Perverse Generation

Faithless and Perverse Generation

American members of Generation Z face overlapping crises of identity, faith, and general happiness, if recent reports are to be believed. According to several high-profile surveys, young adults in America may be the most faithless and perverse generation yet. And they're suffering the mental and spiritual health consequences. Young people…
March 22, 202428 Comments
Retro Stream

Years Ago and in Another Country

A common saying has it that the past is another country. It's taken as a figure of speech, but pay a visit to almost any mid-American shopping mall these days, and the prevailing vibe resembles an archaeological site. What was the hub of American commerce in the previous era is…
March 21, 20247 Comments
The Mall

The Idea of a Mall

Yesterday a fascinating intergenerational conversation took place on X. And it put me in mind of a subject we haven't touched on in a while: The cultural impact of the mall - how it rose to dominance, and how it faded. While loving the idea of a mall is a…
March 19, 202428 Comments
Rooster Teeth Logo

Rooster Teeth Bites the Dust

Earlier reports of geek culture cartoon studio Rooster Teeth Productions' demise turned out to have been premature. But now, the Time-Warner subsidiary's general manager has issued a statement confirming that the animation company has indeed given up the ghost. Dear Rooster Teeth, Since our founders created and uploaded their first…
March 7, 202427 Comments
1990s despair

The 1990s: Decade of Despair

"If only Pat Buchanan had beaten Bush for the nomination!" "If only George Lucas had adapted the Zahn  Trilogy instead of making the Special Editions!" "If only Sega had won the fifth console generation!" "If only Clear Channel hadn't taken over top 40 rock radio!" "If only they'd kept it…
March 5, 202419 Comments
SBI Detected

SBI BTFO by Brazilian Vidya Curator

Controversy erupted on X over the weekend when professional Woke Cult purity assurance coven Sweet Baby Inc. issued a fatwa against a scrappy Brazilian vidya curator. The curator, Sweet Baby Inc Detected, describes itself simply as "A tracker for games involved with Sweet Baby Inc." The About page from SBI's…
March 4, 202417 Comments
Howdy Doody Reboot

No Howdy Doody Reboot

A recent post on the Pop Cult occasioned a salient and topical discussion in the comments. Author JD Cowan writes: That’s just it, isn’t it. Nothing is made for younger generations anymore. The average age of Cartoon Network viewers is 29. Disney World is filled with single wine aunts and…
February 28, 20249 Comments
Nintendo vs Sony

The Riddle of the Pop Cult

Author JD Cowan wrote a post yesterday that shed new light on elements of Cultural Ground Zero and the Pop Cult and showed how they're interrelated. So it was of course fitting that he prominently featured this now-ubiquitous image by retro artist Rachid Lotf. We've been plumbing the riddle of…
February 23, 202419 Comments
Sandman Cancelled

Sandman Canceled by China

Yet another controversy plaguing the scandal-wracked World Science Fiction Society refuses to die as credible allegations of censorship, and a subsequent cover up, swirl in the wake of 2023's World Con in Chengdu. The home of oldpub's once-prestigious Hugo Awards, World Con made its Chinese debut last year in a…
February 9, 20247 Comments
Suburban Hip-Hop

Of Hip-Hop and Corporate Pop

Yesterday, over at the Z Blog, the Z Man took up the thread of this blog's posts on the death of rock music and Cultural Ground Zero. Approaching these related phenomena from an alternate angle, he gleaned some new insights. Not discussed is the culture of the managerial class. The…
January 26, 20246 Comments