STARGIRL

The scroll always stops for Miss Victoria Paris! In this Feel Good episode, we explore Victoria Paris’ explosion onto the cultural consciousness and how she became the playbook of how to blow up on TikTok. We reminisce about her early content (inventive workout GRWMs, death by Stairmaster, Suede Brooks, her obsession with her “low ass,” etc.), trace her style and lifestyle evolution, examine the backlash over her spending, weight loss, and 24/7 approach to streaming, and fawn over her cute ass girlfriend Nico <3 Plus: the expectations of NYC vs. LA influencers, why Sabrina Carpenter is not a Stargirl, and why I legitimately get depressed every time a creator I adore leaves New York… LOVE YOU VP thanks for always keeping the Glint alive <333Book a free consult call to learn more about personal training with me & join the waitlist!“Sabrina Carpenter Is Glad You Like Her Sexual Content” Mel Ottenberg in InterviewSydney Sweeney original STARGIRL episode“Victoria Paris Wants to Big Brother Her Life” Emily Sundberg (!!) in Interview (2021)“Chasing Boys with TikTok Princess Victoria Paris” Brock Colyar in The Cut (2021)Victoria on Avery Woods’ podcast (2025)TenFour jewelry Victoria Paris “What I would wear to work if I was a flight attendant” (pause on facial expression when she wheels in the suitcase) “It Must Be Nice to Be a West Village Girl” Brock Colyar in The Cut (2025)Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York (2021)

*Full episode on Patreon*Happy end of Summer! In this month’s letter, I offer my observations on the only cultural conversations that have captured my attention in 2025: New New Spirituality & Overall Metaphysical Vibes: Astrology’s mounting cultural importance, the craze around this year’s 8/8 portal, wavy ranch-y fashion, psychedelics, the non-toxic movement, push toward natural fibers, etc. The Politicization of Fitness: The growing interest in fitness is accompanied by a certain strain of panic about the “dark side” of a cultural value around health, fitness, and the body. Plus, the binary of Body as Machine vs. Body as Garden and how you can tune inward to sensation before exploding outward from neuroses…The Mythos of the Modern Conservative Women: I’ve been fascinated by the media’s obsession with “defining” and “understanding” the modern conservative woman. What’s going on here?Then, I give an update on my capital-h Healing Summer and invite you into a fall of spaciousness, routine, and uber clarity… Links:Gabi (sigh swoon) on 8/8 portalSTARGIRL Ep. 39 where I predicted this metaphysical folkloric return“Pop’s Prosperity Gospel: How Addison Rae Ushered In a New Spiritual Style” Biz Sherbert in AnOther Mag“Zen and the Art of Being Jennifer Aniston” Julie Miller in Vanity Fair “2024 was the year of the Chad” Angelica Frey interviewed me about physique posting for Fast Company “Is Pilates Political?” Calum Marsh in the New York Times “Getting Fit is Great — But It Could Turn You Into a RightWing Jerk” Zoe Williams in The Guardian“Can President Trump Run a Mile?” Zach Helfand on the return of the Presidential Fitness Test in the New Yorker“Demin, Dating, and Conservativism: Inside a ‘Make America Hot Again’ Party” Mandy Taheri in NewsweekSydney Sweeney for Bai Coconut Water… why

This week we’re joined by Kaila Yu, author of the new book Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty.Kaila tells her story: from growing up in Southern California idolizing pinup models to working in the import car scene to appearing in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and touring internationally with the girl band Nylon Pink. We discuss the concept of the Asian fetish as it exists in pornified mass media vs. real-world relationships, its roots in American military occupation, and the genesis of the ABG trope, influence of Stargirl Sung Hi Lee, Sam Rockwell’s monologue from White Lotus, and more. Kaila also shares her ultimate dissatisfaction with performing an object of desire, how she got sober, and how she’s re-inhabited her body after decades of alienation from it. Big thank you to Kaila for all that you shared <3 Buy Fetishized at your local bookseller and follow Kaila on Instagram and TikTok!

