My Internet: Emily Sundberg
The director and Feed Me writer likes commercials.
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.
Most weeks, we quiz a “very online” person for their essential guide to what’s good on the internet.
Today we welcome the writer and director Emily Sundberg, whose newsletter, Feed Me, covers culture from a business angle. Her first film as director, The End, is about America’s oldest privately-owned island. Emily likes getting the party started on LinkedIn with hot photos and swears and is in a few Facebook parenting groups not because she has kids, but because she is nosy. —Nick
EMBEDDED: What’s a recent meme or post that made you laugh?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Almost everything that snookijwoww.fans posts. There was something magic about that show and how it captured a very specific kind of summer energy. Today there would be so much less makeup and so many more phone chargers.
EMBEDDED: What shows up on your TikTok For You page?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I don’t really use TikTok.
EMBEDDED: Do you make TikToks? What format works best for you?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Barely.
EMBEDDED: Do you still tweet? Why?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Yes. It gives me an opportunity to start conversations that I usually continue over on my newsletter, and I also tweet because I think I’m funny. It’s a nice gateway drug for people who might subscribe to Feed Me one day, or meet me one day.
EMBEDDED: Have you found any good alternatives to Twitter? Do you have on opinion on Threads?
EMILY SUNDBERG: No, I’m not going to use Threads.
EMBEDDED: What do you use Instagram for?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I only use Instagram Stories right now. I took all of my posts off my feed a few months ago because I felt overexposed—I post daily selfies on the top of each of my newsletters. I use Stories to drive traffic to my letter, share magazine stories that I write, and post photos and videos
EMBEDDED: Where do you tend to get your news?
EMILY SUNDBERG: This is the number one email I get! I don’t like sharing how I gather news.
EMBEDDED: How do you keep up with the online discourse? How important is it to you to do this?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Same as last answer, the formula has to stay secret for my newsletter to work. It’s immensely important for me to keep up with online discourse—Feed Me is a resource for people who want to stay up to date on a wide array of news from all different corners of the internet. If I can’t provide this service, the letter is useless.
EMBEDDED: What’s the last strong opinion you had about a story, topic, or controversy online?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I didn’t like the stickers they put on my phone camera at Frog Club, a buzzy new restaurant that opened in New York last week. Here’s an excerpt from my newsletter in case you don’t subscribe:
Back to the stickers, why doesn’t Frog Club trust me to be cool? I figured out how to get a reservation on their fourth dinner shift (well, my friend did, and she invited me). I’ve been to my fair share of dark restaurants filled with people I recognize from the internet, and lunches at yacht clubs where cutoff shorts and phones aren’t allowed. This isn’t my first rodeo—I’m not going to bring a ring light to their establishment. The sticker on the camera says to me, “What happens here, stays here, but we know you’re also going to post a photo of the sticker to let people know you came here.”
EMBEDDED: Where do you usually discover or learn about online trends?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Sources stay on lock.
EMBEDDED: How do you find recommendations for what to watch, read, and listen to?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Sources stay on lock. Again, I’m running a business and the second I completely give away my formula, my letter is less my letter. I will say, I have a really big social network and about a dozen category-specific group texts.
EMBEDDED: What are your favorite Substack or other independent newsletters?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I enjoy Natasha Stagg’s newsletter
I recently went to lunch with a few students from Yale who read my letter, two of whom started newsletters of their own. Go read Arden and Jackie’s letters (Ad Hoc and
), they’re awesome writers and are using Substack in a very intimate way … almost like a written extension of how they share on Instagram.I like how my friend Teddy writes about politics and the state of entertainment on
.It’s rare that I feel a sense of *discovery* on shopping newsletters lately—everything feels quite algorithmic and tailored to bring in revenue for the writer. I spent a lot of my 20s drifting in and out of Harling’s content, and I’ve really been enjoying her newsletter
. She also has a lot of tips and tricks, which takes more effort than just linking cool clothes! has only published two interviews since launching her letter a few weeks ago, but both have been refreshingly entertaining and intimate. She asks great questions, a lost art if you ask me.
EMBEDDED: Do you have any favorite media company newsletters?
I read Andrew Sorkin and Matt Levine’s letters every day, and have been for many years. They’re masters of their craft.
I’m intrigued by what New York Magazine is calling a “pop-up newsletter”—a letter that lasts the length of its topic, like a season of Succession or Love is Blind. One wouldn’t make an entire Substack about Succession, but you might want to engage in the topic heavily while the show is on (and maybe during awards season).
Newsletters are an incredible medium, and most brands (media and otherwise) haven’t spent the time harnessing the way they should be. I think that will change this year.
EMBEDDED: What’s one positive media trend? What’s one negative trend?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I get scared that people who post house tours or photos of their homes are going to get robbed.
I have concerns about Substack for some reasons, but I hope it pushes influencers to learn how to write and expand their language, which is a good thing.
EMBEDDED: Are you into any podcasts right now? How and when do you usually listen?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I work alone, so I like to listen to a lot of podcasts and music to fill the room. I like Otherworld, Eyewitness Beauty, Founders, and I listen to a lot of Barstool podcasts. Sorry.
