Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Frisco (place) 1 — Dallas suburb mentioned in context of demographic changes and South Asian immigration

PSLF (concept) 1 — Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that forgives student loans for government workers after a certain period

Lisa Frank (person) 1 — Brand/artist known for colorful, whimsical designs referenced in nostalgic description of horse girl aesthetic

The Studio (film) 1 — A show starring Seth Rogen that was recommended but criticized for Rogen playing himself

This Is Spinal Tap (film) 1 — 1980s film that parodied degrading album artwork with 'Smell the Glove', referenced in analysis of Sabrina Carpenter's a...

Man's Best Friend (album) 1 — Sabrina Carpenter album with controversial cover art analyzed as representing zoomer culture's simultaneous irony and si...

Radical Zoomerism (concept) 1 — A cultural phenomenon characterized by holding contradictory beliefs simultaneously, both ironically and sincerely, exem...

Ménière's disease (concept) 1 — Inner ear disorder that Ryan Adams claims causes him to have seizures from flash photography during performances

r/ProtectAndServe (place) 1 — Subreddit criticized for consistently justifying police brutality regardless of evidence

Sleaford Mods (album) 1 — A band whose music videos attract comments from working class British fans nostalgic about feeling young again.

Casey Neistat (person) 1 — A filmmaker who got his start in NYC's mumblecore/DIY scene and made daily videos about the downtown NYC DIY grind menta...

White Stripes (album) 1 — A band that inspired DIY music recording efforts in the mid-2000s.

Beck (person) 1 — A musician whose first album inspired DIY music recording efforts in the mid-2000s.

Mongol Empire (concept) 1 — A historical empire that became the subject of bedtime podcast listening for a couple discussing topics like the fall of...

Caesar (person) 1 — A historical figure planned to be the subject of the next podcast series for a couple's bedtime listening routine.

Democracy Now! (place) 1 — A media platform where Norman Finkelstein and Alan Dershowitz had a famous confrontation.

I Want You (She's So Heavy) (album) 1 — A song cited as one of the truest depictions of male horniness in all media.

Darwin Awards (concept) 1 — A Reddit phenomenon representing peak redditism, characterized as a half-assed understanding of something vaguely scient...

Narcissistic dating pattern (concept) 1 — A psychological pattern consisting of idealize-devalue-discard cycle followed by stonewalling, used to understand confus...

Audacity (place) 1 — Audio recording software used for DIY music production in the mid-2000s.

2003 Station Nightclub fire (concept) 1 — A 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island that killed roughly 300 people when pyrotechnics ignited acoustic foam, causing a ...

Matthew Pickett (person) 1 — Victim of the 2003 Station Nightclub fire who made a 30-minute audio recording during the tragedy that was later leaked.

Funky Town (concept) 1 — Disturbing violent video content shared online as an endurance test among peers, referenced alongside other extreme cont...

3 Guys, 1 Hammer (concept) 1 — Disturbing violent video content shared online as an endurance test among peers, referenced alongside other extreme cont...

Dream Theater (album) 1 — Progressive rock band known for technically complex music that leans into 'wanky' prog rock and uses AI-generated graphi...

Audrey's Dance (album) 1 — Song played during intermission at a Dream Theater concert, noted as a positive element in an otherwise overly technical...

I, Olga Hepnarova (film) 1 — Dark Eastern European film about Olga Hepnarova who declared herself 'the victim of your bestiality' and sentenced other...

Being 17 (film) 1 — Film featuring gay anguish that was considered for a Red Scare movie club viewing.

Paradise: Love (film) 1 — Film about sex tourism compared to Dasha's trip to Thailand, considered for a Red Scare movie club viewing.

White House Correspondents' Dinner (concept) 1 — Event where Obama teased Trump, theorized as the origin moment that created President Trump and parallels the dynamic of...

Nathan J. Robinson (person) 1 — Writer who allegedly saw Gangs of New York and tried to outdo Daniel Day Lewis, now writes about Jacobins.

Daniel Day Lewis (person) 1 — Actor in Gangs of New York who Nathan J. Robinson allegedly tried to imitate or outdo.

Conor Oberst (person) 1 — Indie musician who collaborated with Phoebe Bridgers and is speculated as a potential target for future public criticism

Rogue Male (film) 1 — 1976 film starring Peter O'Toole about an attempted assassination of Hitler and subsequent revenge plot

Alastair Sim (person) 1 — Actor who appeared in Rogue Male alongside Peter O'Toole

Winds of Change (film) 1 — 1978 Sanrio-produced animated disco fantasy epic narrating Ovid's Metamorphosis, intended as an answer to Fantasia

Peter Ustinov (person) 1 — Actor who narrated the 1978 animated film Winds of Change

Fantasia (film) 1 — Disney animated film that Winds of Change was intended as an artistic answer to

Life with Elizabeth (film) 1 — 1952 sitcom starring Betty White, described as cheap and abstract to the point of surrealism

Del Moore (person) 1 — Actor who co-starred with Betty White in Life with Elizabeth with great comic timing

Chet Hanx (person) 1 — Eccentric public figure interviewed by Andrew Callaghan, demonstrating unusual American character types

Hoff Twins (person) 1 — Eccentric figures featured in Andrew Callaghan's documentary work

Colonel Sanders (person) 1 — KFC founder who allegedly shook hands with a deaf father outside a McDonald's in Mississauga

Bobby Hull (person) 1 — Hockey player for whom a deaf man allegedly opened a bag of chips on an airplane

Nova Scotia (place) 1 — Canadian province where a deaf man dove off a cliff to save someone from drowning

Mississauga (place) 1 — Canadian city where Colonel Sanders allegedly shook hands with a man outside a McDonald's

Lewis and Clark (person) 1 — Referenced as explorers in contrast to the author's preference for overgrown, less-maintained hiking trails.

Vivarium (film) 1 — A horror film mentioned as an example of vibey movies with a particular aesthetic.

Auntie Anne's (place) 1 — A pretzel chain co-branded with Cinnabon, mentioned in the context of ridiculous pricing.

Iliza Shlesinger (person) 1 — A female stand-up comedian mentioned as an example of women who perform 'girl frat boy humor' to succeed in male-dominat...