Nymphet Alumni

This week, we’re picking up the thread of New Sincerity— the cultural disposition that championed earnest emotion over irony and cynicism— and declaring its second wave, signaled by mumblecore documentarians, grassroots anti-algorithm micro-platforms, and transcendent, truth-seeking young rockers. Beginning with Austin’s New Sincerity underground scene in the early 1980s, we move through Daniel Johnston’s McDonald’s tape recordings, David Foster Wallace’s anti-irony manifesto, the tender emo of the early 2000s, and the hyperpop/electroclash interregnum before arriving at the present-day convergence of Geese, Chanel Beads, laptop twee, Perfectly Imperfect, Zohran’s New York, and so on. We also discuss the uncanny historical parallels between Conor Oberst and Cameron Winter, the anti-fashion uniform of dirty jackets and unbrushed hair, and the civic reasons why Ridgewood is possibly the epicenter of this aesthetic climate.
Links:
“John Wilson on Anxiety, Ridgewood, and Rent” in Interview
The History of Concrete viral Letterboxd review discourse
Perfectly Imperfect on Instagram / PI.FYI
silknode on Instagram / silk.cx
friends& on Substack, laptop_twee playlist by friends& on Spotify
errands.show on Instagram
“‘Errands’ Should Be the Most Boring Show on the Internet” by Alex Vadukul in The New York Times
Zohran Mamdani on Errands / Zohran Mamdani on Perfectly Imperfect
“People Are Discovering NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s Rap Past” by Andre Gee in Rolling Stone
15-year-old Zohran Mamdani defending his mother Mira Nair on film message boards
“The Zeitgeist of 1985, Pt. 1” by Michael Corcoran on Substack
“The New Sincerity” by Michael Corcoran in Spin (1986)
“E. Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction” by David Foster Wallace in The Review of Contemporary Fiction
“Mr. Sincerity Tries a New Trick” by Kelefa Sanneh in The New York Times
“Is Cameron Winter Serious?” by Lindsay Zoladz in The New York Times
“Toward a Working Theory of the Nu-Hipster” by Eli Schoop in Constantly Hating on Substack
“How to Live Without Irony” by Christy Wampole in The New York Times
“Sincerity, Not Irony, Is Our Age’s Ethos” by Jonathan D. Fitzgerald in The Atlantic
Milady Rave: New York, June 2023, Remilia x UG scene conspiracy on Reddit
Perfectly Imperfect SXSW Showcase 1.0, Perfectly Imperfect SXSW Showcase 2.0
“The Rise of Laptop Twee” by welcome.jpeg on Substack
“Things Are So Bad, People Are Longing for Cringey Millennial Culture” by Casey Michael Henry in The New York Times
Nymphet Alumni Ep. 22: Mass Bushwick
“Curating Ridgewood” by Max Moorhead in The Brooklyn Rail
“The big rock that helped defined the Ridgewood/Brooklyn border” in QNS
“Burning Bushwick” by Denis Chavez in For The Record (NYC Department of Records and Information Services)
Nymphet Alumni Ep. 96: Continental Luxury
“Geese Never Thought They’d End Up Here” (Cover Story) by Simon Vozick-Levinson in Rolling Stone
“Geese Invite Us To Their Secret Rehearsal Space, Talk New Music, Touring, & More” by Rolling Stone on YouTube
“The Real-Life Wardrobe of Geese’s Max Bassin, Who Only Wears One Brand of Jeans” by Christopher Fenimore in GQ
“I Like That Cameron Winter Dresses Bad” by Sophie Kemp in GQ

Special thanks to Riya Mahesh (Quiet Light), Vivi Hayes, Kat Brouillette (Locket), and Max Ludlow ~


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This week, Sam is joined by Ezra Marcus, New York magazine writer and trusted male correspondent from the entrepreneurial underworld, for a discussion about the shadow economy, the crisis of masculinity, and his latest article on the lit world of Chrome Hearts resale. They chat Chrome Hearts millionaires, OnlyFans empires, middle school day traders, Gen Z’s search for moral order, NeeDoh playground economics, the lost spirit of rap music, and more!
Links:
The Chrome Hearts Hustle by Ezra Marcus, The Cut
The Porn Addicts Who Tried to Rescue the Camgirls by Ezra Marcus, The Cut
How Everything Became Gambling by Max Read, The New York Times Magazine
Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuse by Heidi Blake, The New Yorker
Pimp: Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim
764
Yung Lean on Subway Takes
The New TikTok Aesthetic is ‘Ball Hog’ by Samuel Hine, The Cut
Chrome Hearts Tags by Lil Uzi Vert
Rogue Garms
Kids day trading on the school bus, TikTok
6th graders networking on LinkedIn, TikTok


