Why Everyone Feels Slightly Unreal Right Now
When the simulation stops feeling like one
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There is a strange feeling to the present moment, and you've felt it. Not the grand paranoia of conspiracy, but something more ambient: the sense that your feed is slightly ahead of you, that the video you're watching might be generated, that your own memories of online and offline life are beginning to blur into the same emotional register. This is not a glitch. This is hyperreality – and in 2026, it is the world we live in.
There was a time when I could easily tell, on Pinterest, which rooms were real and which had been artificially generated. Now I’m no longer so sure. (The room above, by the way, is not real.) The difference has not merely narrowed; it has dissolved. What once felt like imitation now feels indistinguishable from the thing itself.
LAST TIME /at hyperreality
Not an Update, Exactly
Small moments, a few photos, and where I’ve been lately
A meandering wander through my thoughts and days – a series of snapshots from errands, meetings, and romantic trysts: spicy tequila cocktails in new wine bars, the faded pink edges of tulip petals, sunshine on skin at last, and more…
READER POLL /best time to send?
We’re testing send times—what works for you?
THE WEEK /in brief
Are you a really bad photographer? If so, Icelandair might just cover all your travel expenses for a 10-day trip – plus pay you $50,000 for your lack of skills.
LVMH has posted its worst first quarter on record, with shares plunging 28% amid mounting geopolitical pressures and a broader slowdown across the luxury sector.
Two rare paintings by Claude Monet, unseen for over a century, are set to headline a major Sotheby’s Paris auction this spring.
Le Labo marked their twentieth anniversary with the release of a new book, bringing together personal essays, reflections, photographs, and thoughtful musings that capture the lessons they’ve learned and the values that define their craft.
A new exhibition at The Bowes Museum offers a fresh lens on Vivienne Westwood, drawing on a superfan’s extensive private archive to reframe the late designer’s legacy.
Below, for paid subscribers, the essay continues – exploring how Baudrillard’s theories illuminate the strange unreality of 2026.