Hacker News with Generative AI: Pop Culture

The Michael Scott Theory of Social Class (danco.substack.com)
I’m happy to finally share a thesis I’ve been chewing on for a little while. I call it The Michael Scott Theory of Social Class, which states: The higher you ascend the ladder of the Educated Gentry class, the more you become Michael Scott.

Social Class, Humor, Sociology, Pop Culture

48 points by sulami 16 days ago | 3 comments

How Pac-Man Revolutionized Gaming (2020) (mitpress.mit.edu)
When Pac-Man arrived in 1980, it didn’t just become a popular video game. It transcended video games. There was Pac-Man cereal in grocery stores, a Pac-Man cartoon on television, and even a hit Pac-Man song on the radio. In other words, Pac-Man blew onto the scene with a scale of cultural impact that video games, already an international phenomenon, had never previously achieved.

Gaming, Pop Culture, History, Video Games

13 points by benbreen 42 days ago | 0 comments

Before Squid Game, there was Battle Royale (tokyoweekender.com)
In less than a week, the second season of Squid Game — a show about desperate people participating in deadly challenges for money — was viewed nearly 70 million times, becoming the most popular Netflix show in 92 countries.

Netflix, Television, South Korea, Streaming, Pop Culture

224 points by ecliptik 43 days ago | 290 comments

Celebrating the timeless allure of Tintin's aesthetics (collegetowns.substack.com)
The Adventures of Tintin was a Belgian comic by the artist Hergé that ran from 1929 until 1976. As the first publication, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, is now over 95 years old, the character has entered the public domain in the US as of Jan. 1, 2025.

Comics, Art, Public Domain, Pop Culture

232 points by thunderbong 43 days ago | 150 comments

Popeye is now Public Domain (theverge.com)
It’s a new year, and that means more works are headed to the public domain. This year, thousands of copyrighted works created in 1929, including the earliest versions of Popeye and the Belgian comic book character Tintin, are now free to reuse and repurpose in the US.

Public Domain, Copyright, Comics, Pop Culture

24 points by propagate97 47 days ago | 0 comments

The accidental invention of the snow globe (2024) (smithsonianmag.com)
In the opening scene of the 1941 mystery Citizen Kane, the eponymous protagonist, played by Orson Welles, clenches a snow globe in his hand as he utters his last word: “rosebud.” The glass-encased spherical diorama of a snowy scene was a mere novelty at the time, but the film, in part, gave rise to its popularity.

History, Pop Culture, Film, Novelty Items

60 points by benbreen 50 days ago | 16 comments

Siri mixes up baby kangaroo with Friends sitcom actor (mastodon.social)

Siri, Voice Assistants, Entertainment, Pop Culture

19 points by latexr 54 days ago | 3 comments

Ask HN: What Is the Meaning Behind Anime Girls Holding Programming Books (ycombinator.com)
Found on github: https://github.com/cat-milk/Anime-Girls-Holding-Programming-Books

Anime, Programming, Culture, Internet Culture, Pop Culture

18 points by netfortius 67 days ago | 15 comments

Google Year in Search 2024: The Breakout searches of the year (google)
From record-breaking Olympians and the global resurgence of country music, to the rise of an irresistibly charming baby hippo, 2024 was a year full of surprises no one saw coming.

Google Search, Trending Topics, Pop Culture

20 points by Jasondells 70 days ago | 3 comments

"This is not a joke, Funko just called my mom" (twitter.com)

Funko, Pop Culture, Social Media, Humor

623 points by haunter 74 days ago | 151 comments

Nokia celebrates pop-culture status by opening design archive (theguardian.com)
The mobile phones we loved then lost are honoured by an online archive which reveals history of bestselling brand

Nokia, Design, History, Mobile Phones, Pop Culture

4 points by edward 75 days ago | 0 comments

The Rise and Fall of Matchbox's Toy-Car Empire (hagerty.com)
The announcement that John Cena has signed on to be the star of the new Matchbox live-action movie raises a few questions. First—there’s going to be a Matchbox movie? And second—what will it be about, exactly?

Toys, Movies, History, Pop Culture

182 points by NaOH 129 days ago | 134 comments

Hacker Typer (hackertyper.net)
Created in 2011, Hacker Typer arose from a simple desire to look like the stereotypical hacker in movies and pop culture.

Web Development, Entertainment, Pop Culture

272 points by rvnx 129 days ago | 128 comments

Miley Cyrus Sued over 'Flowers,' Accused of Copying Bruno Mars Song (rollingstone.com)
Miley Cyrus has been hit with a new lawsuit alleging she and her fellow songwriters copied portions of a Bruno Mars single when they wrote her Grammy-winning banger “Flowers.”

Music, Lawsuits, Copyright, Pop Culture, Celebrities

3 points by scapecast 157 days ago | 0 comments

Brazil's Twitter ban threatens stan-driven global pop culture, media ecosystems (taylorlorenz.substack.com)

Brazil, Social Media, Pop Culture, Global Culture

10 points by Terretta 173 days ago | 0 comments

Star Trek time travels to August 30, 2024 (reddit.com)

Star Trek, Time Travel, Pop Culture

4 points by JMiao 175 days ago | 0 comments

A Few Indisputable Points About Poptimism and Then I Give Up (freddiedeboer.substack.com)

Music, Pop Culture, Opinion, Substack

21 points by paulpauper 214 days ago | 21 comments

Pop Culture (wheresyoured.at)