Nymphet Alumni

Recorded in the twilight days of the Biden administration, we gathered round to discuss a dizzying variety of cultural phenomena in this edition of Study Break, including the Freakmas double feature of Babygirl and Nosferatu, the troubling rise of Galaxy Gas and other flavor-blasted/cartoonified smoke shop abominations, the vestigial parallels between Lily-Rose Depp and Timothée Chalamet, the resonance of face-tatted country artists, the passing of national Pastel Protestant Grandfather, Jimmy Carter, and much more. Links:The Next Drug Epidemic is Blue Raspberry Flavored – Ezra Marcus for New YorkThe 1830s Gothic Fashion of Robert Eggers' Nosferatu – Focus Features on YouTubeTimothée Chalamet | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #551Timothée Chalamet Instagram Complete LivestreamJimmy Carter’s Grandson Honors 39th President's Life, Legacy in EulogyT.O.P Breaks Silence on Controversial Return to Acting in Squid Game Season 2 – Korea TimesChloe Forero on TikTok re: Latino influencersEthel Cain's Tumblr post on the irony epidemicHawk Tuah and the Zynternet – Max Read on SubstackSpecial thanks to our sponsor Croissant! Download the Croissant App here to easily add the Safari extension to your mobile browser: shop with a guaranteed resale price and unlock an effortless resale experience. Learn more about Croissant on their website!Listen to exclusive episodes here <3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In our first episode of 2025, we're joined by the inimitable Mel Ottenberg— longtime muse, generational style mastermind, Editor in Chief of Interview magazine, and Nymphet Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award recipient— to discuss controversial figures (Natalia Grace, Blake Lively, Luigi Mangione), the current status of normcore (Brandy Melville, classic menswear, tighty whities), his incredible fashion legacy (styling Rihanna, conceiving Lana's iconic cover, channeling the Warholian spirit), and much more.**This episode was recorded before the tragic California wildfires— our hearts go out to everyone affected! Find ways you can help locally or from afar at the links below:Friends of Forever — LA Fire Support & ResourcesMutual Aid LA Network Fire & Wind Storm ResourcesResource Masterlist from InterviewLinks:Interview magazineMel Ottenberg on InstagramRalph Lauren Recieves the Presidential Medal of FreedomJustin Baldoni/Blake Lively exposé in the New York TimesLuigi Mangione's courtroom fashion in WWDHaliey Welch shot by Alyssa Kazew for InterviewRihanna for Esquire UK, 2014Sway House shot by Eli Russell Linnetz for InterviewJoan Rivers interviewed by Mel for Interview in 2010Special thanks to our sponsor Croissant! Download the Croissant App here to easily add the Safari extension to your mobile browser: shop with a guaranteed resale price and unlock an effortless resale experience. Learn more about Croissant on their website!Listen to exclusive episodes here <3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In our last episode of the year, we're joined by superstar musician Harrison Patrick Smith, aka The Dare, to discuss his stylistic evolution and fashion predictions for 2025. As he ties up the album cycle for his hit LP What's Wrong with New York?, we revisit his male art hoe days as Turtlenecked, ponder his notorious black-and-white suit, and anticipate the necklines, color schemes, and pants widths that will define his next era. Harrison tells us about eating kangaroo, his genealogical tree, living in an Industrial Business Zone, the paradise/warzone of his DMs, all things electroclash, bloghouse, and indie sleaze, and more. Links:The DareSpecial thanks to our sponsor Croissant! Download the Croissant App here to easily add the Safari extension to your mobile browser: shop with a guaranteed resale price and unlock an effortless resale experience. Learn more about Croissant on their website!Listen to exclusive episodes here <3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nymphetalumni.comIn this week's episode, we journey into a World of Pure Imagination to discuss fantasy, fairytales, and the endless revisitation of children's media. We investigate the historical influences of the fantasy genre, from classic feudalism to Victorian industrialization, and unpack common motifs from talking animals to hopecore orphans. We also discuss the turn to live-action realistic fairytales, the consequences of this aesthetic and conceptual darkening, the effects of AI on the storytelling and creativity, and more.Links:Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes by John Cotton (1656)The Golden Age of Children's Literature – The Literary EncyclopediaThe Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index of Folktale TypesUnder the Influence: Anna Biller on Donkey Skin – Criterion"Chapter 31: Fairy Tales" from All Things Considered by G. K. Chesterton "Out of Kansas: Revisiting the Wizard of Oz" by Salman Rushdie for The New YorkerHow Wicked Built Immersive Real-Life Sets, From Shiz To Emerald City – Architectural Digest Willy's Chocolate Experience (Glasgow, Scotland Scam Willy Wonka Event) ScriptPinnochio: A True Story (2022) Trailer

