Our Shared Symbology of Dread

In this episode, Brent reads his July 18th, 2025 essay, Our Shared Symbology of Dread: How Carrie Bradshaw helped me connect with my ancestors, process my emoji trauma, and come to accept things as they are, about how what started as an ambient watching of season 3, episode 2 of HBO’s And Just Like That… spiraled into a deep contemplation of how he compares to his ancestors and an examination of existential dread stretching from 1730s Germany to 2025 Carrie Bradshaw.

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1

Footnote: I recognize that my ability to trace the family history discussed in this essay is a privilege—one tied to the fact that my ancestors came to this country voluntarily and, though fleeing religious persecution, their story unfolds in the wider context of settler-colonial systems that erased and displaced Indigenous communities.

2

Footnote: As I reflect on the military service of my ancestors, I want to be clear that my intention is not to glorify war or romanticize its violence, nor the often troubling history of American military expansion and imperialism, but to consider how the fear, courage, and uncertainty they experienced, when faced with the very real threat of imminent death, compare with my present day life and anxieties.

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