The Interview Editors Cast Their Predictions for the 2020s

As we say goodbye to the 2010s and look upon a brand new decade, we can’t help but wonder what the future will bring us. Will the 2020s bring about another decade of Mariah? Attorney General Kim Kardashian West? A complete collapse of societal norms? Talking plants? No one can say for sure who are what will shape the landscape of pop culture in the years to come, but below, our editors take their best guesses.

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EVALENA LABAYEN, EDITORIAL INTERN

“I predict that the emo aesthetic will make a huge comeback. Face jewelry, thick-ass eyeliner, and doing unspeakable things to our hair. Timothée Chalamet is bound to start wearing his bangs over one eye. Also, using garbage as fashion. I see Flamin’ Hot Cheeto bag earrings and hanging an old Marlboro carton around the neck. Call it extreme recycling.”

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SARAH NECHAMKIN, DIGITAL EDITOR

“Just as the 2010s saw the unthinkable revival of early-aughts Y2K culture (flip phones, velour, reality television stars as tastemakers and presidents alike), so too, by the basic laws of evolution, must the 2010s themselves be immortalized in the pop cultural space-time continuum. What exactly will that look like? Let us never forget that the 2010s brought us the dominance of the ‘Venusian fertility cult in the Valley’ widely known as the Kardashian clan; the cat as cultural icon; the traveling internet as a replacement for social gatherings; millennial pink; thirst traps; the Valencia filter; begging for celebrities to violently harm you; teeny–boppers–turned–artistes; the downfall of French cool; the torrential downfall of Mark Zuckerberg; the rise of shuffleboard; the death of direct customer service; and the bias toward vegetables over every source of protein. Cue the Weeknd and get out your Snap Maps: it’s gonna be major.

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BEN BARNA, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

“Adam Sandler, Oscar nominee.”

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ERNEST MACIAS, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

“Kim Kardashian opens her eponymous law firm: KFreedom. Kylie Jenner drops a single featuring La Rosalía, dominating the charts for several years as the song of the summer: ‘Rise and Hot!’ Thongs peeking over low-rise jeans at clubs become the norm. Micro-influencers start making more money than regular influencers. The 2010s make a comeback via radio waves: Adele, Rihanna, Kesha, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna (again). Pop lives another decade.”

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CONOR WILLIAMS, EDITORIAL INTERN

“Federal marijuana legalization, an embarrassing resurgence of flapper fashion, and, barring a graffiti rebellion, the complete aesthetic takeover of subway ads by lifeless startups.”

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MARK BURGER, DIGITAL EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

“Grimes, Thom Yorke, and a hologram of Prince release an album made up entirely of sounds beyond the range of human hearing, which is nominated for Best Album at the Grammys, but loses to Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande’s joint Netflix docu-series. Beyoncé is named as the cultural ambassador and viceroy of Mars. And on New Year’s Eve 2029, a 150-foot-tall totem of Baby Yoda is launched into space containing the collected knowledge of the human race while the earth burns.”

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NICK HARAMIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“Remember when predictions for the year ahead used to be fun and not totally terrifying?”