Silent Generation

Whimsicraft is an aesthetic that flourished from the mid 1980’s to the mid 1990’s that is composed of saturated colors, celestial symbols, heavy patterns, and handmade crafts. It describes “things you would see at an art fair in 1994” and it is “the aesthetic of the 'fun quirky artsy aunt' character in 90s media.” The aesthetic was first identified by Evan Collins, one of the founding members of t...

Cheerleader rock is a music genre that incorporates cheerleader chants, blaring electric guitars, and marching band instrumentals. It first emerged over two decades ago in the mid-2000s, but it was never identified as a trend or defined as a genre. On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Nathan is joined by friend of the pod Christine to discuss the two standout acts of this style (The Go! Te...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration   Pulaski Day is a holiday observed in municipalities across the US that have large Polish populations. It honors General Casimir Pulaski, a Polish nobleman and military commander who played a crucial role in the American Revolutionary War. He is often called the "Father of the American Cavalry” and is celebrated for havin...

This week’s episode of Silent Generation explores the idea that “around the world, nature is moving to cities.” The boys begin by introducing listeners to the concept of the Anthropocene and the ideas presented in Fred Pearce’s book The New Wild, both of which provide frameworks to start thinking that wild animals are not out of place in urban environments. They then talk about animals that are al...

From 1995 to 2010, humor on the early internet—and in broader American culture—was arguably the most simple and direct. Referencing a single “ironic” animal (like a moose, cow, or narwhal) or food item (such as tacos, waffles, or nachos) was enough to make someone giggle. As detailed by Joseph and Nathan on this week’s episode of Silent Generation, this style of humor (which they call “zimmy humor...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration    This week the boys discuss various outerwear styles and the types of weather they are best suited for. They begin by discussing Chicago's extreme seasonal averages before sharing their thoughts on the following outerwear styles: painter jackets, M-65 field jackets, varsity jackets, harrington jackets, denim trucker jack...

Brutalism was an architectural style that was popular from the 1950s to early 1980s that consisted of raw concrete surfaces, monochrome colors, minimal ornamentation, and exposed structural elements. It is the architectural style that is referenced in the title of The Brutalist, a film directed by Brady Corbet that has been nominated for numerous accolades this year. On this week's episode of Sile...

This week the boys discuss Joseph’s favorite decade: the 1960’s. They begin by touching on what life was like for everyday Americans in the ‘60s before detailing several movements (the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement, and the antiwar movement) that contributed to the decade earning the nickname “the countercultural decade.” They then talk about hippies and the elements of hippie cul...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration    This week the boys are joined by Nick and Cris from the Thot Topics podcast to talk about “party cities,” cities whose economies cater to debaucherous tourists. They begin by surveying the following party cities and the types of partiers they attract: Las Vegas, New Orleans, Cancun, Berlin, and Miami. They then detail s...

Y2K futurism is an aesthetic that emerged in the late ‘90s and early-2000s that consists of the color silver, consumer electronics, large sunglasses, and "blobjects." Its depictions of what the future could look like in the 2000s were utopian and optimistic, simultaneously celebrating the new millennium and the early internet. On this week’s episode Joseph and Nathan start by listing the key eleme...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration   This week Joseph and Nathan are joined by local architecture influencer Steve (otherwise known as Marquisdefacade) to discuss historic preservation. They begin by weighing the pros and cons of historic preservation before detailing how the historic preservation movement in Chicago succeeded (or failed) to preserve the ne...

New religious movements are religions that are peripheral to a society's dominant religious culture, the earliest and most enduring example being Mormonism (which began in 1830). The majority of practitioners in new religious movements are recent converts and NRMs often get labeled the pejorative term “cult.” On this week’s episode of Silent Generation the boys explore how NRMs emerged in response...

