Low Culture Boil Low Culture Boil

Don't call it a comeback, actually you totally can, that's what it is. Amber and Rax are back to talk about the most important cultural event happening right now, that's right, we're talking about Red Lobster filing for bankruptcy. We just had to come back from hiatus to look into this because something about the headlines smelled...shrimpy. Of course before we get to that we spend about half the podcast catching up, and after we spend a third of the podcast griping, so you get like a quarter or something (we don't do math) of Red Lobster content. Which is all you really need because it's a story as old as time.
But if you want to read more about it we (Rax) read these articles, Amber read Rax's outline:
The forgotten racial history of Red Lobster - Nathaniel Meyersohn for CNN
Red Lobster, an American Seafood Institution, Files for Bankruptcy - Ali Watkins for NYT
Red Lobster and Waffles - Jordan Lebeau, NYT
The Fishy Death of Red Lobster - Emily Stewart, Business Insider
If Red Lobster dies, part of me will, too - John Semley, Toronto Star




 

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Rax and author Elyssa Maxx Goodman discuss drag from 17th century kabuki theater to RuPaul's Drag Race and pandemic-born Zoom drag shows, all as told in Elyssa's forthcoming book "Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York"! The book comes out on 9/12 and is a must-read for anyone who loves, duh, glitter and concrete.

Amber and Rax chat about another 90s classic, Rugrats! This weird looking show about babies getting into shenanigans was the first cartoon with truly multigenerational appeal. It first aired in 1991 and we're here to say, it still slaps. Shoutout to listener Rachel Feingersh for the topic suggestion!

 
Sources:

The Oral History Of ‘Nicktoons’, Part III: Exploring The Multigenerational Appeal Of ‘Rugrats’ (Caseen Gaines and Mathew Klickstein, Decider, 2016)

Talk About a Baby Boom (Paul Brownfield, LA Times, 1998)

When Grownups Let Children Have a Say (Laurie Midflin, NYT, 1997)

‘Rugrats’ Creative Force (Rugrats Writers, LA Times, 1996)

You Dumb Babies! (Mimi Swartz, The New Yorker, 1998)

Amber and Rax talk about one of their favorites, Eve Babitz. The LA Woman, the groupie, the muse, the artist, the author and ultimately the star. IYKYK, if you don't, listen.
Info for this ep comes from:
The “Sex and Rage” of Eve Babitz (Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 2017)
Eve Babitz, a Hedonist With a Notebook, is Dead at 78 (Penelope Green, NYT, 2021)
How Eve Babitz Saw Herself (Kevin Dettmar, The Atlantic, 2022)
and of course
Hollywood’s Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A. by Lili Anolik, 2019
 

Rax and Amber dive into RV history and culture, touching on the development of the National Parks Service and the USPS along the way. We wouldn't even have the Margaritaville RV Resort if not for the Postal Service!