Heaps Good Digital Round Up: 18 September

Pop culture bumper edition

The past week has seen some pretty seismic events in the world of pop culture. This week’s edition of the Heaps Good Digital Round Up will focus on trends in pop culture and crossovers in technology that have shaped, and are shaping our world.

That’s Hot - Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and the end of an era

Love them or hate them, Paris Hilton and the Kardashians defined modern celebrity culture, took control of the news cycle and spearheaded trends that are ubiquitous social media today—selfies, life announcements, filters, product launches, memes, gifs, endorsements and more.

This week the Kardashians have announced the end of their reality show, and Paris Hilton has released a tell-all documentary on Youtube. What comes next?

• Is this the decline and fall of the Kardashian empire? (Buzzfeed)

• Paris Hilton on Her Revealing New Documentary: “I’m Not a Dumb Blonde. I’m Just Really Good at Pretending to Be One.” (Vogue)

And a look at some of the most influential artists and movements that you never think about, or have never heard of.

• Enya Is Everywhere (Pitchfork)

• Touch This Skin, Darling: Paris Is Burning Turns 30 (Refinery29)

• Why Jordan Brand is, finally, paying attention to women in streetwear (Input Mag)

What’s Next

What the hell is Vtubing? And other trends in tech.

• Pokimane’s Vtubing Twitch stream has everyone talking (Polygon)

• 7 New Gadgets Perfect for a Pandemic from IFA 20 (Tech Radar)

• We’re closer to holographic meetings than you think (Vox)

• Tidal and Oculus want to make home concerts a (virtual) reality (Input Mag)

Tech For Good

There’s nothing I love more than a good tech x NFP collab - here are some notable examples from the past week.

• 'Animal Crossing' and The Trevor Project launch clothing to support LGBTQ players (Mashable)

• How this man is using a video game to help refugees (CNN)

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Tell me what you like about this edition of Heaps Good Digital! I won’t tell anyone what you said, promise.

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New Releases

• New test lets some people view Instagram stories directly through Facebook (The Verge)

• Here’s a recap of everything Apple announced at its September event (Wired UK)

• Peloton announces new cheaper treadmill and pricier Bike Plus (The Verge)

• Minecraft gets PlayStation VR support this month (Eurogamer)

• YouTube officially announces TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts (Mashable)

• Sony confirms PS5’s first-party launch lineup and free game upgrade plans for PS4 titles (The Verge)

• Amazon Music adds podcasts, including its own original shows (Tech Crunch)