Nymphet Alumni

This week, we’re picking up the thread of New Sincerity— the cultural disposition that championed earnest emotion over irony and cynicism— and declaring its second wave, signaled by mumblecore documentarians, grassroots anti-algorithm micro-platforms, and transcendent, truth-seeking young rockers. Beginning with Austin’s New Sincerity underground scene in the early 1980s, we move through Daniel Johnston’s McDonald’s tape recordings, David Foster Wallace’s anti-irony manifesto, the tender emo of the early 2000s, and the hyperpop/electroclash interregnum before arriving at the present-day convergence of Geese, Chanel Beads, laptop twee, Perfectly Imperfect, Zohran’s New York, and so on. We also discuss the uncanny historical parallels between Conor Oberst and Cameron Winter, the anti-fashion uniform of dirty jackets and unbrushed hair, and the civic reasons why Ridgewood is possibly the epicenter of this aesthetic climate.

Links:

“John Wilson on Anxiety, Ridgewood, and Rent” in Interview

The History of Concrete viral Letterboxd review discourse

Perfectly Imperfect on Instagram / PI.FYI

silknode on Instagram / silk.cx

friends& on Substack, laptop_twee playlist by friends& on Spotify

errands.show on Instagram

“‘Errands’ Should Be the Most Boring Show on the Internet” by Alex Vadukul in The New York Times

Zohran Mamdani on Errands / Zohran Mamdani on Perfectly Imperfect

“People Are Discovering NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s Rap Past” by Andre Gee in Rolling Stone

15-year-old Zohran Mamdani defending his mother Mira Nair on film message boards

“The Zeitgeist of 1985, Pt. 1” by Michael Corcoran on Substack

“The New Sincerity” by Michael Corcoran in Spin (1986)

“E. Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction” by David Foster Wallace in The Review of Contemporary Fiction

“Mr. Sincerity Tries a New Trick” by Kelefa Sanneh in The New York Times

“Is Cameron Winter Serious?” by Lindsay Zoladz in The New York Times

“Toward a Working Theory of the Nu-Hipster” by Eli Schoop in Constantly Hating on Substack

“How to Live Without Irony” by Christy Wampole in The New York Times

“Sincerity, Not Irony, Is Our Age’s Ethos” by Jonathan D. Fitzgerald in The Atlantic

Milady Rave: New York, June 2023, Remilia x UG scene conspiracy on Reddit

Perfectly Imperfect SXSW Showcase 1.0, Perfectly Imperfect SXSW Showcase 2.0

“The Rise of Laptop Twee” by welcome.jpeg on Substack

“Things Are So Bad, People Are Longing for Cringey Millennial Culture” by Casey Michael Henry in The New York Times

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 22: Mass Bushwick

“Curating Ridgewood” by Max Moorhead in The Brooklyn Rail

“The big rock that helped defined the Ridgewood/Brooklyn border” in QNS

“Burning Bushwick” by Denis Chavez in For The Record (NYC Department of Records and Information Services)

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 96: Continental Luxury

“Geese Never Thought They’d End Up Here” (Cover Story) by Simon Vozick-Levinson in Rolling Stone

“Geese Invite Us To Their Secret Rehearsal Space, Talk New Music, Touring, & More” by Rolling Stone on YouTube

“The Real-Life Wardrobe of Geese’s Max Bassin, Who Only Wears One Brand of Jeans” by Christopher Fenimore in GQ

“I Like That Cameron Winter Dresses Bad” by Sophie Kemp in GQ

Special thanks to Riya Mahesh (Quiet Light), Vivi Hayes, Kat Brouillette (Locket), and Max Ludlow ~

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This week, Sam is joined by Ezra Marcus, New York magazine writer and trusted male correspondent from the entrepreneurial underworld, for a discussion about the shadow economy, the crisis of masculinity, and his latest article on the lit world of Chrome Hearts resale. They chat Chrome Hearts millionaires, OnlyFans empires, middle school day traders, Gen Z’s search for moral order, NeeDoh playground economics, the lost spirit of rap music, and more!

