Silent Generation

Ep. 82: Disney Adults w/ Tiffany Wright [EXTENDED TEASER]

Full episode available on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration
This week’s episode attempts to address how and why many American cultural practices and institutions have been replaced by those of Disney adults. Nathan is joined by his friend Tiffany Wright, a Disney theme park aficionado with a deep knowledge of the community, to discuss the topic. They begin by defining “Disney adult” and note their psychological motivations. They then survey several Disney resorts (Disneyland, Disney World, and Disneyland Abu Dhabi) and popular Disney influencers like Dear and Darling. Amongst other things they discuss Disney adult critiques and defenses, the enduring relevance of Mickey Mouse in fashion, and the phenomenon of adult infantilization more broadly through Funko Pops and Labububus. 
 
Links:Tiffany Wright - Instagram pageTiffany’s Disney adult Halloween costumeDisney Adults: Exploring (and Falling in Love With) a Magical Subculture by AJ Wolfe The ‘Disney Adult’ Industrial Complex by Amelia Tait Three Maligned Modern Tourists Defend Themselves by Amelia TaitHow ‘Disney Adults’ Became the Most Hated Group on the Internet by EJ DicksonDon’t Judge Disney Adults. Try to Understand Them by Jodi Eichler-LevineWhat Exactly Is the Magic of Disney World? by Kathryn Jezer-MortonK-HOLE #5: A Report on DoubtDisney’s FastPass: A Complicated History - Defunctland A Deep Dive Into Disney Adults - Kurtis ConnorDisney Adult (Urban Dictionary definition)Grown woman who cried upon meeting Goofy Tik Tok videoThe Segregation of Social Desire: “Religion” and Disney World by William ArnalDisneyland Abu Dhabi Would 'Never Work' Outdoors Says Park Boss by Caroline ReidDear and Darling  Dear and Darling Pluto storyBad Influence: The Dark Side of KidfluencingPokemon scalper cleans out entire shelf of destined rivals etb in front of kidOnce Upon A Time: The Pop Culture Impact of Mickey Mouse Watches by Rhonda RicheThe enduring appeal of Mickey Mouse: Why the fashion industry is still interested by Anya GeorgijevicDisney adults when they're not at Disney?
 
Artwork:Britney Spears Once Went On an INSANE Disney World Shopping Spree by Alessia Dunn
 
Recorded on 8/17/2025

Ep. 81: Men's Fragrances

On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Joseph and Nathan discuss all things men’s fragrances. They begin by weighing the reasons men typically wear fragrances (“sex sells,” general presentation) versus why they might not (fragrance sensitivity, “men should smell like men”). They then review several fragrances: Dior Sauvage, Bleu de Chanel, Paco Rabanne Phantom, 4711 Original Eau de Cologne, Greenbriar by Caswell Massey, Maii Bogue, Weekend for Men by Burberry, and Knize Ten. They round out the episode by discussing Jeremy Fragrance’s career as “the number one fragrance icon that follows the teachings of Jesus” before reflecting on the totemic qualities of fragrances. 
 
Links:
Smellmaxxing
Studio Ready
Teen Spirit in Pink Crush
Fragrance sensitivity: why perfumed products can cause profound health problems by Sirin Kale
Last of the NYC Leathermen
Fragrance Concentration Guide
Everything You Need To Know About Fragrance Concentration Levels - EDT, EDP, Parfum, & MORE
Official cologne flowchart of the 4chan fragrance board
Fragrance Groups 101
fragrantica.com
Dior Sauvage - Fragrantica page
Bleu de Chanel - Fragrantica page
Paco Rabanne Phantom - Fragrantica page
4711 Original Eau de Cologne - Fragrantica page
Greenbriar Caswell Massey - Fragrantica page
Maai Bogue - Fragrantica page
Weekend for Men Burberry - Fragrantica page
Knize Ten - Fragrantica page
Dior Sauvage in 2015 according to The History of the Hero: Dior Sauvage by Sarah Karmali
I Wore The World's Oldest Cologne For a Week
Bogue Profumo Maai: Valkyrie Chypres & Vintage Animalism
Knize Ten - A Masterpiece from 1925
Kniže & Co.: A First-Hand Look at Vienna’s Most Storied Tailor by Sven Raphael Schneider
Jeremy Fragrance: The Smell of Success
Jeremyfragrance - Tik Tok page
How Abercrombie, Victoria’s Secret and Vitamin Shoppe use smell to get you to spend more
Say Goodbye To The Scent Of Fierce In Abercrombie & Fitch Stores by Christopher Luu
Subway: What the Hell Is That Smell? by Joel Burrows
The Woman Who Wants to Give Birth to a Shark by Nikhil Roy
Gabriel O’Hara (niche fragrance brand inspired by Chicago streets)
 
