now appear through a digital interface with automated results, faster rounds, animations, and online interaction. Platforms such as GameZone illustrate this broader shift by adapting familiar Perya-related formats for digital environments.
But this is not simply a case of putting an old game on a phone or computer. Once Perya moves online, the way people interact with the game changes too.
The Perya Booth Has Been Replaced by the Interface
Traditional Perya is inseparable from its physical setting.
Players encounter games at fiestas, fairs, and temporary carnival spaces. Walking around the venue is part of the experience. So is seeing other people play, hearing nearby games, and reacting to what happens around you.
Digital versions remove that physical layer.
The interface becomes the new environment. Menus replace booths. Automated results replace some physical processes. Countdown timers can structure rounds, while animations and sound effects provide visual and audio feedback.
A 2003 research article identified event frequency, interactivity, immersion, and electronic transactions as characteristics that distinguish online gambling from traditional forms.
That creates an important difference: digital Perya is not simply traditional Perya in a smaller box. It is entertainment adapted to a different medium.
Why Game Design Matters More Online
In a physical carnival, the environment does a lot of the work.
A brightly decorated booth attracts attention. An operator guides the activity. A crowd creates energy. The surrounding noise adds atmosphere, whether anyone asked for that noise or not.
Online, developers have to recreate the experience through design.
That can involve:
Animations that emphasize game events
Sound effects that signal results or transitions
Countdowns that organize rounds
Menus that connect different activities
Automated systems that handle parts of the game process
These features do not automatically determine what players do. However, research suggests that structural characteristics of online games can be associated with engagement.
One 2022 study examined more than 43,000 online players and approximately 763,000 sessions. It found that game characteristics, particularly event frequency, were associated with the number of games played during sessions, while individual player factors also remained important.
In other words, game design is part of the experience, not just decoration.
From “One More Round” to a Much Faster Cycle
Physical Perya comes with built-in interruptions.
You might have to wait for the next round. Maybe another booth catches your attention. Perhaps you walk away for food or chat with someone. Eventually, you leave the venue.
Digital entertainment can remove some of those natural stopping points.
Research has identified continuous availability, rapid transactions, and privacy as characteristics that can distinguish online gambling environments from traditional settings.
This does not mean every player behaves differently online. It means digital platforms can make it easier to move from one round to another without the physical pauses that occur at a carnival.
That makes personal boundaries particularly important.
The screen does not know when you planned to stop. It is a screen. It has absolutely no interest in your schedule.
Social Interaction Did Not Vanish. It Moved.
One might assume that putting Perya online would eliminate the social element. Not necessarily.
Traditional Perya offers face-to-face interaction. People can watch the same game, comment on results, and share the experience with friends and family.
Digital environments can shift some of that interaction to:
Online communities
Chats
Social media
Shared digital experiences
Other network-based interactions
A systematic review of online gambling communities found that social influence, perceived norms, and community interactions can affect gambling-related behavior.
The difference is therefore less about whether social interaction exists and more about where it happens.
The physical crowd becomes a digital network.
Why Digital Perya Feels Different
Modern digital users are accustomed to immediate feedback.
Tap something. Something happens.
Finish one activity. The next one is ready.
Open a menu. Another option appears.
This expectation of speed can influence how familiar Perya concepts are presented online.
GameZone provides an example of this broader transition, with Perya-related entertainment adapted for a digital environment rather than attempting to reproduce every detail of a physical carnival booth.
That distinction matters.
Digital Perya-inspired games can preserve recognizable concepts while changing the presentation, pace, interface, and surrounding environment.
The familiar idea remains, but the medium has changed.
Responsible Gaming Gets a Digital Upgrade
Responsible gaming is relevant in both physical and digital environments.
However, online access can create different conditions. Continuous availability and faster game cycles may make repeated play easier because fewer physical interruptions stand between one round and the next.
For players, practical safeguards include:
Set a spending limit before playing.
Set a time limit with a clear stopping point.
Understand the rules of the specific game.
Recognize randomness and avoid treating previous results as predictions.
Avoid chasing losses by increasing spending to recover previous losses.
Use available player-protection tools where applicable.
In the Philippines, PAGCOR’s responsible gaming framework includes measures covering age restrictions and exclusion mechanisms. PAGCOR states that individuals below 21 are prohibited from playing and provides exclusion options for people seeking to regulate their participation.
The point is not to make digital entertainment complicated. It is to recognize that convenience changes the playing environment.
So, What Does the Future Perya Look Like?
The next generation of digital Perya may involve more than simply improving graphics or making games easier to access.
Emerging technologies could affect how games are personalized, how players interact, and how protection systems operate.
AI and Personalized Experiences
Artificial intelligence can support applications such as personalized interfaces, behavioral monitoring, recommendations, and risk detection.
Research on AI and gambling has identified personalization, predictive analytics, player engagement, regulation, and ethics as areas of growing interest.
That could make digital environments more responsive, but it also raises questions about privacy and responsible use.
Smarter Player-Protection Tools
The same behavioral data used to understand player activity could potentially support responsible-gaming systems.
A 2026 systematic review examined applications including behavioral monitoring, risk prediction, decision-support systems, and limit-setting or self-exclusion tools. It also highlighted concerns involving privacy and inaccurate risk classification.
More technology can create more tools, but it does not eliminate the need for careful design and oversight.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
VR and AR could take the digital Perya concept another step toward physical immersion.
Research involving virtual-reality gambling environments has reported greater immersion and arousal compared with conventional laboratory play. However, experimental findings should not automatically be applied to every future digital platform.
Still, the direction is clear: digital entertainment can increasingly simulate elements of physical environments.
More Community Features
Future digital platforms may also experiment with stronger social features.
Shared spaces, community interactions, and other digital tools could recreate aspects of the social atmosphere associated with traditional Perya.
The challenge will be creating social experiences without turning interaction itself into a reason for unnecessary or excessive participation.
The Carnival Experience Has Changed, Not Disappeared
The biggest change in the Perya Game is not that traditional entertainment suddenly became digital. It is that the environment surrounding the game has been transformed.
Physical Perya brings together location, people, atmosphere, and occasion. Digital versions can separate familiar game concepts from those physical boundaries and introduce automated systems, faster interactions, online communities, and new forms of game design.
For players, that means understanding both the game and the environment in which it is presented. Knowing the rules, recognizing the role of chance, and setting personal limits remain practical parts of responsible participation.
For developers and platforms, the transition presents a broader design challenge. Digital Perya needs to consider accessibility and engagement alongside transparency, responsible design, and player protection.
The classic carnival experience may no longer require a booth, a tent, or a crowded fairground. Its digital successor can live on a screen instead.
If there has been an uptick in the amount of stories concerning death recently, it might have something to do with the global peril that is constantly snaking up at us through our phones. Climate catastrophe, gun violence, fascistic regimes, scapegoating of the most fragile in our society—it’s all a ridiculous, bloody march to the end. “We’re walking on a runway going straight to hell,” Charli xcx says on “SS26,” “No hope for any of it.”
It makes sense why writers would just think beyond it all. Matthew Haigh’s The Midnight Library (2020) was a retrospective dissection of Sylvia Plath’s fig tree problem, with a woman being shown all the lives she could have left, and George Saunders’ Vigil, from this year gave its climate-corruping oil executive, K.J Boone, one last chance to admit his wrongdoing before Jill “Doll” Blaine ushers him into the afterlife. Joining this ring is Amy Fusselman’s Cloud Six, an affecting and earnest Kelly Link-ian romp where Mam and Bunko, fresh off a plane crash, arrive at the lowest rung of heaven. Frankly, it’s a little too close to hell for their comfort. “Heaven and hell are not vertically oriented,” Fusselman’s intern, Byron, interjects at one point. “They are positioned side by side, like two row houses. They share what’s known as a party wall and also a huge, beautiful backyard.”
After attending a book club that focused on a manual for moving homes rather than a friendly, simple novel, Mam and Bunko—a duo with both Kath & Kim and Lois and Peter Griffin energy—board a plane for a Connecticut vacation, and, supplied with gummy edibles, are passed out when the aircraft explodes, killing everyone on board. Mam’s daughter, Penny, a sixteen-year-old struggling through an essay on the Reign of Terror, is now under the care of Bill, her uncle who has just surpassed drinking age and is currently enrolled as a freshman at ASU. Mam and Bunko are whisked up to Cloud Six, where a demon in the form of Mam’s frenemy politely informs them that they have died, and they’re in heaven, but it’s not as nice as you’re expecting. Mam thought she’d reconnect with her childhood dog, but instead, in order to get a glimpse of her beloved Penny, she has to travel to a bodega with a bar in the back, avoiding gunmen while traveling on foot, trampling handkerchiefs swaying in the wind. It’s Dr. Seuss meets Minecraft Flatland mode, with more than a bit of absurd danger. “Why are we running?” Mam asks, dodging bullets. “Aren’t we already dead?” (Lincoln In the Bardo, Saunders’ 2017 novel, also dealt with post-life morality limbo.)
The book’s kicker is its queasy marriage of tender-hearted optimism and pragmatic pessimism. Fables are interrupted by gunshots, and Satan or Fusselman’s intern, Byron, interrupts to yank the story away, forbidding her from writing about specific topics, like hell. It is, sometimes, too eager to make a statement on gun violence, noting that the United States has had 435 school shootings since 1999. “By the time this manuscript is published, that number will be higher. Too bad we can’t do anything about that,” she writes, zinging with that oft-used The Onionheadline (‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”) There’s a lot of softly written insights of our relationship with our natural surroundings, too—in the book’s driest moments, a nonbinary plant named Gloria wiggles with Bill and Penny, or an ancient tree named Ernestine misunderstands human motivation when Mam says she’s desperate to help her child. “Don’t people want to help other people whether they are in a parent-child relationship or not?” Mam says, yes, it sounds weird, but sometimes humans don’t help other humans. “People must be very confused,” Ernestine says, a tad too much Giving Tree meets Sesame Street.
But even so, Fusselman’s jokes build on top of themselves, and her writing zips with the energy and spirit of someone having a truly good time. She’ll mold a scene to fit the fictional bar at the center of the sitcom Cheers simply because she can, craft a robust catalog of plant literature, pull from a real Quora discussion forum asking how to write a gunshot in text, or introduce the Fusselman persona just to yank her away, much like a cane whisking away an emcee, leaving their hat to spin wildly in the air after they’ve gone. She directs all concerns and questions to Byron, who can be reached at officeofamyfusselman@gmail.com. (Despite his fictional quitting later in the novel, Byron responded to my message.) In other words, Cloud Six is deeply silly. With many other books culling their sentences to pare away any emotions, it’s nice to read a novel hell-bent on making its reader feel something.
