Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

South Beach (place) 1 — Miami neighborhood where a father and daughter went to a restaurant for oysters, prawns, and caviar.

East Point, Kentucky (place) 1 — Rural Kentucky area that is 98.6% white where 3 bedroom homes with 12 acres can be purchased for $120k.

Takeoff (person) 1 — Rapper whose death was allegedly predicted by a commenter on r/redscarepod less than a month before it occurred.

Lupus (concept) 1 — Autoimmune disease that Selena Gomez claimed was the reason she went to rehab, rather than admitting drug addiction.

Chateau Marmont (place) 1 — Iconic Hollywood hotel referenced as symbol of the delusion that everyone will achieve creative success in Los Angeles.

Careless Whisper (album) 1 — George Michael song that compelled a woman to cancel romantic plans and stay loyal to her boyfriend.

Kulturkampf (concept) 1 — German term meaning 'culture struggle' used as example of serious-sounding philosophical vocabulary.

Zeitgeist (concept) 1 — German philosophical term meaning 'spirit of the times' cited as example of serious intellectual vocabulary.

Gesamtkunstwerk (concept) 1 — German term for 'total work of art' used as example of prestigious philosophical vocabulary borrowed into English.

Escape the Corset (concept) 1 — South Korean feminist movement rejecting strict beauty standards and cosmetics, likening makeup to constraining corsets.

Molka (concept) 1 — South Korean term for illegal filming and digital sex crimes that women have protested against.

Deep Research (concept) 1 — AI model referenced as example of technology capable of automating white-collar report writing work.

MOASS (concept) 1 — Mother of All Short Squeezes, a prophesied event in GameStop bagholder cult where the stock will rise by extreme percent...

Through The Wire (album) 1 — Kanye West music video featuring hospital photos from after his car crash that are referenced in a post about the accide...

Bellevue (place) 1 — Tech hub city mentioned alongside Menlo Park as lacking the sartorial standards historically associated with NYC.

Menlo Park (place) 1 — California tech hub city mentioned alongside Bellevue as lacking NYC's traditional fashion sense.

Nasdaq (concept) 1 — Stock market index mentioned in context of GameStop bagholders missing out on an 83% run up while holding their stock.

gme_meltdown (place) 1 — Subreddit dedicated to mocking GameStop bagholders and their cult-like behavior.

ABA therapy (concept) 1 — A therapeutic intervention for autistic children that has faced backlash from online communities comparing it to convers...

Hot Wheels (concept) 1 — A toy car brand discussed in context of childhood interests in mechanical items being pathologized as signs of autism.

Dollarama (place) 1 — A discount retail store referenced in contrast to high-end shoplifting targets.

Sophie Muller (person) 1 — A music video director active since the early 1980s who has made over 300 videos, known for her blurry, hypersaturated K...

Mark Romanek (person) 1 — A music video and film director mentioned as a contemporary of Sophie Muller during MTV's golden era.

Stephane Sednaoui (person) 1 — A music video director mentioned as a contemporary of Sophie Muller during MTV's golden era.

Director's Label (concept) 1 — A series of music video director compilations that controversially did not include Sophie Muller despite her prominence.

Emotional validation (concept) 1 — A pop psychology concept critiqued as the 'single most dangerous lie' that can worsen problems by validating feelings wi...

Al Aqsa Mosque (place) 1 — A mosque in Jerusalem that some evangelicals believe Israel will bomb as part of events triggering the rapture.

egg_irl (concept) 1 — A subreddit/online community culture focused on convincing people they are transgender through interpreting behaviors as...

Masking (concept) 1 — The practice of hiding autistic traits or behaviors, discussed as a self-fulfilling interpretive framework similar to co...

Kuru (concept) 1 — A prion disease endemic to Papua New Guinea, falsely attributed to Jeffrey Epstein in conspiracy theories about cannibal...

Ba'al (concept) 1 — Ancient deity referenced in conspiracy theories claiming Epstein was a literal demon who worshipped this god.

Greentext (concept) 1 — A format of storytelling from 4chan beginning with 'be me', now consumed through narrated YouTube videos by mainstream a...

Velma (film) 1 — An animated series discussed as an example of performative woke trends that the average person finds off-putting

Seljalandsfoss (place) 1 — Waterfall in Iceland cited as an example of overcrowded tourist destinations

Aimee Lou Wood (person) 1 — Actress from The White Lotus discussed for her response to an SNL skit about her appearance

Jeffree Star (person) 1 — Beauty influencer mentioned as part of the makeup obsession era on YouTube

r/MakeupAddiction (place) 1 — Reddit subreddit that had steady growth from 2012 before being overtaken by skincare culture

r/SkincareAddiction (place) 1 — Reddit subreddit that saw explosive growth in 2019 with the rise of TikTok and skincare culture

AMC Theatres (place) 1 — American movie theater chain with bars called MacGuffins that attract a particular demographic of patrons

Century City (place) 1 — Location of an AMC theater in Los Angeles visited by a poster

Castel Gandolfo (place) 1 — Location of Villa Barberini, the papal residence where Pope Leo XIV gave his first interview

Villa Barberini (place) 1 — Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo where Pope Leo XIV's first interview was conducted

Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century (book) 1 — Spanish-language book containing Pope Leo XIV's first interview as pontiff discussing AI and technology

Deepfakes (concept) 1 — AI-created images, videos, or audio recordings that Pope Leo XIV warns about, having been a victim of a fake video himse...

Mackenzie Scott (person) 1 — Jeff Bezos's ex-wife referenced in a post imagining Bezos's hypothetical suicide

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (album) 1 — Band name cited as one of the dumbest band names

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (album) 1 — Band with an excessively long name cited as one of the dumbest band names

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (album) 1 — Band named after Boris Yeltsin cited as having one of the dumbest band names

Cynthia Doll (concept) 1 — Character from Rugrats used as a comparison for looking unhealthily thin due to disordered eating

Richard Yates (person) 1 — Author of Disturbing the Peace, cited as a close second for the Great American Novel