In this episode, we herald the arrival of a new Lost Generation: shaggy-haired, slouchy-clothed, plagued by malaise and anachronistic sensitivity, and soundtracked by 80s British synth-pop. Armed with an impressive library of cultural references—the films of Whit Stillman and John Hughes, the novels of Donna Tartt and Bret Easton Ellis, the music of the Second British Invasion— we discuss the legacy of the Global North Bildungsroman and its adjacent timeless aesthetic.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵‿
Links:
Image board: https://pin.it/5mj7m0w
American Ivy by Articles of Interest: https://articlesofinterest.substack.com/p/american-ivy-chapter-1
Justin Murphy's "Caviar Cope": https://www.otherlife.co/signs91/
NPR's Dark Academia and The Secret History special: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1142788023
"A New Wavelet of British Drab" in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1984/04/15/the-smiths-icicle-works-and-the-the-a-new-wavelet-of-british-drab/aa1dd244-2b4f-4967-8e4c-b87dddaf421d/
Scarlet Foxes on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scarlet.foxes?lang=en
Music in John Hughes Films in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/10/the-power-of-music-in-john-hughes-films-when-you-hear-those-songs-you-see-those-moments

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#38: Middle Management Player