CULTURE: An Owner's Manual

CULTURE: An Owner's Manual

CULTURE: An Owner's Manual is a newsletter covering pop culture and its hidden mechanics from W. David Marx — author of Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change and Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style.

Latest

Mar
07

How technology intersects with status signaling

As much as technologists view their creation of more efficient tools as a democratizing force, new gadgets and apps are
4 min read
Feb
28

The perils of “ape-brain” overreach

“The Elephant in the Brain” asserts that primates are the best way to understand humans, but why exactly are we
6 min read
Feb
21

Three Ways of Enjoying Music (and the Reverse Snobbery of Ultra-Poptimism)

The “let people enjoy things” ethos isn’t true egalitarianism because it implicitly denies the fact experts take the most
5 min read
Jan
31

Links on Culture - January 2023

Floppy Birkins, luxury in Korea, literal corporate rock and fashion, and waiting for the post-internet culture to drop Each month
4 min read
Jan
24

Is Cultural Change a Darwinian Process? No.

There is no need to shoehorn the complex process of cultural change into pre-existing biological theories, especially as Darwinism doesn't
5 min read
Jan
17

Why do we provide status to others?

We are logical to seek status to improve our lives. But our reason for granting higher status to others requires
3 min read
Dec
14

Rap Capital: Trap as 21st Century Culture

Joe Coscarelli's new book is essential reading on Atlanta's emergence as a major force in contemporary cultural production. But if
6 min read
Nov
22

Links on Culture - November 2022

Drake's daft Daft Punk, Moneyball culture, Third Eye Blind as cool, the other Gallagher brothers, and natural wine decline Once
6 min read
Oct
18

Links on Culture - October 2022

Restaurant reservations, preteen painters, cultural appropriation, and the end of the internet Once a month I analyze the latest culture-related
6 min read
Oct
05

The X of Generation X

Douglas Coupland's book Generation X ended up giving his demographic cohort a permanent name, but we shouldn't overlook the deeper
4 min read