Silent Generation

Y2K futurism is an aesthetic that emerged in the late ‘90s and early-2000s that consists of the color silver, consumer electronics, large sunglasses, and "blobjects." Its depictions of what the future could look like in the 2000s were utopian and optimistic, simultaneously celebrating the new millennium and the early internet. On this week’s episode Joseph and Nathan start by listing the key elements of Y2K Futurism before detailing the various ways the aesthetic materialized in the physical world, from Capri Sun ads to airport lounges. Amongst other things they discuss how the video game Space Channel 5 took the aesthetic in a campy and extraterrestrial direction, how the availability of CAD software in the design world led to popularity of blobjects, and how the artwork of Mariko Mori incorporated an impressive number of elements from the esthetic.

Links:

Artwork:

Recorded on 1/5/2025

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

This week Joseph and Nathan are joined by local architecture influencer Steve (otherwise known as Marquisdefacade) to discuss historic preservation. They begin by weighing the pros and cons of historic preservation before detailing how the historic preservation movement in Chicago succeeded (or failed) to preserve the neighborhoods of Old Town, Bronzeville, and Logan Square. Amongst other things they discuss how Logan Square Preservation uses “preservation” to advance their NIMBY agenda in Logan Square, how Jober’s Canyon in Omaha, NE got demolished despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and how 9 highrises and skyscrapers in Chicago could potentially become the Early Chicago Skyscrapers UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Links:

Marquisdefacade’s Instagram

The Marquisdefacade Podcast 

Historic Preservation - Treating the Symptom Instead of the Cause by Andrew Price

Housing experts say there just aren't enough homes in the U.S. by By Mary Louise Kelly

Glasner Studio Virtual Tour

The Architectural Record - 1907 (the article contrasting NYC and Chicago apartment buildings)

Proposed Tower In Old Town Gets More Brick, Warmer Colors, But Traffic Concerns Persist by Jake Wittich

Losing Track by J. W. Mason

WIN: Logan Square Preservation Raises Funds to Restore Church’s Stained Glass

Andy Schneider, President Of Logan Square Preservation, Running For 1st Ward Alderperson by Mina Bloom

Plan To Preserve Building Character On Milwaukee Avenue In Logan Square, Avondale Moves Forward by Ariel Parrella-Aureli

Historic structures are set to be demolished at Wells/Superior by Lukas Kugler

Artwork:

Photo provided by Marquisdefacade 

Recorded on 12/29/2024

New religious movements are religions that are peripheral to a society's dominant religious culture, the earliest and most enduring example being Mormonism (which began in 1830). The majority of practitioners in new religious movements are recent converts and NRMs often get labeled the pejorative term “cult.” On this week’s episode of Silent Generation the boys explore how NRMs emerged in response to the problems of modernity by examining Mormonism, The Baháʼí Faith, The Enthusiastic Sobriety Movement, The People’s Temple Movement, The Rajneesh Movement, Twin Flames Universe, and Love Has Won. Amongst other things they discuss how NRMs appeal to people raised in the suburbs because of the communal living arrangements they offer, how federal interference is often the tipping point that leads to mass casualty events, and how Nathan’s brother once worked for a restaurant operated by an NRM.

Links:

What are New Religious Movements ft. Professor Eileen Barker

Death of a Scientologist by Tori Marlan

Hunter x Hunter Intro

Snowflake, Arizona LDS Temple

The Love Bomb by Daniel Kolitz

Wild Wild Country (2018)

Escaping Twin Flames (2023)

How ‘Twin Flames Universe’ leader pretends to be Jesus to create an abusive multi-level marketing scheme by Mallory Challis

Cult Info Since 1979 by the The International Cultic Studies Association

Artwork:

The Baháʼí House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois (1969)

Recorded on 12/25/2024

This week Joseph and Nathan examine the various aesthetics that have come out of hunting fashion. They begin by discussing how shooting and hunting in the United Kingdom are leisure activities that have historically only been available to the most wealthy, and why British clothing associated with the activity looks more formal and more conspicuous than its American counterpart (such as red fox hunting coats). The boys then go into a deep dive of how hunting camouflage developed out of military camouflage before detailing why it's worn so often by everyday people in the United States. Amongst other things they discuss how buffalo skins worn by Native Americans during buffalo jumps are an early example of camouflage, how the Harris/ Walz campaign released a camo campaign hat in response to Chappel Roan’s Midwest Princess tour camo hat, how high-visibility blaze orange is more liberal-coded than hunting camo, and how deer aren’t able to see high-visibility blaze orange because they are red-green colorblind.

Links:

Hunting fashion Pinterest board: https://pin.it/60F92bfWP 

Artwork:

Recorded on 12/22/2024

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

Futurism was an Italian art movement focused on speed, technology, and violence that began in 1909 after Filippo Tommaso Marinetti published the Manifesto of Futurism. Italian Futurists thought that their nascently-industrialized country was developing at a slow pace due to the weight of Italy’s past and they wanted to break free; artists like Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Luigi Russolo, and Tullio Crali depicted “futuristic” subjects like cars, trains, and airplanes in dynamic ways that challenged existing cultural conventions. On this week’s episode of Silent Generation Nathan and Joseph analyze Futurism using an urbanist lens. Amongst other things they discuss the problematic link between Futurism and Fascism in post-WW1 Italy, the Cubo-Futurist style of the short lived Russian Futurist movement, the absurdity of Futurist food, and the beauty of Tullio Crali’s Aeropittura paintings of airplanes and aerial landscapes.

