That's (Another) Rich Text
+ Sunday's Missing Subscriber Links
This week’s episode of The Culture Study Podcast is all about the weird ways we talk about cancer, how they’ve changed with time, the bizarre blanket narratives for a disease that has hundreds of variations, and so much more — including advice on how to actually show up for someone when they get a cancer diagnosis. My co-host, oncologist Stacy Wentworth, writes the Cancer Culture newsletter….and is the host of a new podcast on the massive (and fascinating!) shift in the way we treat/think of cancer back in the 1970s.
You can listen to that podcast, Less Radical, here — and listen to the episode of the Culture Study Podcast on weird/annoying/cloying/changing cancer discourse here.
One of my favorite reader conversations from last year was unexpected. I had just come off of weeks of reporting on Rushtok (for what would later become the Bama Confidential series) and was thinking of just how many other “rich texts” are out there — cultural objects that don’t present themselves as wildly layered, but squint, come in closer, start scratching your nail across the surface, and wow there is so much going on here.
I like writing about BIG, BOLD, obviously rich texts….like, say, Kate Middleton’s post-cancer video. But I like thinking about these texts that present themselves as totally normal — effacing just how weird or wild or ideologically contradictory they are — even more.
This past year alone, we’ve explored the rich texts of Bama Rush, cleaning culture, “I resonate with that,” the Stanley Cup, dahlias, the state of People Magazine, the exclamation point, and Paw Patrol.
So when I asked for your own rich texts last year, I was delighted by the sheer depth of your delivery. It’s so weirdly cathartic to have the chance to talk at length about something in your world — raw milk discourse, “gut health,” Starbucks pre-ordering madness — that no one else seems to think there’s something else going on here. I mean, this is the entire thesis of Culture Study: there’s always more to think about when it comes to the cultural objects and phenomena and norms that surround us.
So let’s think about it together.
Some rich texts I’m currently scratching:
Mid-calf socks
Teen slang terms Alpha / Beta / Omega
This round of the Christian aesthetic going mainstream and invisibilizing itself (see especially: Alter’d State)
The “Slow Consumption” Movement / Fetishization of Homes That Haven’t Been Redecorated (for example)
Gardening-related AI Slop (like accounts that just post pictures of AI-generated blue flowers)
Gender Divide of ACTUALLY POSTING on Social Media (e.g. Invisible Dads of Instagram)
The Tiktoks/Reels of “Look at everything this Amish guy built at my house for just $200”
The (still ongoing) dahlia wars which continue to escalate
Phone use/addiction amongst retirees
Adam Brody/Seth Cohen/early ‘00s masculinity
Hockey romance
Kelly Clarkson’s wardrobe (specifically on her show)
German Shepherd Instagram accounts (and other very specific breed IG/meme accounts)
Shitty and/or overpriced phone cases
“Skinny” / Reduced Calorie Wine
So what’s a rich text that’s been quietly terrorizing you / filling your thoughts when you’re staring into the distance thinking about something important and instead find yourself thinking about how and why trampoline parks have replaced roller rinks? No? Just Me? Whatever you’ve been wanting to dig into, I can basically guarantee someone else here would like to as well.
So tell us your text — and what, to your mind, makes it interesting. Your theories can be barely formed or a dissertation tucked into a few paragraphs. Whatever it is, we’re here to discuss.
Paid Subscribers, the Sunday links didn’t go through earlier this week, so I’ve added them below — and unpaid subscribers, subscribe today to join the conversation and get access to everything this newsletter has to offer, all for less than the cost of a cup of coffee a month.