Welcome to the first installment of my newest episode type, Client Testimonials, where you hear directly from my incredible personal training clients about their experience working with me as a coach.This week we hear from Miss Meghan, a true dream client based in Austin, TX. Meghan shares her full glow-up story: moving beyond her lifelong junk food habit, getting out of chronic pain, losing weight and lowering her blood glucose levels, building comfortability in the gym, feeling better naked and in her clothes, all while consistently building strength. We also discuss the perspective shifts inherent to a devotional gym routine: We debunk the idea of “fitness culture” as a bland normie influencer zone (it’s actually an earnest and sensual freakshow), explore how it feels to anchor yourself to a new definition of glamour more rooted in health, and discuss the agency and liberation that comes from calorie awareness (no, learning what you’re putting in your body doesn’t have to be a neurotic, restrictive, isolated hellscape). Thank you to Meghan for your time and all that you shared <3***Announcement:***Interested in personal training with me? I am currently running a Back-to-School promotion — my first ever — for early access on Fall 2025 spots. Here’s the 4-1-1:Receive 15% off any package when you sign by September 1stLimited spots available for a September or October 2025 start dateThis means you could save up to $300If you're interested, book a consult call with me — we’ll discuss your goals, exercise/injury history, and my current offerings, and see if it’s a fit to work with each other. Hope to see you in the gym soon!

This week we tackle ingénue Margaret Qualley with the help of my friend and the writer/trend forecaster Holly Friend. We analyze Margaret’s recent re-introduction as an explicit sex object (The Substance, her Bond Girl potential, etc.), and the many intertwined celebrity dramas that make up her myth. We explore her ugly duckling origin story, insistence on her own girlishness, luminous elven beauty, infamous lip bite, and career ambitions, and dive into the Dream/Threat latent in her marriage and creative partnership with Jack Antonoff. Subscribe to Holly’s new Substack Recurring Character and follow her on IG!Discussed:Margaret Qualley alter ego “Lace Manhattan” releases new musicLena Dunham on Girls Rewatch podcastBlonde Margaret hamming it upMargaret’s infamous Kenzo World campaign“Lights! Camera! Margaret!” profile in i-D (2025)“Margaret Qualley is a Maverick in the Making” AnOther Mag (2022)W Mag photoshoot with Margaret and Mikey Madison (2020)Margaret Qualley Once Upon a Time in Hollywood TikTok edits“Crush” Rachel Antonoff SS14 campaign“Tiny Moves” Bleachers music video (2024)

*Full episode on Patreon! Join the STARGIRL Patreon for access to exclusive content <3 *I often get asked how to "increase" or "find" your inner Stargirl. I don't think that's something you can engineer (we feel it when it's over-produced), but I do think there are concrete ways you can strengthen your sense of self by living more on-purpose. In this month's letter, I reflect on the top 5 things I believe have improved my confidence and allowed me to live more freely: getting in shape, developing a conscious relationship to drugs & alcohol, taking pride in my most important relationships, tuning out the voices/discourse/hot-button issues that don't actually interest me, and finding my voice by using my voice. As I always say, it's gonna get weirder before it gets less weird <3 Cheers to a lifetime of learning to trust yourself <3

Happy Addison Week! In this special episode we return to the original Stargirl Miss Addison Rae to review her debut album Addison, out last week. We talk audiovisual worldbuilding, heavy-handed references, her first real live performances, plus the attendant media rollout, Internet hysteria, and collective impulse to claim that we saw her first. We also circle back to the Artist vs. Muse debate, and I argue that her uniquely uncomplicated portrayal of her own sexuality has the power to heal internalized misogyny in 2025. We end on the question, “How does watching Addison make you feel?” and hear some responses from listeners from “little girls playing mermaids” to “embodied sensual force.” Hell yes!*Subscribe to the STARGIRL Patreon for access to exclusive episodes and more!*Discussed:STARGIRL episodes: Addison Rae Part I (May 2022), Addison Rae Part II (December 2024)Podcast interviews: Popcast, Zane LoweAddison by Caroline Tomkins for the NYTAddison profile in ELLEAddison album reviews: Pitchfork, the New Yorker“Body Doubles and Aquadisease” Nymphet Alumni

Lauren Kanski is the founding coach on Ladder, a strength training app that offers progressive overload training in a variety of modalities. In the five years I’ve followed her on Instagram, Lauren has had a tremendous and direct influence on my life: from getting me curious about the kettlebell to connecting me with leading voices in the health and fitness industry to inspiring me to embark on a career in fitness myself. She is a real-life Stargirl and was born to lead. In this episode, we discuss Lauren’s unique path in the fitness industry (from pre-med to teaching yoga to grinding as an Equinox trainer to founding one of today’s leading fitness apps), her tough love attitude as a coach, why calorie awareness is vital to long-term weight management, and her journey with sobriety, her marriage, and her faith. Huge thank you to Lauren for this beautiful and heartfelt episode. <3 !Follow Lauren on Instagram and join team Body and Bell on the Ladder app