Links:

The Chrome Hearts Hustle by Ezra Marcus, The Cut

The Porn Addicts Who Tried to Rescue the Camgirls by Ezra Marcus, The Cut

How Everything Became Gambling by Max Read, The New York Times Magazine

Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuse by Heidi Blake, The New Yorker

Pimp: Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim

764

Yung Lean on Subway Takes

The New TikTok Aesthetic is ‘Ball Hog’ by Samuel Hine, The Cut

Chrome Hearts Tags by Lil Uzi Vert

Rogue Garms

Kids day trading on the school bus, TikTok

6th graders networking on LinkedIn, TikTok

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the abhorrent kayfabe of Drake’s new “goth GF” courtship, the steamy, naturalistic Ryan McGinley portfolio that kicked off New York’s inaugural men’s style issue, and the incoming wave of dark technocrat dramas— Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, Nathan Fielder’s You Can See Everything— and the risks of filmmakers drawing the map over the territory. We also get into Taylor Swift’s perplexingly jolly ode to getting picked and how the viral Western Mass lesbian bar discourse echoes three centuries of New England Puritan covenant culture.

Links:

20 WOMEN VS DRAKE | 20 V 1

Lin Lamar aka Pinkchyu on Instagram

“Perky Goth” on TVTropes.com

“We Can Tell You Have Low Social Power” by Breanna on Labyrinth of Art via Substack

“Sombr’s ‘Sex’ Belt Was His Idea” by Eileen Cartter in GQ

2hollis - Sex (Music Video)

“Reggie Watts Is a Prominent Ketamine Advocate. Was It His Ex’s ‘Undoing’?” by Cheyenne Roundtree in Rolling Stone

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 86: Deadheads and Dark Hippie-ism

“The Boys in the Baths” by Ryan McGinley for New York’s Men’s Style issue

“The Chrome Hearts Hustle” by Ezra Marcus for The Cut

“The Robert Pattinson and Skyler Gisondo Interview” by Slushy Noobz on YouTube

The Social Reckoning dir. Aaron Sorkin (Trailer)

Artificial dir. Luca Guadanigno (Trailer)

You Can See Everything dir. Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim (Trailer)

Lost Weekend by Phoebe Bridgers

AI-generated steel coil safety song

“I’m a Swiftie and even I think these new songs are terrible” by Poppie Platt in The Telegraph

300SkullsAndCounting & Jenny Sparks - The Ballad of St. Nick’s Park (Music Video)

Chiddy Bang - Opposite Of Adults (Music Video)

“Greenfield lesbian bar Last Ditch faces mask-rule backlash” by Annalisa Quinn in The Boston Globe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

This week, Biz is joined by Madeline Porsella and Mabel Capability Taylor of Mandylion Press to get to the bottom of what really happened in the 19th century… From Victorians’ obsession with clothing to why the bohemian weirdo authoresses of the 1800s were actually a bit basic.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this episode, we examine the aesthetic of the Dictator’s Wife, a 20th century archetype of conspicuous luxury, scary elegance, and icy detachment. We catalog the aesthetic’s signatures, from exotic furs and bulletproof coiffs to monochrome coordination and maximalist millinery. We consider how rigidly controlled femininity functions as armor and propaganda and survey the historical canon: Imelda Marcos’s infamous wardrobe, Elena Ceaușescu’s ugly-chic vanity crashouts, Asma al-Assad’s Vogue-approved Euro minimalism, and more. We also relate these issues to America’s current political climate, including the “edifice complex” ravaging our nation’s capitol, Melania's beleaguered glam squad, and the gilded tyranny of Mar-a-Lago glamour.

Links:

Image board

Cardi B dictator’s wife meme

Cardi B by Szilveszter Makó for Vogue Arabia

Rama Duwaji by Szilveszter Makó for The Cut

“Fashion Twitter is mad Daniel Roseberry Dressed a MAGA heiress.” by Louis Pisano on Substack

Louis Pisano’s “Couture & Corruption” series on TikTok

Lady Macbeth monologue from Act 1, Scene 5 of Macbeth

“Shoes, furs and hypocrisy: Why we love to hate despots' wives” by Rebecca Seales in BBC News

Bond villain nationality masterlist

“Womanliness as a Masquerade” by Joan Riviere

“Women Behind the Throne” by Camille Paglia

MAGA women research by Style Analytics on TikTok

The Kingmaker (2019) dir. Lauren Greenfield

Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield

Imelda (2003) dir. Ramona S. Diaz

“5 Shopping Sprees So Wild, They Made History” by Maureen O’Connor in New York

Eva Peron Rainbow Tour of Europe cover story for Time

Santa Evita by Tomás Eloy Martínez

“Behind Mugabe’s fall: Gucci Grace versus the Crocodile” by Norimitsu Onishi in The Sydney Morning Herald

“The Vanity Cult of Elena Ceausescu – Hated Wife of Romania’s Dictator” by Matthew Gaskill in Vintage News

“Ceausescu sale: Everything must go” (auction report) by Kate Connolly in The Guardian

“The Party that Toppled a Dynasty and Changed the Middle East Forever” by Jeff Zhou in Young Diplomats Society

“Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert” by Joan Juliet Buck in Vogue

“Syrian first lady Adma Al-Assad’s outfits” by Aya Lowe in Monocle

“How China Fell in Love with Syria’s First Lady” in Worldcrunch

“Armour of Couture” by Szilveszter Makó in Vogue Hong Kong

Gucci Spring/Summer 2026 “La Famiglia” portrait campaign by Catherine Opie

Melania Trump’s “I Really Don’t Care. Do U?” Zara jacket

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the coiffed Californian camp of Ryan Murphy’s The Shards, KATSEYE’s continued reign as the queens of sensory overload brainrot pop, and a new cast of nominatively absurd figures including Igby Rigney, Stella Lefty, Chanty Beluga, and Nimrod Workman. We also ponder Ella Langley as the new poster girl of American alt-lite, and we consider the uncomfortable indignity of life after fleeting virality as illustrated by Jools Lebron and the Love Island USA cast. Perhaps most importantly, we pause to mourn the loss of American Founding Mother and universal aphorist Dolly Parton :( Links:

Dolly Parton and her parents sing “In the Pines” (1976)

“Evening Shade” by Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton last health update vide on Instagram

TikTok #searchfordolly audition videos (exhibit A, exhibit B)

“How ‘The Shards’ Blew Up at HBO — and Ended Up in Ryan Murphy’s Hands” by Benjamin Svetkey in The Hollywood Reporter

Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere shot by Steven Meisel for Vogue September 2026 Cover Story

Kaia Gerber prompts BBL accusations in Alaïa F/W 2026

Kaia Gerber says she had an exorcism performed on her with a didgeridoo

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 6: The Milf-ification of Billie Eilish (Emergency Roundtable)

First look of Billie Eilish as Esther Greenwood on the set of The Bell Jar dir. Sarah Polley

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Official Teaser from HBO Max

“Happee Birthdae Harry” merch in the Harry Potter Japan Store

Poppi x RushTok x Love Island USA (exhibit A, exhibit B)

Jools Lebron original GoFundMe video and her Jeffree Star read

KATSEYE (캣츠아이) – “Hootie Frutti” (Official Music Video)

KATSEYE choreographer Grant Gilmore on TikTok

GUI GUI on Instagram

Ella Langley –“Be Her” (Official Music Video)

Ella Langley’s Shiner beer collab party trick

Ella Langley feat. “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees

“The Untold Story of Sierra Ferrell: Train-Hopping to Stardom” on YouTube

Stella Lefty – “Boston” Review in Pitchfork (“Stick Season” obsession evidence)

Coal miner, union activist, and singer Nimrod Workman performs the traditional Appalachian folk song “Oh Death”