Artwork:
Knize Ten Eau de Toilette
 
Recorded on 8/11/2025

Ep. 80: Gorpcore

Gorpcore is a hiking-inspired aesthetic that was first identified in a 2017 article published in The Cut. On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Joseph begins by interviewing Nathan about his gorpcore-esque wardrobe. The boys then detail the various elements of the aesthetic (outerwear, technical fabrics, face concealment, and high definition landscapes) before introducing a vintage sub-aesthetic they call “lindy gorpcore.” Towards the later half of the episode they discuss Death Stranding 1 and its recent sequel Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which are standout examples of the gorpcore aesthetic in gaming. 
 
Links: Gorpcore Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/silentgeneration/gorpcore/ Lindy Gorpcore Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/silentgeneration/lindy-gorpcore/  r/Gorpcore A Guide To: GorpcoreEverything to Know About Gorpcore, the Outdoorsy Trend Celebs LoveThe Origins of GORP by Ashley BrownFirst Came Normcore. Now Get Ready for Gorpcore by Jason ChenRihanna Lookin' like a Pokemon gym leader memepride month outfit memeGorpworld - Instagram pageGorpcore.jpeg - Instagram pageGorpcore.world - Instagram pageOutdoorrecarchive - Instagram pagePresta94 - Instagram pageDimi_tt7 - Instagram pageThe Story of Fleece by Rachel G ClarkThe Darkside of Gorpcore by Wrong TrousersOze’s Mighty Bokka PortersHideo Kojima and Yoji Shinkawa Open Up About Death Stranding 2: Connection, Creativity, and Walking Through Loneliness by RalphCheck Out This Sick $1700 Death Stranding 2 Jacket You’ll Never Get by Alyssa MercanteDeath Stranding 2 Photo Session with Fragile, Tomorrow and Rainy
 
Artwork:Source unknown
 
Recorded on 8/2/2025

Ep. 79: Bohemianism [TEASER]

Full episode available on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration
This is the third and final installment of Silent Generation’s three part series on Bohemianism. In this week’s episode, Joseph and Nathan finally address the most popular definition of “bohemian”: the trope of the impoverished artist living on the fringes of society. They detail how the combined impacts of the French and Industrial Revolutions caused bohemians to first emerge in Paris during the 1830s, and how the cultural figure was defined and popularized by Henri Murger’s Scenes of Bohemian Life and Giacamo Puccini’s La Bohème. They conclude by discussing other 19th century cultural figures (flaneurs, dandies), the movie Moulin Rouge!, and boho-chic fashion. 
 
Links:Scenes of Bohemian Life by Henri MurgerLa bohème by Giacomo PucciniBohemians: A Very Short Introduction by David WeirBohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts by Elizabeth WilsonBohemianism - In Our Time (BBC)Cross-section of a Parisian house in the 1850sMexico City GentrificationTowertown: LOST COMMUNITIES OF CHICAGONabe ni Dangan wo Ukenagara (manga that features Chicago)“Water only” family Tik TokLabelle - Lady MarmaladeBo-ho Chic/ Whimsicraft Designs from Bohemian Style (1999)Decorating Cents worst designs Tik Tok
 
Artwork:Photos of Bohemian Partiers in New York’s Greenwich Village, 1910-1920
 
Recorded on 7/28/2025

Ep. 78: Krakow & Prague

On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Joseph interviews Nathan about his recent trip to Poland and the Czech Republic. He recaps his travels to Gdansk, Warsaw, Krakow, and Prague. Amongst other things he discusses how Gdansk was once a city-state known as the Free City of Danzig, how Warsaw’s Museum of Communism is above a KFC, how one of Krakow’s largest tourist attractions is a salt mine in the town of Wieliczka, and how Prague is home to the largest European castle still in use. 
This is the second installment of a four part series that explores the cultural figure of the Bohemian and its origins. This segment briefly explains how “Bohemia” is a region and kingdom that is now part of the modern day Czech Republic.
 
