Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Victoria Pedretti (person) 1 — Actress from the TV show You referenced as a physical comparison in a dating post

You (film) 1 — Television show referenced in context of actress Victoria Pedretti

Boriswave (concept) 1 — Post-Brexit visa liberalization policy in the UK that led to increased immigration from Pakistan

East Africa (place) 1 — Region where poster's parents were born before immigrating to the UK as children of Pakistani extraction

Clifton StrengthsFinder (concept) 1 — Corporate team-building assessment tool criticized as inauthentic during a company offsite

Danse Macabre (concept) 1 — Medieval artistic genre about the universality of death, referenced as lost cultural memento mori in context of Seoul cr...

Polly Pocket (concept) 1 — A children's toy line referenced in a dismissive comment about women claiming to have had deep philosophical thoughts as...

Rhizome (concept) 1 — A philosophical concept referenced sarcastically in relation to claims of precocious childhood philosophical thinking

Stewie Griffin (person) 1 — Animated character from Family Guy used in AI-generated meme content criticized in the post

Palisades (place) 1 — Wealthy Los Angeles neighborhood referenced in a cynical prediction about fire restoration fund misappropriation

South East Asia (place) 1 — Travel region where the poster encountered Israeli tourists constantly discussing Palestine with European travelers

G&G (place) 1 — An alternative online community where women from the subreddit have migrated to escape perceived misogyny

Headspace (place) 1 — A guided meditation app criticized for having tedious instructors

Calm (place) 1 — A guided meditation app criticized alongside Headspace for tedious instruction

The Cardigans (person) 1 — A band whose album Life evoked emotional childhood memories for a listener

Shellac (album) 1 — Band associated with Steve Albini, known for alternative rock music

Ryan Carson (person) 1 — Activist and poet who was killed in New York City, subject of a memorial post

Gregorian chants (concept) 1 — Form of medieval Christian liturgical music that has been culturally appropriated by far-right online communities

Christchurch shooting (concept) 1 — Mass shooting event referenced in the context of far-right online communities glorifying violence

Kinsey 6 (concept) 1 — Term from the Kinsey Scale indicating exclusively homosexual orientation, referenced in a humorous post about a gay man ...

Jamestown (place) 1 — Historical colonial settlement referenced as a contrast to modern American wealth in discussion of food assistance

Keemstar (person) 1 — Internet personality referenced as a physical comparison for an overweight man who propositioned a couple for swinging.

University of Illinois (place) 1 — American university where an Israeli sniper from Chicago majored in biology before joining the IDF.

Zoomer stare (concept) 1 — A phenomenon where young Gen Z store employees are noticed to stare blankly at customers without speaking or making prop...

Raleigh, North Carolina (place) 1 — City with numerous trails, parks, festivals, and cultural activities that locals remain unaware of despite living there ...

PUA (Pick-Up Artist) (concept) 1 — Seduction community that emphasizes techniques like eye contact to improve social and romantic interactions.

Woolworths (place) 1 — Defunct British retail chain whose closure is lamented, with its former locations now occupied by American candy stores ...

US hegemony (concept) 1 — American global dominance that, if broken, is predicted to result in significantly worsened living conditions for Americ...

Swagbucks (place) 1 — Rewards platform mentioned alongside other methods poor users use to earn credits for purchases.

Vanilla Ice (person) 1 — Rapper referenced in cruel Instagram comments about an ICE-related killing, with commenters posting gifs of him and his ...

Lviv (place) 1 — Ukrainian city located 70km east of the EU border, mentioned as being targeted by Russian hypersonic missiles.

Indira Gandhi (person) 1 — Former Indian Prime Minister cited as an example of a steely corrupt psycho female leader, contrasted with potential fut...

Benazir Bhutto (person) 1 — Former Pakistani Prime Minister mentioned alongside Indira Gandhi as an example of a steely corrupt psycho female leader...

Kenjutsu (concept) 1 — Japanese sword martial art studied by a student who was reprimanded for using a real katana in an art performance piece.

Obama era (concept) 1 — A period characterized by economic anxiety for millennials following the 2008 recession, with discourse about lack of go...

Emmett Till (person) 1 — Historical figure invoked in discussion about leftists who advocate for mob justice, used to highlight the uncomfortable...

Sinclair Method (concept) 1 — An alcoholism treatment with an 80% success rate using naltrexone taken before drinking to block endorphin highs, popula...

Tilted Kilt (place) 1 — Breastaurant chain that appears to be slowly going out of business, representing the decline of early 2000s 'girls gone ...

Te Pāti Māori (concept) 1 — New Zealand political party virtually devoid of coherent anticapitalist economic sentiment, focused instead on idealized...

Chicago Boys (concept) 1 — Reference to extreme economic deregulation in South America, used to contextualize New Zealand's 1990s economic policies...

Rheinmetall (place) 1 — German defense company mentioned as beneficiary of the EU's 800+ billion euro weapons spending plan.

Mark Rutte (person) 1 — NATO chief who stated that Russia produces more munitions in three months than all NATO countries do combined in a year.

Ed Zitron (person) 1 — Commentator who analyzes AI industry economics and tech company financial sustainability

Pope Leo (person) 1 — First American pope described as a normal Catholic boomer who only posts about Christ and avoids current events

Jasper Nathaniel (person) 1 — American Jewish journalist who reported on settler violence in the West Bank

Gabbie Hanna (person) 1 — Internet personality discussed during a manic episode where Gen Z criticized her behavior without understanding mental i...

Sperm whales (concept) 1 — Intelligent marine mammals discussed as potential communication partners using AI language models to decode their comple...

Humpback whales (concept) 1 — Marine mammals noted for defending other species from orcas and having potential alliance with sperm whales

Bob Bryar (person) 1 — Former My Chemical Romance drummer who allegedly committed suicide after the 2024 election

Bruce Willis (person) 1 — Actor referenced in context of a plane crash survivor walking out of wreckage unscathed.