This week on Tasteland we're joined by W. David Marx, an American fashion and culture writer who works and lives in Tokyo, Japan. He is the author of Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style and Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change.
Preorder Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century
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W. David Marx
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Timestamps
00:00:00 Subway tastes
00:02:26 There's no song of the summer
00:09:05 Skinny pants are never coming back
00:12:10 Only Fads
00:17:10 Fad consumerism culture, US vs Asia
00:21:27 The age of the double sellout
00:24:00 The 21st century crisis
00:35:49 Rich enough to not have a smartphone
00:41:25 Cultural roots of contemporary politics
00:51:04 Everyone is a marketer
00:56:37 You can't be unfamous
01:01:04 Capitalism without morality
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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.