W. David Marx
@wdavidmarx.bsky.social
Author of Blank Space, Ametora, and Status and Culture. Newsletter at http://culture.ghost.io. Tokyo, Japan.
Anti-anti-poptimists rushing to Google to locate random negative reviews of a book they haven't read to feel better after hate-reading a mildly-positive review of the book they haven't read
November 21, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Anti-anti-poptimists rushing to Google to locate random negative reviews of a book they haven't read to feel better after hate-reading a mildly-positive review of the book they haven't read
Bostonians/Cantabrigians: I'm at Harvard Book Store on Wednesday November 19 with author/professor Josh Lambert to talk about my new book BLANK SPACE
www.harvard.com/event/w-davi...
www.harvard.com/event/w-davi...
November 7, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Bostonians/Cantabrigians: I'm at Harvard Book Store on Wednesday November 19 with author/professor Josh Lambert to talk about my new book BLANK SPACE
www.harvard.com/event/w-davi...
www.harvard.com/event/w-davi...
Yet again @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social of Garbage Day manages to describe the roots of our global cultural predicament in a single paragraph. This is from today's essay on the manosphere turning against Trump:
www.garbageday.email/p/the-great-...
www.garbageday.email/p/the-great-...
October 13, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Yet again @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social of Garbage Day manages to describe the roots of our global cultural predicament in a single paragraph. This is from today's essay on the manosphere turning against Trump:
www.garbageday.email/p/the-great-...
www.garbageday.email/p/the-great-...
Then I weighted the entries (so that a #1 was worth much more than a #250), and it tells a similar story, although 2013 shows a resurgence before things collapse again
October 12, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Then I weighted the entries (so that a #1 was worth much more than a #250), and it tells a similar story, although 2013 shows a resurgence before things collapse again
I tallied the number of entries per year, and there's a steady and linear decline, with a very clear dip in the last half of the Aughts:
October 12, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I tallied the number of entries per year, and there's a steady and linear decline, with a very clear dip in the last half of the Aughts:
21st century culture in one paragraph:
October 2, 2025 at 10:11 PM
21st century culture in one paragraph:
A clear value shift in films about Jordan Belfort's fraudulent brokerage Stratton Oakmont:
Boiler Room (2000): the moral dilemma of ripping people off
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): the jubilation of ripping people off, because it's more noble to have been rich once than to have stayed poor
Boiler Room (2000): the moral dilemma of ripping people off
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): the jubilation of ripping people off, because it's more noble to have been rich once than to have stayed poor
September 30, 2025 at 12:05 AM
A clear value shift in films about Jordan Belfort's fraudulent brokerage Stratton Oakmont:
Boiler Room (2000): the moral dilemma of ripping people off
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): the jubilation of ripping people off, because it's more noble to have been rich once than to have stayed poor
Boiler Room (2000): the moral dilemma of ripping people off
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): the jubilation of ripping people off, because it's more noble to have been rich once than to have stayed poor
Hmm, appreciate the shout-out by @carlzoilus.bsky.social but not sure this is actually my point. There was a long stream of innovative *pop culture* in previous decades and it seems good to continue to encourage creators of pop culture to aim towards innovation for the good of the total ecosystem
September 24, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Hmm, appreciate the shout-out by @carlzoilus.bsky.social but not sure this is actually my point. There was a long stream of innovative *pop culture* in previous decades and it seems good to continue to encourage creators of pop culture to aim towards innovation for the good of the total ecosystem
Japanese men's fashion and culture magazine POPEYE began publishing in 1976, and now 49 years later, I helped the editors put together the first-ever all-English issue. This Tokyo guide is pure POPEYE: extremely deep recommendations and arguably the highest info-density of any magazine on the planet
September 21, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Japanese men's fashion and culture magazine POPEYE began publishing in 1976, and now 49 years later, I helped the editors put together the first-ever all-English issue. This Tokyo guide is pure POPEYE: extremely deep recommendations and arguably the highest info-density of any magazine on the planet
BLANK SPACE Release Events
SAVE THE DATE
NYC: Nov 18 (Tue) at Greenlight
Boston: Nov 19 (Wed) at Harvard Book Store
More details soon
SAVE THE DATE
NYC: Nov 18 (Tue) at Greenlight
Boston: Nov 19 (Wed) at Harvard Book Store
More details soon
September 9, 2025 at 11:26 PM
BLANK SPACE Release Events
SAVE THE DATE
NYC: Nov 18 (Tue) at Greenlight
Boston: Nov 19 (Wed) at Harvard Book Store
More details soon
SAVE THE DATE
NYC: Nov 18 (Tue) at Greenlight
Boston: Nov 19 (Wed) at Harvard Book Store
More details soon
🎵 You don't need a hygrometerologist to know which way the humidity goes 🎵
September 4, 2025 at 10:36 PM
🎵 You don't need a hygrometerologist to know which way the humidity goes 🎵
In Japanese the book is called 仕事！
September 1, 2025 at 9:18 PM
In Japanese the book is called 仕事！
My new book Blank Space is among the Washington Post's 62 most anticipated fall books
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
September 1, 2025 at 4:28 AM
My new book Blank Space is among the Washington Post's 62 most anticipated fall books
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
August 25, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Yakitori Ramone for @jasondiamond.bsky.social 's next nonfiction book:
August 22, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Yakitori Ramone for @jasondiamond.bsky.social 's next nonfiction book:
August 21, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Brat only being 0.6 better than Addison's ersatz Brat is extremely bizarre
June 18, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Brat only being 0.6 better than Addison's ersatz Brat is extremely bizarre
A very odd thing: In most consumer categories (food, coffee, beer, clothes), there's been a strong "ethical" pushback against corporate influence, yet the pro-pop music critics and the stans embraced the opposite idea, that the most artificial and industrially-manufactured pop is the most important
June 18, 2025 at 12:02 AM
A very odd thing: In most consumer categories (food, coffee, beer, clothes), there's been a strong "ethical" pushback against corporate influence, yet the pro-pop music critics and the stans embraced the opposite idea, that the most artificial and industrially-manufactured pop is the most important
That's like saying Chungking Express is a Tarantino movie
June 17, 2025 at 10:47 PM
That's like saying Chungking Express is a Tarantino movie
Somehow, the can returned
June 17, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Somehow, the can returned
I came up with this thought a few weeks ago as a dumb parody of a story and Vanity Fair actually did it for real
June 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
I came up with this thought a few weeks ago as a dumb parody of a story and Vanity Fair actually did it for real