Low Culture Boil

Writer Jason Diamond joins the crew to talk everyone's favorite coming-of-age dance flick. Is Baby class-conscious, or proto-woke? How open can Patrick Swayze's shirt get? Will there ever be justice for Lisa? All this plus the Gripe Zone and a journey into the dark heart of Magnolia Cupcakes. Check out jasondiamond.net! Grab your tix to the first LCB live show with Josh Gondelman and Matt Christma...

Yes, it's everyone's favorite non-tabloid tabloid. But beyond the "Sexiest Man Alive" shtick and royal baby updates, we find a publication that has, dare we say, some semblance of a moral code? Nahh, but they pay out the ass for content! Poet Melissa Lozada-Oliva joins us to talk coming-of-age with People, the magazine's enduring relevance, and we all say goodbye to a dear friend in a special Grip...

Among the most maligned of the cheese food products, American Cheese is like a fine wine to LCB: 49% cheese. From the trenches of Belgium to the suburbs, the girls talk this plastic mass's origins, some of its more inventive uses, and speculate as to why it is so unfairly characterized. Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/lowcultureboil

The chair: object of architectural experimentation, or just a place to set your royal ass? What if it was a combination of the two? Bienvenue La-Z Boy. From its inception in 1930 to today, this quintessentially American furniture has been a fixture in living rooms nationwide. But what sinister implications lurk beneath this cushy behemoth? Is the La-Z boy just an alienating throne for the Man of t...

The Antifada's Sean KB joins team LCB to answer: What would you do if you were given a bunch of dogshit ingredients and had to cook with them on national TV? Yes, this week we're talking Chopped, the only place you'll be forced to cook with pickles and the seminal fluid of fish for an 18 hour shoot. Malfunctioning ovens and frowny judges be damned, this show makes us the viewers judgy monsters and...

Writer Jason Diamond joins the crew to talk everyone's favorite coming-of-age dance flick. Is Baby class-conscious, or proto-woke? How open can Patrick Swayze's shirt get? Will there ever be justice for Lisa? All this plus the Gripe Zone and a journey into the dark heart of Magnolia Cupcakes.   Check out jasondiamond.net!   Become at trash patron today! patreon.com/lowcultureboil

Rax and Courtney snack on spoonfuls of everyone's favorite lard alternative. Learn how Procter & Gamble preyed upon kosher households to offload its ingenious, gelatinous invention. How does cotton seed oil fit into making the perfect pie crust? Can one achieve optimum crumble with butter, or do we need that Country Crock goodness? Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/lowcultureboil

Salon chains: What would we do without 'em? Join team LCB for a look into our favorite franchised hair establishments, from the mediocre (Great Clips) to the mediocre-with-a-fun-gimmick (the boxing  themed Knockout Hair Salon). Discover how the salon was where franchise itself began and how Christian Scientists might be responsible for millions of shitty haircuts across the ages.  Become a trash p...

The full LCB crew is BACK and ready to pay an arm and a leg for some profoundly mediocre American fare while staring at a costume from Lethal Weapon 3. That's right, we're taking a trip to Planet Hollywood, the a 90s creation that is somehow clinging to life, and ready to welcome at least one of our hosts. All brought to you by the producer of Sophie's Choice. Become a trash patron today! patreon....

Videographer and podcaster Molly Mary O'Brien ( @missmollymary ) joins a lone Amber to talk up the mean girl of bottled water: Evian. Plastic might be destroying the planet, but we're talking vibes, and you don't need a boutique bottle with a crystal in it to feel em. Take a sip of this ambrosia from the south shores of Lake Geneva and hydrate like French nobility.  Check out Molly's music crit po...

A tiny LCB digs into this tiny phenomenon, which finds broke Millenials striving to achieve some semblance of the American Dream in 8 square feet. Learn the history of tiny homes past with Jacques Prouvé's post-earthquake shelters and the interwar Germans' E x i s t e n z m i n i m u m movement. Learn the un-green truth about these bite-sized ecological nightmares. And insert some other thing I ca...

Elle Features Editor and Discourse Blog contributor Katherine Krueger joins the gals to muse on ancient reality show "The Hills". Yes, we're going back to club drama, pre-Marxist Teen Vogue, and whale tails for this one, choosing our problematic faves, marveling at the lack of production value, and asking what we'd do if we stumbled upon a wall of Post-its plotting our future. Follow Katherine on...

It's a special Father's Day edition of our monthly dumpster dive, this time with the added bonus of LCB father Brian Rawlings! Join the crew as we explore Brian's Appalachian origins, divorced dad meals, Amber's childhood reality TV appearance, a hip-shattering wasp, and of course a jerky bouquet! Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/lowcultureboil

From Aesop's Fables to tasteful flappers, fishnet hosiery— tights, gloves, bodystockings— has been a mainstay in fact and fiction for at least 100 years. Journey with team LCB into the world of this enticing accessory, a favorite among pin-ups, punks, and even Perry Ellis, a fabric flaunting that sexy "intermittence of skin flashing between two articles of clothing", according to Roland Barthes. B...

It's the third edition of LCB's monthly Dumpster Dive, wherein the crew sounds off about their favorite trash picks of the moment. For May we find ourselves praising fascist-killing cargo pants, dated sex advice, more Real Housewives, Zoomer video games, and a special Amber's Animal Facts featuring a lucrative human fingernail scheme!   Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/lowcultureboil

If you count the amusement parks, Mall of America is the largest shopping mall in the western hemisphere. Despite a negative reception upon its opening in 1992, the massive complex continues to thrive. Team LCB asks: Is MOA a public space? How do we remedy the scourge of mall security? And how has this consumption colossus survived the "Mallpocalypse"? Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/lowc...

Before the food courts, myriad stalls full of tchotchkes, and labyrinthine department stores, there was...well, much the same thing. The mall is an American invention via an Austrian architect, and it never really progressed past its initial phase of development. Join the LCB crew as they go into its history, its role as the third place, and why Courtney can't handle the onslaught of mall AC.   

We're speaking of Casseroles, that is! Yes, the LCB team takes on the One-Dish Wonder, its connection to Thomas Jefferson, its flourishing in the postwar years, and whether it's, well, any good. From tuna to matzoh, the great confluence of Pyrex, canned goods, and an American can-do attitude has brought us this contentious, congealed creature.  Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/lowculturebo...

Grab your transgressive Halloween mask, boil a pot of penis pasta, and don your finest nipple rings for team LCB's dive into the world of Spencer Gifts. Learn about its New Jersey origins, dubious claims about product quality, and the myriad ethnic groups this establishment has managed to offend, all while hosting generations of loafing teens.

An hour is hardly sufficient time to sing the praises of the Bloomin Onion itself, but it is long enough for the LCB gals to explore its home: Outback Steakhouse. The crew reviews the decidedly not-Australian-but-Australian-themed fare, its fickle architectural styles, and theorizes as to why America fell into Oz obsession for a brief period in the 1980s. Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/l...

It's the third edition of LCB's monthly Dumpster Dive, wherein the crew sounds off about their favorite trash picks of the moment. For May we find ourselves praising fascist-killing cargo pants, dated sex advice, more Real Housewives, Zoomer video games, and a special Amber's Animal Facts featuring a lucrative human fingernail scheme!     Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/lowcultureboil

The road from Tamagotchi to Animal Crossing is a long, but somewhere along the way we found ourselves in Flash players (RIP) caring for virtual creatures known as Neopets. Join the gals on a trip down memory lane and get the inside scoop on the game's sick features, rad capitalist propaganda, and far out Scientologist infiltration of the company's upper echelon! Become a trash patron today! patreo...

Ramadan is no doubt a holy month for the Muslim world, but to Arabic speakers it means one thing: Solid TV. Summer Nazif, an Egyptian-Algerian living in Paris, joins team LCB to talk the most important time for Arab television and school the girls on the operatic soaps, inventive comedies, and riddle-themed game shows that are the talk of millions of households every year. Follow Summer on Twitter...

Kate WIllett (@katewillett) joins the maidens of low culture to talk "My So-Called Life". The crew finds the show precocious yet dated upon a re-watch, Angela Chase to have some deranged opinions, and reading your teenage diary can be harrowing. Plus ghosts!   Become a trash patron today! patreon.com/lowcultureboil   Check out Kate's podcast Reply Guys! patreon.com/replyguys

An hour is hardly sufficient time to sing the praises of the Bloomin Onion itself, but it is long enough for the LCB gals to explore its home: Outback Steakhouse. The crew reviews the decidedly not-Australian-but-Australian-themed fare, its fickle architectural styles, and theorizes as to why America fell into Oz obsession for a brief period in the 1980s. Grab a fat Shrimp on the Barbie, crack ope...