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the rise of celebrity lookalike contests, YSL's Proustian fantasy films, recent literary scoop on Cormac McCarthy, the extension of Brat into the deep dark winter, and all things Wicked from the uncanny Hollyweird sapphism of its press tour to the inescapability of its garish color scheme in consumer products.Links:Saint Laurent – AS TIME GOES BYMarc Jacobs reading selfiesEmma Chamberlain for Warby ParkerCelebrity lookalike contests in CNN"Aquarius" from Hair (movie adaptation)Wicked costume design breakdown – InStyleGwyneth Paltrow wins Best Actress – 1999 OscarsMr. Golightly's "Who Sang It Best" YouTube playlist"Cormac McCarthy’s Secret Muse Breaks Her Silence After Half a Century" by Vincenzo Barney – Vanity FairDidion & Babitz by Lili Anolik – InterviewCharli xcx Opening Monologue – Saturday Night LiveJake Paul vs. Mike Tyson post-fight speechMiley Cyrus on her upcoming album Something Beautiful – Harper's Bazaar This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this week's episode, we are honored to talk with dancer Lexee Smith, one of the most captivating and quietly influential figures in contemporary pop culture. Fresh off the heels of her crazy month of newly released projects, including Addison Rae's "Aquamarine" and Lady Gaga's "Disease," Lexee joins us to discuss her approach to dance, performance, and style. We talk about showgirls, video vixens, Clarice Lispector, Dance Moms, Parisian elegance, unhinged warmups, the Age of Aquarius, insane asylums, and much more.Links:Image board@lexeesmith on InstagramDamiano David – Born With a Broken Heart (Music Video) "You Were Meant for Me" from Singing in the Rain Lady Gaga – Disease (Music Video)Addison Rae – Aquamarine (Music Video) Addison Rae – Aquamarine (Behind the Scenes) "The American Modern Dancer: Loïe Fuller and Isadora Duncan" Martha Graham – Lamentation (1943) All His Jazz: The Life and Death of Bob Fosse by Martin GottfriedA Look at Halston’s Historic Costumes for Martha Graham Dance Company – VogueMy Boyfriend's Back – Molly Long ChoreographyMassive Attack, Young Fathers – Voodoo in My Blood (Music Video)  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nymphetalumni.comIn this edition of Study Break, we discuss the double-release of Addison Rae’s “Aquamarine” and Lady Gaga’s “Disease,” Lexee Smith as Hollywood’s body double Rasputin, the “Dirty Cash” effect, the pros and cons of Gay Halloween, the triumph of the Dodgers, Slavic Dolls versus Brazilian Bombshells, and more.Links: Lady Gaga - Disease (Official Music Video)Addison Rae - Aquamarine (Official Music Video)Dirty Cash (Money Talks) videos on TikTok Shawn Mendes opens up about his sexuality, in a wayShawn Mendes Interview featureian - Sh*t Sad (Feat. Chief Keef) (Official Music Video)Barack Obama on DeepCut with VicBlendsSlavic Dolls vs. Brazilian Bombshells videos on TikTokSaturday Night Live TikTok skitYoung Posse (영파씨) - Ate That (Official Music Video)

In this Halloween centennial special, we have the sublime honor of being joined by one of our all-time heroes Valerie Steele, fashion studies trailblazer and director of the Museum at FIT, to discuss all things Gothic, inspired by her seminal book Gothic: Dark Glamour. We explore the aesthetic’s medieval origins and trace its cultural evolution through literature, art, and architecture all the way to the rise of the Goth subculture in the 1970s and beyond, covering Victorian dandies, sexy vampires, McQueen skull scarves, Japanese couturiers, and more. Thanks so much to Valerie for joining us! Links: Image boardThe Museum at the Fashion Institute of TechnologyGothic: Dark Glamour by Valerie Steele and Jennifer ParkGothic: Dark Glamour exhibition at MFIT on Google Arts & CultureCarmilla by Joseph Sheridan le FanuGoth Talk: Christina Ricci - Saturday Night Live“Very Mad, Very Maudlin, Very Macabre: It’s Showtime for the Goth Revival” by Tish Weinstock for VogueHow to Be a Goth: Notes on Undead Style by Tish Weinstock This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this week's episode, we're joined by the inimitable Emma Glenn Baker, NYC personal trainer and host of the podcast STARGIRL, to discuss all things body and the cultural status of fitness as it relates to body, brand, and spirit. We discuss activewear power players from Gymshark to Lululemon to Skims, the rise of the erotic fitness-inspired editorials, the sublime embodiment of Gen Z sweethearts Livvy Dunne and Addison Rae, the spiritual consequences of a life lived in stretchy clothes, and more. Listen to STARGIRL, join the Patreon, and follow Emma on IG!Links: “Athleisure, barre, and kale: the tyranny of the ideal woman” by Jia Tolentino in The GuardianToxic gym motivation trend on TikTok “Make Yourself a Gift” by Emma Glenn Baker in Real LifeEquinox “Want It All” ad campaignThe Official Gymshark Story“Musclebound” in A Dedicated Follower of Fashion by Holly Brubach This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this week's episode, we define the Pastel Protestant Grandmother aesthetic, a cozy visual universe recognizable to anyone belonging to the American Middle Class, or anyone who's ever been to an antique store in America. We discuss the hypnotic sedation of low-definition media, nostalgia-based commodities from Precious Moments figurines to dusty dollhouses, anti-intellectualism and sentimentality in American culture, the social history of craft, Christian kitsch and camp, the dark side of elderly matriarchs, and more.  LinksImage boardPastel Protestant Grandma – Our Official Playlist! Anti-Intellectualism in American Life – Richard HofstadterRed Hat Society”The Forgotten Everyday Origins of ‘Craft’” – Sarah Archer Cræft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts – Alexander LanglandsHobbies: Leisure and the Culture of Work in America – Steven M. Gelber“Do Protestants Have a ‘Low’ Aesthetic?” – Front Porch Republic“A Defense of Christian Kitsch” – Paul GriffithsGaither Music on TikTokListen to exclusive episodes here <3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe