Rehash

In a time where Sydney Sweeney is spreading her legs for a popular clothing retailer in the name of eugenics, it’s not so far-fetched to imagine that Sabrina Carpenter would also upset people with her latest album cover. Hair blown out, kneeling at the feet of a suited man, and captioned “Man’s Best Friend,” this image of Carpenter sent shock waves across the internet for provoking an already fraught political moment. But was the o...

Why isn’t “airbrushed skin for all” written in the constitution? For years, photoshop was a professional’s game, gatekept, if you will, from the masses. But then Facetune came about and forever changed the course of history, democratizing photoshop to the dysmorphic masses. The promise of a user-friendly photoshop experience, where anybody could fabricate their appearance, was more seductive than anything because, by the year 2017,...

For those of us whose “smokey eye” and “blending” skills fell short during the beauty guru makeup regime, Glossier was our saviour. Founded by “super intern” Emily Weiss (who has a brief 3-episode run on The Hills as Lauren Conrad’s more competent counterpart at Vogue), Glossier popularized the “no makeup” makeup look of the mid to late 2010s. With its minimalist branding, it quickly became a cult brand. Glossier was what Apple was...

In 2021, a flight to Atlanta was delayed for two hours to accomodate for 24 wheelchair-bound women who had just received a little procedure known as the Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL). This was not an isolated incident. In the mid-2010s, the number of luteal fat grafting (BBL) procedures increased by 103 percent, as did BBL-related deaths. It was ass-mageddon. So, in this episode, Hannah and Maia trace the history of the BBL back to its...

People have been trying to reverse the effects of aging since ancient times, and bored rich people have been trying to live forever since, well…forever. But historically the practice has been targeted to people who are actually “aged.” So how did we go from Jane Fonda selling us miracle creams, to retinols marketed towards actual children? As the anti-aging “cosmeceuticals” market explodes before our very eyes, children overrun our...

From the man who introduced self love, and even “love itself,” to the beauty and fashion industries, David Kibbe, comes a scale which can determine the very essence of a person using the scientific measurements of “bones big, bones small.” The Kibbe Body Type test came about during the self-help era of the 1980s, but has found new life online, as people rush to sort themselves into arbitrary physical categories. Is Kibbe water for ...

Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, but rather in the eyes of 500 sl*ts who hold all society’s power and privileges. At least, according to incels. In this episode, Hannah and Maia revisit the loneliest, angriest corners of the internet to explore “looksmaxxing” - a hot wheels-style rebrand of the “glow up”, replete with internet jargon and pseudo-science and a brand new name to make it palatable for men. Birthed deep in the ...

Liv Schmidt is a 24-year-old “health and wellness” coach who puts a populist spin on pro-ana content! She’s loud, rude, and ready to take our feeds by storm one almond at a time. Schmidt’s “skinnytok” movement wasn’t built in a day - she is in fact only a messenger for the larger trend of online diet culture that has resurfaced in the past couple years. In a time where Ozempic ads line the subways, Lana Del Rey stans host parties c...

The faces of women in the Republican Party have changed drastically, and people have noticed. As the likes of Kristy Noem and Kimberly Guilfoyle become ever-pouchier, pouty-lipped, and blown out in the short time since Trump took office, the internet has been in a frenzy. Some, including plastic surgeons themselves, have suspected these women of getting cosmetic work done to get in Trump’s good graces. Others have suspected this bo...

Ever since Seo Taiji and Boys broke onto the scene in their baggy overalls back in 1992, Korea has been working to cast as wide a cultural net as possible on the world stage. And, by placing young talent through rigorous game show incubators and pumping out dozens of attractive, talented, and universally appealing musical artists, they succeeded. With the meteoric rise of groups like BTS and Blackpink, K-Pop now had a hoard of die-...

Who said men can’t have hobbies? The world certainly did a few years ago, when hypebeasts seemed to dominate every sidewalk of every shopping district in just about every city around the world. When brands like BAPE and Supreme popularized the limited drop sales model in the 2010s, they inadvertently spawned a breed of man whose entire life seemed to depend on “copping” the latest and most overpriced streetwear. But jump to today, ...

Nate Petroski is an off-the-grid recluse who has a girlfriend he met online, millions of fans all across the country, and a bespoke beard-oil brand. Something isn’t adding up here. In this finale episode, Hannah and Maia step into the wilderness of the internet’s very own homesteading community. These influencers make a living documenting their alternative, self-sufficient lifestyles. And, in an increasingly volatile political and ...

You don’t know what seapunk is. We don’t know what seapunk is. Even seapunks don’t know what seapunk is. Well at least, most of them don’t. It all started with a guy named Lil’ Internet and his dream of a barnacle-adorned leather jacket. Quickly evolving (or devolving, depending on how you look at it) into a much-talked-about, less-practiced internet subculture helmed by two rather dogmatic blue-haired musicians. While even they co...

Whip out your tie-dye t-shit and skull-patterned socks, because it’s time to talk about the Grateful Dead. Or, rather, their die-hard, multigenerational, technologically proficient fanbase, the Deadheads. Born from the jug bands and acid test shows of 1960s San Francisco, the Grateful Dead took the world by storm with their experimental, long-form jam sessions that, for over five decades, drew legions of young hippies from across t...

Weebs… and the people who hate them. Japan has always had a distinctive relationship with the West. But ever since it broke out on the global stage with its “gross national cool” - distributing an array of films, shows, video games, and toys the world over, Westerners have taken on a particular fascination with the country. To the point that an entire Western subculture has formed around an interest… or rather obsession, with all t...

Ever since Serial burst onto the scene back in 2015 , it birthed not only the world of podcasting itself, but an entire cottage industry of true crime podcasts, each one more ethically dubious than the last. But one such podcast may be, at least by title, the very worst: My Favorite Murder. This wildly popular series has been criticized over the years for its flippant water-cooler recounting of people’s real life traumas. And while...

If you never made your FB profile picture that “I made you a cookie, but I eated it :(“ meme in 2008, were you even living? In this episode, Hannah and Maia recall the long lost emo subculture - which took the world by storm in the mid aughts and fell quickly into obscurity thereafter. Emo emerged as a musical non-genre from the DIY hardcore punk scenes of San Fran and Detroit, and two decades later  it would transform into complet...

Ever heard of the Disney theme park for adults called “Pleasure Island”? No? Well now you have - sorry! Disney has always been understood as a company for children. But Pleasure Island closed in 2003, and people are having babies later and later (if ever at all), and so now the Disney theme parks have become a veritable playground for a whole new group of fans: grown ups. In this episode, Hannah and Maia talk about Disney adults - ...

“Grandma, would you tell us that old adage again?” “Yes dears. A long time ago, your ancestors used to say: if all the computers in the world shut down, it’s because the furries logged off for a day.” In this season 6 premiere, Hannah and Maia chat about the most maligned subculture on the internet: furries - a group of people with an above-average interest in anthropomorphic creatures, who everyone seems to despise. Thanks to some...