This page did not load. You can still read it on the original site — the toolbar below keeps your place in the directory.

Hello!

When this newsletter hits your inbox, you’re either just back in your office or maxing out the last days of the holidays. No matter what, your brain is ready for new and fresh insights.

The Strategic Accidents office reopened yesterday and is as always back with a brand new playlist for the season ahead.

During the holidays, I was a part of Elias Betinakis’ advent calendar (read more about it below). You can find a compilation of all the posts here.

INSIGHT DOWNLOAD

The most interesting things I’ve read, seen, thought about, or debated the last two weeks. High and low.

WORK LIFE FUN. My contribution to the Advent Calendar was that in an era of optimization, we need to remember the power of having fun at work in order to create extraordinary results. I was not the only one pushing this narrative. It was based on something this newsletter has covered intensively – “Condé Nostalgia”. A quote from (former The New Yorker and Vanity Fair EIC) Tina Brown on why this nostalgia is happening now – “I think it’s because this was when work was so much fun. It’s like all the fun has come out of work”. Culture seems to agree. SSENSE argues that relentless optimization has made “useless things” the new luxury. FeedMe predicts 2026 will be the year of “the party reporter.” Fashion is forecast to get louder, bolder, and frankly, more fun. Maybe it’s a coincidence that this week's newsletter is predominantly centered around the funnier side of things.

OFFLINE RESOLUTIONS. Is your New Year’s resolution to go offline more often? Then you’re not alone. According to Dazed, 2025 was the year the internet imploded due to slop and “enshittification” (digital platforms degrade user experience over time as they shift focus from users to advertisers and profit, leading to decline). This drives people towards digital detox, which seems to have real health benefits. Brick – a physical gadget blocking apps on your phone has become incredibly popular. The fashion world has recovered from pushing NFTs into pushing “unplugged” experiences. The last Feed Me of the year asked its readers, “What did you do when you felt the most offline?” Scared to go completely offline? The latest craze among influencers is “boredom” – sharing content of themselves doing nothing to regain your attention span.

SMOKING SIGNALS. I wrote about the return of smoking a while ago, and the romanticization of smoking is evolving. A guy in NYC went viral for inviting people to smoke a cigarette together in a park, and 2,000 people showed up. Someone texted me that an espresso bar on Western Södermalm is handing out free cigarettes. The @cigfluencers account on Insta is up 20% on followers since I last covered the topic in June. But smoking isn’t just back. It’s aspirational again (between 2023 and 2024, smoking in movies was up 41%). Brands even use it in their marketing. Sensual Sports (a sex toy brand owned by Emily Oberg – predominantly known for selling “wellness” branded sweaters) decided to shoot their gold vibrator in a Marlboro Lights pack. Happy Golfer is using cig packs to push their “3 Putt Round The Golf Addiction Tee Pack”.

EUROPEAN RE-START UP. Europe has recently woken up to the fact that it’s lagging in terms of startups. However, the continent might be plotting a return and creating a new movement. According to this LinkedIn post, Europe delivered 75 unicorns in 2025 (60% increase from 2024). Stockholm, Manchester, and Munich are leading the way. Stockholm’s founders have been pushing the “Silicon Valhalla” narrative for a while. European governments want to get out of U.S.-led tech companies but are failing. However, the German region of Schleswig-Holstein is replacing Microsoft Software with open source. EU-INC is a startup-led proposal to create a new pan-European legal company form. A single, EU-wide corporate entity that founders can use instead of setting up separate national companies in each EU member state. Scaling Europe is a newsletter dedicated to Europe’s startup scene. Roughly a year ago, Berlin-based fund Cherry Investments set out to create a European tech giant, and Project Europe aimed to back Europeans under 25 to make the next tech titan. My aim is to dig deeper into this topic during 2026.

DRINK AND DRESS. Do Stockholmers need a drink to shop for new clothes? Morjas has had a well-designed espresso bar in its store for a couple of years. When Eytys relaunched, they did so with an espresso bar (run by Lilla on Hornsgatan) inside their store. Viri is a new luxury clothing store and mocktail bar at Stureplan (they stock brands such as Jil Sander, Ami Paris, and Thom Browne).

RISE OF THE MARKETING LIFESTYLE INFLUENCER. Something that has slowly taken over my feed is the opposite of people posting private stuff on LinkedIn: the Instagram and/or TikTok marketing influencer. The first to pop up was Eugene Healey, who shares cultural insights by speaking into the camera, classic TikTok style. Camille Moore is a brand strategy authority, and Oren John posts all things creative direction. There is also a set of Instagram accounts that cover the latest marketing trends, with posts styled like a lifestyle magazine. Some of my faves include @gradgirlmarketing, @becauseofmarketing, @prettylittlemarketer, @tatumbrandt, @joingirlsclub, and @peoplebrandsandthings. Do you want to stay on LinkedIn but keep the social vibes? Follow Edmond Lau, famous for his “Luxury Memes” on the corporate social network. I think the most interesting takeaway here is how our platforms constantly evolve and how the corporate world is merging with the lifestyle world.

