What we've been up to.

Your roommate was supposed to be your first friend. Your seminar was supposed to be where the rest came from. For a lot of students, neither of those things happens — and the reason isn't you, it's structural. Here's why making friends in college is harder than high school, and how music turns out to be the cheat code.

You opened TikTok, and the feed already knew you. Within 40 minutes, it built a behavioral profile you can't change. This is how the algorithm actually works — and why TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube don't just reflect your interests anymore. They shape them.

You played the song 50 times. Loved it the first 30. Then something changed, and now you can't bear to hear it. There's a name for what your brain just did — and it's the same reason TikTok hooks get stuck in your head, whether you want them to or not. Here's the science of why music burns out faster than anything else.

The 10 songs at the top of your playlist will let a stranger predict your personality, your emotional state, and even who you're likely to fall for. Music isn't just what you listen to — it's the most honest profile of yourself you've ever made public. Here's the science of what your playlist actually reveals.