Links: 

Futurism Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/silentgeneration/futurism/ 

Manifesto of Futurism by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

Scene of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's accident, 15 October 1908

Screenshot from Italian Futurism: Speed, dynamism, and the fight at La Fenice

Manifesto of Futurist Woman by Valentine de Saint-Point

Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe

Boccioni Recreated

Recreating Boccioni's striding sculptures from 1913

How Italian Futurism Influenced the Rise of Fascism by Jad Dahsan

When Futurism Led to Fascism—and Why It Could Happen Again

What Is Russian Futurism? by Anastasiia S. Kirpalov

Kseniya Boguslavskaya

https://www.tulliocrali.com/en/ 

Crali and Aeropainting (Tullio Crali: A Futurist Life)

Lingotto factory in Turin

Modernist Architecture in Eritrea

Before the Parachute Opens (Prima che si apra il paracadute), 1939 by Tullio Crali

Recorded on 12/9/2024

How is modern masculinity different from classical masculinity? This week the boys are joined by local menswear influencer Gent Z to discuss how men in the modern era intentionally refine their masculinity through self improvement. Amongst other things they discuss what the end goal of self-improvement should be, what male role models they personally look up to, and what they think about the idea that there is a “crisis of masculinity.” 

Links: 

How to Build New Habits by Taking Advantage of Old Ones by James Clear 

Artwork:

Paul Newman photographed by Stewart Stern, 1973

McBling is a mid-2000s aesthetic characterized by tacky displays of wealth, celebrity culture, fake tans, and bleach blonde hair. According to Vogue magazine it emerged in “2003, following the American invasion of Iraq, and ended with the onset of the Great Recession in 2008.” McBling arose organically in popular culture and was only later identified as an aesthetic by the Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute, and this is the first Silent Generation episode to cover an aesthetic identified by their organization. Amongst other things on this week’s episode, the boys discuss how the term McBling first came out of a poll in a “post-Y2K” Facebook group, how Gen Z’s interpretation of McBling favors Von Dutch too heavily, how the mid-2000s reality TV show Bad Girls Club captured the McBling zeitgeist, and how TikTok accounts like Bronzedupbrat are making McBling reach record popularity in 2024.

Links:

McBling Pinterest board

The Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute

McBling CARI description

The original McBling Facebook Group

Evan Collins’ McBling “joke” post

Brittney Spears’ half Y2k/ half McBling outfit

The second poll in the McBling Facebook group

What Is McBling and How Is it Different From Y2K? by Abrigail Williams

McBling on Google Trends

The Antisemitic History of Early 2000s Fashion Brand Von Dutch by Sam Miller

Paris Hilton changing her voice to sound more feminine

Paris Hilton’s “stop being poor” meme

Bad Girls Club Tanisha slamming pots and pans in season 2

Bad Girls Club Judi Jai breakfast cereal fight in season 7

The Y2K Attitude Era - A Cultural Middle Finger

How do you stay so authentically 2000s? by Bronzedupbrat

4Chan mannerisms displayed by Boxxy

The McBling Subreddit

Trashy McBling Spotify playlist

NGSUNC by Ayesha Erotica

Do I Look Like a Slut by Avenue D

OlderBrotherCore Tiktok

McMansion Hell

Artwork:

Paris Hilton

Recorded on 11/17/2024

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

This week Joseph and Nathan are joined by Breanna, a Silent Generation listener who works as a software engineer for a major online dating company, to discuss online dating. They detail the early history of online dating (such as how the first person to develop a computer based dating service was a working class British woman named Joan Ball) before sharing their experiences with online dating websites and apps such as Match.com, Hinge, Tinder, Okcupid, and The League. Amongst other things they discuss how dating apps replaced ELO algorithms with Gale-Shapley algorithms, how a recent study found that NYC was the worst major US city for dating, and how Chicago attracts “coastal dating app refugees” who seek an easier dating market. 

Links:

Artwork:

Recorded on 11/10/2024

Pokémon is the highest grossest media franchise of all time, but has it declined in quality? On this week’s episode Joseph and Nathan use Pokemon as a case study to talk about gamer culture, nostalgia, and fandoms more broadly. After breaking down the history of Pokémon into three booms and one bust, the boys detail what they like about the franchise (Ken Sugimori’s artwork, HM moves, and their favorite Pokémon) and the things they dislike about it (competitive Pokémon play, shiny hunting, and legendary Pokémon). Amongst other things they discuss how Poliwhirl almost became the main mascot for the Pokémon franchise, how Pokémon became uncool in the mid-2000s, how the designs of Pokémon became rounder and cuter over time, and how a terabyte of information stolen from Game Freak’s servers (dubbed “the teraleak”) recently leaked to the public.

Links: 

Artwork:

Recorded on 11/3/2024

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

Why did Joseph go to Copenhagen last week? Did he bike around a lot? How many hot dogs did he eat? How was Malmo, Sweden? These are some of the important questions Nathan asked Joseph on this week’s episode. 

Artwork:

Recorded on 10/27/2024