Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Melbourne (place) 19 — Australian city where a poster observed that in-person conversations with strangers at bars have become a dead art form ...

Ayn Rand (person) 19 — Philosopher beloved by a high school philosophy teacher who also listens to Red Scare and thinks it represents a self-cr...

UK (place) 19 — The United Kingdom, discussed as now receiving outsourced jobs from US companies due to lower salaries and a weakening p...

Joseph Stalin (person) 19 — Soviet leader discussed in terms of his revolutionary origins, political decisions, and the moral ambiguity of his rule ...

MeToo (concept) 19 — Movement described as creating obsessive overanalysis of sexual encounters, general discomfort around sex, and periods o...

Justin Trudeau (person) 19 — Canadian Prime Minister who has fallen dramatically in public opinion, with diverse coworkers unanimously criticizing hi...

Call Me By Your Name (film) 19 — Film argued to be aging well for being ahead of its time with summer fashion, featuring langorous romanticizing quality ...

Curtis Yarvin (person) 19 — Writer and political theorist criticized for being physically unattractive and writing screeds on Substack about his spe...

Bret Easton Ellis (person) 19 — Author being adapted by HBO for his new novel The Shards, described as an elder statesman for a new generation of anti-i...

Virgil Texas (person) 19 — A former Chapo Trap House host who was mentioned for the first time since 'The Incident' when Adam Friedland made a joke...

Andy Warhol (person) 19 — Artist famous for predicting that "in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes," referenced in discussio...

Oscar Wilde (person) 19 — Irish writer whose essay "The Decay of Lying" argues that modern obsession with truth and facts is responsible for the d...

Call of Duty (film) 18 — Referenced as 'CoD' in relation to a character named Ignatius Reilly, though this appears to be a misidentification of '...

Second Wave Feminism (concept) 18 — A feminist movement referenced in discussion of porn-induced dehumanization of women, with the author noting they are no...

Taliban (concept) 18 — Political/military group in Afghanistan, discussed with hopes they would develop entertaining Twitter personalities usin...

Red pill (concept) 18 — Ideology described as poison to the male brain that convinces men to approach dating as a transactional pop evolutionary...

Pinterest (place) 18 — Image-sharing platform whose links are criticized for being pushed to the top of Google search results, contributing to ...

Appalachia (place) 18 — A region in the United States referenced as the poster's home area where they grew up thinking their house-owning family...

Anthony Bourdain (person) 18 — Late chef and cultural commentator referenced as example of adventurous eater with genuine appreciation for diverse cuis...

The Atlantic (place) 18 — A magazine referenced as publishing articles advising people to cut ties with 'problematic' people in their lives, part ...

Billie Eilish (person) 18 — A pop artist cited as having genuine talent and emotional investment in her music despite significant production assista...

Jonah Hill (person) 18 — Actor discussed as an example of how acting success may depend more on connections than skill, with his career kickstart...

New England (place) 18 — A region referenced as the origin of The Boondock Saints filmmaker, whose sensibility is described as 'wet brain' puttin...

Justin Bieber (person) 18 — Teen pop star who was widely despised by men in the early 2010s, with some admitting their hatred stemmed from jealousy ...

Barry Lyndon (film) 18 — Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece film, referenced as the epitome of "every frame a painting" cinematography, with a new 4K ...

Adolf Hitler (person) 18 — Referenced in connection to his V2 rocket program being credited with advancing rocketry and computer technology by 10-1...

New Mexico (place) 18 — US state considered as a destination but with concern about feeling landlocked due to lack of large bodies of water and ...

Diddy (person) 18 — A music mogul whom Selena Gomez allegedly mentioned and laughed about in connection to an inappropriate relationship wit...

Buddhism (concept) 18 — Religion that gained popularity among affluent white people in the mid-to-late 20th century but declined in recent decad...

stupidpol (place) 18 — Reddit community focused on class-first leftist politics that this subreddit is criticized for resembling due to an infl...

Grateful Dead (album) 18 — Psychedelic rock band described as a uniquely American phenomenon that reflected the freedom Americans claim to value th...

Katy Perry (person) 18 — Pop artist discussed alongside Lady Gaga as having been more popular than Taylor Swift early in their careers but eventu...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (person) 18 — Supreme Court Justice whose death prompted discussion about systemic inequality and the rigged nature of the system, wit...

Curb Your Enthusiasm (film) 18 — HBO comedy series that ended, referenced as the type of show that would feature accidentally hitting 'reply all' leading...

New York (place) 18 — City mentioned by evangelical as hosting a UN meeting to split Israel, which she believed would bring God's judgment.

Harry Styles (person) 18 — Pop musician whose gender-nonconforming fashion choices are contrasted negatively with Black artists as feeling corny an...

1999 (album) 17 — Prince album from 1984, mentioned as one of the parent's old tapes to play during a road trip in a 1992 Miata.

2011 (concept) 17 — Year referenced as a time when indie/EDM bands commonly used Alan Watts voice clips in their music.

Johnny Depp (person) 17 — Actor involved in a highly publicized defamation trial against Amber Heard that became a cultural phenomenon generating ...

Bluesky (place) 17 — A new social media platform discussed as being dominated by Twitter power users trying to reestablish their cliques rath...

Dead Internet Theory (concept) 17 — The theory that much of the internet consists of bot activity and algorithmically-driven content rather than genuine hum...

Arizona (place) 17 — State described as home to a specific type of outdoorsy pseudo-influencer who camps in southern Utah and northern Arizon...

John Mulaney (person) 17 — Professional stand-up comedian discussed in context of revisionism about his career being built on being a 'nice wife gu...

Zendaya (person) 17 — Actress in Dune criticized for making a 'stink face' and lacking chemistry with Timothée Chalamet despite being meant as...

Microsoft (place) 17 — Technology corporation criticized for forcing hardware obsolescence through Windows 11 requirements and representing bro...

North Korea (place) 17 — Discussed in a critical post pushing back against pro-North Korea sentiment, describing it as a faux-Agrarian dictatorsh...

Richard Nixon (person) 17 — Former U.S. president whose psychological profile as someone who 'believed he could accomplish anything, but that no acc...

Sally Rooney (person) 17 — An Irish writer mentioned as one of several world-class writers who came up through Ireland's indie writing scene and no...

Black Mirror (film) 17 — Popular anthology series referenced as an example of mainstream media people are constantly pressured to watch, contrast...

Steely Dan (album) 17 — Band cited as being below the radar enough to warrant a recent rediscovery, positioned between The Beatles/Rolling Stone...