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High Brow — Society & Culture
High Brow

High Brow is a chic podcast for cool girls and self-identified intellectuals. Hosted by Mina Le, the pod is an extension of her eponymous Youtube channel.

Follow Mina every Wednesday as she leads you through the culture & fashion landscapes, dissecting topics that probably resonate most with the chronically online… but through the lens of someone who has touched grass of course (or so she claims!).

Find Mina on Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter @gremlita

Copyright: © Mina Le

Latest Episodes:

it's a doll's house and we're living in it (with Dr. Jillian Hernandez) May 24, 2023

Show notes

This episode is a director's cut version of So we’re all obsessed with dolls right now, including extra discussions on dolls in horror films, "living dolls," the power of Bratz, and an interview with Dr. Jillian Hernandez, professor and author of Aesthetics of Excess: The Art of Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment.
You can find Jillian on Instagram @pastelitocookie!
Subscribe to the Patreon!
SOURCES
Ancient and Creepy Doll Head Discovered in Prehistoric Child Grave Joins World's Oldest Known Toy Collection
Paddle Doll | Middle Kingdom | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Condon, Eileen M. "Spirit dolls (munequitas) in New York Puerto Rican homes: engaging with saints and ancestors." Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore 39, no. 1-2 (2013): 14+. Gale Academic OneFile (accessed May 16, 2023).
Voodoo for dummies: A quick guide to how magical possession works in the 'Chucky' universe
Myths About Voodoo
THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW OF ANNABELLE: CREATION
The History of Creepy Dolls
The Other Sara Lee: A Doll Story - The Strong National Museum of Play
Are All These Diverse Dolls Actually Making a Difference for Kids' Self Esteem? | Allure
Antique Q&A: French papier-mâché doll.
The Lovely & Disturbing: The History Of Wax Dolls – Inherited Values
Oh, You Beautiful Doll : Wax Dolls Were Once as Popular as Their Cabbage Patch Descendants Are Today. This Year, One Antique Sold for $1,842
Porcelain Doll History and Origin
Antique Porcelain Dolls: How to Determine Their Value.
CHILDHOOD PLAYTHINGS
Antique Infants: A Brief History of Baby Dolls.
Change in sociocultural ideal male physique: An examination of past and present action figures - ScienceDirect
The Secret of Barbie's Rivals - TIME
The New Yorker (Dec 4, 2006)
A Brief Cultural History of Bratz
American Girl dolls: Where the brand has both championed and failed America's girls
Cultural Exchange in Seventeenth-Century France and England by Gesa Stedman
Walk, Walk, Fashion Baby: 18th Century Fashion Dolls - The Costume Society
Guide to the Paper Dolls Collection mid 19th century
The Paper Dolls of Anne Sanders Wilson | European Fashion Heritage Association
The Secret History of the Dolls That Inspired Dior's Couture Collection
Cissette: The Rise & Fall of a Fashion Icon | DOLLS magazine
20th Century Commercialization of Childhood
COMPANY NEWS: Mattel Says It Erred; Teen Talk Barbie Turns Silent on Math - The New York Times
Billboard (Aug 16, 1997)
Mattel Sues Aqua Over “Barbie Girl” – Rolling Stone
Margiela's "A Doll's Wardrobe" | helicon
Moschino Brings Paper Dolls to Life for Spring 2017
Cover up your dark circles in style with a giant doll's head
The 5 Most Influential Barbie Designers.
Moschino Creates Barbie Doll and Capsule Collection – WWD
Balmain Collaborates With Barbie on Fashion Collection – WWD
This Is What a Mowalola Bratz Doll Looks Like
Ball-Jointed Doll Wiki
Volks USA
So, What is a BJD Anyway? | BJDs for Dummies
Super Dollfie - Wikipedia
ドール面橋本ルルの活動終了理由について Reason for ending the Hashimoto Lulu Project (doll mask)
Subcultures and Social Trends: Living Dolls – The Quest for Plastic and Latex Perfection — Steemit
Meet Valeria Lukyanova, The 'Human Barbie' Who Claims She's Only Had One Plastic Surgery
Blondie Bennett has hypnotherapy to make her like 'brainless sex doll' | Daily Mail Online
A conversation with @klit.klittredge, American Girl doll meme maker and shitposter - Digital Culture
What Do American Girl Dolls Say About Us? - The Strong National Museum of Play
Written by Mina Le, Ella Gray, and Sophie Carter
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