This week we’re joined by internet sensations Amelia and Evan of Girls Rewatch podcast to discuss Lena Dunham, two years after we first knighted her as an original Stargirl. We discuss Lena’s work and life post-Girls (Sharp Stick, her new show Too Much, and her marriage, chronic illness, and perma-hibernation mode) and assess the past 10 years of self-conscious scripted comedy (White Lotus, Broad City, Fleabag, Sex Lives of College Girls, Severance, Insecure, And Just Like That, etc.). We also analyze Gen Z’s reclamation of Marnie and reminisce about the Dream of mid-2010s creative Brooklyn advanced by the best TV show of all time. Listen to / watch / follow Girls Rewatch podcast, and follow Amelia and Evan <3Links:STARGIRL Episode 12: Lena Dunham Part I (2022)Sharp Stick Lena’s movie from 2022Too Much, Lena’s forthcoming show“Lena Dunham’s Change of Pace” Rachel Syme in The New Yorker (2024)

This week we travel back in time 100 years (!) to meet Edna St. Vincent Millay, girl poet and emblem of 1920s Greenwich Village bohemia. We are joined by the writer (and my former professor) Kate Bolick, who wrote extensively about Millay in her 2015 book Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own. We discuss Edna’s passionate free spirit, her tragic end, and the self-renewing Dream of writerly collaboration in downtown New York. More importantly, we discuss the age old question of how to build a sustainable life as a woman artist — how to define “meaning” vs. “noise” for yourself, and how to live it out with poise.Discussed:Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own, Kate Bolick (2015)“All the Single Ladies” Kate Bolick in The Atlantic (2011)Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Nancy Milford (2002)“How Fame Fed on Edna St. Vincent Millay” Maggie Doherty in The New Yorker (2022)The Long Winded Lady (collection of essays by Maeve Brennan in The New Yorker)

*Full episode on Patreon*This week we go long on the evolution of Julia, the woman behind the cult YouTube channel Itsblitzzz. We reflect on the many lives she’s lived in her 15+ years online: DIY T-shirt reconstruction guru, yatted nightlife star, Los Angeles ASMR artist royalty, full on mommy blogger, and more. We also explore her fans’ somewhat nihilistic but understandable grief over the fact that she no longer represents a scene kid cultural underbelly, the line between being a Cool Loner and plain agoraphobic, and what you lose / gain as you grow up and life gets smaller.

Welcome back to the next episode of The Body Series, where we go deep on all the best STARGIRL themes: embodiment, warring conceptions of “health” and “fitness,” and what a “mind-body connection” looks like in practice.Today we’re blessed by Sasha Hanway, a coach on the Ladder app and a certified personal trainer, yoga teacher, breathwork and meditation coach, and holistic nutrition coach. We go Back to Basics mode: the importance of building and maintaining muscle as you age, why progressive overload is the most effective way to train, why people tend to overcomplicate nutrition, and how all of this plays a role in the current metabolic crisis we face in the United States.Sasha also shares her experience navigating social media as a fitness influencer, her duty to share reputable studies and research, and how to find trusted voices in the sea of online fitness content.As a former college athlete, Sasha has always loved movement, but it was progressive overload strength approach combined with deep core work that truly transformed her body. She’s on a mission to help women shift their mindsets to take up space and be bold: to nourish themselves and fall in love with their bodies and movement. Her program ALIGN, found on the Ladder app, blends mindfulness, strength, yoga, mobility and deep core work, and has helped thousands of women transform their bodies and their relationship with exercise. Sasha is also a recreational runner, surfer and lives in the PNW with her husband, stepson, and rescue cat Baby Ru. Follow Sasha on IG and work out with her on Ladder!Links:“Fitness startup Ladder comes for Peloton for allegedly copying their app” Sarah Perez, TechCrunch (2024)Other voices I love on these topics: Lauren Kanski, Kelly LeVeque, Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. Casey Means, @GlucoseGoddess, @feelwellbyannaBook a free personal training consult call with Emma! (Note: I am not currently accepting new clients, but feel free to get in touch and I’ll add you to the waitlist!)