Links:Prague is a Parody of Europe
 
Artwork:Exploring Prague in May, 1991
 
Recorded on 7/13/2025

Ep. 77: Manouche Jazz w/ Significant Lovers

Manouche jazz is a musical genre (or musical idiom) pioneered by Django Reinhardt, a French-Romani jazz guitarist and composer who lived from 1910 to 1953. He developed manouche jazz in collaboration with Stéphane Grappelli after being inspired by American jazz musicians, and the genre is notable for its percussive guitars, virtuosic lead guitarists, and reliance on acoustic instruments. Joseph and Nathan are joined by Kelly from the Significant Lovers podcast to discuss the genre. 
 
This is the first installment of a four part series that explores the cultural figure of the Bohemian and its origins. The French believed that the Romani people came from Bohemia when they first arrived in their country, and the term “Bohemian” meant “Romani” for several centuries. “Bohemian” came to be associated with all of the stereotypes of the Romani people (positive and negative) before coming to only be associated with positive Romani stereotypes by the end of the 20th century: artsy, creative, free-spirited, and prone to wanderlust.
 
Links:Significant Lovers SpotifySignificant Lovers InstagramManouche Jazz Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5yZf7mGsSpZteSa41sUD84?si=0da77b26e481443c  Rendezvous A Paris (Starbucks) playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Z8SiyBtkpaHaB3LFHC9wf?si=4de387e2bb20429e Gypsy Jazz: in Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing by Michael Dregni #8 Michael Dregni - The Life and Times of Django ReinhardtStéphane Grappelli - His Life and Legacy: Part One. Gypsy Jazz Violinist with/after Django ReinhardtWish You Were Here by Pink FloydBohemianism - In Our Time (BBC)
 
Artwork:Django Reinhardt
 
Recorded on 6/29/2025

Ep. 76: Malls [EXTENDED TEASER]

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration 
 
On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Joseph and Nathan discuss one of the biggest culprits of car-oriented development in the mid-20th century: malls. The boys begin by surveying several malls in Chicago (900 N. Michigan, The Water Tower Place, Block 37, and Ford City Mall) before delving into the largest malls in the country (Mall of America, American Dream Mall, and King of Prussia Mall). They then discuss a multitude of mall brands, noting the mall goth feedback loop generated by Hot Topic and the toxicity of Bath and Body Works. They conclude by discussing the urbanist critique of malls and what should be done with dying ones. 
 
Links:The Economics and Nostalgia of Dead Malls by Nelson D. SchwartzThe Great American Shopping Mall: Past, Present, and Future by Spencer LiThe Perfectly Optimized Building for Late Capitalism - Stewart HicksOpening of Minnesota's Southdale Center99 Percent Invisible: Meet me by the fountainHow Malls Are Evolving In The U.SWhat Is a Class A Mall?Why Restaurants Have Become So Important To Shopping MallsWater Tower Place ‘Past Its Prime’ As A Mall — But Mag Mile Recovery In Full Swing, Backers Say by Melody MercadoThe Only Thing To Do in a Dying Mall by Edward Robert McClellandWhat is The Metropolitan? What to know about the new urban village in Phoenix by Taylor SeelyMeet the ‘Queen Spinner of Shell Shock,’ a local celebrity at MOA by Nicole KiSpencer’s Gifts existed back in the ‘40s as a mail order catalog that sold donkeysYankee Candles Levels of AbstractionMall Chicken Made Me Feel More American by Su Jit-LinLuxurydeptstore Instagram accountThe Great Places Erased by Suburbia - NotjustbikesWhat We Should (Actually) Do with Dying Malls - Chuck from Strong Towns
 
Artwork:1990s aerial photo of Glendale Galleria and pre-Americana
 
Recorded on 6/22/2025

Ep. 75: Beachwear

On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Joseph and Nathan detail all of the garments men wear to the beach and the various ways they make men look attractive. They begin with beachwear bottoms (speedos, jammers, box leg trunks, swim trunks, boardshorts), before discussing tops (tank tops, Hawaiian shirts, button downs, Italian knits), and accessories (straw hats, sandals, dive watches). Afterward, the boys examine how the version of preppy style common in coastal Southern states naturally resembles beachwear, citing the Ratliffs from the most recent season of The White Lotus as their primary example. They then discuss beachwear in additional TV shows and movies (The Beach, Seinfeld, and Magnum PI) before concluding with an exposé on shirtlessness. 
 
