I remember a time years ago when staying up-to-date on trends and culture was easy. I was a social-savvy millennial and simply spending much of my time on the internet was enough to spot new trends, consistently consume the latest viral content and ultimately, inform my clients with thorough POVs on what was relevant. As adulthood responsibilities took over and my media diet changed, I’ve become far less cool and have to work harder to keep up with the latest in culture, entertainment, and business. With the vastness of the internet today and the proliferation of content, sources, and platforms, my secret weapon has become my email newsletter strategy.

I let experts curate the content and everything is served directly to my inbox in the form of links and brief descriptions, allowing me to digest the latest and click through to go deeper on what I choose. I strive to protect time every day to get through my newsletters instead of sending them straight to the trash in an effort to clear my inbox. Staying consistent with this requires you to be protective of what newsletters get your loyalty. When crafting your newsletter strategy, liberally give out your email address to try new ones but be a savage with the unsubscribe button if you’re not finding the content useful. Here are the newsletters that have earned their place in my inbox by giving me everything I need to stay relevant and nothing I don’t.

As a leading authority on Gen Z and Millennials: today's tweens, teens, college students, young adults, and young parents, YPulse offers up a daily email that is a good mix of interesting stats on the demographic and what’s resonating with them lately.

From the folks at Big Spaceship, this daily email features a list of links to the latest viral content on social, as well as pop culture events of the day. Arguably my favorite because there’s always a nugget or two that will make me laugh.

The intelligence unit for Wunderman Thompson offers up provocative thinking that focuses on identifying shifts in the global zeitgeist. Their weekly email highlights fascinating, emerging topics and trends with digestible examples, typically ones I haven’t seen featured elsewhere yet.

This daily email features a robust digest of insights into pop culture, entertainment and business. They start with links to viral content across social platforms, feature 2-3 deeper dives on a trend or category, and wrap up each email with a curation of links to interesting stories from around the web.

This intelligence consultancy on Millennials and Gen Z chooses one cultural trend per day and elaborates on it with a handful of relevant links and examples.

A random but thoughtful curation of purely interesting links around the web across topics.

A daily newsletter with over 1.5 million subscribers featuring commentary and analysis on the latest in business and tech. They’ve stood out and grown quickly with their bold and authentic voice. Every Sunday, they offer up a long-form deep dive into one category or topic.

Delivered every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Marketing Brew is a comprehensive, more traditional marketing newsletter featuring news about platforms, trending campaigns, and links to case studies and tactical tips.

Sent weekly, Contagious’ email is a source of inspiration featuring insights into great campaigns from around the world.

A newsletter on the consumer economy—what we buy, why we buy it, and why it all matters—written with Vox’s trademark consumer-friendly language and pop culture savvy with some really excellent investigative journalism.

If you’ve made it this far and are still grumbling at the thought of adding more to your inbox, I hear you and will offer up one more tip. Most email clients have a “rule” feature in which you can move emails from defined senders straight to a seperate folder, bypassing your inbox, for you to read later. Here are instructions for Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail. I hope this list makes you a little smarter and a little less lost when a teenager in your life is suddenly into Sea Shanties.