Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

William Shakespeare (person) 21 — English playwright and poet discussed in the context of discourse about his identity as a 'cis white man' and historical...

Candace Owens (person) 21 — Right-wing political commentator described as successfully taking her provocative persona mainstream, including being ta...

A24 (concept) 21 — Film production and distribution company theorized by a Reddit user to employ bots to manipulate online discourse about ...

Washington DC (place) 21 — American capital city that a French person is visiting and asking for tips about from what they consider the most mental...

Everything Everywhere All At Once (film) 21 — A film about Asian generational dynamics that the poster questions whether it genuinely resonates with Asian audiences o...

PTSD (concept) 21 — Post-traumatic stress disorder referenced in relation to understanding why an ex-girlfriend would return to an abusive r...

Detroit (place) 21 — A Michigan city described as having a gorgeous downtown, clean streets, and seeming safer than West Coast cities like Se...

Argentina (place) 21 — Country with a libertarian president slashing public funding, leaving public universities without money and threatening ...

Bushwick (place) 21 — A Brooklyn neighborhood known for its indie music venues and concerts, discussed in the context of a disappointing conce...

Rome (place) 21 — HBO series with $100 million budget criticized as an expensive soap opera with poor character development and excessive ...

Leonard Cohen (person) 21 — Canadian singer-songwriter and poet discussed as having an overlap with the Red Scare podcast aesthetic, with particular...

The Brothers Karamazov (book) 21 — A novel by Dostoevsky containing a passage from Book 6 about isolation, individualism, and the need for social solidarit...

John Waters (person) 21 — Filmmaker whose advice about stopping hating your parents when you turn 30 is referenced in a discussion about loving bu...

2000 (concept) 20 — Year of the contested presidential election where Al Gore narrowly lost, marking the beginning of Democratic Party brand...

Sigmund Freud (person) 20 — Founder of psychoanalysis discussed in critical context regarding his treatment of patient Ida Bauer and his interpretat...

Whole Foods (place) 20 — A grocery store chain that underwent a radical aesthetic and product change, losing its classy dark interior and unique ...

Stranger Things (film) 20 — Netflix series criticized for ret-conning its original MKUltra-inspired premise with supernatural villain Vecna/Henry, m...

Islam (concept) 20 — Religion characterized by abstraction through prohibition of deity/prophet images and reliance on geometric patterns rat...

r/stupidpol (place) 20 — A subreddit described as anti-PC socialist but criticized for having dumber commentary than r/redscarepod, with anti-Iri...

Jean Baudrillard (person) 20 — French philosopher and cultural theorist referenced in a humorous post about quitting a nonprofit arts admin job after l...

Soviet Union (place) 20 — Former communist state discussed regarding its collapse being attributed to elites losing belief in the communist projec...

Marilyn Monroe (person) 20 — Hollywood icon whose fictionalized biography is explored in Joyce Carol Oates' Blonde, with discussion of her as an unre...

Chapo (album) 20 — Referenced as a style of political posting that is considered undesirable, likely referring to Chapo Trap House's brand ...

The New Yorker (place) 20 — Legendary literary magazine that historically published Elizabeth Bishop, JD Salinger, Truman Capote, and James Baldwin ...

NATO (concept) 20 — A military alliance criticized for allegedly breaking promises to Russia about not expanding eastward, described as the ...

Tár (film) 20 — A film about a classical music conductor whose career trajectory includes interactions with intellectuals and potential ...

Nashville (place) 20 — Tennessee city where Adam Friedland performed stand-up comedy, which he joked about in his set regarding large women and...

Taxi Driver (film) 20 — A film referenced for depicting the protagonist Travis watching porn in theaters as a way to show he was weird, contrast...

Napoleon (person) 20 — Ridley Scott film criticized for portraying Napoleon as a neurologically atypical villain rather than as a historically ...

Friends (film) 20 — Popular sitcom featuring an episode where Ross dances with children at Monica and Chandler's wedding, including a girl c...

Shane Gillis (person) 20 — Comedian praised as having the best redemption arc and described as the best current comedian, with his Netflix special ...

Neoliberalism (concept) 20 — Economic ideology criticized for creating an artificial finance-driven system where recessions are constantly predicted ...

Liz Bruenig (person) 20 — A public figure whose position on abortion, advocating for pro-family welfare policy over punitive measures, is discusse...

Beyoncé (person) 19 — Pop music artist discussed as a commercial product and brand that represents aspirational capitalism to her fanbase rath...

Will Smith (person) 19 — Actor discussed in relation to his Oscar ceremony confrontation with Chris Rock, with his behavior attributed to his rel...

BAP (person) 19 — Right-wing figure (Bronze Age Pervert/Costin Alamariu) described as an edgy neocon who uses racist vocabulary while supp...

Patreon (concept) 19 — Content platform discussed as potentially censoring podcasts in the context of the Joe Rogan controversy and Brooklyn po...

Taco Bell (place) 19 — Fast food chain discussed in context of celebrity advertising featuring Jason Sudeikis and Lebron James, contrasted with...

John Lennon (person) 19 — Beatles member and solo artist whose song 'Imagine' is hated by the poster for perceived hypocrisy given his wealth and ...

Lebanon (place) 19 — Middle Eastern country comprising only 1.5% of the region's population but responsible for 32.4% of Americans of Middle ...

Ulysses (book) 19 — James Joyce's novel referenced as a standard of cultural value, suggesting its former worth equals mere tweets in the co...

Lord of the Rings (film) 19 — Amazon series criticized for terrible screenwriting including a scene where the protagonist jumps off a ship to swim hun...

Hunter S. Thompson (person) 19 — Writer described as an embarrassing guilty pleasure whose early works like Hells Angels and Fear and Loathing in Las Veg...

MySpace (place) 19 — Early 2000s social media platform remembered nostalgically for its customizable HTML backgrounds, music features, and to...

Osama bin Laden (person) 19 — Historical figure referenced humorously as a 'friend of the pod' in early Red Scare episodes, with Dasha's reaction bein...

Costco (place) 19 — Warehouse retail store described as a place that intensifies negative attitudes toward overweight people due to overcrow...

Rick and Morty (film) 19 — An animated show that stopped being culturally relevant after 2018 when the pickle joke became stale, contrasted with Fa...

Ottessa Moshfegh (person) 19 — A Gen X author praised for her impeccable characterization of unapologetically shitty people and her deadpan voice, cont...

Rachel Sennott (person) 19 — Actress and writer discussed in relation to her show "I Love LA" which is criticized for hollow storytelling and poor ex...

Jon Stewart (person) 19 — Former late-night host whose political satire worked as a populist figure against the Neo-Lib establishment, contrasted ...