Links:Beachwear Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/silentgeneration/beachwear/ Bitches from Wisconsin be like BEACH DAY memeBitches from Chicago be like BEACH DAY memeMilverineA cool guide about swimwear color safetyInterview: The Designers of Chubbies Shorts by Geoffrey BrownMen's Swimwear Guide - Bathing Suits for Gentlemen: Trunks, Briefs & Speedos1970’s Men’s Swimwear Tik Tok videoMacy's Beachwear June 2025 - Chicago, ILYou can’t arrest me my dad is a lawyer memeMike White Teases Location For Season 4 Of ‘The White Lotus’ by Peter WhiteThe White Lotus Costume Designer Alex Bovaird on Season 3's Designer-Loving Blondes, the Catalog-Worthy Ratliffs, and Chelsea's DIY Expat Style - Who What Wear PodcastBONUS: Alex Bovaird Returns! The White Lotus Costume Designer on Every Fashion Easter Egg in Season 3 and the Impact of Her Costumes - Who What Wear PodcastDuvin DesignVacation Brand SunscreenOrlebar BrownFrescobol CariocaChubbies
 
Artwork:Surfers
 
Recorded on 6/15/2025

Ep. 74: Gayborhoods [TEASER]

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration
 
“Gayborhoods” (also known as gay villages) are gay neighborhoods that emerged in the United States at the end of World War II. Returning soldiers were sent home to port cities like New York City and San Francisco, and the sudden influx of gay veterans in those places caused a profusion of gay bars to appear. But how did clusters of LGBT nightlife venues come to gain official recognition as neighborhoods? On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Joseph and Nathan begin by detailing how Boystown in Chicago came to be the first officially recognized gayborhood in the country. They then survey gayborhoods in several other cities (Milwaukee, New York City, and San Francisco) before debating the pros and cons of living in gayborhoods in the modern era. 
 
Links:
From Antarctica with Love by Allegra Rosenberg
Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement
The new LGBT neighborhood: Everywhere
Searching for the Last Lesbian Bars in America
Why Do Lesbian Bars Keep Disappearing? by Stef Rubino
What should a gay district look like in Detroit? Survey seeks input by Micah Walker
A Tavern On (Almost) Every Corner: Why Did So Many Chicago Bars Disappear? by Jake Smith
Making Chicago’s Boystown by Steven Jackson and Jason Nargis
Boytown: How Chicago Got its Gay Neighborhood
The History of Boystown's Rainbow Pylons
Decoplex - CARI Aesthetic
Labor Dispute Closes Berlin, the Beloved Chicago Gay Bar by Emily Schmall
Resistance Remains in Renaming of Chicago’s ‘Boystown’ Neighborhood to ‘Northalsted’ by Miguel Johnson
Berlin Nightclub Workers Call For Boycott As They Fight For Contract by Amber Stoutenborough
Berlin nightclub union demands
OUTgoing: Mapping the Hidden History of New York’s Gay Nightlife by Jeff Ferzoco
Photograph of the gay village in Manchester in 1995
The Simpson’s gay pride parade scene
Women & Women First book store
SoDoSoPa
 
Artwork:
Gilbert Baker & “Raise the Rainbow” Workshop 
 
Recorded on 6/1/2025

Ep. 73: Normcore w/ Solana

Normcore is a “a post-authenticity coolness that opts into sameness.” The term was first coined by the trend forecasting group K-HOLE in their 2013 report Youth Mode: A Report on Freedom, which was a larger philosophical deliberation on the degree to which people should remain alternative into adulthood. This week’s episode of Silent Generation focuses on how the fashion world’s misclassification of normcore as an aesthetic caused internet aesthetics to become less subculture-oriented after the mid-2010s. Nathan and Solana begin by discussing the history of internet aesthetics by breaking them down into four categories and three periods: consumer aesthetics, early internet subcultures (2009-2014), Vaporwave-inspired aesthetics (2014-2020), and Tik Tok aesthetics (2020-2025). They then discuss the true meaning of K-HOLE’s report and question what normcore fashion conceptually looked like. They round out the episode by recapping the reasons why normcore killed off the subculture component of internet aesthetics: aesthetics could now be vibes or metaphysical concepts, aesthetics became a formula that could be capitalized off of by brands, and internet aesthetics became more fashion-centric. 
 
Links:Youth Mode: A Report on FreedomNormcore: Fashion for Those Who Realize They’re One in 7 Billion by Fiona DuncanNormcore: Fashion Movement or Massive In-Joke? by Alex WilliamsNormcore Never Died. It Just Got More Expensive by Vanessa FriedmanNormcore Was Always A Misunderstood Fantasy by Delia CaiASOS: What is Normcore/90s Normal? ASOS explains...Gap’s Dress Normal Campaign Isn’t Working Because Normal People Don’t Want to Be Normal by Rachel Raczka
 
Artwork:Seinfeld
 
Recorded on 5/25/2025