Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration

The “Clear Craze” was a marketing from the late 1980s to early 2000s that led to an influx of transparent and translucent products. Consumers could suddenly purchase clear versions of electronics, beverages, mouthwash, mascara, deodorant, laundry detergent, and even gasoline. Many clear products were purported to have benefits over their opaque counterparts, such as how clear beverages were marketed as being “lite” or low calorie. But were they actually healthier, as many claimed? And what did they symbolize on a deeper level? 

On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Nathan and Sebastien begin by discussing consumer electronics that debuted during the Clear Craze like the Conair Clear Phone, iMac G3, and Gameboy Color. The two then pivot to clear beverages that launched in the ‘90s, detailing why drinks like Crystal Pepsi and Zima flopped. They round out the episode with a discussion about why the Clear Craze is unlikely to ever truly experience a revival due to tech companies’ aversion to the right to repair. 

Links:

The Clear Craze

The Clear Craze & Prison Electronics

The Clear Craze of Y2K Electronics

Ep. 55: Y2K Futurism

Colorless Craze Makes Many Things Clear by Morning Call (1993)

Clear, And Cashing In by Karen Springen (1993)

“It Was the Coolest Phone I’d Ever Seen” by Heather Schwedel

Why The '90s Clear Phones Became So Popular by William Kennedy

The Mac that saved Apple (and Steve Jobs): Deep Inside the Bondi Blue by Rik Myslewski

iMac | The Computer of the Future

Why Crystal Pepsi Flopped

What Happened to Crystal Pepsi? How the 'Clear Craze' Drink Became No More by Kenn C. Bivins

Crystal Pepsi 1992: Transparency Without Demand

10 Things You Should Know About Zima by Olivia White

The Clear Beverage Craze of the ‘90s by The 80s and 90s Uncensored 

This is Why We’re Falling Back in Love with Clear Tech by Sushant Vohra

Artwork:

スケルトンClear by Kazzycom

Recorded on 4/29/2026

Those Characters From Cleveland, which first launched in 1981, was the character development division at American Greetings. Tasked with licensing existing greeting card characters like Holly Hobbie and Strawberry Shortcake into toys and cartoons, they quickly found success by launching new IPs like the Care Bears. But how did a company based in Cleveland, OH make such a large impact on children’s media during the 1980s? On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Nathan and Sebastien detail how American Greetings and TCFC took a bottom up approach to IP development. They discuss how TCFC lost an early legal battle over Strawberry Shortcake’s copyright, how TCFC designed the Care Bears to break into the 40% of the plush market held by teddy bears, and how several TCFC franchises loosely connect to the Victorian-inspired consumer aesthetic known as Soft Countriana. 

Links:

Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/silentgeneration/those-characters-from-cleveland/ 

Throughout the Decades - American Greetings History

Barbi Sargent and Strawberry Shortcake

Barbi Sargent’s design vs Muriel Fahrion’s design 

Sargent v. American Greetings Corp., 588 F. Supp. 912 (N.D. Ohio 1984)

History of the Care Bears by Chris Buchner

The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings (w/ Terri Mitchell)

The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings (1983)

The Care Bears Movie (1985)

Cleveland’s Greetings by Clair McNear

The Bear Truth by Colleen Smitek

The Rise and Fall of Care Bears: Why It Was Cancelled At Its Peak

The Calculated History of The Care Bears

Potential New Cleveland RTA Rail System Map

Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears: Best of Friends Sweepstakes 1980s Ad

Recorded on 4/23/2026

Soft Countriana is a consumer aesthetic that flourished from the 1970s to early 1990s that is composed of pastels, country geese, storybook creatures, and homages to the Victorian era. It describes the aesthetic that was most popular amongst “conservative grandmas in the 1980s,” though it broadly appealed to suburban women of all ages. The aesthetic was popularized by brands such as Laura Ashley, Hallmark, Paula Vaughan, and Gunne Sax.

On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Nathan is joined by Evan Collins, the founder of the Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute, who first identified Soft Countriana in June 2022. The two begin by theorizing what type of consumer the aesthetic most appealed to and why it first emerged. They then survey the aesthetic’s common motifs before taking a deeper look at the British lifestyle brand Laura Ashley. The episode concludes with a discussion about whether the contemporary aesthetic cottagecore drew inspiration from Soft Countriana.

Links:

Soft Countriana Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/silentgeneration/soft-countriana/

Evan’s Soft Countriana Are.na: https://www.are.na/evan-collins-1522646491/soft-countriana

Evan’s Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute Patreon page

Evan’s Instagram

Evan’s Bluesky

Soft Countriana Aesthetic’s Wiki Page

Gay Nineties Revival CARI Page

The Gay Nineties: An Album of Reminiscent Drawings by R. V. Culter 

Gaggleville Goose Outfits

The Talking Mother Goose ad

Inside Laura Ashley: How Britain's Fashion Empire Was Built and Lost

The Enduring Appeal of Laura Ashley by Amanda Fortini

Small Firm Design by Paula Rice Jackson (SF county store article)

Is Little house on the prairie cottagecore?

