Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Gary Vee (person) 1 — Motivational entrepreneur figure criticized for influencing young people to adopt fake corporate personalities and "rise...

Grant Cardone (person) 1 — Motivational business figure mentioned alongside Gary Vee as influencing young people's corporate aspirations and fake p...

Harlan Coben (person) 1 — Popular thriller author described as one of the all-time favorites of someone with midwit taste despite high intelligenc...

Queer (film) 1 — An indie film mentioned as an example of genuine queer cinema relegated to the indie market rather than mainstream.

Uncle Buck (film) 1 — Film depicting a character with a Wrigleyville apartment whose only job is fixing greyhound races occasionally.

Josh Hawley (person) 1 — Right-wing politician referenced in connection with post-left political orientation.

Area 51 (place) 1 — Secret military facility referenced in connection with a retired Air Force colonel who posted rare 9/11 footage.

Dalton School (place) 1 — Elite New York prep school where Jeffrey Epstein taught before becoming connected to high society

Erasmus Programme (concept) 1 — European student exchange program mentioned in contrast to international students as being for 'sex sex sex havers' rath...

Apollo missions (concept) 1 — Moon landing program discussed in context of conspiracy theories claiming the US faked the missions due to radiation con...

Thomas Tallis (person) 1 — Renaissance composer whose work 'Spem in Alium' is described as transcendent and towering.

Beatitudes (album) 1 — A piece by Arvo Pärt described as absolutely towering and transcendent.

Spem in Alium (album) 1 — A piece by Thomas Tallis described as absolutely towering and transcendent.

Lake Thun (place) 1 — Lake in Switzerland noted for having multi-million euro estates whose wealthy owners drive modest cars rather than luxur...

Kitty Genovese (person) 1 — Historical figure referenced in context of the importance of bearing witness and not looking away when someone is suffer...

St. Peter (person) 1 — Christian saint mentioned in reference to crucifixion as part of a reflection on showing kindness during Lent.

Lutheranism (concept) 1 — Christian denomination described as extremely bland liberal midwestern faith where nothing matters and one can basically...

Skip and Shannon Undisputed (film) 1 — Sports media show where Joy Taylor worked alongside Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe

OPM (place) 1 — Office of Personnel Management, federal agency issuing directives to federal workers including hiring freezes and return...

Nils Olav (person) 1 — A penguin who holds military rank and is the subject of devotional admiration

Stock Dove (concept) 1 — Lesser known pigeon species (Columba oenas) native to Europe, North Africa and Western Asia, appearing as hybrid between...

Western Asia (place) 1 — Region mentioned as native habitat for Stock Dove pigeon species

Montauk Project (concept) 1 — Conspiracy theory that originally inspired Stranger Things with its grounded, conspiratorial vibe before the show shifte...

Duffer Brothers (person) 1 — Creators of Stranger Things, whose original inspirations from conspiracy theories and grounded sci-fi are criticized as ...

Voldemort (person) 1 — Harry Potter villain used as negative comparison to Stranger Things' Vecna character, representing lazy writing

The Pixies (album) 1 — Influential rock band praised as great and timeless in contrast to dismissive opinions about 2000s indie music

Hawkins (place) 1 — Fictional small town setting of Stranger Things that fits perfectly with the show's grounded sci-fi premise in earlier s...

Jimi Hendrix (person) 1 — Legendary rock guitarist whose music Eric Clapton described as too sacred to discuss publicly in an interview.

Alfred Kinsey (person) 1 — Sex researcher discussed as potentially having prurient rather than purely academic motivations, who encouraged co-worke...

Masters and Johnson (person) 1 — Sex researchers who filmed co-workers as research subjects and participated themselves in filmed research, raising quest...

Sexology (concept) 1 — Field of sexual research critiqued for potentially being motivated by prurient interests rather than legitimate scholars...

Girlboss culture (concept) 1 — Cultural phenomenon critiqued for valorizing abusive workplace behavior and career ambition over personal relationships,...

Parks and Rec (film) 1 — TV show cited as representative of Millennial optimism and earnest belief in institutions

The Organization Man (book) 1 — Book cited as representative of Silent Generation conformity and corporate culture

Beat poetry (concept) 1 — Literary movement cited as representative of Silent Generation counterculture

Paul Goodman (person) 1 — Writer and intellectual discussed in Susan Sontag essay about living without books to develop authentic voice

Chrome (concept) 1 — Google web browser used as an example of women not caring about data privacy compared to Firefox

Firefox (concept) 1 — Web browser presented as a privacy-conscious alternative to Chrome that women allegedly don't use

VPN (concept) 1 — Virtual Private Network technology characterized as feeling "masculine" in the context of data privacy

Cantonese (concept) 1 — Chinese language described as sounding "pretty hot" in contrast to Mandarin

r/datingoverforty (place) 1 — Reddit subreddit for dating advice for people over 40, described as populated by immature losers

r/datingoverthirty (place) 1 — Reddit subreddit for dating advice for people over 30, contrasted favorably with r/datingoverforty

Jacobin Terror (concept) 1 — Phase of the French Revolution invoked as a historical comparison to Luigi Mangione's assassination

Daylight Savings (concept) 1 — Time change practice that disrupts rhythm despite people liking its effects on sunlight hours

Marla Maples (person) 1 — Donald Trump's ex-wife who allegedly cheated on him with one of his bodyguards

LA Riots (concept) 1 — Recent events involving deportations of Latinos that zoomers inappropriately compared to the Holocaust

Axios (place) 1 — News organization cited as source for Trump signing bill linking disaster funding to Israel boycott policies

21st Century Fox (place) 1 — Media company acquired by Disney, mentioned as potentially overextending the corporation

Big Tech (concept) 1 — Technology corporations predicted to have suppressed evidence linking internet/social media usage to cognitive health is...

Big Tobacco (concept) 1 — Tobacco industry used as comparison for Big Tech allegedly suppressing evidence about health hazards