Have you watched the trailer for Bradley Cooper’s remake of “A Star Is Born”? Cause 10 million other people have– mostly, I would argue, to gain some insight into the real stars pretending to be other stars. The remake co-stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, who reportedly was also an obsessive director, leaving no detail untouched. And it’s set to be a hit. Some critics think it could be up for all five big Oscars this year. Of course that implies great execution, but I’d also argue that nostalgia is at play in our curiosity, as is some seriously on-the-nose casting. Bradley Cooper himself is sober star, and Lady Gaga’s face implies a meteoric rise. Showings start on Friday, so until then we’ll have to content ourselves with some highlights from the soundtrack, which, yes, feature both Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga singing. Curious indeed.

Last week, Amanda Hess did another beautiful job of putting to print how we were all feeling, this time about instagram “experiences.” Her account of pop-ups like the Museum of Ice Cream, the Color Factory, “Human’s Best Friend” (that’s a dog one) sums them up as well-lit hellscapes, heavy on lines and devoid of meaning. What she breathes between the lines is that, in an age of instagram-as-accomplishment, we spend an awful lot of time in the world both waiting and doing ridiculous things to add the perfect destination shot to our instagrams, whether standing on a chair to shoot our food or waiting hours for a scoop from a notorious ice cream shop. What codified “experiences” do is to expose how fundamentally absurd these pursuits are, distilling an entire experience (no quotes this time) to waiting to photograph the same thing all the people in line ahead of you just did. So maybe, at their best, these things serve as a wakeup call for the instagram-obsessed. But maybe that’s too optimistic.

All this on the same week the instagram founders stepped down. Sure, they’re both under 35, have been working on this for ten years, and could use a break followed by an eventual new challenge. But as instagram takes on yet another phase of its life far beyond them, their departure feels more like looking up, dusting off their hands, and saying, “all right, our work here is done.”

Now that it’s October, I feel comfortable telling you that Urban Outfitters is selling a $150 instagram-influencer Halloween costume this year. Spooooookyyyy.