cultural critic

This is from Weird Scenes Inside The Canyon by David McGowan. It explores the connection between the Laurel Canyon art scene, which defined the late 60s, and the US military-intelligence complex. "Much folk-rock was recorded and issued by huge corporations." Buffalo Springfield had signed...

(A Vox article, so there's some predictable concerns, but I find it prescient, since it's something I've been thinking about for a while, and since I am at the age where I have to start 'building a social media presence' in order to get a job.) So you want to be an artist. Do you have to start...

("Marxist" in this case refers to David Marx, and his book, Status & Culture. Not commie shit, I just thought the title would make ya look. :gigachad: ) In his book, David Marx discusses the way that status distinctions between 'high-status' and 'low-status' people define society, and how...

For at least the last decade, people have noticed a sort of trend in certain films- these sorts of films haven't come out in a while, but they all share a common plot structure and general sentiment, and therefore I and many others would argue that they can be categorized into a genre unto...

(In which a feminist almost reaches empathy for men--then swerves left in the nick of time.) Originally posted to Medium. I woke up this morning with this terrible fucking feeling, and I was like I know this feeling. How do I know this feeling? Where is this horrible feeling from? And then I...

I saw this video by Kursegatz (however you spell it...), where he talked about Internet polarization and how everything sucks right now: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuFlMtZmvY0 Big deal right? Many others have mused about this without getting anywhere. However, the videomaker lays...

(These are excerpts from a book I'm reading; The Age of Entitlement by Chris Caldwell. In it he discusses how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 launched America into a 'new constitutional reality' which was at odds with the old one. Very interesting book. makes me think.) The legislation of the...

Ever notice how noticeably anti-sexual people are today? I've noticed this isn't even a partisan thing; leftoids cry objectification and rightoids cry degeneracy, but everyone for some reason wants sex off to the side and acts like you're a 'better person' for avoiding it. People joke about sex...

I don't know if any of you have heard of Fanart Central? (http://www.fanart-central.net/site/index) It's this old art site that had a good run back in the day, but was soon eclipsed by DeviantArt; although there are still people posting to this day. It's great if you want genuine articles of...

The new "Scream" sequel, "The Matrix Resurrections" and every Marvel film ever indulges in nudge-nudge moments of fan service now. (This is an article from vice. Proof that a broken clock is right twice a day.) Remember when being a nerd was uncool? If you were born in or after the 90s, the...

I have heard people say that the 'male gaze' in entertainment is basically driven by men 'seeing women as sex objects', while the female gaze is driven by women 'seeing men as people'. I find that rather vague. I also think that this conception is very convenient for women; it makes them out as...

In this thread we can post moments where Internet users came together in a united front to utterly ruin nice things This was a comment on this video: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpoAcXu65TM OP, several years ago, made an innocuous comment in keeping with the theme of the video...

I encountered this meme here while I was foraging in the wilderness, and it sort of made me think: It's some kind of anti-lolicon meme, kind of a 'gotcha' regarding how lolicons will easily agree that such pictures are representations of older women and thus implicity believe that enjoying...

Hi everyone! I'm writing a book documenting and analyzing Vaporwave and I wanted to share something I wrote, please let me know what you guys think! "Classical Vapor sounds haunted, like the rotting corpse of a mall. It's the 80s through blue tinted glasses. It's ads on tv, it's paradise...

This is a mix of my own writing and things I've read. I'll credit where appropriate. I'm a young guy, so I never actually lived pre-internet, and barely remember life pre-smartphone, but I think I've got a unique experience compared to some of my peers. This is because I went to boarding school...

I don't exactly have a proper 'thesis' for this, since this is something I only think about sometimes when something reminds me, but have you ever looked at stuff from the 90 and 00s and marvelled at the lack of overbearing 'social awareness'? I'm not exactly saying that politics took a break at...

Financial Independence, Retire Early FIRE is a self explanatory philosophy and goal embraced by a group of people whose common characteristic is the desire to not be reliant upon a job. While virtually everyone has dreamed about sailing off into the sunset while they're still young enough to...

This is an article that was published in Esquire Magazine in 1984. It was written by William Broyles Jr. In it he muses on the fascination men have with making war. You can read it here: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a28718/why-men-love-war/ Why Men Love War I last saw Hiers in...

This is an article by Jef Raskin, who has worked in computing since the '60s and worked at Apple. He notes the high number of historical inaccuracies in various accounts of Apple's history, and muses on the cause of such mistakes. I think it's an interesting microcosm of greater flaws in the...

I just finished reading a book called 'Stolen Focus' by Johann Hari, about the various ways modern life makes it difficult for us to focus. Apart from social media manipulation, poor diet, and poor sleep, he identifies the way children have been raised since the 1990s as something that increases...