EMBEDDED: Have you had posts go viral? What is that experience like?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I’ve had a few No. 1 stories on New York magazine, including the ones about milk and Shoppy Shops.
EMBEDDED: Who’s the coolest person who follows you?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I don’t want to out them.
EMBEDDED: Who’s someone more people should follow?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Keith McNally writes about New York in a way that satiates me.
EMBEDDED: Which big celebrity has your favorite internet presence, and why?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Probably Martha Stewart.
EMBEDDED: Have you ever been heavily into Snapchat? Do you miss it?
EMILY SUNDBERG: No.
EMBEDDED: When was the last time you browsed Pinterest? What for?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Last week, looking for ’70s cocktail bar matchbook references.
EMBEDDED: Do you have a take on Tumblr?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I think I was really skinny in high school because I just laid in bed all day and spent time on Tumblr.
EMBEDDED: Are you in any groups on Reddit, Discord, Slack, or Facebook? What’s the most useful or entertaining one?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I’m in a few parenting Facebook groups for my neighborhood in Brooklyn. Don’t have kids, I’m just nosy.
EMBEDDED: How has using LinkedIn benefitted you, if at all?
EMILY SUNDBERG: A lot! Because of what I write about, I can tag businesses of all sizes and have them engage in the conversations. I like bringing hot photos and swears to LinkedIn and getting the party started.
EMBEDDED: Do you use Slack or another chat tool for work? What’s the best thing about Slacking with your co-workers? What’s the worst thing?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I don’t, but I did when I worked at Meta! I loved being able to share links and songs and news stories, I hated getting those 9 p.m. notifications that would start with “Don’t worry about this until tomorrow!” but you always worry about before tomorrow.
EMBEDDED: Do you typically start searches on Google, Reddit, TikTok, or another source? Have you found Google’s “generative AI” summaries helpful?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Reddit! I haven’t used Google’s Generative AI.
EMBEDDED: What most excites you about AI chatbots and text and art generators? What most concerns you?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I don’t think about them much.
EMBEDDED: Are you currently playing any console, computer, or phone games?
EMILY SUNDBERG: No. I play poker IRL.
EMBEDDED: Do any of your group chats have a name that you’re willing to share? What’s something that recently inspired debate in the chat?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I have a chat called Lay Off The Wine with a bunch of old coworkers which was inspired by something someone told them to do at a dinner. We recently debated whether a restaurateur we all know should start a CPG brand.
EMBEDDED: What’s your go-to emoji, and what does it mean to you?
EMILY SUNDBERG: 🧺, signifying coziness and ❤️, because I shower everyone with love all the time.
EMBEDDED: Do you text people voice notes? If not, how do you feel about getting them?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Yes, usually first thing in the morning to my best friend while I’m walking and I know she’s at her desk. I send more in the winter when my fingers are cold from texting. I don’t mind receiving them but I take longer to respond to them.
EMBEDDED: What’s a playlist, song, album, or style of music you’ve listened to a lot lately?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Country. Morgan Wallen has become my comfort music. I want to go to Tennessee for a weekend this summer and be shown hospitality by a bunch of cowboys so badly.
EMBEDDED: Do you pay for a music streaming service, and if so, which one? When was the last time you bought a music download or vinyl record, CD, or tape?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Spotify. Last time I bought music was in middle school when I used iTunes.
EMBEDDED: If you could only keep one streaming service for TV and/or movies, which would it be, and why? In general, do you prefer to get ads or pay more for ad-free tiers?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I like commercials. I think I have to say Peacock so I could have Housewives, my beloved.
EMBEDDED: What’s your favorite non-social media app?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Dunkin and CitiBike.
EMBEDDED: What’s the most basic internet thing that you love?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Clearing history.
EMBEDDED: Is there any content you want but can’t seem to find anywhere online?
EMILY SUNDBERG: After all the recent Vice news, I really wish they had a digitized archive. They don’t.
EMBEDDED: Do you regularly use eBay, Depop, or other shopping platforms? What’s a recent thing you’ve bought or sold?
EMILY SUNDBERG: I don’t sell anything on them because I have never figured out how to efficiently do the at-home packing thing.
I recently bought a bunch of men’s magazines (Esquire, GQ, Playboy) from the month and year my boyfriend was born on eBay.
EMBEDDED: Have you recently read an article, book, or social media post about the internet that you’ve found particularly insightful?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Nothing in this piece was novel, but I thought it was an extremely well-put piece about what a lot of us think all the time. If you’re reading this letter, your life is probably dictated or influenced by social media in one way or another. If you have time, I suggest reading through the comment section and then going for a walk.
EMBEDDED: What’s the last thing that brought you joy online?
EMILY SUNDBERG: Photos of baby possums on their moms, and I really like using the New York Times TimesMachine to read how luxury wellness and spa writing has changed over the years.
Thanks Emily! Subscribe to her newsletter, watch her film, and check out more of her work here. 🧺
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