Fads are nothing new, but an online-first culture has made raw trendiness the primary cultural value, which is moving the base of cultural production away from the U.S. Amanda Mull, Bloomberg: The Social Media Machine is Spitting Out Weirder and Weirder Results Mull’s article is a solid primer| Culture: An Owner's Manual
The defenses of pop singer Ashlee Simpson after her 2004 lip-syncing scandal set in motion the 21st century’s core belief that the best pop culture is often the most openly manufactured Recently I got into a Bluesky spat with Jody Rosen, former Slate music critic and author of Two| Culture: An Owner's Manual
The best way to understand generative AI art and aesthetics is to consider how previous "synthetics" lost value in the long-run For the first half of the 20th century, white-collar workers wore business shirts made from cotton or linen that wrinkled in the wash. Ironing them into a presentable shape| Culture: An Owner's Manual
Critics in the 21st century embraced mass culture in a belief that it would liberate audiences — but it's directly responsible for triggering the feelings of stagnation I enjoy Spencer Kornhaber’s music journalism, so I was excited to read his Atlantic feature “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop| Culture: An Owner's Manual
Reality TV, data-based editorial decisions, social media, and the principled rejection of exclusionary taste have spawned “popular” things that may not actually be very popular We generally refer to something as popular when it… 1. enjoys support from a significant number of people, much more than its alternatives 2. is| Culture: An Owner's Manual
Today the earnest progressive lyrics of 10,000 Maniacs feel extremely dated, which may help us understand why "resistance" in 2025 has become so bogged down in aesthetic rather than political concerns For all the Nineties-revivals and frequent cultural callbacks to REM and The Pixies in the 21st century, I| Culture: An Owner's Manual
In the last three decades, youth culture has moved from a deep suspicion of commerce to a passionate defense of anti-anti-commerce to an entire generation of "creatives” who leverage the commercial market… to do even more commerce In the 1990s, there was a single ethical principle at the heart of| Culture: An Owner's Manual
My new book, Blank Space, is a cultural history of the last 25 years, scheduled for publication in November 2025. Now that I've finally emerged from writing and editing, here are some early thoughts about the process. I know: I haven't been sending very many newsletters. This is because I| Culture: An Owner's Manual
A tour through Japan’s mid-century restaurants, kissaten, bars, and hotels that managed to survive earthquakes, firebombs, and urban redevelopment (along with a few that didn’t) Hello there. Culture: An Owner's Manual is a free newsletter. I have not added a paid tier, because I can't guarantee a regular| Culture: An Owner's Manual
Without agreeing on what "culture" is, it's really difficult to understand whether we're at an optimal rate of change Katherine Dee on Wisdom of Crowds: “No, Culture is Not Stuck” Since Simon Reynolds published Retromania in 2010, there has been a debate about whether the 21st century is facing a| Culture: An Owner's Manual