Happy Thursday, you pop culture junkies!

This week, Brooke walks us through some viral trends that unfold into other viral trends. From women lip synching Hamilton songs and sneaking out of windows, to explaining what a FINAL BOSS is and breaking down The Culture Awards and the song of the summer, “Diet Pepsi”, by Ben Platt NOT Addison Rae. And of course we have the dark sides of pop culture. A woman going viral on TikTok for falling in love with her psychiatrist and turning to the community to talk about it while seemingly in an AI psychosis as she relies entirely on ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude for all her communications and counsel. WOO BOY. We also have a warning about an “energy drink” called Feel Free which seems to be highly addictive. BE WARNED. And Brooke has decided that MAHJONG is the new Pickleball.

PCM Newsletter This week:

https://popculturemondays.com/2025/08/11/hamilton-ai-psychosis-diet-pepsi-its-pop-culture-summer/

The Culture Awards CLIP TO WATCH:

IN ABSENTIA -  https://www.tiktok.com/@bravotv/video/7535598076484914487?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc