Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Raya (place) 1 — Dating app for wealthy and famous people, contrasted with a proposed app for hot but broke people.

Roseanne Barr (person) 1 — Comedian who was vilified for claiming Ambien makes you racist, which the poster argues she was right about.

Sanofi (place) 1 — Pharmaceutical company that manufactures Ambien and denied that racism is a side effect of their medication.

Cagots (concept) 1 — Discriminated class along the Franco-Spanish border for hundreds of years with no defining characteristics beyond their ...

Basque country (place) 1 — Region along the Franco-Spanish border where the Cagots, a mysteriously discriminated class, existed for centuries.

r/sino (place) 1 — A subreddit mentioned as being populated by users who defend China against criticism while living in the United States.

The Knot (place) 1 — A wedding planning website criticized for being 'cheugy' and for selling user data.

Kathleen Kennedy (person) 1 — Film producer blamed by some for ruining Star Wars with feminist themes, though also produced The Mandalorian.

Library Genesis (libgen) (place) 1 — Online repository for free access to books and academic materials that users worry is being over-exposed on TikTok.

Jordan Peterson (JBP) (person) 1 — Canadian psychologist and public intellectual referenced for his advice about not doing things you know you shouldn't do...

Corn Pop (person) 1 — Figure from Joe Biden's anecdotes that he would ramble about

chopped n' screwed rap (concept) 1 — Houston hip-hop music style from 30 years ago, cited as the city's last cultural contribution

Sufis (concept) 1 — Islamic mystics who achieve union with God through dancing

Alicia Silverstone (person) 1 — Actress whose image saying 'retard' is frequently posted on the subreddit

true name (concept) 1 — Magical concept where speaking someone's true name gives complete control over their soul

Yakov Dzhugashvili (person) 1 — Stalin's eldest son who longed for his father's approval but died in a Nazi POW camp in 1943.

Konstantin Kuzakov (person) 1 — Stalin's illegitimate son born in 1911 who lived cautiously, became a successful Soviet official in radio and television...

Alexander Davydov (person) 1 — Stalin's illegitimate son born in 1917 to a Siberian villager who served in WWII and worked as a construction supervisor...

Vasily Stalin (person) 1 — Stalin's youngest son born to his second wife who lived recklessly, fell into alcoholism, was imprisoned after Stalin's ...

NKVD (place) 1 — Soviet secret police that summoned Stalin's illegitimate sons in the late 1930s to sign non-disclosure agreements about ...

CANZUK (concept) 1 — A political alliance concept involving Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, referenced in relation to its subredd...

PFAS (concept) 1 — Chemicals in water supply discussed as potentially contributing to social and reproductive issues

Consensual Relationship Agreement (concept) 1 — HR document required for workplace relationships, discussed in context of power dynamics and corporate bureaucracy

Ash Ketchum (person) 1 — Pokemon character referenced as metaphor for being oblivious to obvious romantic interest

Digital Payments (concept) 1 — Cashless payment systems theorized as contributing to increased homelessness aggression due to reduced begging income

Detached Cynicism (concept) 1 — Cultural attitude characterized by ironic detachment and lack of sincerity, criticized as damaging to society in contras...

Nbacirclejerk (place) 1 — Reddit community mentioned as one of several sources of transplant users that have degraded the quality of the subreddit...

Moreplatesmoredates (place) 1 — Online community mentioned as a source of low-quality transplant users who have negatively impacted the subreddit.

Marty Feldman (person) 1 — Actor cited as an example of unconventionally attractive men that women claim to have crushes on.

Linda Fiorentino (person) 1 — Actress mentioned as someone's supposed 'weird crush' that is actually conventionally attractive.

Kristin Schaal (person) 1 — Comedian and actress mentioned as a genuinely unconventional celebrity crush that someone found charming.

Opioid Epidemic (concept) 1 — Public health crisis discussed in terms of doctors' culpability for believing pharmaceutical sales representatives about...

Blackout Tuesday (concept) 1 — Social media activism phenomenon from June 2020 where people posted black squares on Instagram in response to racial jus...

Sea shanties (concept) 1 — Traditional maritime work songs that briefly became popular on social media at the start of COVID, discussed as neofolk'...

Auschwitz-Birkenau (place) 1 — Nazi concentration and extermination camp discussed critically in terms of how social media culture has turned it into a...

Letitia Wright (person) 1 — Actress from Black Panther described as more stunning than Zendaya but receiving less recognition.

Essential oils (concept) 1 — Alternative medicine products satirically referenced as what mothers in online forums suggest using to treat serious inj...

Amélie (film) 1 — French film referenced in connection with actor Jamel Debbouze, who played the young greengrocer in it

Jamel Debbouze (person) 1 — French actor known for playing the young greengrocer in Amélie, who filmed a video of a biologist catching a catfish in ...

Victimhood (concept) 1 — Concept discussed as Israel's core justification and as parallel to progressive identity politics narratives

Nighthawks (film) 1 — Painting by Edward Hopper critiqued for its architectural impossibility, with commentary on its themes of urban alienati...

Sertraline (concept) 1 — SSRI antidepressant medication criticized as being overprescribed for normal emotional distress

Anas al-Sharif (person) 1 — Palestinian journalist whose assassination was cited as example of Reuters' pro-Israel bias in headline framing

Anti-Semitism (concept) 1 — Hatred of Jewish people, explicitly condemned alongside condemnation of violence against Palestinians

Ethnic Nationalism (concept) 1 — Political ideology based on ethnicity, cited as reason for opposition to Zionism

Synecdoche (film) 1 — Film featuring a memorable performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Damar Hamlin (person) 1 — Buffalo Bills NFL player who suffered a medical emergency on the field in 2023.

Buffalo Bills (place) 1 — NFL football team whose player Damar Hamlin suffered a medical emergency during a game.

r/tacobell (place) 1 — Fast food subreddit community where people discuss Taco Bell meals and promotions, often daily visitors maximizing budge...

Tenderqueer (concept) 1 — Pejorative term for a type of LGBT person characterized by weaponized therapy talk, twee aesthetics, strategic incompete...