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\n Related: <\/span>Introducing the New Us Weekly! EIC Dan Wakeford Explains All<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tWelcome to the all-new Us Weekly. I\u2019m Dan Wakeford, your editor-in-chief, and I\u2019ve spent the last three months thinking about how to make this iconic American brand \u2014 the print magazine as well as the website \u2014 even better. My journey began by listening to you, our valued readers. I discovered that there are many [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
As well as being a huge fan of BTS<\/strong> \u2014 the first K Pop act to go truly global \u2014 Kim is also something of a Swiftie, and says that this helps him feel more immersed in US culture; yes, keeping up with celebrities can give us a wider world view too!<\/p>\nBut don\u2019t just take one (very, very smart) man\u2019s word for it \u2014 there are many other reputable academics who\u2019ve come to the same conclusion. A new study <\/a>by researchers at Stanford and the University of Maryland found that gossip can be good for you, discovering that talking about other people for around an hour a day resulted in more cooperative behavior. Perhaps it\u2019s something to make your boss aware of next time they\u2019re concerned that too much watercooler chat in the office is affecting productivity? On the contrary, it\u2019s how we get things done as a team!<\/p>\nThe truth is, as humans, we\u2019re uniquely privileged to be able to indulge in gossip. According to Yuval Noah Harari<\/strong>\u2019s groundbreaking book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind<\/em>, homo sapiens \u2014 that\u2019s us! \u2014 are such social animals that gossip is key to our survival. If you don\u2019t chat to your peers about who hates who, who\u2019s sleeping with who, who tells the truth and who often lies, how do you know who to trust about the important stuff, like where the lion is hiding? Gossip is social currency, and those who don\u2019t indulge in it risk being excluded from the circle. Leave that group chat at your peril; you could get swallowed by a wild animal (or just miss the memo on vacation plans.)<\/p>\nWe\u2019re big fans of the podcast Sentimental Garbage<\/em><\/a>, in which author Caroline O\u2019Donoghue<\/strong> interviews great writers, artists and comedians about \u201cthe culture we love that society can sometimes make us feel ashamed of\u201d \u2014 and that\u2019s a culture that\u2019s often gossipy! On one recent episode, London Times<\/em> journalist Elizabeth Day<\/strong> shared her deep obsession with The Real Housewives<\/em> franchise, and on another bestselling author and Schitt\u2019s Creek<\/em> screenwriter Monica Heisey<\/strong> ranked the relationships in Love Actually<\/em>. Sounds trivial? Sure, but trivial can be crucial. The great minds on Sentimental Garbage<\/em> know that human relationships \u2014 which are almost always at the center of any good piece of gossip, whether it\u2019s about Jennifer Lopez<\/strong><\/a> or Jenny from Marketing \u2014 are literally essential to the survival of humanity. Emotional intelligence is worth just as much (maybe more) as being book smart, and celebrities and the art they create can teach us a lot about what makes people tick. Yes, we\u2019re saying that reality shows are a form of art. Not sorry!<\/p>\n\n\n\nThank You!<\/h3>\n
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But don\u2019t just take one (very, very smart) man\u2019s word for it \u2014 there are many other reputable academics who\u2019ve come to the same conclusion. A new study <\/a>by researchers at Stanford and the University of Maryland found that gossip can be good for you, discovering that talking about other people for around an hour a day resulted in more cooperative behavior. Perhaps it\u2019s something to make your boss aware of next time they\u2019re concerned that too much watercooler chat in the office is affecting productivity? On the contrary, it\u2019s how we get things done as a team!<\/p>\n The truth is, as humans, we\u2019re uniquely privileged to be able to indulge in gossip. According to Yuval Noah Harari<\/strong>\u2019s groundbreaking book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind<\/em>, homo sapiens \u2014 that\u2019s us! \u2014 are such social animals that gossip is key to our survival. If you don\u2019t chat to your peers about who hates who, who\u2019s sleeping with who, who tells the truth and who often lies, how do you know who to trust about the important stuff, like where the lion is hiding? Gossip is social currency, and those who don\u2019t indulge in it risk being excluded from the circle. Leave that group chat at your peril; you could get swallowed by a wild animal (or just miss the memo on vacation plans.)<\/p>\n We\u2019re big fans of the podcast Sentimental Garbage<\/em><\/a>, in which author Caroline O\u2019Donoghue<\/strong> interviews great writers, artists and comedians about \u201cthe culture we love that society can sometimes make us feel ashamed of\u201d \u2014 and that\u2019s a culture that\u2019s often gossipy! On one recent episode, London Times<\/em> journalist Elizabeth Day<\/strong> shared her deep obsession with The Real Housewives<\/em> franchise, and on another bestselling author and Schitt\u2019s Creek<\/em> screenwriter Monica Heisey<\/strong> ranked the relationships in Love Actually<\/em>. Sounds trivial? Sure, but trivial can be crucial. The great minds on Sentimental Garbage<\/em> know that human relationships \u2014 which are almost always at the center of any good piece of gossip, whether it\u2019s about Jennifer Lopez<\/strong><\/a> or Jenny from Marketing \u2014 are literally essential to the survival of humanity. Emotional intelligence is worth just as much (maybe more) as being book smart, and celebrities and the art they create can teach us a lot about what makes people tick. Yes, we\u2019re saying that reality shows are a form of art. Not sorry!<\/p>\n You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\nThank You!<\/h3>\n