This week we delve into the relentless and perverted mind of Catherine Breillat, the French filmmaker and novelist who has disturbed audiences for 50 years. Broadly consideredcinéma du corps,Catherine’s movies explore the grotesqueness of sex and the body, depraved sexual longing, petulant, manipulative, and erratic women, and fraught and often violent sexual encounters.In this episode, we explore Breillat’s ability to craft characters we can’t stand, invert the expected power dynamics between men and women, and engender such a visceral response from her audience. We also review her many capital-c Controversies and discuss how her insistence on women’s manipulative tendencies works so well in art and… less well in real life. Plus! More on Ripe / Dead psychology, a rant on Margaret Qualley from Holly, and a rave on Eileen Kelly / @killerandasweetthang from Linnea Grace. Mentioned:STARGIRL Episode 50: The Body Series with Eloise Skinner CRUSH Rachel Antonoff SS 2014 short (Margaret Qualley prototype foreshadowing…) Movies by Catherine Breillat:A Real Young Girl(1976),36 Fillette(1988),Romance(1999),Fat Girl(2001),Sleeping Beauty(2011),Abuse of Weakness(2013),Last Summer(2024)“Catherine Breillat’s Unselling Cinema of Desire” Victoria Uren (2025)Catherine Breillat’s response to allegations of sexual misconduct“State of Grace: Catherine Breillat on Last Summer” interview with Grace Byron inScreen Slate(2024)

This week we go back to basics and investigate what one of the world’s hottest young women has to teach us about our own self hate (!). We revisit the classic STARGIRL paradigm of Ripe vs. Dead and examine the latent Threat of Dead beauty, and traverse Lily-Rose’s metaphorical potential as a descendant of Hollywood Royalty, ready and willing sex object, and generational leader in her own right.We also revisit our conversation about the simultaneous crumbling of and longing for trusted institutions via a few current events: the LA fires and David Lynch’s passing, the TikTok ban fakeout, and President Trump’s inauguration. Plus! A Rave on classic and beloved Stargirl Sky Ferreira, from Helen <3Discussed:Addison’s Rolling Stone cover storyKelela new music (?) announcementLily-Rose Depp on the Happy Sad Confused podcast“Extremely Overanalyzing Hollywood’s Nepo Baby Boom” New York Magazine (2022)Lily-Rose Depp provided pale skin brown nipple representation on screen discourseThe Power Notebooks, Katie Roiphe (2020)

*Full episode on Patreon* Today we travel back in time to the early 2010s and delve into the moody, mysterious soundscape of Kelela, the singer and dance music producer who soundtracked my early twenties. We explore her evolution from Muse to a handful of forward-thinking, UK-based producers to an Artist in her own right, why she stands above the scores of more famous Alt R&B artists (FKA Twigs, Solange, SZA, Tinashe, etc.), and the ways she’s employed more Narrative Control in recent years by explicitly defining her audience and who she will and won’t work with. We also check in on the Club — the rules of it, who it is and isn’t “for," and whether or not it's meaningfully alienating... anyone in 2025. PLUS! This episode features exclusive voice notes from my husband, weirdo music nerd, and former club kid, David <3 Mentioned: Kelela interview with Tanya Bunter (2023) Raven review/profile in NYT (2023) Interview in Dazed(2022)

Happy New Year! In this episode of The Body Series, I share my entire fitness journey: Growing up as a ballerina to college weight gain, inactivity, and depression, finding weightlifting and getting my sh*t together, getting injured, experimenting with different styles of training, and eventually becoming a personal trainer.  I also explore the various mindsets and motivations I’ve had with working out, examine online fitness content vs. IRL gym culture, and opine on how we could make the gym feel sexier with different tropes, narratives, and interior design :) I believe that getting fit is a site of huge personal transformation. Doing so completely changed my identity, helped me build self trust, and even made me a stronger and more original thinker.  I have a few more 1:1 personal training spots open for both in-person (NYC) and virtual clients. Book a free 30-minute consult call with me to learn more! If you’re into these ideas, check out the following: The Body Series with Dr. Cameron Yuen The Body Series with Jordan Castro My guest episode on Nymphet AlumniMy interview in Fast Company on the rise of body-centric imagery in consumer products

Happy Holidays! In this Christmas Special, we enter the timeless, charmed world of Dame Julie Andrews and my favorite movie of all time, The Sound of Music. We explore how Rodgers & Hammerstein evolved and elevated the musical as a form, the grand folk ideal of Maria von Trapp (vs. the self-conscious twee heroines of the 2010s), the actually-very-adult lessons of The Sound of Music, and the Dream / Threat of Unassailable Goodness.  My word for 2025 is Majestic — see you there ✨ Discussed: The Sound of Music (1965) “Audrey and Her Sisters” Wayne Koestenbaum in London Review of Books (1997) Julie Andrews on Julia Louis Dreyfus podcast (2024) “Maria von Trapp: The Preeminent Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Sophie Gilbert in The Atlantic (2015) Zendaya X On Running in the Alps

*Full episode on Patreon* To celebrate the end of a wild year, we’ve got a special, 2-in-1 episode for y’all: First, Addison Rae Part II: A return to the crux of the STARGIRL project. I delve deep into my ever-evolving, sort of twisted relationship with Addison Rae and reflect on how, when I first intercepted her in 2020, she alerted me to how far I had strayed from what I actually valued and wanted in my life. This is STARGIRL theory of the universe at its best: When we let our fixations be a guiding light, rather than something to repress or indulge ironically, we shed layers of cope and allow ourselves to actually emerge and evolve. Then, we look back at the dominant STARGIRL conversations of 2024: Spirituality, Health and Fitness, Feminine Caricature, and Nostalgia for / Mistrust of Institutions. Of note: the return to New Age dirty hippie vibes; animal based diets; the revived interest in fitness and athleticism; Brat; “Aquamarine,” modern dance, and Lexee Smith; Wicked, the totally delegitimized “arbiters of health,” Luigi….. And more.  Plus, Rants / Raves on Emma Chamberlain (c/o @tuylor) and Scout Dixon West (c/o Madeleine). Discussed: “As Time Goes By” Saint Laurent video starring Addison Addison + rude reporters at Vanity Fair Oscar Party (2022) “Grottocore” Daisy Alioto for DIRT (2024) “The Architect” Kacey Musgraves as Gwyneth in famous Goop cover Ballerina Farm feature in Evie magazine  “Aquamarine” music video Horton technique trending sound on TikTok

This week we welcome Miss Biz Sherbert and traverse the personal and cultural impact of Scarlett Johansson, perhaps the greatest sex symbol of the 21st century. We discuss the allure of pre-cultural fragmentation Hollywood, the coveted spot of Box Office Megastar X Indie Darling, and how the earthiness and wit that ScarJo pioneered got transmuted into a sarcastic hyper-relatability a la Jennifer Lawrence (shiver). We also explore what makes ScarJo distinct among the hoards of perky blondes we roll our eyes at (Reese Witherspoon, Blake Lively, Cameron Diaz, etc.), and question if a ScarJo “lineage” is even possible.Biz Sherbert is a writer with a focus on image-making, the internet, and identity. Follow Biz on Instagram and listen to Nymphet Alumni!Discussed: Ariana Grande and Michelle Yeoh being weird af at the 2024 Oscars ScarJo on Letterman at age 13  Anywhere I Lay My Head, ScarJo’s musical debut (2008) Scarlett Johansson Is the Sexiest Woman Alive, Esquire (2006) Scarlett Johansson Is the Sexiest Woman Alive, Esquire (2013) scarlett johansson shutting down sexist comments for 5 min straight ScarJo on the Goop podcast Scarlett Johansson Summons Her Superpowers, Gentlewoman (2021)Isaac Mizrahi Groped Scarlett Johansson at the Golden Globes in 2006  

Happy Thanksgiving! This week we investigate the Queen of Home Arts, Martha Stewart herself. We get inside the late ‘80s suburban decadence of Martha Stewart Living, and examine the Dream / Threat of Northeastern WASP-y frigidity. We also situate Martha in a lineage of STARGIRL domestic goddesses (Gwyneth Paltrow, Alison Roman, Ballerina Farm), explore the weirdness of transforming the Home into a stage, and reflect on who we “inherit” domesticity from in our modern era.  Discussed: *Announcement: Emma is accepting more 1:1 personal training clients! Book a free consult call here. Martha, Netflix documentary (2024) “The Promises Martha Stewart Made — And Why We Wanted to Believe Them,” Joan Didion in the New Yorker (2000) Set of Martha Stewart Living on the famed Turkey Hill Road Martha’s banana bread recipe – the best! “The Making of Book 100” The Martha Stewart Podcast (2024) The 2024 Alison Roman Thanksgiving Special