Silent Generation

Ep. 33: Ivy Style

Ivy Style, otherwise known as Ivy League, is a style of men’s dress that became mainstream at Ivy League schools during the 1950’s. Students started wearing casual versions of the traditional menswear staples worn by their fathers and started wearing clothing originally designed for recreational activities outside of sports fields. On this week’s episode Joseph and Nathan delineate various Ivy Style staples and talk about several groups that adopted the look:  Jews who dressed Ivy in order to blend in in professional environments, female students at the Seven Sisters schools who dressed Ivy in a strikingly masculine way, and Black civil rights activists who dressed Ivy in order to persuade White Americans that they were equals. The boys then round off the episode by critiquing the Ivy League as an institution. 
 
Links:
Ivy League Pinterest Board
The Ivy Style Primer
American Ivy: Chapter 1 - Articles of Interest
Take Ivy by Hayashida, Teruyoshi
The Weird and Glorious Culture Shock of “Take Ivy”
Kiel James Patrick’s Instagram
Man fired for being ‘too American,’ old, wearing khakis: EEOC complaint
Visual snow syndrome grid pattern post
What is Black Ivy, and why you've never heard of it
The Zoomer Question by Isaac Wilks
Air rage triggered by walking past first-class seating, study says
Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street by Karen Ho
Pete Buttigieg McKinsey tweet
 
Artwork:
Sunday in the Ivy League from Take Ivy
 
Recorded on 7/15/2024

Ep. 32: Insect Aesthetics w/ Marissa Macias

This week Joseph and Nathan are joined by Marissa Macias, a local artist and fashion designer who owns the insect-inspired clothing brand Petrichor, to discuss insect aesthetics. They begin by examining 7 of the ~30 extant insect orders: hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps), odonata (dragonflies), coleoptera (beetles), orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets), mantodea (mantids), lepidoptera (butterflies, moths), and heteroptera (true bugs). Amongst other things they discuss Chicago’s recent dual cicada brood emergence, how insects appeared in pre-modern still lives because of their association with death, and how decline in insect biomass could result in systems collapse and a sixth extinction.
 
Links:
https://www.petrich0r.com/ (online shop)
Petrichor (Instagram)
Marissa’s Neurobasis Kaupi Are.na Channel
Maria Sibylla Merian
The Insect Asylum
Cicada Parade-a
Carravagio’s Basket of Fruit
Durer’s Stag Beetle
Eating Bugs to Save the Planet by Dana Goodyear
The Collapse of Insects By Julia Janicki, Gloria Dickie, Simon Scarr and Jitesh Chowdhury
Earth Is Not in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction by Peter Brannen
Ocean Trash Is a Lifesaver for Insects by Daniel Strain
 
Artwork:
Neurobasis Kaupi by Marissa Macias
 
Recorded on 7/10/2024

Ep. 31: Health Goth [TEASER]

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration 
 
Originally started as a Facebook page by three Portland natives, health goth was an online internet aesthetic that proliferated from 2013 to 2015. Health goth imagery and fashion incorporated monochrome color schemes, performance wear brands (particularly Nike, Adidas, and Y-3), chav culture, light weaponry, face masks, and fitness culture. Where did it go, and why has it been erased from public memory to a greater degree than other early Tumblr aesthetics? On this week's episode the boys explore how the aesthetic was later commandeered and mishandled by the controversial former Chicago club kid Johnny Love. Amongst other things they discuss how the aesthetic side of Tumblr often made them feel “Tumblr fatigue,” how local DIY scenes are a recipe for drama and GoFundMe disasters, how goth clean girl looks eerily reminiscent to health goth, and how phonk seems to be health goth music incarnate. 
 
Links:
Health Goth Pinterest Board
Health Goth Facebook Page
healthgoth.com
Cottweiler: 2014 S/S Collection
What Health Goth Actually Means  by Adam Harper
Health Goth Fitness Manifesto
#HealthGoth - Hashtags Season II by Red Bull Music Academy 
execussion.tumblr.com 2012 by Celestial Youth
Is the Health Goth Movement Selling Out to the Mainstream?
meme about scene rants
famous 2012 basement group photo w/ Johnny Love
Johny Love’s recent health goth facebook post
The DigiFairy’s goth clean girl Instagram reel
Phonk Aesthetics
 
