it’s a jet2 holiday summer.
Brat summer is cooked, but at least we’ve got a jaunty meme.
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Perhaps I spoke too soon when I declared just last month that perhaps Brat summer would last forever. Charli XCX is now a wife, marrying her boyfriend George Daniel (hereby to be referred to as George XCX, naturally) in a “low-key” London Town Hall wedding over the weekend and Charli’s own confidant and creative director, Terrence O’Connor, just declared succinctly what kind of a summer we’re actually having instead.
“It’s a Jet2 holiday summer,” O’Connor said on his latest cultural digest TikTok. “It’s a Jet2 holiday summer whether you like it or not. Most things from the past few weeks or even the past few months can really be bucketed under that label.”
Some of the events O’Connor went on to argue epitomize the Jet 2 holiday summer are the cheating C-suite employees caught on the Jumbotron kiss cam at the Coldplay concert, Trump supporters coming to terms with the president’s many ties to the Epstein files, Gen Z’s embrace of the Gen Z stare, and “stomp, clap” pop music—see Alex Warren’s “Ordinary”—predominantly from straight white men returning to the top of the charts
“It’s not clocking to you that it’s not brat summer anymore,” he adds. “It’s better not to fight it. The water’s warm, jump right in.”
In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, I want to thank you for your patience and also congratulate you for being offline enough that the algorithm can’t find you. To put it simply, Jet2 is a U.K. travel company that offers budget-friendly (think: Spirit Airlines) vacation packages typically targeted to families. A 2022 commercial featuring an upbeat voiceover actress singing the praises of these Jet2 holidays over the equally animated chorus of Jess Glynne’s electro pop song “Hold My Hand.” The original commercial looked like this:
And the videos using this audio—usually depicting some sort of travel-related calamity happening in real time—look like this, this, or this. In fact, the phenomenon is so powerful that even DJs are dropping the audio at the club, resulting in screams of delight. The woman responsible for the voiceover, Zoë Lister, has even been brought on stage to perform the iconic audio live (yes, I’d have to agree that it’s getting a bit out of control).
It seems like everyone I talk to these days is pretty much at the end of their rope. We’ve been protesting in the streets and writing and calling our representatives, and yet the horrors continue to persist. We’re applying for jobs and still just getting met with rejection emails that aren’t even written by a human. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is still on his weeks-long European honeymoon and Elon Musk’s AI data center is emitting so much pollution it’s making nearby residents extremely sick.
These are just difficult times for so many reasons and, as The Guardian just argued, we don’t even have a song of the summer anymore to all disassociate along to anymore.
Shit’s bleak but I’m trying to get through it just by embracing the silliness of it all, as a means of survival. Here are some things that, even through all the Jet2 holiday vibes, have been bringing me immense joy lately. Let me know yours—or nominate your personal song of the summer 2025!—in the comments below.
The DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center’s Facebook post documenting its journey of successfully rehabilitating two abandoned sandhill crane colts and one injured adult crane
Three-hour blocks (commercials included!) of HGTV circa the year 2000 on YouTube
Meg Stalter’s entire press tour for Netflix’s Too Much
Meg Stalter’s pandemic-era Cameo videos resurfacing on TikTok
Will Sharpe’s British GQ photo shoot for Netflix’s Too Much
TikTokers Terry and Kaniyia’s reaction to Fleetwood Mac’s “Silver Springs” performed live in 1997 from the live album The Dance (forever iconic)
The Progressive Porch Geese People Facebook group (the main group was starting to get a little MAGA-y)
John Waters’ speech at Mosswood Meltdown in Oakland: “We’re defiant in the face of semi-approved demigods.”
Drinking the best margarita of my life at Devon’s Complaint Dept. in Davenport, Iowa
The luscious flower beds at my local Culver’s — they’re so good they got a shoutout in the town’s “What’s Happening” Facebook group
The spinach feta empanada at Complimentary Cafe in Skokie
Weed gummies
Sierra Ferrell finishing her gorgeous set at the Capitol Theatre in Davenport, Iowa in the street after someone pulled the fire alarm, causing the venue to be evacuated just before the encore
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SONG OF THE RIGHT-NOW
You really should just watch the clip above of Sierra Ferrell singing her take on “Me and the Bobby McGee,” but if you’re looking for a little something more, how about a bit more Sierra? There’s truly nobody doing it quite like her right now with her blend of folk, Americana and bluegrass and it was a huge privilege to get to witness her sharing her tremendous gift live in Iowa last week. If you ever have the chance to see this woman perform live, you should absolutely take it. Here’s another cover from Sierra’s repertoire, of John Anderson’s “Years.”
Those years
Everybody knows you gotta let 'em go
And they kinda roll by like tears
Just a measure of time
Playin' with your mind, passin' you by, those years
I’ve been watching seasons of Love Island Australia and there’s some good stuff there
the way I was JUST THINKING ABOUT THE CULVER FLOWERS!!!!