It was hard to be a person on the Internet last week without getting sucked into the sordid drama of Don’t Worry Darling, whose premiere at the Venice Film Festival brought a carpet-bombing of memes and gossip and online buffoonery that proved just how badly we all needed a collective experience. The psychological thriller, directed by Olivia Wilde, got middling reviews but captivated the masses with backstage feuds, both real and imagined (“Q’Anon for very online people” as one Twitter user called it), culminating in SpitGate, in which Harry Styles may have spit on co-star Chris Pine, who may have also just discovered his sunglasses between his thighs at the moment Styles sat down. Gossip rags used to generate this kind of melodrama, but now we the people are the National Enquirer.
Internet drama is the subject of our next discussion, as we look at a sad dust-up at Arizona State University, yet another tale in which a low-stakes but racially charged moment turns into a culture-war flashpoint that rattles young lives. This week’s New York Times magazine has a nuanced portrait of the controversy by ASU professor Sarah Viren, who experienced her own nightmare a few years ago when her partner, another ASU professor, was falsely accused of sexual harassment, which she unfolds in a different (but also riveting) NYT mag story.
Also discussed: Is the publishing industry broken? What’s in the hot box? And lastly, a coda:
We started this episode speaking of an ailing Queen Elizabeth, but as we write these episode notes, we wish her Godspeed. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, Elizabeth II, died Sept. 7, 2022, at the age of 96. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch; she ruled for one-third of the time America has been a country, and during some of the 20th centuries most trying times. We can only hope some of you have met Brits who lived in London during WWII, who developed a tenacity and even keel that puts the truth (is that an expression?) to Keep Calm and Carry On, the slogan on the motivational posters in 1939, when Britain was threatened with massive air attacks. British friends sometimes refer to Elizabeth as “our dear queen,” a fealty Americans do not come by honestly, but we can pause and remember a figure whose like we will not see again. We can also enjoy this piece from June.
Episode Notes:
Queen Elizabeth health watch
Matt Welch on Bill Maher!
Mark Lester and Jack Wild in Oliver!
“Michael Jackson 'confessed Mark Lester was the father of Paris and Prince’…” (Daily Mail)
H.R. Pufnstuf intro
The ghost ship of Tiger Beat sails on…?
Don’t Worry Darling official trailer
“Olivia’s Wilde Ride: Directing ‘Don’t Worry Darling,’ Making Harry Styles a Movie Star and Being ‘Blown the F— Away’ by Florence Pugh,” by Elizabeth Wagmeister (Variety)
“The many scandals of Don’t Worry Darling, explained,” by Alex Abad-Santos (Vox)
Olivia Wilde served custody papers from ex-fiance Jason Sudeikis
Spit take?
Chris Pine memes (Buzzfeed)
What’s in the Hot Box?
Nancy: Chef Reactions on TikTok. Also, Ben Dreyfuss’s rebranding of his Substack, to Calm Down
Sarah: “When Troubled People Become Our Playthings: Jon Ronson on Shame and Forgiveness,” on The Unspeakable podcast with Meghan Daum
The Fifth Column podcast, episode 149 with Jon Ronson “Porn Stars, Psychopaths, Cancel Culture”
“Things Fell Apart” podcast, with Jon Ronson
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, by Jon Ronson
“Texas school district withdraws Anne Frank's diary [and Jon Ronson book] from classrooms after parental complaints,” (The Jewish Chronicle)
“Regal Owner Cineworld Commences Chapter 11 Proceedings in Texas Bankruptcy Court,” by Naman Ramachandran (Variety)
“The Safe Space That Became a Viral Nightmare,” by Sarah Viren (New York Times)
“The Accusations Were Lies. But Could We Prove It?” by Sarah Viren (NYT)
Unwanted Advances, by Laura Kipnis
Nick Gillespie on student debt (Reason Roundtable)
“Is the Publishing Industry Broken?” by Rachel Deahl (Publishers Weekly)
“Killed” podcast, including “Episode 3: The Killer,” on Nancy’s story about serial killer John Wayne Gacy
Outro song (for which Nancy is so not sorry for): “You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful” by One Direction
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