This week Joseph and Nathan examine the various aesthetics that have come out of hunting fashion. They begin by discussing how shooting and hunting in the United Kingdom are leisure activities that have historically only been available to the most wealthy, and why British clothing associated with the activity looks more formal and more conspicuous than its American counterpart (such as red fox hun...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration     Futurism was an Italian art movement focused on speed, technology, and violence that began in 1909 after Filippo Tommaso Marinetti published the Manifesto of Futurism. Italian Futurists thought that their nascently-industrialized country was developing at a slow pace due to the weight of Italy’s past and they wanted to...

How is modern masculinity different from classical masculinity? This week the boys are joined by local menswear influencer Gent Z to discuss how men in the modern era intentionally refine their masculinity through self improvement. Amongst other things they discuss what the end goal of self-improvement should be, what male role models they personally look up to, and what they think about the idea...

McBling is a mid-2000s aesthetic characterized by tacky displays of wealth, celebrity culture, fake tans, and bleach blonde hair. According to Vogue magazine it emerged in “2003, following the American invasion of Iraq, and ended with the onset of the Great Recession in 2008.” McBling arose organically in popular culture and was only later identified as an aesthetic by the Consumer Aesthetic Resea...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration  This week Joseph and Nathan are joined by Breanna, a Silent Generation listener who works as a software engineer for a major online dating company, to discuss online dating. They detail the early history of online dating (such as how the first person to develop a computer based dating service was a working class British w...

Pokémon is the highest grossest media franchise of all time, but has it declined in quality? On this week’s episode Joseph and Nathan use Pokemon as a case study to talk about gamer culture, nostalgia, and fandoms more broadly. After breaking down the history of Pokémon into three booms and one bust, the boys detail what they like about the franchise (Ken Sugimori’s artwork, HM moves, and their fa...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration  Why did Joseph go to Copenhagen last week? Did he bike around a lot? How many hot dogs did he eat? How was Malmo, Sweden? These are some of the important questions Nathan asked Joseph on this week’s episode.  Artwork: Street photo Copenhagen ... Summer and sun by Ivan Naurholm Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-...

Hyperpop is a music genre that is noted for its hyperfeminine, artificial, and childlike sound. The term “hyperpop” came into popular use after Spotify staff created a hyperpop playlist in 2019. The music the term described emerged much earlier however, with the earliest examples coming out of the renowned UK record label PC Music starting in 2013. This week Nathan is joined by his friend E to del...

Kevin Heckart is a Kansas City based artist who created the artwork behind seapunk’s original aesthetic. This special episode coincides with both the one year anniversary of Silent Generation and the relaunch of the seapunk clothing line Mainframe, which features many of Heckart’s designs. The first half of episode is an interview with Heckart that serves as a spiritual threequel to Silent Generat...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration     For this week’s episode Joseph and Nathan watched Francis Coppola’s latest (and likely final) film, Megalopolis. The film draws parallels between Ancient Rome and modern day New York City and has been met with widespread confusion. The boys discuss the film in the first half of the episode, detailing the performance of...

What is Chautauqua? Chautauqua began in 1874 in Chautauqua, New York as a Summer camp that trained laymen to be Sunday school teachers. President Ulyses S Grant visited the assembly shortly after its founding in 1875, which gave Chautauqua widespread attention and engendered a national movement; the original Chautauqua (now known in the modern day as the Chautauqua Institution) gave rise to hundre...

In a more anecdotal direction, this week’s episode is on American Summer camps. The boys detail how camping was first developed in 1861 by Frederick Gunn before discussing their own experiences as campers and counselors at American Summer camps. Amongst other things they discuss how modern Summer camps have felt the need to hyperspecialize and give parents an ROI, how Summer camp aesthetics are 19...

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration   Scouting is a grassroots, child-led movement that began in the early 1900’s after children discovered Robert Baden-Powell’s written accounts of his time working as a scout for the British Army. After learning of children’s interest in his work, Baden-Powell conducted an experimental scout camp at Brownsea Island in 1907...