Artwork:

The Romance of Paula Vaughan by Anne Childs (1993)

Recorded on 3/8/2026

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration

For roughly seven decades from 1790 to 1855, water transportation was the dominant form of transportation in the United States. This week’s episode of Silent Generation begins with an examination of one of the most important pieces of infrastructure that enabled it to be so prosperous, the Erie Canal. Nathan and Sebastien then detail waterways that enable freight shipping to remain competitive in the present day like the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Mississippi River. They then transition to discussing what they like about passenger ferry services like the Staten Island Ferry, NYC Ferry, and the Chicago Water Taxi. The episode concludes with a debate about why urbanists don’t typically care about water transportation, and whether urban waterways can be used for purposes other than recreation. 

Links:

Sebastien’s Survey of Old Erie Canal

The Erie Canal - American History Hit

Low Bridge, Everybody Down

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan

The End of the World is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan

The Port of Chicago is not just a scar on the city’s shoreline and a threat to the environment. It’s a drag on economic growth by John Lippert

Ferry Travel in the 21st Century by James Gilcher

NYC Ferry Map

Big Changes Coming to NYC Ferry

Chicago Water Taxi

Where did all of the American Canals go? - Alan Fisher

Artwork:

Washington State ferry, 1960's

Recorded on 3/30/2026

In the summer of 2023, Joseph and I were having a conversation in Podlasie Club about different generational attitudes toward ultraprocessed food. We shared anecdotes about how boomers in our personal lives had little to no reservations about consuming them, while the generation above the boomers had a healthy degree of skepticism and preferred home-cooked food. Joseph uttered the phrase “reject your parents, embrace your grandparents.” I quickly realized that the generation he advocated embracing was the Silent Generation, and the term began buzzing in my head. 

I had only known Joseph for a couple of months at that point, but we had amazing conversational chemistry and kept discovering that we admired many of the same things: public transit, cities, architecture, menswear, and aesthetics. He was even wearing his Crystal Castles long sleeve tee that night at Podlasie Club, which ended up being the third topic we did together and our all time most downloaded episode. I asked him to start the podcast with me after I realized that the worldview we shared was something that needed to be disseminated and preserved.

The Silent Generation worldview is one that is predicated on decline. If you look at the health of American cities compared to 100 years ago, you will find that the reliability of public transit systems, walkability of neighborhoods, vibrancy of downtowns, and quality of architecture have all diminished over the last century. Cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Louis saw their populations fall by more than half. While Chicago has fared better than much of the rest of the Midwest, we are still in many ways a shadow of our former self, having lost a million people from our peak in 1950. 

This decline can be attributed to car-oriented development in the mid-20th century. Urban neighborhoods were razed for the construction of interstate highways, and suburban lifestyles became synonymous with the American way of life. Prior urbanists have already elucidated how car-oriented lifestyles lead to lower life expectancies, decreased financial stability, and atomization. But Silent Generation is amongst the first projects to explore the cultural effects of suburbanization, to look at the cultural practices of prior generations and examine what has been lost through the lens of urbanism. 

As a podcast, we aim to not only identify what has been lost since the mid-century, but to offer solutions in the present day: subcultures, secular social movements, and moral codes. Each involves the identification of values within oneself and a conscious effort to engage with the wider world. We aim to teach listeners to be citizens instead of consumers, and to value their communities as participants in public life. Silent Generation has now reached 100 episodes, but there is still more to explore.

Links:

Silent Generation Zine Vol. 1

Artwork:

Recorded on 4/2/2026

Pictureplane, real name Travis Egedy, is a musician, artist, and fashion designer who popularized the term “witch house” in a 2009 interview with Pitchfork Magazine. In this follow up episode to Ep. 89: Witch House, Nathan and Breanna interview Pictureplane about his contributions to witch house and his involvement with early internet aesthetics as a whole. They ask him about what his Myspace page looked like, how he got to know Zombelle, and how the music video for Goth Star got filmed. The episode concludes with a discussion of Pictureplane’s most recent album, Sex Distortion. 

Links:

Pictureplane - Instagram Page 

https://pictureplane.bandcamp.com/

https://shop.alienbody.com/

Real Is A Feeling by Pictureplane 

Gothstar by Pictureplane

Glowing Wounds by Pictureplane

Sex Distortion (Spectral Passion) by Pictureplane

Heaven is a State of Mind by Pictureplane

RE/Search Publications

Industrial Culture Handbook

Runaway Today

Bukake is a Feeling by Zombelle

2011 Chicago Tumblr basement photo

greeknewmediashit 

Photorhabdus luminescens (Angel’s glow)

Artwork:

Pictureplane on His Haunting New Album and His Favorite Horror Imagery by Tobias Carroll

Recorded on 1/7/2026

“Rockabilly” is a portmanteau of the words “rock” and “hillbilly” that originally described a subgenre of rock and roll music in the 1950s. This week’s episode of Silent Generation focuses on the rockabilly subculture: a modern interpretation of rockabilly that combines 1950s nostalgia with alternative staples like hair dye, piercings, and tattoos. Nathan and Sebastien start out by discussing traditional rockabilly music that was popularized by the likes of Elvis Presley, Janis Martin, and Wanda Jackson. The two then theorize why people are drawn to the rockabilly subculture and identify what characteristics they share. They then detail rockabilly fashion before concluding with a discussion about rockabilly values and whether or not those values still feel transgressive.