Cosplaying rich at Erewhon, Doxxing your Hinge date, and the Writer's Strike May 17, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, Mina reviews some of late April/early May's trending topics.
Keep up with High Brow on Instagram!
Subscribe to the Patreon!
and keep up with Mina on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok!
Here was her reading list:
The rise of dating vigilantism
Meet the People Working 3 Jobs to Afford Erewhon
FINDING EREWHON
Celebrity Chef Reveals What She Gets A-List Clients in $1500 Erewhon Haul
'Cosplaying as rich people': Customers spend $80 in EBT at Erewhon
2023 Writers Guild of America Strike: What You Need to Know - The New York Times
In past strikes, networks turned to reality TV. Now it's more complicated.
Neil Gaiman on Tumblr
George R.R. Martin Weighs In On The Writer's Strike (& Why He Hates Mini-Rooms)
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

Courtcore: from medieval crossdressing to Goop! May 10, 2023

Show notes

In this director's cut episode, Mina taps into celeb "courtcore" aka the way that celebrities dress when appearing in the judicial court. In this special episode, she also dives further into history, starting with Joan of Arc and ending with contemporary films and the way characters are costumed for trial (e.g. Legally Blonde).
Keep up with High Brow on Instagram!
Subscribe to the Patreon!
and keep up with Mina on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok!
Clothing | Joan of Arc | Jeanne-darc.info
Primary Sources and Context Concerning Joan of Arc's Male Clothing
Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured by Kathryn Harrison
Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser
The Misgendering of Joan of Arc
Mary, Queen of Scots, Became an Iconic Figure for Many Catholics Over the Centuries, Scholar Says
Fatty Arbuckle and the Birth of the Celebrity Scandal | The New Yorker
“Fatty’s Wife’s Smiles Lighten Grim Tragedy,” The Washington Times (1921)
“Women Throng First Hearing of Arbuckle Case,” The New York Tribune (1921)
What America will remember from Gwyneth Paltrow's ski crash trial - The Washington Post
Courtroom Style: Gwyneth Paltrow, Winona Ryder, Lindsay Lohan and more’s iconic outfits while on trial
The most iconic celebrity courtroom outfits
The Verdict on Winona's Clothes - The Washington Post
Why Did She Do It? - TIME
Naomi Campbell Shows the World How to Dress for Court
Lindsay Lohan wears fancy pants to court. Who decides her attire? | EW.com
In Court, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Dress to Suggest - The New York Times
Experts Decode Amber Heard's Suited Courtroom Looks
Amber Heard accused of COPYING Johnny Depp's courtroom outfits: see similarities between ensembles | Daily Mail Online
free" Winona
From Faux Pas to Fashion Statement - Los Angeles Times
https://www.facebook.com/wmagazine/photos/a.10166595114335004/10166627967380004/?type=3
Lindsay Lohan's 'F-You' a Joke, Says Lawyer...Then Quits | LAist
Did Lindsay Lohan Write 'F*** U' on Her Fingernail for Her Probation Hearing?
Cardi B Is Guilty... of the Best-Ever Celebrity Court Fashion
Megan Thee Stallion sent a powerful message with the purple suit she wore to testify against Tory Lanez -- who's found guilty of shooting her, more courtroom fashion over the years | Gallery | Wonderwall.com
How Should Gwyneth Paltrow Dress for Court?
Our celebrity trial obsession sets a dangerous precedent
American Trial Films and the Popular Culture of Law
Case Study 4: Chicago (2002) – The Femme Fatale and the Distortion of Female Criminality
Legally Blonde Fashion: Costume Designer Sophie de Rakoff on Elle's 'Signature Color' | EW.com
Legally Blonde, Legally Fashionable: The Evolution of Elle Woods - The Art of Costume
My Favourite Outfits In Legally Blonde – The Vault Publication
Written by Mina Le, Ella Gray, and Sophie Carter
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

R.I.P. Print Fashion Magazines (with Mi-Anne Chan) Apr 26, 2023

Show notes

The director's cut version of Mina's The Life and Death of the Fashion Magazine video she published onto Youtube on Monday.
In this expanded edition, she shares listener stories, gives proper shout-outs to some 20th century woman EICs, dives into indie zines, and talks with Mi-Anne Chan, senior director of programming and creative development at Conde Nast (ooooh fancy), who shares valuable insight on today's digital fashion magazine industry.
Check out Mi-Anne's Mixed Feelings!
Keep up with High Brow on Instagram!
Subscribe to the Patreon!
and keep up with Mina on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok!
SOURCES
“Fashion in the ‘Mercure’: From Human Foible to Female Failing by Reed Benhamou
Femininity and Consumption: The Problem of the Late Nineteenth-Century Fashion Journal by Christopher Breward
‘Making the Magazine’: Visuality, Managerial Capitalism, and the Mass Production of Periodicals, 1865—1890 by Vanessa Meikle Schulman
Reflecting and Shaping American Culture: Magazines Since World War II by David Abrahamson
Hypervisibility and Invisibility of Female Haafu Models in Japan’s Beauty Culture by Kaori Mori Want
What Happened to 50 Magazines Since the Pandemic Began – WWD
Internet Crushes Traditional Media: From Print to Digital
Seventeen print magazine moving to digital first: The era of the teen mag is over
The Monthly Fashion Magazine Is No More
Selling Style I: The History of Fashion Marketing Through the 19th Century | Wilson College of Textiles
Fashion magazines: History of the biggest magazines - Vogue, ELLE & Co. - CM Models | Model Agency
The Birth of Fashion Magazines - JSTOR Daily
The Importance of Godey's Lady's Book on 19th c. Fashion History
The Influence of Fashion Magazines
The Evolution of Fashion Journalism from Print to Digital
History Of Magazines | When Were The First Magazines Invented?
The Gilded Age of Magazines | The Nation
“Americana.” Time, February 3, 1930
Godey's Lady's Book in the Accessible Archives
Godey’s Lady’s Audience: The Women of the Mid 19th Century – The History of the Book
The Power of Community: On the Radical History of Women's Magazines
Helen Gurley Brown: 10 Best Tips From ‘Sex and the Single Girl’
Helen Gurley Brown and the Birth of the Cosmo Girl | The New Yorker
Helen Gurley Brown dead: Assessing America’s most puritanical wild woman
The Magazine Business, From the Coolest Place to the Coldest One - The New York Times
The Assistant Economy - Dissent Magazine
Does the fashion industry still need Vogue in the age of social media?
Women’s magazines are dying. Will we miss them when they’re gone? - The Washington Post
America's print tabloid era is over
The Death of Newspapers and Magazines - CBS News
The Print Renaissance
Celebrate Punk Zines With the Musicians Who Created Them | Smithsonian Voices
Revolutionary PHL: Blankets, Beer, and Beef: Broadsides for Care of Military Bodies
History of Amateur Journalism
FIRE!! Devoted To Younger Negro Artists (1926) by POC Zine Project - Issuu
Get To Know The Little Magazines of The Harlem Renaissance
The Amazing Zines That Kicked Off Geek Fandom
Xerox factor. The short-lived graphic energy of punk fanzines and posters.
Music HerStory: Women, Zines, and Punk | Smithsonian Institution
IS PRINT REALLY DEAD? HOW GEN-Z IS REVIVING ZINE CULTURE - CULTED
Anna Wintour on the Future of Print, Hillary, and How She Feels About Her Reputation
Written by Mina Le, Ella Gray, and Sophie Carter
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

