The Best Version of Yourself 💪 Symposihmm #2

Over the past decade or so, the self-help industry has made the leap from books to online with a rise in gymfluencing, wellness guru culture, and all sorts of coaching. Under the auspices of “becoming the best version of yourself”, there is an endless treadmill of influencers and online communities who are ready to teach you how to eat, work towards a passive income, and Svanasana your way to sure success.

But who decides what the “best” is exactly? And are you being offered actual alternative paths to happiness and self-actualisation, or just newly enmeshed ways of conforming to the status quo?

With our second Symposihmm, we explore three areas of so-called self-optimisation: physical, financial, and spiritual. Expect deep dives and slow takes on looksmaxxing, the appropriation and commodification of wellness, hustlepreneurship, manifestation, and more.

🎃 As this event takes place on Halloween, we encourage you to come dressed up as the best (or worst!) version of yourself!

Afternoon programme session — 15:30 – 16:30

15:30 – 16:30, Our Dope Future reading session (content warning in accessibility note below)

• With Annie Goodner, a writer, critic, and educator, we’ll discuss Our Dope Future, a short story from Tony Tulathimutte’s Rejection written in the form of a fictional Reddit / forum post by a homeschooled hustlepreneur who fumbled his relationship and sanity. Annie will lead a conversation about both the style of the story, as well as the substance. We’ll discuss questions like: how does your own internet or online literacy impact your reading of the story? Is it a cautionary tale, a realistic portrayal of a kind of masculinity, pure satire?
  Please note that we ask you to read the 19-page text in advance, which we will share prior to the session.

✦ Start of simultaneous livestream of hybrid programme ✦

Afternoon programme talks — 17:00 – 18:30 

17:00 – 17:10, Opening lecture by The Hmm

17:10 – 17:50, Conversation with Fariha Róisín

• Fariha Róisín in conversation with The Hmm programmer Margarita Osipian about wellness culture and their book Who is Wellness For, exploring the appropriation and commodification of wellness cultures.

17:50 – 18:30, Conversation with Mair Underwood

• Mair Underwood in conversation with The Hmm programmer Sjef van Beers about the impact of online body building and fitness culture.

✦ Break, 18:30 – 19:30 ✦

• 😋 The one and only Toko Nani will be selling dinner during the break! Enjoy delicious Indonesian food at the NDSM Theater before the start of our evening programme.

Evening programme — 19:30 – 22:00

19:30 – 19:45, Performance lecture by Eleni Maragkou

• There Are No Girls on the Internet, Everyone on the Internet Is a Girl: a Morning Routine in 7 Easy Steps

19:45 – 21:30, Talks and panel discussion with Günseli Yalcinkaya, Silvio Lorusso, and Melis Baş

•  On three online types of self optimisation: physical, financial and spiritual.
  • Günseli Yalcinkaya on looksmaxxing and physical optimisation.
  • Silvio Lorusso on online characters such as Hide the Pain Harold, Patrick Bateman and Maicol Pirozzi, a parody of the “fuffaguru”, the Italian hustlepreneur.
  • Melis Baş on hijacked critique and radical conspiracism in the womanosphere.

21:30 – 22:00, Performance lecture by Ötza

• A rewriting of narratives by Ötza, a 5300-year-old cryodesiccated fanfiction writer from the Neolithic time period.

📅 Date: Friday 31 October 2025
🕗 Time: 15.30 – 22.00 CET
📍 Location: NDSM Theater and our custom livestream
🎟 Tickets: Various categories from €7,50 to €27,50. Student and livestream tickets available ✨

♿ Accessibility notes and content warning
The NDSM Theater is located on the ground floor. Unfortunately, there is no wheelchair-accessible toilet and the bar is located on the first floor. During the event we can provide live closed captioning for those with hearing impairments and disabilities. Please reach out to us via info@thehmm.nl, at least 3 days before the event if possible, if you are joining on-site and have this access need, so that we can reserve a seat for you within view of the screen with captions. If you are joining online via our livestream, live captioning will be available as one of the streaming modes.

The story we’ll read and discuss in the reading group is about an all-round aggravating white man who starts a psychologically abusive relationship.

💪 The Best Version of Yourself is a full-day programme hosted by The Hmm, a platform for internet cultures, taking place at NDSM Theater on Friday 31 October 2025. Expect talks, performances, workshops, and more. This second-ever Symposihmm will dive into the intersecting worlds of physical optimisation, wellness culture, looksmaxxing, and hustle culture, how they manifest, and are perpetuated online. It is part of This is Who You’re Being Mean To, The Hmm’s broader 2025 year theme, exploring gender expression online.

💚 This programme is kindly supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL, het Cultuurfonds, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, and the Nieuwe Instituut International Visitor’s Programme.