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the abhorrent kayfabe of Drake’s new “goth GF” courtship, the steamy, naturalistic Ryan McGinley portfolio that kicked off New York’s inaugural men’s style issue, and the incoming wave of dark technocrat dramas— Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, Nathan Fielder’s You Can See Everything— and the risks of filmmakers drawing the map over the territory. We also get into Taylor Swift’s perplexingly jolly ode to getting picked and how the viral Western Mass lesbian bar discourse echoes three centuries of New England Puritan covenant culture.
Links:
20 WOMEN VS DRAKE | 20 V 1
Lin Lamar aka Pinkchyu on Instagram
“Perky Goth” on TVTropes.com
“We Can Tell You Have Low Social Power” by Breanna on Labyrinth of Art via Substack
“Sombr’s ‘Sex’ Belt Was His Idea” by Eileen Cartter in GQ
2hollis - Sex (Music Video)
“Reggie Watts Is a Prominent Ketamine Advocate. Was It His Ex’s ‘Undoing’?” by Cheyenne Roundtree in Rolling Stone
Nymphet Alumni Ep. 86: Deadheads and Dark Hippie-ism
“The Boys in the Baths” by Ryan McGinley for New York’s Men’s Style issue
“The Chrome Hearts Hustle” by Ezra Marcus for The Cut
“The Robert Pattinson and Skyler Gisondo Interview” by Slushy Noobz on YouTube
The Social Reckoning dir. Aaron Sorkin (Trailer)
Artificial dir. Luca Guadanigno (Trailer)
You Can See Everything dir. Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim (Trailer)
Lost Weekend by Phoebe Bridgers
AI-generated steel coil safety song
“I’m a Swiftie and even I think these new songs are terrible” by Poppie Platt in The Telegraph
300SkullsAndCounting & Jenny Sparks - The Ballad of St. Nick’s Park (Music Video)
Chiddy Bang - Opposite Of Adults (Music Video)
“Greenfield lesbian bar Last Ditch faces mask-rule backlash” by Annalisa Quinn in The Boston Globe


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

This week, Biz is joined by Madeline Porsella and Mabel Capability Taylor of Mandylion Press to get to the bottom of what really happened in the 19th century… From Victorians’ obsession with clothing to why the bohemian weirdo authoresses of the 1800s were actually a bit basic.


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In this episode, we examine the aesthetic of the Dictator’s Wife, a 20th century archetype of conspicuous luxury, scary elegance, and icy detachment. We catalog the aesthetic’s signatures, from exotic furs and bulletproof coiffs to monochrome coordination and maximalist millinery. We consider how rigidly controlled femininity functions as armor and propaganda and survey the historical canon: Imelda Marcos’s infamous wardrobe, Elena Ceaușescu’s ugly-chic vanity crashouts, Asma al-Assad’s Vogue-approved Euro minimalism, and more. We also relate these issues to America’s current political climate, including the “edifice complex” ravaging our nation’s capitol, Melania's beleaguered glam squad, and the gilded tyranny of Mar-a-Lago glamour.
Links:
Image board
Cardi B dictator’s wife meme
Cardi B by Szilveszter Makó for Vogue Arabia
Rama Duwaji by Szilveszter Makó for The Cut
“Fashion Twitter is mad Daniel Roseberry Dressed a MAGA heiress.” by Louis Pisano on Substack
Louis Pisano’s “Couture & Corruption” series on TikTok
Lady Macbeth monologue from Act 1, Scene 5 of Macbeth
“Shoes, furs and hypocrisy: Why we love to hate despots' wives” by Rebecca Seales in BBC News
Bond villain nationality masterlist
“Womanliness as a Masquerade” by Joan Riviere
“Women Behind the Throne” by Camille Paglia
MAGA women research by Style Analytics on TikTok
The Kingmaker (2019) dir. Lauren Greenfield
Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield
Imelda (2003) dir. Ramona S. Diaz
“5 Shopping Sprees So Wild, They Made History” by Maureen O’Connor in New York
Eva Peron Rainbow Tour of Europe cover story for Time
Santa Evita by Tomás Eloy Martínez
“Behind Mugabe’s fall: Gucci Grace versus the Crocodile” by Norimitsu Onishi in The Sydney Morning Herald
“The Vanity Cult of Elena Ceausescu – Hated Wife of Romania’s Dictator” by Matthew Gaskill in Vintage News
“Ceausescu sale: Everything must go” (auction report) by Kate Connolly in The Guardian
“The Party that Toppled a Dynasty and Changed the Middle East Forever” by Jeff Zhou in Young Diplomats Society
“Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert” by Joan Juliet Buck in Vogue
“Syrian first lady Adma Al-Assad’s outfits” by Aya Lowe in Monocle
“How China Fell in Love with Syria’s First Lady” in Worldcrunch
“Armour of Couture” by Szilveszter Makó in Vogue Hong Kong
Gucci Spring/Summer 2026 “La Famiglia” portrait campaign by Catherine Opie
Melania Trump’s “I Really Don’t Care. Do U?” Zara jacket



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe