Culture Dumps

Cabbage Patch Kids was like the Beanie Babies of the 80s, a children’s toy craze that led to a series of infamous in-store riots in the winter of 1983. However, the iconic doll started as folk art not even intended for mass manufacturing. Along the way we have intellectual property theft, multiple lawsuits, concept albums, and a bizarre pretend hospital where these “babies” are b...

This is a true Culture Dump right here folks! Martha Wash is a music legend, in 1990 anyone would have been lucky to work with her, but some producers felt that due to her appearance she couldn’t represent herself and models were hired to be the face of her voice. This total diss led to a series of landmark trials that changed the way artists are credited from then on. EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!

As the world becomes consumed with Britneymania once again the Culture Dumps team shines a light on the all but forgotten ex-husband of one of the biggest stars of all time, Kevin Federline. While he is mostly known as the less-than-savory love interest of Britney Spears there is a lot more to K-Fed. Professional dancer, rapper, wrestler, actor, model, and father, he has kind of done it all, which...

The phrase “Jumping the Shark” refers to a moment in a television show, film, book, or any other form of entertainment where the established rules, characters, and plot points are tossed aside to make room for a ridiculous moment. To jump the shark is to create a culture dump. While the phrase comes from a notorious episode of “Happy Days,” there are hundreds of examples of shark jumping throughou...

Celebrity sex tapes are a phenomenon. Whether they were stolen and leaked to the public or purposefully released for financial gain, the public cannot get enough. Our fascination with the private lives of the famous can reach some uncomfortably invasive places. In this episode we track the dark history of celeb sex tapes and highlight the most influential of the bunch. From Pam and Tommy to Verne...

This week we go behind the iron curtain to discuss the Russian pseudo-lesbian powerpop group TATU. TATU took the world by storm with their school girl outfits and french kisses but there was so much more to the story than two girls in love navigating their emotions through song. It was all a hoax, there was no way one of the most anti-LGBT countries in the world would allow a real lesbian couple t...

In the late 1980s, McDonalds introduced a mascot into their family, Mac Tonight. The campaign was aimed at attracting more people to eat McDonalds for dinner. Mac Tonight was a fashionably dressed, crescent moon faced man. His name is a pun based on the classic song “Mack the Knife.” A bizarre juxtaposition of classic swing and playful 80s set design, The Mac Tonight ad campaign was an...

It is no secret that the internet harbors some weird stuff. Wikipedia may be the world’s number one source for quick information about just about anything, but sometimes the anything can be downright bizarre. Depths of Wikipedia is an instagram page dedicated to archiving the strangest articles posted to Wikipedia. Ryan sits down with the creator of the page to discuss her favorite posts other pro...

M’lady. The gentlemen at Culture Dumps dive into the secretive world of Pick Up Artists (PUA). An underground phenomenon during the 80s and 90s, PUAs are groups of men who obsessively try to get dates with women. Involved is statistics, bizarre vocabulary and a controversial amount of psychological manipulation. In 2005 Neil Strauss released his best selling book, The Game: Penetrating the S...

In the mid 1990’s extreme sports were peaking in popularity. Whether it was inline skating, skateboarding, or BMX, kids around the world were more than willing to jump off shit. Enter Soaps. An extreme sport shoe complete with a grind plate that would allow “soapers” to use any environment as their playground. Not all was as it seemed with Soaps, as with most dumps. We also inter...

This is our first political Dump, though one can aruge all politics is a crock of shit! To honor the upcoming Gub-Recall of 2021, the Culture Dumps team looks back to the media circus surrounding the 2003 recall. This whole mess started when a bunch of assholes at Enron tried to line their pockets with an energy crisis and ended with Arnold Schwarzeneggar as the actual, for real, not joking govern...

This week we have a bonus episode! Ryan sits down with David Yontef, the host of Behind the Velvet Rope Podcast and all around pop culture guru . They discuss everything from the roots of reality tv, the differences between all of the Real Housewives, the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and Caitlyn Jenner running for governor. This episode is juicy and fully loaded.

Samwell’s music video “What What (In the Butt)” was one of Youtube’s first viral video sensations. The original 2007 post currently has over 72 millions views. The video appeared on Tosh. O and was parodied by South Park. The hilarious homoerotic hit helped usher in a new style of pop culture driven primarily by internet fandom. Mike Stasny is an artist living in Atlanta wh...

This week on Culture Dumps we examine the most bizarre passion project in the history of music. In 1999 Garth Brooks could not have been more famous. As the most successful country singer seemingly of all time, when he debuted his dark, tortured alter-ego Chris Gaines it is more than fair to say people were confused. What started as the most elaborate publicity stunt for a film ever soon became th...

2 Live Crew is one of the notorious rap groups in Hip Hop history. They added a new level of hypersexual lyrics that was as offensive as it was popular. Their platinum selling album, As Nasty As They Wanna Be, led to a series of court cases that saw the party friendly band as champions of the 1st Amendment. These trials also coincided with the infamous PRMC clashes of the early 90s, leading to the...

We have reached the end of the plush road. We conclude our Beanie Baby coverage with tales of bankruptcy, break ups, arrests, and the bursting of the one of the biggest speculative bubbles of all time. All good things must come to an end, and in this case dumb things do too. This one gets dark folks so prepare yourselves and enjoy the finale of the saga of Beanie Babies.

We are officially deep in the depths of this Beanie Baby Dump. We document the huge surge in popularity of Beanie Babies. The “retirement” of certain beanies created a scarcity in the market that drove collectors into a frenzy as the prices surged. Beanie Babies were no longer simply a kids toy, but a completely risk free 100% guaranteed way to earn tons of money! Kinda sounds like NFT...

Here it is folks, the first installment of our coverage of one of the biggest Culture Dumps in history. Ty Beanie Babies. What became the biggest toy crazy of the 1990’s, the first internet shopping craze, and ultimately a long term investment with no pay off started in the mind of one man, Ty Warner. Unlike beanie babies, this episode is not understuffed!

Spring Break is one of the most iconic rites of passage for the bright, young scholars of the USA. Filled with underage drinking, bad decisions and memories to last a lifetime, Ryan and Parks breakdown just how spring break leaves its mark as a Dump. The concept of spring break has its roots in Ancient Greek culture, but continues still to this very day. Ryan also nabbed an amazing interview with...

Alcohol has been around for thousands of years, it is rare to to see a new variation of the devil’s juice. In 2010  a new monster was released into the world and drinking would never be the same. Fourloko is one of the scariest beverages ever created and we have the proof. We also sit down around the fire for some good ole’ fashioned scary stories. 

The Monkees are a pop culture anomaly, a multi-platinum selling band created by television producers. While The Monkees hold a special place in American music history, their rebooted counterpart, The New Monkees do not. The New Monkees are all but forgotten and with good reason. We don’t need reboots of everything and this proves it. 

We go back to the ballpark this week with Ten Cent Beer Night! One of the wildest nights in baseball and sports history in general. What could go wrong giving thousands of heated baseball fans unlimited ten cent beers during a grudge match? Well, a riot for one. Also stick around for the end to hear a drunk Eddie Vedder sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame!” 

The swing revival movement of the 1990’s was one of the biggest alternative movements in pop culture history. Big bands, gin, dancing, fedoras, and pretentious older punk rockers, it had it all! We dive into what Swing was and what it became, get your truckin’ shoes on and get ready to go back in time to the 1940s, in the 1990s, we guess. This is also one of the most fan-requested dump...

The Culture Dumps crew tackles our first book, Go Ask Alice. “Alice” is the supposedly real diary of a teenage girl lost in a downward spiral of drug addiction. The book was a huge success upon its release in the 1970’s; at a time when drug use and experimentation was peaking. The harrowing details from an “anonymous” author capitalized on the fear that these tragic c...

Ryan and Andy dissect one of the most notorious menu items in fast food history. The mad scientists of KFC pushed the limits of fast food excess, laughing in the face of anyone attempting to be conscientious of their health. The lesson to be learned from this? If you are met with opposition in your life, double down and do your own damn thing.