Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Avatar (film) 14 — James Cameron film franchise that some viewers become unironic superfans of, which others find amusing given the films' ...

Haruki Murakami (person) 14 — Japanese author discussed for having a repetitive formula in his stories featuring average male protagonists and women w...

Marshall McLuhan (person) 14 — Media theorist cited for observing that when the USSR was first exposed to American film, what struck them was not the s...

Anna Karenina (book) 14 — Tolstoy novel suggested as a classic starting point for a book club, met with extreme incomprehension and destruction by...

Bitcoin (concept) 14 — Cryptocurrency that transformed from a decentralized technology meant to challenge the system into an abstract commodity...

Dublin (place) 13 — Irish capital city discussed for its ancient cultural heritage, pubs, and theatres, contrasted with issues of government...

Dubai (place) 13 — City presented as a litmus test for fundamental compatibility between people, with willingness to vacation there reveali...

Congo (place) 13 — African country discussed in relation to wealthy bourgeoisie students whose families own mines and factories

Alabama (place) 13 — State mentioned in context of a recent execution by nitrogen hypoxia that prompted discussion of execution methods.

Columbia (place) 13 — Country where the drunk driver was from, mentioned that his wife and daughter were there while he was with his mistress ...

Iowa (place) 13 — A rural state referenced as the home state of a sex worker who got lost in New Jersey, used to explain her inability to ...

COVID-19 (concept) 13 — Pandemic that the author argues prompted a massive overreaction from governments despite low mortality rates for younger...

Guy Debord (person) 13 — A theorist who identified the nihilist undercurrent flowing through Red Scare-adjacent online spaces, as referenced in d...

Glenn Greenwald (person) 13 — Journalist and podcast guest whose reaction was speculated about when Dasha made a racially charged comment while his th...

Black Panther (film) 13 — Marvel film by Ryan Coogler criticized for crypto-reactionary narrative where audience celebrates Wakanda refusing to sh...

Kevin Spacey (person) 13 — Actor who came out as gay after being accused of sexual misconduct with a minor, a move discussed as deranged but entert...

Alec Baldwin (person) 13 — Actor referenced in connection to a shooting incident on a Western film set, discussed as a contemporary parallel to Sur...

Christianity (concept) 13 — Religious tradition discussed as being replaced by secularized versions of its practices in modern society, including th...

AIPAC (concept) 13 — American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying organization whose influence in Cori Bush's election los...

West Bank (place) 13 — Palestinian territory where American journalists were lured by the IDF and abandoned when settlers attacked them and Pal...

The Great Gatsby (book) 13 — Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald used as example of symbolic literary analysis with the green light motif that students stru...

Playboi Carti (person) 13 — Rapper known for deploying a 'baby voice flow' in his most popular songs, whose latest album was poorly received when he...

New Yorker (place) 13 — A publication referenced for publishing an article questioning Lucy Letby's conviction that received negative reactions ...

Emmanuel Macron (person) 13 — President of France discussed in context of 2023 protests, with protesters comparing him to the Bourbon monarchy and the...

Chinatown (place) 13 — A film whose iconic line 'Forget it Jack, it's Chinatown' is quoted to express resignation about powerful actors getting...

Arcade Fire (person) 13 — Indie rock band that went from being darlings of the indieheads subreddit to being banned, apparently due to controversy...

Minneapolis (place) 13 — City where an ICE shooting incident occurred, compared to the Kyle Rittenhouse case in terms of self-defense claims and ...

Lululemon (concept) 13 — An expensive athleisure brand emblematic of the ubiquitous gym-wear aesthetic criticized for making everyone look the sa...

Washington Post (place) 13 — Newspaper that dismissed the Israeli art student story as a misunderstanding, with the piece written by a dual Israeli-A...

Somalia (place) 13 — Country described by a user as one of the most dangerous and corrupt countries in the world where they were born and liv...

Weezer (album) 13 — Band criticized by zoomers as 'incel music' with performative negative reactions, particularly against their song Buddy ...

Hollywood (place) 13 — Los Angeles neighborhood described as ground zero for affluent white liberals but where Halloween party attendees were r...

Bill Gates (person) 13 — Tech billionaire mentioned in Epstein files with claims about spiking his wife Melinda's food to cure an STD allegedly c...

The Shining (film) 13 — Film referenced through the iconic scene of Shelley Duvall discovering Jack Nicholson's repetitive typewriter manuscript...

Bashar al-Assad (person) 13 — Former Syrian leader whose regime is discussed in connection with a friend's father imprisoned for war crimes and financ...

r/worldnews (place) 13 — A Reddit subreddit referenced as producing embarrassing, jingoistic commentary comparable to the worst content found in ...

/pol/ (place) 13 — Politically Incorrect board on 4chan allegedly created in October 2011, the same month Jeffrey Epstein and the creator o...

NHS (place) 13 — UK National Health Service referenced in context of underfunding and privatization being blamed for mental health issues...

Amber Heard (person) 13 — Actress whose trial with Johnny Depp is discussed sympathetically, with the poster believing she is innocent and that De...

Courtney Love (person) 13 — Musician and actress discussed for her captivating interviews mixing truth and lies, association with Epstein's black bo...

Barnes & Noble (place) 13 — Major bookstore chain criticized for turning into an aestheticized retail space with multiple decorative editions of the...

Amber A'Lee Frost (person) 13 — Dirtbag Left figure who wrote an autobiography about an internet microcelebrity that she would have ridiculed years earl...

Ernest Hemingway (person) 13 — American writer associated with Paris in the 1920s, whose lifestyle is referenced as an aspirational literary expat expe...

Twitch (place) 13 — A streaming platform discussed as being infested with attention-seeking content creators making hot tub streams and expo...

Peep Show (film) 13 — British television series referenced through character Jez as an archetypal personality type that many people know in re...

Subway (place) 13 — Restaurant chain characterized as the destroyer of culture through its proliferation of franchises that displace small b...

Safdie Brothers (person) 13 — Filmmakers mentioned in connection with Sebastian Bear-McClard, who directed for them before being fired allegedly for t...

Aphex Twin (album) 13 — Electronic music artist whose song QKThr has been appropriated by TikTok, discussed as having lost its original nostalgi...

Stephen King (person) 13 — Popular horror and genre fiction author used as a reference point for lowbrow literature that some readers can't bring t...

COVID (concept) 13 — Pandemic and lockdowns blamed for contributing to screen addiction and social difficulties in children, and for facilita...