A woman named “Chanty Beluga” introduces herself at a pool party

Evan Lazarus in defense of Chanty Beluga

Bodacious Humphrey Williams

Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez’s wedding shot by Juergen Teller for Vogue

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

Hi Nymphies — as summer comes to an end, we’re unlocking an all-time fan favorite: the Loner Girl episode. We hope the Loner Girl, with her layered knits and rich inner world, is a source of back-to-school inspiration as we head into fall. <3

In this episode, we reflect on what we call the Loner Girl aesthetic, an eccentric style epitomized by the vulnerable yet spunky YA protagonistas of decades past, best accessorized with a messenger bag, sneaker flats, and a starry-eyed disposition. We reinvigorate the teen traumacore literary canon, including the works of John Green and Ellen Hopkins, and discuss its associated social phenomena, mental health themes, and expression through personal style. We also take stock of Manic Pixie Dream Girl discourse and discuss early-career Marc Jacobs, “Banal Eccentricity” at Prada, the forgotten appeal of eggplant purple, and our own personal thirteenth reasons ...Links:Image boardThirteen Reasons Why book cover stylingRelated aesthetics on CARI: Hipness Purgatory, Corporate GrungeWhen Miuccia Prada Invented Ugly Chic – NSS Mag (Prada S/S 1996)Marc Jacobs Fall 2005 RTWYour Fave is Problematic: John GreenThe Teen Whisperer (John Green 2014 New Yorker profile)Why John Green Likes Writing for Teenagers (2019 NYT interview)John Green and his Manic Pixie Dream Girls – LA Review of Books Mori-kei – Japanese Fashion Wiki

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

This week, Alexi is joined by music critic and columnist Ella Dorn to unpack her viral essay declaring Giallobrutalism as the defining visual language of mid-2020s pop, informed by the stylish delirium of Italian giallo cinema and a pervasive unease about surveillance and stardom. We discuss the aesthetic’s formal signatures—cool temperatures, split diopters, painterly tableaux, and more— as well as the rise of early-onset popstar histrionics, the existential glamour of centripetal girls in centrifugal settings, and the decade’s watershed fashion moments so far, from Miu Miu micro-minis to Sandy Liang mega-bows. We also challenge the default Y2K reading of modern pop aesthetics, arguing for a closer look at their 20th-century antecedents, and reflect on our shared past as stans of doomed K-pop girl groups.

Links:

“‘Giallobrutalism,’ or why everything looks like that” by Ella Dorn on Fairyland!

Ella Dorn on Twitter

Fairyland! on Instagram

K-Pop Music Video Analysis w/ Alexi

One on Top of the Other (1969) dir. Lucio Fulci

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971) dir. Lucio Fulci

“Music, Fashion, Film is Charli xcx at her subversive best” by Ella Dorn in The New Statesman

Balenciaga F/W 2024

Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity by Edward Dimendberg

“The realities of being a pop star” by Charli xcx on charli’s substack

Ep. 162: Crayola Casual

Ep. 102: Just Dance w/ Lexee Smith

Nicole Kidman wearing Miu Miu S/S 2022 for Vanity Fair’s 2022 Hollywood Issue cover

Sandy Liang S/S 2024

Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting by Sianne Ngai

“In Defense of the Leopard Print Midi Skirt” in Paper magazine (the original @leopardmidiskirt Instagram account is GONE omg)

New Giallobrutalist canon entries we discuss: YENA (최예나) – “캐치 캐치 (Catch Catch)”, aespa 에스파 – “Switchblade (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)”, Gracie Abrams – “Look at My Life”, ifeye (이프아이) – “r u ok?” , aespa エスパ – “KISS N TELL”

Bang Jae Yeob

LOONA/ODD EYE CIRCLE – “Sweet Crazy Love” (Official Music Video)

LOONA/Kim Lip – “Eclipse” (Official Music Video)

