Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Snap Fitness (place) 1 — Generic gym chain mentioned as example of bland corporate tenants in gentrified mixed-use developments.

Bonobos (place) 1 — Clothing brand mentioned derisively as typical attire of WallStreetBets traders celebrating alongside wealthy elites.

Bumble class action suit (concept) 1 — A legal class action lawsuit against the dating app Bumble, referenced sarcastically by a user

True crime media (concept) 1 — A genre of media focused on real criminal cases, criticized as potentially brain-rotting content

Streetwear (concept) 1 — Hypebeast fashion style worn predominantly by men, seen as part of flattened contemporary fashion trends

Saint/Savage Complex (concept) 1 — A proposed gender inverse of the Madonna/Whore Complex where women view men as either pure/patient or perverted after se...

On Self Respect (book) 1 — An essay by Joan Didion critiquing victimhood culture and lack of agency, seen as relevant to contemporary anxiety about...

Metra (place) 1 — Chicago commuter rail system mentioned as connecting suburban home to downtown for a potential move

Martin Shkreli (person) 1 — Pharmaceutical executive who became infamous for price gouging, discussed as having defenders among certain online commu...

R v Pelletier, 2016 ONCJ 628 (book) 1 — A Canadian legal judgment addressing an Indigenous woman with addiction issues, notable for being written in plain langu...

Elizabeth Fry Society (place) 1 — A center in Toronto that provides services for women, mentioned in a legal judgment about an Indigenous woman's rehabili...

Regina (place) 1 — Capital city of Saskatchewan, mentioned as the home location where an offender in a legal case initially joined a gang a...

Petrov Incident (concept) 1 — The 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident where a Soviet officer prevented potential nuclear war by correctly identif...

Schrodinger's cat (concept) 1 — A quantum mechanics thought experiment used to illustrate quantum superposition and probability.

Boston Legal (film) 1 — A television show watched on a date, mentioned casually in a post about polyamory communities.

Airbag (album) 1 — Radiohead song discussed as containing spiritual themes of salvation and rebirth after near-death experience

Blinkist (place) 1 — App that summarizes difficult books in 15 minutes, criticized as part of life optimization trend

Dan Humphrey (person) 1 — Character from Gossip Girl cited as an example of the sad manwhore archetype popular in the 2000s

Joji (person) 1 — Musician whose work is described as one of the last partial refuges of the sad manwhore archetype

Jeremy Strong (person) 1 — Actor whose fashion sense is described as embodying the sad manwhore archetype despite being married

Kukur Tihar (concept) 1 — Festival for the celebration of dogs that the poster learned about from the subreddit

Dunning-Kruger (concept) 1 — Cognitive bias referenced as characteristic of annoying Reddit debate style, specifically replies starting with 'Eh'

The Line (place) 1 — Proposed linear megacity project in Saudi Arabia discussed as an unlikely vanity project

Jeddah Tower (place) 1 — Proposed kilometer-tall building in Saudi Arabia cited as more feasible than The Line

Intelligentsia (concept) 1 — Social class of educated professionals and creatives discussed as family background

Hanging Gardens of Babylon (place) 1 — Ancient wonder referenced in comparison to Nazi flak tower conversion

Faustian soul (concept) 1 — Spenglerian concept of Western civilization's striving nature referenced regarding megastructures

INFP (concept) 1 — Myers-Briggs personality type used as basis for sexual attraction

Balloonfest '86 (concept) 1 — A 1986 fundraising publicity stunt involving 1.5 million helium balloons that became an environmental disaster and spawn...

OKC Bomb (concept) 1 — The Oklahoma City bombing, referenced as the last time a US citizen stood up to government or wealthy people nearly 30 y...

Camp culture (concept) 1 — A queer aesthetic and cultural sensibility discussed as being gentrified by hipsters alongside childfree culture

Ava Gardner (person) 1 — Classic Hollywood actress the poster tried to convince themselves they were attracted to during their 1950s phase

French Riviera (place) 1 — A luxury coastal region mentioned as part of a woman's delusional fantasy about becoming a rich old woman living there.

Jimmy Johnson (person) 1 — An NFL figure mentioned as being stunned by Bill Belichick's Hall of Fame snub.

Joseph Quinn (person) 1 — An actor cast as George in the Beatles biopic, whose casting was heavily criticized.

Heathcliff (person) 1 — The protagonist of Wuthering Heights whose racial identity is debated in casting discussions, particularly regarding the...

The Times (place) 1 — A British newspaper that published an interview about Red Scare podcast titled 'Red Scare, the politically incorrect pod...

Bloc Party (person) 1 — An indie rock band mentioned as part of the millennial generation's college music experience.

Zoo (2007 film) (film) 1 — A documentary about a man who died from engaging in anal intercourse with a horse

Epictetus (person) 1 — Ancient Stoic philosopher quoted in relation to critiquing hobby enthusiasts who focus on equipment rather than actual p...

Ren and Stimpy (film) 1 — 1990s animated series referenced by a millennial as an example of generational nostalgia similar to Gen Z's current cart...

Adam Gopnik (person) 1 — An intellectual figure referenced in connection with a Q&A scene in the film Tár.

Kawaguchiko (place) 1 — A location in Japan described as a favorite place by a visitor to the country.

Naked (film) 1 — A Mike Leigh film whose characters are seen as archetypes for male and female posters on the redscarepod subreddit.

Mike Leigh (person) 1 — Director of the film Naked, whose characters are used to characterize redscarepod subreddit posters.

Santa Monica (place) 1 — A California city where a bizarre sidewalk scene featuring a dead rat, fish, and cheap cigars was observed.

Posthumanism (concept) 1 — A philosophical perspective that questions traditional humanist assumptions, referenced in describing a redscarepod mode...

Mile High Club (concept) 1 — The notion of sex on airplanes as a relic of late 20th century decadence that seems unimaginable after 9/11.

Imperial Rome (concept) 1 — Historical reference to Roman decadence, specifically the myth of vomitoriums used by hedonistic gluttons.

Travis Knight (person) 1 — CEO of Laika animation studio and son of Nike billionaire Phil Knight, who uses family wealth to fund stop-motion animat...