POPULAR CLASSICS. I wrote about the resurgence of classical culture earlier. But that is only half the truth. It’s not just a return of classical culture, but also an appropriation of classical culture by pop culture. Traditional portrait painting is back among pop stars such as Charli XCX and Lily Allen (check the album cover for West End Girl), as well as other celebs. Christopher Nolan is releasing his version of The Odyssey in July. This pushes the interest in classical culture further. Book sales are down in Sweden, but according to Adlibris, sales of classics are up. Every Tuesday, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm hosts free evenings teaching people skills such as watercolor painting, and crocheting. A push from influencers has led to long waiting lines outside. New Yorkers? They’re heading to Philosophy Club.

NEW MEN. Is men’s sexuality going post-Andrew Tate? I don’t get that vibe by watching the latest MAFS Australia season or my X feed, but other intel suggests it might be so. Kult magazine highlights that people named Jonathan Bailey – a man who is soft, present, and open – is the man of the year. Popsugar reports on a set of ”girly guys” including influencer @tevistuff who “documents the ‘feminine-inspired outfits’ he wears to his corporate tech job outside Salt Lake City”. According to dating app Feeld, heteroflexibility is the fastest-growing sexuality. Things might also be changing in the bedroom. The same report from Feeld claims more men wanted to be pegged in 2025. According to Pornhub’s 2025 year in review, searches for “femboy” hit the top 10 among straight people for the first time.

DIRTIER MARTINIS. The Martini has been the new Negroni for a while now (every bar in Stockholm is using the Bobo Drajja glass). But if you thought it was naughty enough to make it a dirty martini, you might have been wrong. Both FeedMe and Food52 report on the return of the Pornstar Martini. I visited the new Italian restaurant Tosto before Christmas and tried the “Martini Della Stella” – their take on the pornstar martini. Since then, I’m all in.

ANTI SOCIAL MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA. We have stopped posting on social media and instead follow celebs and brands. Instagram is now giving “Facebook energy”. This has opened up a new set of social media spaces. Dazed lists five social media platforms that are actually social, including Perfectly Imperfect. Silicon Valley veterans Biz Stone and Evan Sharp (of Twitter and Pinterest, respectively) have launched Tangle – “a new kind of social network, designed for intentional living”. Monnett is a European-made social media platform “designed for humans”. This made me think that it’s just basic market dynamics that when the incumbents deviate from the core consumer need, new challengers that bring the product back to basics get the opportunity to steal market share.

PEAK PINT? Humans' 10-million-year love affair with booze might be ending and partly replaced with other functional drinks. We have reached “peak wine” – drinking is down across the world, and it has hit wine the hardest since it’s also facing competition from RTD cocktails and hard seltzers. Alcohol consumption is now at a record low in the UK. Primarily driven by moderate drinking rather than teetotalism. Even the corporate happy hour has taken a hit. This might be bad for us, at least according to The Economist, which claims that reduced alcohol consumption will lead to weaker financial results for restaurants, increased loneliness, and less innovation. Also, Elle argues that wellness culture has made us less social, and The Globe and Mail argues that we need to party more.

NICHE SUBSCRIPTIONS. Puck has written a report on the future of media. I find two things incredibly interesting. Subscriptions (instead of advertising as now) will be the biggest revenue driver. The focus will be on niche verticals rather than broad general-interest audiences. We have seen a long-term shift from click-oriented advertising-supported media to quality publications, actually increasing their subscription numbers, so this completely makes sense.

WILD WEST VIDEO. Why are all TV shows and movies right now about people in cowboy hats? Is it the world or just my algorithm? Hunting Wives blew the internet. Eddington is incredibly hyped. The Lowdown is one of the best series I’ve seen lately. Country music and western shirts have been everywhere the last couple of years. Is this just the next evolution of the same trend?

SLEEPY LUXURY. According to Forbes, eight hours or more of sleep a night was the new ‘flex’ of 2025. Leading to increased sales of supplements, high-tech wearables, and even sleep tourism – “the art of travelling with the goal of improving your sleep”. Good sleep was also one of the most prominent beauty status symbols of 2025. Air Mail reports on the sleeping habits of the ultra-rich, including circadian-tuned private jets, $5,000 smart mattresses, and luxury hotels and resorts that provide sleep experiences. There is no surprise that the fashion world is also jumping on the sleep bandwagon.