The Culture We Deserve

The Oscars love the Holocaust. Jessa and Nico look back at the short history of the Oscar bait Holocaust film, from Sophie's Choice to Schindler's List to Zone of Interest, and why we set so many films in this apocalyptic moment. And what is the lasting effect of a culture overstuffed with these good vs evil tales and allows our historical education to be done by entertainment properties? http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com Episode is sponsored by Better Help. For more information go to: http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve

Families of the victims of mass shootings are participating in The Shotline, where AI recreates their loved ones' voices to plea for political action. How useful is sentimentality as a political tool? Jessa and Nico look through how various advocacy and political groups have used appeals to sentimentality to sway opinion in the name of gun control, support for Israel, amnesty for FARC in Colombia, and abortion rights. Are there better ways to build empathy than to overwhelm the voter with tales of sorrow and horror? Does this tactic change minds or just cause apathy?  This week's episode is sponsored by Better Help. Go to http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve for a discount. http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Has TikTok ruined music? With its users flooding concert venues to meow at the artists, with the "oh no" song playing in the background of videos of puppies falling down and actual atrocities, with a standoff between two global corporate forces in its battle with Universal Music Group? Or will Spotify have that honor, by algorithming us all into mediocre bliss, as we toss our pennies at our geniuses and amuse ourselves to death? Sponsored by http://betterhelp.com/culturewedeserve

With the release of "Griselda," a Narcos-adjacent Netflix show that reboots Scarface as a woman as if this were the Ghostbusters, Jessa and Nico look at the specific place Colombia and the international drug wars has in the American imagination.  http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

America has an arrested development problem. But while men are castigated regularly for not meeting the markers of basic adulthood, the feminine, the girly, the infantile in women's culture is cause for celebration. Women want to be girls forever. Hosts Nico and Jessa discuss the auteur of childishness Greta Gerwig, our eternal teen Taylor Swift, the taboo of aging, and the dark side of staying in toddler mode forever. 

Media continues its decline with layoffs and closures. The only winners appear to be the tech intermediaries like Meta, Amazon, and Google. (X continues to lose at everything.) Hosts Jessa Crispin and Nico Rodriguez discuss the new models of journalism, the fantasies of meaningful work in the modern age, and why everyone profits except the people who do the work. http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com  

As we head into our end of the year break, here is a sample of our bonus episode, a discussion of what the last four years of Marvel Cinematic Universe vs Scorsese discourse has really been about -- the pivot from an auteur-focused cinema to corporate movie culture. Hosts Jessa Crispin and Nicolas Rodriguez cover this transition, argue over whether Scorsese cares about women, and why A24 has its own devotional fan culture. The full episode is available at http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com for subscribers only.

Jessa Crispin speaks with two working artists, Philadelphia Orchestra bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa and mezzo-soprano singer Amber Fasquelle, about the sometimes precarious life in music. But there's a missing element: what is the role of the audience member in this ecosystem? Are we all just consumers or do we have other choices?

We tend to think of the art world as being more progressive than the rest of society -- mostly because we confuse libertine with progressive -- but actually it's extremely conservative, especially when it comes to gender. In classical music, the men are geniuses, and the women are support systems or vessels or ornaments. Which is, in part, why Gustav's wife Alma, who certainly was no support system or vessel or ornament, is still reviled by fans of her husband's music today.  As we think about breaking down barriers to entry for the canon, so that people other than men might be considered worthy of our attention, do we have to rethink the very concept of genius, and the way that word warps our expectations and responses to art? Host Jessa Crispin talks to opera singer Amber Fasquelle, WTF Bach podcast host Evan Shinners, and professor of music history Marianna Ritchey on her journey to think about what else art could be.

Over the next three episodes, we'll be exploring the state of classical music. Times are fraught! Attendance is down, institutions are broke (and in some cases broken), and scandals involving sexual harassment and racism have destabilized the music culture. On top of that, what do we want with the dusty old white guy music anyway? In this episode, host Jessa Crispin discusses how hard it is right now to get into difficult music as a listener. Using the figure of Gustav Mahler -- overlooked in his time while facing discrimination for being Jewish -- to think about our affinity for music and how one can build it. She talks to critics and scholars to learn what music does for us, and where listeners can go in a time when institutions are closing, music programs in schools are being shut down, and there's an understanding that art is only something for the wealthy. Hosted by Jessa Crispin, produced by Zach Toman. Art by Jen May.