In this episode, we open up the yellow Kanken of history and unpack one of the most influential archetypes of the 2010s: the art hoe. We rediscover the work of the Art Hoe Collective, revisit the Tumblr art historical canon from Matisse's cutouts to Van Gogh's sunflowers, and trace the aesthetic's propagation through musicians like Mac Demarco and Tyler the Creator. We also discuss the forms in which art hoeism lives on today, from TikTok's indie teens to zillennial art world professionals. 

Links:
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Art Hoe Collective in the Dazed 100
#Arthoe: the teens who kickstarted a feminist art movement – The Guardian
Amandla Stenberg: Don't Cash Crop on my Cornrows
Rex Orange County - Loving is Easy [Official Video]
Claud - Wish You Were Gay [Official Video]

This week, we investigate the recent destigmatization of theater kid energy and its resurgence in mass culture, from musical-movie adaptations to the irresistible charms of improv-trained comedians. We discuss the peak of the NBC fandom, the timelessness of "difficult" leading ladies, star factories such as SNL and NYU Tisch, the ineffability of theatrical sexuality, the rise of craft and tryhardism, and more. 

Links:
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Renee Rapp on Call Her Daddy
SNL 1975 (upcoming SNL movie)
Ariana Grande - yes, and? (Official Music Video)
Audio-Visual Cocktail Party by Steven Phillips-Horst for Spike Magazine (on late night shows)
Paloma Diamond is Winning Awards Season – Vulture
Power Bottoms: The NYU classmates behind the year’s most delightfully dumb comedy – Vulture
NYU brainstorming sesh for Bottoms
Tina Fey clip that came out after we recorded this episode?!

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In this emergency roundtable, we drop everything to take a walk through the streets of Paris with John Galliano, discussing the viral Margiela show that brought on a fashioncore love surge the likes of which the world has seldom seen before. We talk about the broken down babydoll effect, the emerging field of cosmetic forensics, our love for steampunk, the body shop, fashion hunchbacks, merkinis, early career Adele, despair, theatricality, and more. We celebrate the termination of the "Year of the Girl," and herald the arrival of the "Year of the Lady" ... and the Tramp. 

Links:
Maison Margiela Spring 2024 Couture – Vogue Runway
Maison Margiela Artisanal Collection 2024 – Full Show on YouTube
Maison Margiela’s Couture Collection Will Go Down in Fashion History – Cathy Horyn for The Cut
Osman Ahmed's Instagram Caption
Interview with Luc Bruyère

To mog, or not to mog ... This week, we take a trip to the Mogwarts School of Profound Self-Improvement to check in on the next generation of looksmaxxers and their charismatic leader, Kareem Shami. We discuss key figures of the male beauty pantheon—male models Jordan Barrett, Chico Lachowski, and Sean O'Pry— and discover what they represent to young men today. We also dive into the dark history of looksmaxxing, from the Legend of Zyzz to the alleged crimes of orthotropic madman Dr. Mike Mew.

Links:
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Young Men Seek Answers to an Age-Old Question: How to Be Hot – New York Times
Mogwarts Official Website
Kareem Shami aka @syrianpsycho on TikTok
Inside Jordan Barrett And Fernando Casablancas’s Celebration Of Love In Ibiza – Vogue
Dr. Mike Mew Tribunal – The Guardian
More Dr. Mew evidence – BBC
Mikhaila Peterson interview with Dr. Mike Mew
Weston A. Price research overview (see "Our Children" section)
The Legend of Zyzz video essay
"full looksmaxxing playist" on YouTube

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In our first episode of the new year, we discuss the infiltration of Mormon culture into the online mainstream, from the highly engaging TikToks of Nara Smith to the reign of the Stanley Cup and the alchemical innovations that fill them. Why are there so many Mormon influencers? Since when do Mormons have kind of cool style? How is Lucky Blue Smith eating so much every day? We dive into snarky subreddits, genealogical archives, and obscure theological sources to bring you the answers; Sam also introduces her Class to Crass spectrum to make sense of Mormon content. 