Artwork:
Jazzelle Zaughnatti wearing a Dead Worldwide shirt
 
Recorded on 6/30/2024

Ep. 30: Movie Theaters

While many recent episodes of Silent Generation have focused on decline, this episode explores how movie theaters have had multiple golden eras. Vaudeville theaters, nickelodeons, movie theaters, drive-ins, and multiplexes have each offered unique ways for moviegoers to enjoy films. Joseph and Nathan begin by discussing the history of movie theaters before examining four iconic movie palaces in Chicago: The Garrick Theater, The Chicago Theater, The Music Box, and the Ramova Theater. Amongst other things they discuss how movie studios used to bundle blockbusters and B-movies together in a now illegal practice called “block booking,” how the stars in the ceiling of The Music Box theater remind them of Grand Central Station, how modern movie theaters have an Art Deco-esque aesthetic that is called Decoplex, and how Alamo Drafthouse Cinema workers are unionizing. 
 
Links:
Downtown Chicago’s Historic Movie Theaters by Schiecke, Konrad
Avondale Time Machine posts about movie theaters in Avondale
All Extant Louis Sullivan Buildings in Chicago
The Last American Possession screening at the Music Box on July 24th 
CTA Bus Hit, Damaged Ramova Theatre Days After Building Earned Initial Landmark Status
Alamo Drafthouse Made Millions. Exhausted Workers Said Enough
Artwork:
The Music Box 
 
Recorded on 6/23/2023

Ep. 29: Preppers w/ Anna Savina

In response to the Berlin Crisis of 1961, President John F. Kennedy chose to encourage everyday Americans to construct homemade bunkers. Civilians could suddenly mitigate their fears of a nuclear holocaust through consumption, and thus prepper culture was born. This week the boys are joined by the writer and community builder Anna Savina to discuss preppers, survivalists, and other groups that have doomsday inspired “exit strategies.” They begin by examining the zine she created on bunkers, Bunker Mentality, to explain how bunkers fit into the story of how Americans shifted from being citizens to being consumers. Amongst other things they discuss how the towers that existed in medieval Italian cities were an early form of bunkers, how prepper culture seems to thrive in the interior of the United States rather than the coasts, and how the prepper aesthetics depicted in Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding were beautiful but ultimately not representative of prepper culture. 
 
Links:
Prepper Aesthetics Pinterest Board
Anya is Typing…
Anna Savina's Zine on bunkers: Bunker Mentality
Anna Savina’s Twitter
Prepper Lingo: Terms, Slang, and Acronyms from A-Z
Towers of Bologna, Italy in the 12th Century
San Gimignano
Preppers in Death Stranding
New Survivalism by Parsons & Charlesworth, The Object Guardian
Conservative guy afraid of cities meme
Why We Love the Apocalypse - EP183 by The Casual Preppers Podcast
Wikipedia Database download
Graph of the Population of Rome Through History
 
Artwork:
How to build a fallout shelter, 1957
Creative Commons CC0 License
 
Recorded on 6/19/2024

Ep. 28: Fast Food Culture w/ Mathieu [TEASER]

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration
 
Many themes thus far discussed on Silent Generation are present in fast food culture: car-centrism, postwar decline, Americanism, and uniforms. This week the boys are joined by Mathieu (who goes by Sleepy on Discord) to talk about McDonald’s, CosMc’s, Taco Bell, In-N-Out Burger, Wendy’s, and Culver’s in detail. Chicago has four (in)famous McDonald’s locations that they pay particular attention to: Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's, CrackDonald’s, Jungle McDonald’s, and the McDonald's Global Menu Restaurant. Amongst other things they discuss the decline of fast food architecture from its Googie architecture highs, chains that are holding on for dear life like KewPee Hamburgers and Quizno’s, and their favorite discontinued menu items. 
 
Links:
White Castle #16
Googie 101: A Space-Age Pop-Architecture Primer
Tokyo Toni 80 Pieces of Chicken
McDonald’s Broke My Heart from Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History Podcast
Rock N Roll McDonalds by Wesley Willis
Why McDonald’s looks sleek and boring now 
Nonstandard McDonalds
The site of the former “jungle Mcdonald’s” on Google Maps
The rise and fall of Wendy’s sun rooms
Breaking Points: We Were TRICKED By Red Lobster Endless Shrimp Excuse!
What Happened To Chipotle?
 
