It’s been a long, strange year. Again. So how is our popular culture dealing with it all?

The Nose is thinking about a few things.

Our shared monoculture. Is there such a thing anymore?

All the -verses. The MCU-verse. The DCEU-verse. The Star Wars-verse. The Sheridan-verse. The Waititi-verse.

And all the -assances. The Jennifer Coolidge-assance. The Will Smith-assance? The Top Gun-assance. The Avatar-assance. The Brendan Fraser-assance. The Bennifer-assance. Beyoncé’s Renaissance. The renaissance-assance.

Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take:

• The biggest pop culture moments of 2022 The face-offs (both fictional and real), celebrity deaths, interviews, and other entertainment stories that dominated headlines this year.
• The 41 Most Defining Memes Of 2022 Lea Michele, if you can read this, you’re #8.
• internet-stories-recap-2022.html">What Did Being Online Look Like for You in 2022?
• It’s High Noon in America In our popular culture and in our politics, we’re returning to the Old West.
• This Was the Year of the Prequel Once in short supply, the indispensable prequel dominated screens both big and small in 2022, transcending the genre’s spotty track record and giving sequels a run for their money as conversation drivers
• Are Cracks Beginning to Emerge in the Superhero Era? After 20 years and billions in box office earnings, early signs suggest that the tides are turning against superheroes as the most dominant force in pop culture
• It’s Time to Accept That Millennials and Gen Z Are the Same Generation Though discourse in 2021 tried to deepen the distinctions, it’s clear that young people today are forged from the same digital monoculture
• shows-american-dream.html">Waking Up From the American Dream How the TV of 2022 depicted the weird, warping pressures of work and ambition in a boom-and-bust economy.
• What Did We Get Stuck In Our Rectums Last Year?
• Bill Cosby Considering Return to Touring in 2023 Getting back on the comedy stage would follow Cosby’s sexual assault conviction being overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
• The 10 most bizarre celebrity apologies of 2022

GUESTS:

• Raquel Benedict: The most dangerous woman in speculative fiction, and she’s the host of the Rite Gud podcast
• Rebecca Castellani: Co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications and a freelance writer
• Jim Chapdelaine: An Emmy-winning musician and a patient advocate for people with rare cancers
• Taneisha Duggan: Associate producer at Octopus Theatricals
• Sam Hadelman: Works in music public relations and hosts The Sam Hadelman Show at Radio Free Brooklyn
• Rich Hollant: Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford
• Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast
• Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance
• Bill Yousman: Professor of Media Studies at Sacred Heart University

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

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Colin McEnroe, Eugene Amatruda, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

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