Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Tenderloin (place) 1 — Impoverished San Francisco neighborhood characterized by extreme homelessness, drug use, and urban decay

Cyndi Lauper (person) 1 — 1980s musician referenced as having provided advice on how to attract women decades ago

Dream (person) 1 — Popular YouTuber who faced massive online harassment after revealing his face, with 'HE IS UGLY' trending on Twitter

VTuber (concept) 1 — Virtual YouTubers using anime avatars, criticized as appealing to pedophilic audiences with childlike personas

Akron (place) 1 — Ohio city sarcastically referenced in urban planning discourse as impossible to transform into Amsterdam

AJ Soprano (person) 1 — Character from The Sopranos referenced as representation of nu-metal loving suburban youth

Nu-metal (concept) 1 — Late 90s/early 2000s metal genre that the author insists was terrible but loved, rejecting critical reappraisals

Machine Head (person) 1 — Nu-metal band mentioned as example of the genre's appeal to the author as a youth

Mudvayne (person) 1 — Nu-metal band whose live concert DVD embarrassed the author's father

The Color Out Of Space (book) 1 — A horror story referenced as a metaphor for feeling invaded by an otherworldly presence in one's hometown

Gareth Southgate (person) 1 — A football manager criticized for substituting all three forwards during a match

Bread and Circuses (concept) 1 — A concept referring to cheap entertainment and food used to distract the working class from declining conditions

Ettingermentum (person) 1 — Political commentator and YouTuber who appeared on Hasan Piker's election night stream and commented on Democratic Party...

Neptune in Aries (concept) 1 — Astrological event involving Neptune's retrograde motion, humorously addressed with a spell containing numerological and...

Landscape Architecture (concept) 1 — Professional field mentioned as having good job prospects and real work that is always in demand.

Civil Engineering (concept) 1 — Professional field promoted as stable career with consistent demand, resistant to AI and H1-B competition due to licensi...

He Will Not Divide Us (concept) 1 — 2017 art project by Shia LaBeouf that became a crossover point between internet culture and real-world right-wing activi...

Shadow Ticket (book) 1 — Novel by an 88-year-old man noted as the only book standing out from moralistic liberal contemporary fiction.

Hedonistic Adaptation (concept) 1 — Psychological concept that superficial attributes like beauty and wealth lose their novelty over time in relationships.

Ben Gazzara (person) 1 — Actor who played Cosmo in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, struggled with finding empathy for the character

Small Change (album) 1 — Tom Waits album evoked by the character Mr. Sophistication in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Robert Falcon Scott (person) 1 — Antarctic explorer whose final journal entries before death in 1912 exemplified British endurance and fortitude

penguinz0 (person) 1 — YouTube commentary channel creator mentioned as example of low-quality content consumption

Bedouins (concept) 1 — Nomadic Arab people used as example of dysfunction from polyamorous family structures

Fandom Culture (concept) 1 — Fan-centric approach to media criticism criticized for treating fiction as real worlds rather than narrative tools

Fridging (concept) 1 — Comic book term for killing off poorly-developed side characters to develop the main character, criticized as being trea...

ColdTurkey (concept) 1 — Website blocking application used to combat internet addiction by blocking social media feeds

Google Family Link (concept) 1 — Parental control app used by adults on themselves to limit phone usage and combat social media addiction

Green Line Test (concept) 1 — TikTok body language analysis trend that measures physical closeness in relationships, becoming mainstream

e/acc (concept) 1 — Effective Accelerationism movement in tech culture criticized as cringe ideological trend

d/acc (concept) 1 — Decentralized Accelerationism variant in tech culture criticized as cringe ideological trend

Pronatalism (concept) 1 — Movement promoting high birth rates in tech culture criticized as cringe ideological trend

MaXXXine (film) 1 — Film on which Mia Goth allegedly committed battery against an extra

Takis (concept) 1 — Imported snack food sold in vending machines alongside nitrous oxide bottles in Germany

Sour Patch Kids (concept) 1 — Imported snack food sold in vending machines alongside nitrous oxide bottles in Germany

FGM (concept) 1 — Female genital mutilation, a practice that has become a right-wing culture war topic due to leftist silence

Zürich (place) 1 — Swiss city with an art museum, near Lenin's old apartment and Cabaret Voltaire

Cabaret Voltaire (place) 1 — Historic venue in Zürich with a Dada library for reading and research

Bongland (place) 1 — Slang term for Britain/UK used by a corporate worker describing a cocaine-fueled night

China One-Child Policy (concept) 1 — Chinese government policy that forced families to have only one child, referenced in contrast to current pro-natalist po...

Overpopulation Discourse (concept) 1 — Historical environmental concern about excessive human population, now replaced by pro-natalist anxiety about declining ...

r/SuicideWatch (place) 1 — Reddit forum for people experiencing suicidal ideation, critiqued as inappropriate for minors to access

Jim Acosta (person) 1 — CNN journalist who conducted an AI-generated interview with a recreation of Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver

Parkland shooting (concept) 1 — 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, referenced in context of AI recreation of victim

r/tall (place) 1 — Reddit subreddit where tall people discuss height-related issues, criticized as a space for humble-bragging

Morongo Valley (place) 1 — Desert area in Southern California where photographer John Divola created his 'Dogs Chasing My Car' series

Confessions of St. Augustine (book) 1 — Classic Christian autobiography and theological work being read as part of a return to serious reading

WRSA-I (War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel) (concept) 1 — US weapons stockpile in Israel that allows expedited arms transfers with reduced congressional oversight and public scru...

Center for Civilians in Conflict (place) 1 — Human rights organization that monitors congressional oversight of arms transfers and their impact on civilians

Rime of the Ancient Mariner (book) 1 — Poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge that should have been mentioned or alluded to in del Toro's Frankenstein adaptation acco...