Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Yoda (film) 1 — Character from Star Wars referenced as the namesake for a 21-year-old cat due to its horizontally flopping ears.

Quake (film) 1 — Video game referenced in connection with Kornelia Takács winning the first all-female tournament in 1997.

Kornelia Takács (person) 1 — Gamer who won the first all-female Quake tournament in 1997, referenced in discussion of when female gamers stopped bein...

Lula da Silva (person) 1 — Brazilian politician who defeated President Bolsonaro in the 2022 Brazil election.

Tracy Jordan (film) 1 — Character from 30 Rock cited as an example of something that isn't blackface but 'pretty much is.'

Sam Jackson (person) 1 — Actor with on-screen charisma frequently cast by Tarantino

Christoph Waltz (person) 1 — Actor with on-screen charisma frequently cast by Tarantino

Julianne Escobedo Shepherd (person) 1 — Non-Black music critic who reviewed Beyoncé's Renaissance for Pitchfork, mentioning 'Black' 11 times

Honey Dijon (person) 1 — House music artist incorrectly characterized as underground by Pitchfork reviewer

r/gonewild (place) 1 — Reddit community referenced in satirical post about gendered mental health presentations

Black Dynamite (film) 1 — Film reviewed by Roger Ebert in which he discussed changes in how female nudity is portrayed in cinema

Johnny Gaudreau (person) 1 — NHL hockey star killed by a drunk driver in August 2024 along with his brother Matthew while cycling in their hometown.

Matthew Gaudreau (person) 1 — Brother of NHL star Johnny Gaudreau, killed alongside him by a drunk driver in August 2024.

Salem, NJ (place) 1 — Hometown of the Gaudreau brothers where they were killed while cycling.

IBEW (place) 1 — International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a union referenced as having comparable benefits to pipefitters in disc...

Sloppy Hobbies (concept) 1 — The phenomenon of engaging with dumbed-down versions of hobbies that remove creative input or risk, such as adult colori...

Asphodel Meadows (concept) 1 — Classical Greek underworld location used as metaphor for the soulless existence of modern workers who consume and follow...

Interview Magazine (place) 1 — Publication that conducted Rob Reiner's final interview

Labour Alienation (concept) 1 — Marxist concept discussed through personal experience of self-employment versus wage labor, emphasizing the difference b...

Adore (album) 1 — Smashing Pumpkins album discussed as a potential career-ending swan song that could have preserved Billy Corgan's legacy

Love is Hell (album) 1 — Ryan Adams album discussed as a potential career-ending swan song masterpiece

Cold Roses (album) 1 — Ryan Adams album discussed as a potential career-ending swan song masterpiece

Laura Marling (person) 1 — Musician mentioned as having written about Ryan Adams on her Substack in provocative terms

Three Strikes Policy (concept) 1 — Punitive criminal justice policy discussed in contrast to contemporary lenient approach to repeat offenders

Holocaust Denial (concept) 1 — Conspiracy theory denying the reality of the Holocaust, referenced through coded language about "wooden doors at Auschwi...

IEP (Individualized Education Program) (concept) 1 — Educational accommodation plans being widely used for students with ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression diagnoses, cri...

Brazilification (concept) 1 — Concept of Western societies becoming like Brazil with extreme wealth inequality where only the financially entrenched l...

NHS (National Health Service) (concept) 1 — UK's publicly funded healthcare system criticized for extreme wait times including 18-month appointment for brain tumor ...

Eau Claire, Wisconsin (place) 1 — Mid-western American town cited as example of conservative ideal communities that already exist in America

Spinal Cord Injury (concept) 1 — Serious medical condition requiring decade-long adjustment period, discussed by someone who experienced it at age 12 and...

AAVE (African American Vernacular English) (concept) 1 — Linguistic variety mentioned as example of cultural appropriation parallel to disability performance

Mississippi Miracle (concept) 1 — Educational reform in Mississippi that rejected whole language theory in favor of phonetics, held students back if they ...

Whole Language Theory (concept) 1 — Reading instruction approach rejected by Mississippi in favor of phonetics-based methods

Phonetics (concept) 1 — Reading instruction method based on sound-letter correspondence that Mississippi returned to after rejecting whole langu...

X (formerly Twitter) (concept) 1 — Social media platform mentioned as part of ongoing internet addiction destroying the poster's life

Siouxsie Sioux (person) 1 — Musician referenced in a discussion about moralizing art criticism, specifically regarding her wearing a nazi armband in...

Ritchie Torres (person) 1 — U.S. politician and congressman criticized for giving pro-Israeli canned responses during an interview with Adam Friedla...

Lila Byock (person) 1 — TV writer who discussed the rise of 'second-screen content' in streaming television in the New Yorker.

Justine Bateman (person) 1 — Actor and director who revealed that network television executives now request shows be less engaging so distracted audi...

Michael Schulman (person) 1 — New Yorker writer who interviewed Lila Byock about streaming television trends.

Second-screen content (concept) 1 — Television programming designed to be watched in the background while viewers scroll through their phones, representing ...

Visual Muzak (concept) 1 — Industry term for bland, background television content that requires minimal attention, representing Hollywood's decline...

Sapir Whorf (concept) 1 — Linguistic relativity hypothesis referenced in a satirical rant about how Norwegian, German, and Dutch speakers claim ce...

Janteloven (concept) 1 — Scandinavian cultural code or social norm referenced in criticism of Norwegian attempts to claim cultural uniqueness.

Murtaza Hussain (person) 1 — Journalist who wrote about the collapse of liberal human rights frameworks in the context of the Gaza war, arguing that ...

International Human Rights Law (concept) 1 — Legal framework critiqued by Murtaza Hussain as having become as irrelevant as 'having a doctorate in Scientific Marxism...

Nam June Paik (person) 1 — Korean artist referenced as an example of authentic Korean culture that fans of K-pop and Korean popular culture are unl...

DBZ (film) 1 — Dragon Ball Z, a Japanese anime series cited as an example of organically popular Japanese cultural exports.

Melt Banana (album) 1 — Japanese band referenced as an example of authentic Japanese cultural export that became organically popular.

William Luther Pierce (person) 1 — White nationalist author and founder of the National Alliance, whose archived radio broadcasts were listened to by a use...