This week Joseph and Nathan discuss an American cultural figure that can be found at the cross section of many themes thus far covered in Silent Generation: the early 1900s, train travel, ethical codes, and situational homosexuality. Hobos are perceived as yesteryear’s equivalent of the modern homeless person but they were vastly different, hobos were migrant workers with a complex system of rules and cultural values. During the episode the boys pay particular attention to hobo landmarks in Chicago such as West Madison Street, Bughouse Square, and Ben Reitman’s hobo college. Amongst other things they discuss Kitt Kittredge, the umwelt, how the word “gay” originated from hobo slang, The Dawn of Everything, and crust punks. 

Links:

Hobos, Wandering in America, 1870-1940 by Richard Wormser

On Hobos and Homelessness by Nels Anderson

The Damndest Radical by Roger A. Bruns

The Hobo Ethical Code

The Case Against Travel by Agnes Collard

Alex Kaschuta’s tweet about stigmatization

Death of the American Hobo - VICE

Welcome to Oogleville by Gordon Lamb

Artwork:

This photograph (from 1870 - 1930)  is from the George Grantham Bain collection at the Library of Congress. There are no known copyright restrictions on the use of this work.

Recorded on 4/8/2024

Electroclash is a musical genre that was most popular from 1999 to 2005 and is described as being a 50/50 mixture of electronic and rock music with an ‘80s bent. Unlike prior electronic genres, live singing, dancing, and stage performance were deployed by electroclash musicians who wanted to channel the theatricality and sex appeal of 1980s rock stars. To help explore the genre Joseph and Nathan are joined by Maya, also known as Mayalabae, a Chicago native who is now a DJ in Montreal. They begin by playing four of the biggest hits to come out of Electroclash and then identify common characteristics across the genre. Amongst other things they discuss Nathan’s favorite song as a child, Fischerspooner’s lecture at SAIC, the normie lows of the mid-2000s, the documentary Clash of Cultures: The Rise of the New Electro Scene, Liquid Sky (1982), and Lady Gaga’s accidental actualization of the electroclash agenda. 

Links:

Maya’s Electroclash Playlist

Nathan’s Electroclash Playlist

Clash of Cultures: The Rise of the New Electro Scene (2002)

Liquid Sky (1982)

Party Monster (2003)

Get Happy by Happy Thought Hall

Electroclash: A Brief Cultural History

Artwork:

Hong Kong Counterfeit Discography: Vinyl, CDs, & More | Discogs

All song clips used in this episode are claimed as fair use

Recorded on 3/30/2024

Vaporwave is a 1980’s inspired musical genre and aesthetic that thrived on Tumblr from 2012-2020. Broadly, vaporwave musicians slow down and remix samples of 1980’s songs in order to evoke nostalgic memories of the Reagan era, Yuppies, and globalization. On this week’s vaporwave episode of Silent Generation, Joseph and Nathan are joined by Peter (a trance musician known as David James Drume), who previously made vaporwave music under the name Eleven Eastern. They begin by briefly discussing the genre’s musical origins before delineating the aesthetic elements of vaporwave art: early 3D graphics, Greek New Media Sh*t, Japanese text, Japanese fine art, and cityscapes. Amongst other things they discuss Joseph’s high school 3D animation class, New Classical architecture, fears of Japanese ascendency during the 1980s, vaporwave’s appeal to suburban men, and the perennial popularity of vaporwave music on Chinese urbanist Tiktok accounts.

Links: 

Drume’s Soundcloud 

Resuscitation Hymn by Drume

Eleven Eastern on Tumblr

Greek New Media Sh*t

Flossing by Six Dogs

レッドYOLO

Cityviews888 

TradCath E-Girl Summit

Artwork:

AI

Recorded on 3/17/2024

Yuppies get a bad rap. In his seminal work The Culture of Narcissism (1979), Christopher Lasch described how the coming generation of baby boomers would broadly exhibit symptoms of pathological narcissism such as hedonism, envy, greed, and an aversion to aging. Yuppies (young urban professionals) migrated en masse in cities during the1980s and were the apotheosis of their generation’s narcissistic pathology; they had wildly successful careers but each promotion and salary increase was never enough. On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Joseph and Nathan begin by acknowledging these traits but then approach Yuppies from a warmer angle, examining the beauty of their clothing and expressing gratitude for the ways in which they helped revitalize cities during the 1980s. Amongst other things they discuss sweater vests, slicked back hair, shoulder pads, and if Trump was a Yuppie. They then conclude by discussing Yuppies in a modern context, addressing if they still exist and contemplating where you can find them in Chicago. 

Links:

Yuppies Pinterest Board

The Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch

The Yuppie Turns 35 by Luke Seemann

The Political Distinctiveness of Young Professionals: "Yuppies" or "New Class"?

Eric and Donald Trump jr.’s slicked back hair

How the biggest yuppie of the 1980s became the white working class’s president

Whatever Happened to the Yuppie by JPCrocks 

The Yuppie Rap

Pajama Crawl

The New Yorker’s politically polarized duplex cover

Artwork:

Lisa Diserio and Richard Ryan dressed for success on Fifth Avenue in New York City

Recorded on 3/10/2024

Sky Cubacub is a local artist who designs custom clothing for the full spectrum of gender and ability through their clothing line Rebirth Garments. While the majority of the garments Sky now makes are made out of stretchy spandex material, much of their early work was made out of chainmail and they remain one of the World’s foremost chainmail artisans. On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Nathan (former Rebirth Garments intern) gets to interview Sky and explore the symbolic meaning of chainmail in Sky’s work and in broader culture.Together they discuss buscars, Radical Visibility, Princess Irulan’s chainmail look in Dune pt. 2, and how listeners can get started making chainmail. 

