Hacker News with Generative AI: American Culture

The Cult of the American Lawn (noemamag.com)
“When Janet and Jeff Crouch sought to enliven their front yard in suburban Maryland with native black-eyed Susans, Joe-Pye weed, asters and coneflowers, they had no inkling that they were doing anything controversial.”
Gardening, Culture, American Culture, Environment
63 points by ecliptik 12 days ago | 104 comments
Brother Jonathan (wikipedia.org)
Brother Jonathan is the personification of New England. He was also used as an emblem of the United States in general, and can be an allegory of capitalism. His too-short pants, too-tight waistcoat and old-fashioned style reflect his taste for inexpensive, second-hand products and efficient use of means.
American Culture, Symbolism, Capitalism
9 points by zfg 38 days ago | 0 comments
When Louis Armstrong conquered Chicago (honest-broker.com)
If you want to understand 20th century American music, you really must start with Louis Armstrong.
Music, History, Biography, American Culture
98 points by paulpauper 54 days ago | 14 comments
Give Me 30 Minutes, and I Will Kill Your Entrepreneurial Dream (johnroa.substack.com)
Tech entrepreneurship is the modern American fairy tale, a shimmering promise that you, yes you, can defy the odds, rewrite the rules and become the next Jeff, Steve, or Mark. It’s the intellectual equivalent of buying scratch-offs at a gas station and calling it investment strategy. Only here, the stakes aren’t a $20 loss and some sticker residue.
Entrepreneurship, Tech Startups, Business, American Culture
16 points by jrnyc 54 days ago | 10 comments
Carl Sagan Predicts the Decline of America (1995) (openculture.com)
Carl Sagan, Predictions, American Culture, History
152 points by rcarmo 56 days ago | 164 comments
The Anti-Social Century (theatlantic.com)
Americans are now spending more time alone than ever. It’s changing our personalities, our politics, and even our relationship to reality.
Social Trends, Sociology, Loneliness, American Culture, Politics
152 points by coloneltcb 81 days ago | 158 comments
Building Apollo (construction-physics.com)
The Apollo program looms large in the American psyche. Nearly every American knows who Neil Armstrong is, and he was voted one of the 100 most significant Americans of all time by Smithsonian Magazine. The photos taken during the Apollo missions remain some of the most famous in the world. In a 1999 Pew survey that asked about the greatest American achievements of the 20th century, more people said the space program than any other answer.
Space Exploration, History, American Culture
13 points by bitfield 94 days ago | 1 comments
The Year of McDonald's (thefp.com)
McDonald’s is central to American life, both physically and culturally. The last few months have provided two massive news stories that have emphasized this. At the end of October, there was the viral, and controversial, Trump campaign stop, where he “worked” for 30 minutes at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
McDonald's, American Culture, Politics, Food
71 points by secondary 106 days ago | 105 comments
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid (theatlantic.com)
It’s not just a phase.
Social Commentary, Politics, American Culture
22 points by gus_leonel 107 days ago | 10 comments
In the Rockets' Red Glare: The past and future of hot-rodding in America (harpers.org)
Remy and I had our private commentaries, always on alert for little ironies and epiphanies, as we seized on the richer details of what I just described to you as a dreamworld but isn’t. It is real, and we didn’t entirely stumble upon it. Because who, among Americans, would not have at least heard of drag racing? Would not be able to conjure some image, no matter how vague, of what it is?
American Culture, Cars, History
62 points by delichon 124 days ago | 69 comments
The myth of the loneliness epidemic (asteriskmag.com)
Are we really living through a uniquely lonely moment in American history? When it comes to friendship, this isn’t the first time that authorities have cried wolf.
Social Trends, Sociology, History, American Culture
48 points by Luc 127 days ago | 56 comments
Quincy Jones, Giant of American Music, Dies at 91 (nytimes.com)
Quincy Jones, one of the most powerful forces in American popular music for more than half a century, died on Sunday in California. He was 91.
Music, Obituaries, American Culture
18 points by tigerlily 149 days ago | 3 comments
What is the first American graphic novel? (haljohnsonbooks.substack.com)
I want to find the first American graphic novel—I say American simply because I know very little about comics of other countries; so put down your Tintins and your ACK hardbacks, and let’s see where this leads us.
Comics, History, American Culture
62 points by paulpauper 157 days ago | 26 comments
Rod McKuen Was the Bestselling Poet in American History. What Happened? (2022) (slate.com)
Poetry, Literature, History, American Culture
23 points by onychomys 224 days ago | 6 comments
Asian groceries like H Mart and Patel Brothers are reshaping America (nytimes.com)
Asian Groceries, Food Industry, Retail, American Culture
73 points by bookofjoe 283 days ago | 71 comments
Red Lobster, an American Seafood Institution, Files for Bankruptcy (nytimes.com)
Bankruptcy, Restaurants, Seafood, Business, American Culture
12 points by bookofjoe 317 days ago | 21 comments