Links:

Rockabillies Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/silentgeneration/rockabillies/ 

The Best of Rockabilly Playlist

Bang Bang by Janis Martin

Fujiyama Mama by Wanda Jackson

Rockabilly - Aesthetics Wiki Page

Rockabilly resurgence: A rocking revival in the 90s by 034zakia.bessaa2008

What Is Rockabilly Style? Everything You Wanted To Know by Bonnie

It's a Rockabilly World (2016)

Guys Episode 37 - Rockabilly Guys with Brace Belden

Reviving the 1950s - Exploring Tokyo’s Rockabilly Culture by Melanie Gelo

Nothing to Worry About by Peter Bjorn and John

Viva Las Vegas

VLV 25 Car Show

LisaTV @ the Rockabilly Convention

Rockabilly Duo: Your Scene Sucks

Child of Rockabilly Couple Constantly Wondering What the Fuck Is Going On by Keith Buckley

Drake Bell Made a Rockabilly Album?

r/Rockabilly

Is Rockabilly alive and well or is it a dying culture?

”Rockabilly” on Google Trends

Ep. 68: Historical Dressing & Reenactment

Artwork:

Rockabilly women, featuring Sailor Jassie

Recorded on 3/23/2026

Art Deco is an art and design style relevant from the 1920s to 1930s that is best characterized by its use of metallic colors, geometric patterns, futuristic forms, and references to ancient civilizations. It is the most celebrated of all of the design styles that can be grouped under Interwar Modernism, but what makes it so popular? On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Nathan and Sebastien begin by charting Art Deco’s emergence in France to its eventual dissemination at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. They then detail two Art Deco skyscrapers (the Carbide & Carbon Building and the Guardian Building) before delving into a conversation about Art Deco and American identity. The episode rounds out with an analysis of Art Deco in three pieces of media: Bioshock (2007), Nightmare Alley (2021), and Metropolis (1927).

Links:

Art Deco Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/silentgeneration/art-deco/ 

Art Deco of the 20s and 30s by Bevis Hillier (1968) 

Art Deco Architecture: Everything You Need to Know as the Style Turns 100 by By Katherine McLaughlin and Elizabeth Stamp

Art Deco: Everything You Wanted to Know 

Ep. 110: Consumer Aesthetics Research Podcast w/ Evan Collins

A History - Vienna Secession

Secession Building 

Stoclet Palace

Carbide and Carbon Building

The History of The Guardian Building: An Art Deco Landmark

Lobby murals at Buffalo City Hall

Sen̓áḵw

Bioshock (2007)

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Metropolis (1927)

North & Pulaski 

Artwork:

The "Spirit of Light" sculpture on the Niagara Mohawk Building in Syracuse, NY

Recorded on 3/16/2026

On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Nathan and Sebastien explore the early development of skyscrapers in Chicago, beginning with the construction of the Home Insurance Building in 1885. They note that nine early Chicago skyscrapers have been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status and examine two in depth: the Monadnock Building and the Auditorium Building. The episode also traces the life of Louis Sullivan, whose tripartite theory shaped skyscraper design for generations. Finally, they examine several early skyscrapers in Sebastien’s hometown of Buffalo, New York (the Guaranty Building, the Ellicott Square Building, and the Dun Building) before debating the extent to which skyscrapers are monuments to capital.

Links:

Skyscraper | Encyclopedia Britannica 

Early Chicago Skyscrapers (UNESCO)

The Monadnock’s original Egyptian Revival facade

The Chicago Auditorium, an Architectural Pride

Center for New Deal Studies 

The World's Tallest buildings in 1930

It looks like a fairy tale city, perhaps the Emerald City or smth like that [Historical photo of the Chicago Loop]

Guaranty Building, 1895 Church and Pearl Streets, Buffalo (NY, USA). Dankmar Adler et Louis Sullivan, architectes. © Wayne Andrews / Esto

Recorded on 3/2/2026

In this special announcement, Nathan welcomes Sebastien as the newest cohost of Silent Generation! Nathan begins by noting that Sebastien will be the main cohost until Breanna officially moves to Chicago. Nathan then interviews Sebastien about his background (his life in Buffalo, his passion for photography, and his interest in urbanism) before outlining the future of Silent Generation. 

Links:

Sebastien’s Instagram

sebastienbowen.com

Artwork:

Photographed by Katie

Recorded on 3/2/2026