Links: 

Sky’s Instagram

Rebirth Garment’s Instagram

Rebirth Garment’s Shop

Sky’s YOUmedia chainmaille videos

Chained by Rebecca Mojica

The Ring Lord

Artwork:

Pansarskjorta - Livrustkammaren - 19247

Creative common liscense provided by Livrustkammaren (The Royal Armoury)

Recorded on 3/3/2024

In anticipation of the impending Summer 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Joseph and Nathan question why the games seem to appeal to people who are otherwise uninterested in sports outside of the Olympics on this week’s episode. They point to the opening ceremony, “hometown” athletes, and (comparative) lack of corporate advertising. They then address the highlights and lowlights of the 5 most recent Summer Olympic Games: Athens (2004), Beijing (2008), London (2012), Rio de Janeiro (2016), and Tokyo (2020). Amongst other things they discuss host city public transit expansion projects, the velodrome in the Chicago suburbs, the dark side of the Olympics, their favorite Olympians, rugby,  and how cute the 2024 game’s mascots are.

Links: 

London 2012: Indian Gatecrasher at Opening Ceremony Identified

The Tokyo Olympic’s Gymnasium 

Poland by Lil Yachty

The Good, the Bad, & the Snowy of Salt Lake City Transit

IOC Salaries 

Artwork: 

Flickr: Rome Olympics 1960 - Opening Day

Recorded on 3/3/2024

Shifting to fresh water, why does America undervalue one of its greatest natural resources? The Great Lakes are in many ways culturally invisible; many Americans underestimate their size and economic importance. On this week’s episode of Silent Generation the boys are joined by their friend David (a recent transplant and Great Lakes enthusiast) to discuss how the Midwest needs to be divided into the Great Lakes and the Great Plains in order to boost the region.  The former should be rebranded as America’s third coast, the “Fresh Coast,” in order to start making the region more attractive to incoming climate refugees from the Sun Belt. They also discuss the “Dirty Coast,” the idea of the logo map, Michigan’s Pure Michigan ad campaign, their predictions for A24’s upcoming Civil War film, and the “Jell-O Belt.”

Links: 

The Great Lakes shipping routes graphic

The Death and Life of The Great Lakes by Dan Eagan

Immewahr’s Logo Map tweet

Pure Michigan’s Steam Locomotive Ad

Great Lakes’ ice cover doing almost the unthinkable

Artwork:

Great Lakes including Canals and Tributary Navigable Streams, 1948

David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries

Recorded on 2/18/2024

Seapunk was a subculture and musical genre that emerged in 2011 after people started sharing ‘90s aquatic imagery on Tumblr, and Nathan (Silent Generation host and ex-Seapunk) gravitated toward it while he was a diver in high school and adopted the aesthetic. While Seapunk, Nathan created an extensive 120 slide slideshow that documented the Seapunk subculture as it was actively happening that he shares with Joseph on week’s episode of Silent Generation. They walk through Seapunk’s origins, founders (Lill Internet, Ultrademon, Zombelle, Unicorn Kid), fashion, music, fame, lull period, resurgence, and permanent decline. Amongst other things they detail Grimes’s involvement with Seapunk, the week when both Rinhanna performed Diamonds on SNL & Azealia Banks dropped her Atlantis music video, Slimepunk, Icepunk, and Nathan's many close calls with meeting other Seapunks. 

Links: 

Artwork:

Recorded on 2/11/2024

All song clips used in this episode are claimed as fair use

The ‘70s can be construed as being one of the darkest decades in American history. Crises such as stagflation, declining union membership, the 1973-1975 recession, the Energy Crisis, and the Vietnam War all occurred simultaneously. Said clothing produced during the ‘70s showed a shallow optimism which can be seen in garments like newsboy caps, satin shirts, bell bottom jeans, tube socks, and platform shoes. In addition they discuss the dominant colors of the ‘70s (brown, avocado green, and harvest gold), the consumer rights movement, yoga pants, and share intel they gathered from family members who were alive during the ‘70s. 

Links: 

The ‘70s Pinterest Board

Artwork:

Recorded on 2/8/2024

This week the boys are joined by Kone, a local fashion designer who co-owns the eponymous Kone Ranger clothing brand along with his brother Kevin. Kone Ranger opened up a permanent location in Avondale in 2022 to offer Chicagoans the opportunity to buy handmade Western-inspirted garments. But what do cowboys mean to Kone? To answer this question, they begin by critiquing both the function and form of the various elements that make up a cowboy’s’ outfit: cowboy hats, handkerchiefs, Western shirts, chaps, and cowboy boots. They then address broader ideas such as the connection between cowboys and knights, the appropriation of Western clothing in other regions of the country, the difference between cowboy uniforms and cowboy costumes, and gay cowboy films (Broke Back Mountain and Power of the Dog).

Links:

Artwork provided by Kone Ranger

Recorded on 1/28/2024