Links:
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Nara Smith on TikTok
Taylor Frankie Paul on TikTok
Why So Many of Your Favorite Beauty Personalities Are Mormon – Allure
Influencer culture and LDS theology – The Christian Century
Polygamy Chic Tumblr
FLDS Hair Tutorial
Polygamist Hair – Huffington Post
Ex-Mormon Subreddit
Identify pioneer principles, apply them in modern times – LDS Church News
Pioneer Principles: Your Heritage – Latter-Day Soprano
Mormon history in the pioneer age: the mob assassination of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Wars, Brigham Young's wagon train
Mormonism and the color white – LDSLiving
The Granite Mountain Records Vault in Salt Lake City
Building Mormonism: History and Controversy in the Architecture of the Latter-day Saints – Art in America
Mormonism, Empathy, and Aesthetics – Beholding the Body
Toward a Mormon Aesthetic – Brigham Young University
Rational Faiths: Keeping Mormonism Weird

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Welcome to the Nymphies! In this inaugural ceremony, we honor 2023's greatest achievements in fashion and culture with awards from us at the Nymphet Alumni Academy of Arts and Sciences, including categories such as Biggest Fashion Faux Pas, Most Camp, and Best "Core," and culminating in the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. We offer exclusive access to our careful deliberation process, which features extended discussions of Chris Pine's street style, tooth gems, eco-terrorism, Keith Lee, and more.

This week, we investigate the emergence of TikTok Shop, exploring its bizarre interface and offerings as representative of a new era of e-commerce and consumer psychology. We discuss the redefinition of the “small business,” the vulgarity of commerce as content, and strategies of pathological guerilla marketing. We also take a stroll through the Shop ourselves to observe the “gyatt pajamas,” chamoy pickle kits, and pheromone oils that are sweeping the nation. 

TikTok’s official Shop press release

TikTok Shop in the New York Times

Chamoy pickle kit explainer

Dr. Candice Lin on Zheng Xiangxiang

FV Makeup foundation videos

China Too Cool: Vernacular Innovations and Aesthetic Discontinuity of China – Yijing Zhou

UX in China: More Is More, Super Apps, and Community - Yuan Qing Lim (Config 2022)

Livestream Shopping Is Not Going to Take Over E-Commerce – Forbes

Twitter as a Payment Processor – Financial Times

Indonesia’s TikTok Shop Ban – Financial Times

Teens Selling on TikTok Shop – NBC, Financial Times

TikTok Shop’s Snail Mucin Dupe Problem – Wired 

Ho ho ho!! We Three Queens arrive to you with our hearts full of cheer and our sleigh stocked with the greatest gift of all … knowledge!! In our very first Christmas special, we discuss the visual language of the holiday season, from the scourge of minimalist Christmas decor to the history of department store spectacles. Joined by ghosts of Christmas Past, including the original Coca-Cola-sanctioned Santa Claus, Thomas Kinkade, and Jack Skellington, we also make our predictions for theoretical Christmas aesthetics to come. 

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Kim Kardashian’s Minimalist Christmas Decor

Minimalist Nativity Sets

Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Art

Joan Didion on Thomas Kinkade

A History of the Department Store – BBC

History of Christmas Catalogs

Santa’s New York Roots – NYPL

Christmas Drawings for the Human Race (1890) – Thomas Nast

Haddon Sundblom and the Coca-Cola Santas

Why Hollywood films, Christmas music and jazz are so intertwined – Jazz FM

Brenda Lee’s Comeback – New York Times

Vogue’s Christmas Archive

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This week, we snap into our intellectual spring-lock suits and analyze the phenomenon of creepycore internet media, discussing digital horrors that have us shaking in our boots. Tune in to hear how FNAF falls into the tradition of Victorian storytelling, what creepypastas tell us about the participation gap, how iceberg-style consumption has changed the media landscape, and more!  

Links:

“The Troubles of the Automaton” by Clementine Black

The Participation Gap

Creepypasta Wiki 

The Laws of Lorecore by Shumar Basar

Kid’s Stuff in Contemporary Horror

The Uncanny Valley by Marisho Mori

Perpetual Mismatch Theory

Configural Processing Theory

Uncanny Valley Makeup Trend

Serbian Dancing Lady Trend

Opposite Features Makeup TikTok

In this episode, we expand on the edgy, high-octane aesthetic of the Harley Davidson Harlot. From the checkerboard-and-flames motif of the 2010s to the 2020 revival of Diesel under Glenn Martens to Kylie Jenner's new clothing venture Khy, we chronicle fashion's obsession with all things moto-inspired ... and evaluate the dystopian implications of this petrochemical path. On this journey, we encounter Che Guevera and Julia Fox, uniform fetishism, the BP oil spill, Global South cyberpunk, and much more.

Links:
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Khy by Kylie Jenner
Betsy Johnson's Khy callout posts
Motorbike culture in the Global South: Vietnam, Brazil, Kenya
The Importance of the African Motorcycle in Art
Kim Kardashian in Chrome Hearts
How Glenn Martens Saved Diesel from its Midlife Crisis
Diesel's Daily African print campaign (2001)
An Incomplete History of the Akira Bike Slide
Apple's Mother Nature report starring Octavia Spencer
Azealia Banks' Yeezy Modular Survival Kit
Prix Workshop

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