Hello beloveds! I’m back with a new babblings podcast episode dissecting celebrity worhsip, parasocial relationships, and investigating whether art is required to be moral??? I’ve been ruminating on these thoughts for some time per usual and of course it’s timely with our noise diving economy and somehow growing consumption of celebrities. I hope you enjoy and I say this multiple times but don’t get defensive! This is about us, it’s about understanding that it’s us versus them! They will never be one of us no matter how hard they try to cling to relevancy.

xoxo,
Ali Ann

Time Stamps:

0:00 Welcome Back!
3:35 Navigating Financial Stress
7:15 RHOP Wendy Fraud Scandal
12:08 Oracle Card Pull
19:55 Current Events
20:30 Trapped In Tunisia Documentary Rec
22:34 Alaska Typhoon Halong
26:34 Pentagon Media Corp No More!
28:18 Celebrity Worship
33:26 Taylor Swift Album
37:54 Chris Brown Breezy Bowl
39:33 Unpacking Parasocial Relationships
44:40 What Is Celebrity Worship?
48:40 Money doesn’t equal Moral
01:02:01 Dystopian Future
01:04:55 Collective Understanding of Consumer Power and Increased Morality Surveillance
01:08:33 Must Art Be Moral? The Ethics of Artistry
01:15:41 responsibilities of celebrities
01:17:31 MY POINT!

Go Deeper:

Trapped in Tunisia: https://www.aljazeera.com/video/people-power/2025/10/4/trapped-in-tunisia

Western Alaska Disaster Relief 2025 Fund: https://alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=14833

Hear from Charite:

@charitieropati#climatejustice #alaska #fyp Donate here or in the link in my bio to Disaster Relief funds : https://alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=14833

In photos: Residents of western Alaska share storm damage of ex-Typhoon Halong: https://alaskabeacon.com/2025/10/14/in-photos-residents-of-western-alaska-share-storm-damage-of-ex-typhoon-halong/

Typhoon leaves flooded Alaska villages facing a storm recovery far tougher than most Americans will ever experience: https://theconversation.com/typhoon-leaves-flooded-alaska-villages-facing-a-storm-recovery-far-tougher-than-most-americans-will-ever-experience-267423

Alaska and Arctic Climate Newsletter

Journalists turn in access badges, exit Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules: https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-access-hegseth-trump-restrictions-5d9c2a63e4e03b91fc1546bb09ffbf12

Celebrity Worship References:

Why We Worship Celebrities and How It Impacts Our Mental Health: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-celebrity-worship-5219745

What Is a Parasocial Relationship?: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-parasocial-relationship-5210770

–Taylor Swift Achieves Record-Shattering 4 Million Week With No. 1 Billboard 200 Debut of ‘The Life of a Showgirl: https://www.billboard.com/lists/taylor-swift-life-of-a-showgirl-number-one-billboard-200/largest-sales-week-in-modern-era/

–Celebrity worship: friend or foe of mental health? Qualitative evidence from Ghanaian adolescents: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/02673843.2024.2371396?needAccess=true

–The association of celebrity worship with problematic Internet use, maladaptive daydreaming, and desire for fame: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6426373/#abstract1