The Brunch round-up for July 04: The week and how it made us feel

Another week. Another reason to love Dua Lipa. Her book club, Service95, has opened a physical library in Portugal dedicated to books that are banned in different parts of the world. The Manifesto Library stocks The Handmaid’s Tale, Felon, works by Salman Rushdie and more. At this point, the only thing she’s guilty of is raising the bar.

Say Piya Tu… and Gen Z imagines Asha Bhosle’s soulful voice, but dropping to a hip-hop beat. Say Dum Maaro Dum… and they think of the 1971 track, re-imagined with heavy bass. We’re loving Universal Music and Saregama’s remixes, including DJ Duo MadStarBase’s renditions. Yes. Ajeeb Dastan Lofi Chill Mix is a thing.

The Koreans have given us dramas, pop, lip stains and cheese-pull bread. And what have we given them? Party Smart herbal capsules, apparently. In their booming hangover market, the Indian supplement dominates. OK. This needs to be in a K-drama plot twist.

Some men only understand grand gestures. So @AskAF***Boy, which operates in NYC, will deliver a giant red flag to a toxic dude on behalf of a female client. The whole thing is filmed, including the guy’s acknowledgement of his ghosting, cheating or cheap tricks. Men think it’s a badge of honour, though. Watch them miss the point entirely.

K-pop fans work hard, but Chase Infiniti works harder. She is such a hardcore Ateez stan, she manifested herself getting married to all eight members of the boyband in their music video, Bad. They gatecrash her wedding and try to win her over. We’re so impressed, we’re not even jelly.

A new study of 3.8 lakh songs confirms what your Spotify Wrapped showed already: Pop music, over the decades, has slid down the moral slide. Lyrics deal more and more with cheating, anger, degradation and disgust than care, connection and decency. Male artists are more likely to sing about harm. Join the chorus or skip it entirely, folks.

Microdrama alert! The Insta page @LowBattteryPeople features a stop-motion-animation style couple going through everyday life – arguing about who snores more, who needs to do the chores, where to sit in a restaurant. It’s AI. It’s 10-second episodes. But it feels more real than our relationships. If we’re MIA, it’s because we’re in bed with Jane and Paul.

Head back to Norland Park. A Sense and Sensibility movie adaptation is coming. Emerald Fennell is not involved, praise be! And Daisy Edgar-Jones is playing Elinor Dashwood (previously immortalised by Emma Thompson). She already nailed one beloved book adaptation as Marianne in Normal People. Also, she has the opposite of iPhone face. 10/10 casting. No notes.