Best Of: Jia Tolentino on plastic surgery & AI / ‘Beef’ creator Lee Sun Jin
August 8, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readThe Face as a Product: Jia Tolentino on the New Era of Invisible Plastic Surgery
In her 2019 essay "Trick Mirror," Jia Tolentino coined the term "Instagram face" to describe the algorithmic beauty ideal that had converged on a singular look: lifted cheeks, plumped lips, bigger eyes, a heart-shaped chin. Seven years later, she tells Fresh Air's Tanya Mosley, that face has evolved into something stranger and more consequential. "There seemed to be something that's dovetailing with the age of AI," she says. The new era of cosmetic enhancement is no longer about obvious alteration but about invisible, almost supernatural transformation — and it's quietly changing not just how we look, but our relationship to reality itself.
From Instagram Face to the Invisible Facelift
The original Instagram face was the product of injectables — Botox and filler — that produced an obviously altered look. The Kardashians were the clearest example: you could watch their faces change in real time. But the procedures themselves were "fundamentally non-violent," Tolentino notes. A little needle here, back to the office there.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:15) **Introduction to Guest Jia Tolentino** - Host Tanya Mosley introduces the episode's two segments: New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino on plastic surgery and AI-altered beauty standards, and Beef creator Lee Sung Jin on his new season.
- 2 (04:29) **Defining "Instagram Face" Then and Now** - Tolentino explains the original concept of "Instagram face" as an algorithmically-shaped beauty ideal that converged on a singular look among influencers.
- 3 (08:02) **The New Aesthetic: From Obvious to Invisible Procedures** - The beauty ideal has shifted from obvious alterations (like the Kardashians' changing faces) to "invisible" facelifts that produce supernatural-looking results.
- 4 (12:42) **Break for Sponsorship Messages** - Advertisements for Viking, 20th Century Studios, Made In Cookware, and Leesa mattresses.
- 5 (13:40) **The Anti-Human Turn in Beauty Standards** - Tolentino explains how current beauty standards feel more explicitly anti-human than ever before, dovetailing with AI's influence.
- 6 (17:35) **Mar-a-Lago Face and Political Contradictions** - Tolentino discusses the "Mar-a-Lago face" as a distinct aesthetic that flaunts its disconnect from reality, mirroring political disconnection.
- 7 (22:10) **Parenting in an Age of Anti-Human Beauty Standards** - Tolentino shares a personal anecdote about explaining to her five-year-old daughter why getting a phone would be harmful.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Also, we hear from Lee Sung Jin, creator of the Netflix series Beef. The second season is a story about class and blackmail at an exclusive country club. He talks about how he has pulled ideas from his own life, and his experience working in writers rooms as the only Asian person.
Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new erotic comedy I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde.
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