Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Apophenia (concept) 1 — The tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things, discussed in the context of constantly seeing ...

Pareidolia (concept) 1 — The psychological phenomenon of perceiving patterns or familiar shapes where none exist, mentioned alongside apophenia i...

Howl (book) 1 — Allen Ginsberg's seminal Beat Generation poem extensively quoted to illustrate the concept of Moloch as representing mec...

French Literature (concept) 1 — Referenced as being more perverse and corrupting than pornography, with the suggestion that religious fundamentalists wo...

Smile (2022) (film) 1 — Horror film whose female lead is described as resembling a combination of Jim Carrey and Dasha Nekrasova when she become...

Bob Uecker (person) 1 — Legendary sports broadcaster who narrated Milwaukee Brewers games, cited as an example of energetic, entertaining sports...

Dinner in America (2020) (film) 1 — 2020 film referenced as depicting true love on the autism spectrum

Hutterites (concept) 1 — Religious community mentioned in context of purchasing eggs at a farmers market

Epstein suicide (concept) 1 — Referenced as a major event that is potentially less significant than the Trump shooting incident

Oh! Darling (album) 1 — Beatles song mentioned as an example of a good 'howlin' song' that tears at the throat.

Karl Pilkington (person) 1 — British television personality and podcast collaborator introduced to the world by Ricky Gervais.

Chuck McGill (film) 1 — Character from Better Call Saul referenced as an example of psychosomatic illness, compared to someone who claims they c...

Ivy Wolfe (person) 1 — Adult film actress who appears in Anora, described as sticking out 'like a sore thumb' and compared to Adam Sandler appe...

Magnus Hirschfeld (person) 1 — Early sexologist whose 'invert' theory of homosexuality has had disproportionate influence on American theories of sexua...

Exotic Becomes Erotic (concept) 1 — Biopsychosocial theory by Daryl Bem suggesting that what feels different or exotic in childhood becomes eroticized in ad...

Amanda Palmer (person) 1 — Musician and performance artist known for her DIY ethos and controversial "Art of Asking" philosophy, discussed in relat...

The Art of Asking (book) 1 — Amanda Palmer's controversial 2014 book where she discusses getting people to volunteer without pay, representing a tran...

Better Man (film) 1 — Biographical film about British pop star Robbie Williams depicted as a CGI monkey, major box office bomb making $14 mill...

Techno-feudalism (concept) 1 — Economic and political system discussed by Bannon in relation to transhumanists' disregard for humanity

Vacherin Mont d'Or (concept) 1 — Raw milk cheese from France that cannot be imported to the US, discussed as object of desire related to food embargo

Will Hunting (person) 1 — Fictional character from Good Will Hunting referenced in discussion of gifted individuals who drop out and work in manua...

Destroy the Opposition (album) 1 — Death metal song mentioned as empowering and energizing, representing the visceral appeal of the genre

Jodi Picoult (person) 1 — Author whose hardcover books were popular purchases at Barnes & Noble, particularly among affluent female customers look...

Vulfpeck (album) 1 — Indie band criticized for contributing to the trend of sterility and minimalism in contemporary music.

1812 Overture (album) 1 — Classical composition by Tchaikovsky that employed cannons and a full brass band for its finale, exemplifying musical gr...

Stop Making Sense (film) 1 — Talking Heads concert tour and film featuring experimentalists and numerous supporting musicians, representing musical s...

Adrien Belew (person) 1 — Experimentalist musician who performed with Talking Heads on their Stop Making Sense tour.

Bernie Worrell (person) 1 — Experimentalist musician who performed with Talking Heads on their Stop Making Sense tour.

Tortured Poet's Department (album) 1 — Taylor Swift album dismissed as uninspired pop music that won't be remembered in a hundred years.

Monica Barbaro (person) 1 — Actress cast to play Mira Murati in Luca Guadagnino's OpenAI movie.

Mira Murati (person) 1 — OpenAI figure being portrayed by Monica Barbaro in a Luca Guadagnino film.

Yura Borisov (person) 1 — Actor cast to play Ilya Sutskever in Luca Guadagnino's OpenAI movie.

Klinefelter's syndrome (concept) 1 — Medical condition mentioned in reference to a coworker during Barnes & Noble training.

Bobby Kennedy (person) 1 — American politician whose assassination Hillary Clinton referenced when explaining why she stayed in the 2007 primary ra...

Shetland sheepdog (concept) 1 — Dog breed the author plans to train in agility after retiring to the Irish countryside.

iPhone 5 (concept) 1 — Apple smartphone released approximately 13 years ago, described as elegant and the thinnest iPhone ever made, representi...

Des Moines (place) 1 — Iowa city mentioned as an absurd location for wearing kilts, in context of early 2000s nerd culture.

r/kilt (place) 1 — Reddit subreddit dedicated to kilts, associated with sys admins and early 2000s nerd culture.

Gaslight (1944) (film) 1 — 1944 film starring Ingrid Bergman about psychological abuse in marriage, the origin of the term 'gaslighting.'

Ingrid Bergman (person) 1 — Actress described as completely radiant in the 1944 film Gaslight about psychological abuse.

Shark Tank (film) 1 — Reality TV show about entrepreneurs pitching to investors, mentioned as stereotypical bad advice for small business owne...

Scythians (concept) 1 — Ancient nomadic people predicted to be recognized as the origin of much European history and language in academic consen...

Phoenicia (place) 1 — Ancient civilization predicted to be recognized as having heavily influenced ancient Greek civilization.

Theobald Wolfe Tone (person) 1 — Irish revolutionary whose wax figure's sword hand was broken off during 1985 Dublin Wax Museum burglary and used to impa...

Julie Ruin (album) 1 — 1998 solo album by Kathleen Hanna recommended alongside Paul's Boutique in discussion of her marriage to a Beastie Boys ...

Coriolanus (book) 1 — Shakespeare play title used as satirical euphemism for coronavirus in news roundup

Mary Trump (person) 1 — Psychologist and author of tell-all book about Donald Trump depicted as a sympathetic wine mom

Fred Trump (person) 1 — Donald Trump's father described in Mary Trump's book as having bullied his eldest son to death and engaged in financial ...

Coming Out Culture (concept) 1 — Social phenomenon critiqued as pressure to publicly announce private aspects of sexuality for social capital and elite a...

Confessional Culture (concept) 1 — Social media phenomenon where people publicly share extremely private information and mental illness for social engageme...