The iconic abandoned Brutalist building from every K-pop MV

Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures by Mark Fisher

Federico Fellini: Painting in Film, Painting on Film by Hava Aldouby

no na - “honk!” (Official Music Video)

no na - “superstitious” (Official Music Video)

Elliot Shields on Instagram (creative consultant on Aespa’s “Kiss N Tell”)

Magic by Jolin Tsai 蔡依林

但是又何奈 by Louise Tsuei 崔苔菁

Rocket Girls 101 (火箭少女101) K-pop plagiarism overview

KiiiKiii on Instagram

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In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the questionable decisions behind the scenes of the Possession remake, the historical accuracy cottage industry reactivated by the release of The Odyssey, the latest in infidelity surveillance via Jay Guapo, and new releases from Adela, Tyla, and KATSEYE. We also highlight a recent cornucopia of Euroweird excellence from the Depardieu family’s blissful film festival outing to the fabulous brainrot opera debut of Beata Mona-Lisa, Greta Thunberg’s perplexingly buxom sister— plus we react to fashion announcements including Marine Serre’s bankruptcy and the upcoming John Galliano–themed Met Gala.Links:

Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner on the set of the Possession remake in New Jersey

Julie Depardieu and Philippe Katerine pose with their 2 sons Billy and Alfred at the Monte Carlo Television Festival (Alexi’s viral QRT)

Billy Blanchard at Jean-Paul Gaultier F/W 2026 Couture via Lyas

“EXCLUSIVE: Marine Serre Seeks Investor Amid Financial Restructuring” in WWD

The Met Announces the Spring 2027 Costume Institute Exhibition, John Galliano: Horizons

“John Galliano Returns to Fashion Via a Creative Partnership with Zara” in Vogue

“An Uncomplicated Man” (review of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey) by Emily Wilson in The London Review of Books

Millie Bobby Brown responds to bad wig accusations on BBC Radio 1

@chthonicthorn on TikTok (Hellenistic practicioner?)

“Greta Thunberg’s Sister Beata Mona-Lisa Does the Splits” by Billy Parker in Interview

Beata Mona-Lisa on Instagram

Pianist Yuja Wang

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 114: Grisch

“The Folk Singer Linda Perhacs Is Found and Is Safe, Authorities Confirm” in The New York Times

Tyla - “THAT GIRL” (Official Music Video)

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 147: Cherry Emoji Dark Feminine

Tyla in custom Phoebe Pendergast polka dot hair clip at Disney with Kai Cenat

“Valley of the Marc Jacobs Dolls” by Carwyn McIntyre in ToBe

“The Surreal, Sublime Worlds of Szilveszter Makó” by Lauren Jackson in The New York Times

Adam Green’s Aladdin - Full Movie (Official) on YouTube

KATSEYE (캣츠아이) - “Animal” (Official Music Video)

KATSEYE EP 3 ‘WILD’ (Wild heart ver.) teaser images on Instagram

ADÉLA - “Ain’t In LA” (Official Music Video)

Gabbriette in custom Matières Fécales bridal

Andrea Mauri @babedrea33 on Instagram

“Married elite NYC lawyer, 45, is caught red-handed with underling, 29, in passionate Central Park rendezvous” in The Daily Mail

“How Leopold Aschenbrenner, the ‘golden child’ of the AI trade, was laid low” in The Financial Times

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In this episode, the ladies welcome America’s favorite game show host Ben Mora for a survey of the interior design landscape among Millennials and Gen Z. They discuss how bedroom stratigraphy reveals the history of interior design fads, the never-ending influence of the long ‘90s, the tyranny of mid-century modern, blackout curtain pleasure caves, Pinterest boards, the housing crisis, various gay predispositions, and more!

Interior Motives

Seeking Derangements

Ben’s profile in New York magazine!!

Printed out Pinterest Moodboard TikToks

$4,300 in missing rugs, online shame, 7 hours in NYPD custody: A stooping story

Samantha Wynn Greenstone (girl who married a gay guy and had a baby)

BBL Arab Gays

Tasteslop by Nemesis

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe