This week on The Deep Dive: The bad news is self-improvement is a lie but the good news is self-improvement is a lie, why every Disney Channel outfit in the 2000s consisted of at least 3 layers, piracy may be a crime but no reasonable person would compare it to stealing a car, some people’s idea of utopia apparently includes bumper-to-bumper traffic, and the dating-advice-to-manosphere-to-realizing-the-manosphere-makes-no-sense pipeline.

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CULTURE

The Myth of Self Improvement by Sisyphus 55 (12:48)

Nothing quiets a post-9 pm intrusive thought like Sisyphus 55 and this week, we’re talking about self-improvement – you know, the habits that are supposed to make your life better? In this video, Sisyphus 55 teaches a philosophy lesson about how self-improvement burns us out, traps us in a cycle of “shoulds,” and can literally make us sick of ourselves. If you remember Alivia D’Andrea’s story from a few newsletters ago, this video might help connect the dots behind the secret dangers of the never-ending quest to be “better.” Fortunately, there is a way to avoid the self-improvement trap and it involves spontaneity and losing yourself in the present moment. I guess this means it’s finally time for me to stop running from my fear of meditation!

TV

why were disney channel outfits so ugly? by amandamaryanna (20:36)

It’s the question those of us who grew up watching Disney Channel in the 2000s have been asking ourselves for years – what on god’s green earth was going on with those outfits? The short answer is purity culture. The long answer is this video, in which amandamaryanna provides a much-needed explanation for all that layering that may seem bizarre in hindsight, but actually makes sense within the context of Disney’s brand and the often otherworldly themes of the network’s TV shows. Coming off our culture’s late-90s obsession with the virginity of burgeoning pop stars, there was only one logical conclusion for the following decade: purity rings. And let me tell you, Disney took those little pieces of metal and RAN with them. It was either that or be like Nickelodeon.

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