Artwork:
Art Deco McDonald’s from Nonstandard McDonald’s
Clifton Hill, Melbourne, Australia
 
Recorded on 6/9/2024

Ep. 27: Sportswear

On this week’s episode Joseph and Nathan examine sportswear worn by both athletes and their fans. Episode 14 of Silent Generation already covered Olympic sports, so this week’s episode focuses on major league sports. They cover each of the following: baseball, basketball, football, golf, hockey, and soccer (plus rugby, road cycling, and tennis for good measure). Amongst other things they discuss how White Sox players briefly wore shorts in the 1970s, how rappers popularized hockey jerseys in the 1990s, how cyclists were depicted in The Triplets of Belleville, and how coaches (like Tom Landry and Pat Riley) dressed better prior to league-wide contracts.
    
Links:
Sportswear Pinterest Board
American Apparel’s Poly Mesh Football Jersey
Gay baseball raglan meme 1, Gay baseball raglan meme 2
How Hockey Jerseys Became Standard Wear for Fans
When a Sweater Defined One of the Best Rivalries
The Rise Of Athleisure In The Fashion Industry And What It Means For Brands
 
Artwork:
John Stockton
 
Recorded on 6/2/2024

Ep. 26: Nuclear Energy Discourse w/ Madison Hilly

Why has the general public been skeptical of nuclear energy, seemingly even before the technology existed? Joining the boys on this week’s episode of Silent Generation is Madison Hilly, founder and director of the Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal, to discuss how the discourse around nuclear energy has been heavily influenced by its depictions in popular culture. They examine The China Syndrome, The Simpsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Chernobyl (2019) to examine how erroneous depictions of nuclear waste and nuclear meltdowns have fomented fear. Amongst other things they talk about when Madi went viral for taking a picture next to nuclear waste while pregnant, how the baby boomer strain of environmentalism leans more “conservationist,” why nuclear waste and slime in childrens’ media is always depicted as being green, and how left wing opposition to nuclear energy seems to come from subconscious fears that radioactive material isn’t “natural.” 
 
Links:
The Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal
Madison Hilly’s Twitter
Pregnant Woman Poses With 'Nuclear Waste' To Prove Point About Radiation (Newsweek)
By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benét
Cornelia Hesse-Honegger’s Mutations
Science Behind Science Fiction: How do Teenage Turtles become Mutant Ninjas?
Studies Show That, As We Age, Our Ability To See Vivid Colors Decline
Holtec reports “remarkable progress” towards restart of Palisades
 
Artwork:
Nuclear power plant LCCN, Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division
digital ID highsm.13019, CC0
 
Recorded on 5/26/2024

Ep. 25: Moral Codes [TEASER]

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration 
 
Many parents today tell their children to simply “be a good person” and do not offer them moral guidelines beyond that. “Being a good person” isn’t a robust enough moral framework to deal with the complexities of everyday life, so many people resort to creating their own moral codes (either completely independently, or through the help of internet gurus like Jordan Peterson). On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Nathan and Joseph reflect on their own moral codes and talk about the origins and justifications of the rules they’ve made for themselves. Amongst other things they discuss how gay culture doesn’t offer gay men a moral framework, how you should aim to be contrarian only 50% of the time, how the public has become tired of plotlines that deal with moral gray areas, and how modern Hollywood has only offered the public antiheroes in place of actual heroes.
 
Links:
Jordan Peterson - Are You a Good Person?
The Epidemic of Gay Loneliness
 
Artwork:
The School of Athens by Raphael
 
Recorded on 5/19/2024

Ep. 24: Bike Skepticism

As previously noted, Nathan has a general aversion to bikes and bike infrastructure. But where does his “bike skepticism” come from, and why do many other Americans feel the same way? On this week’s episode of Silent Generation Joseph gets to the root of Nathan’s bias (the temperament of cyclists, tacky bike lane infrastructure, and the “aesthetics of control”) and makes the case for bike-oriented cities. Amongst other things they discuss how most Americans approach biking from a sports angle, the way streets were shared by multiple transit modes in the early 20th century, how biking becomes less viable in the Winter,  and how Los Angeles has the potential to become America’s foremost biking city. 
 
Links:
The new Silent Generation Patreon!
San Francisco streetcar footage from a hundred years ago
Years and Years by Russell T Davies
On Adam Levine's tattoos
Why Many Cities Suck (and Los Angeles Doesn't Have to)
Strong Town’s idea of “complex vs. complicated”
 
Artwork: 
AI generated
 
Recorded on 5/12/2024