Ryan Gosling as "Ken," Therapyspeak, and Flavored WaterTok Apr 19, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, Mina explores some of the discussions that came up in April: the Barbie trailer, terrible lighting in modern movies/tv shows, sharing pet custody, Instagram divorce announcements, how therapyspeak is harming relationships, flavored watertok, and the luxury water market (have you heard of iceberg water (yes, water from an iceberg) and did you know it costs $300 a bottle?).
Here was her reading list:
Ryan Gosling Reveals Why He Agreed To Play Ken In ‘Barbie’ Movie: “His Story Must Be Told”

And the Ryan Gosling Dancing Video

Why are movies so dark these days? A filmmaker walks us through the reasons behind the ‘dark cinematography’ that’s causing so many complaints
Don’t Adjust the Brightness: Here’s Why TV and Movies Are So Dark Now
All My Divorced Friends Are Sharing Custody of Their Pets
Everyone Announces Their Divorce Like a Celebrity Now
Why do people overshare on social media?
For Love or Money
Is Therapy-Speak Making Us Selfish?
The Danger Of Instagram Therapists (& What Real Therapists Think Of Them)
The Problem With Letting Therapy-Speak Invade Everything
TikTok's Latest Obsession With Flavored Water Is Basically Just Juice
What is WaterTok? Why flavored water is blowing up on TikTok
This TikTok-Famous Stanley Tumbler Always Sells Out, but You Can Grab It on Amazon Right Now
Here's How Everyone On Instagram Became Obsessed With A Previously Obscure Cup
Inside the Very Real (and Very Complicated) World of Luxury Water Collectors
Meet the Hydro-Haters: The People Who Refuse to Drink Water, No Matter What
Americans' main complaint about water is that it tastes too much like water
Go to athenaclub.com and use promo code MINA today and you’ll get 25% off your first order!
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

Get in loser, we're selling tupperware! (with Sophie Dickinson) Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

The director's cut version of Mina's "let's discuss MLMs, Pyramid Schemes, and Grindset Culture video she published onto Youtube on Monday.
In this expanded edition, she shares listener stories, debunks bogus claims by MLMs like Young Living, and talks with journalist Sophie Dickinson who wrote the ever informative "The 'Get Rich Quick' MLM Schemes Targeting Gen Z During Lockdown" article for Vice!
Keep up with High Brow on Instagram!
Subscribe to the Patreon!
and keep up with Mina on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok!
Sources
Multilevel Marketing: A Historical Perspective by William W. Keep and Peter Vander Nat (2013)
Avon Products 1964-2014: The Slippery Slope of Direct Selling by William W. Keep (2015)
Theorizing #Girlboss Culture: Mediated Neoliberal Feminisms from Influencers to Multi-Level Marketing Schemes by Frankie Mastrangelo (2021)
The Case (for and) against Multi-level Marketing By Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D., Consumer Awareness Institute
Islamic Marketing: Understanding the Socio-Economic, Cultural, and Politico-Legal Environment (Management for Professionals) by Cedomir Nestorovic
The Rise and Fall of Albania's Pyramid Schemes by Christopher Jarvis
Multi-Level Marketing Businesses and Pyramid Schemes
The Story of Brownie Wise, the Ingenious Marketer Behind the Tupperware Party
Tupperware Parties: Suburban Women’s Plastic Path to Empowerment
Hey, Hun! In women’s joblessness, multi-level marketers saw opportunity.
The Story Behind the Mary Kay Pink Cadillac
‘It’s very culty’: the bizarre billion-dollar downfall of fashion company LuLaRoe
Do You Trust This Momfluencer? Good, Because She Has Something To Sell You
Inside the influencer MLM that peddles more than just an Insta-perfect life
The 'Get Rich Quick' MLM Schemes Targeting Gen Z During Lockdown
Where Working Women Are Most Common
10 reasons Mormons dominate multi-level marketing companies
Follow the profit: How Mormon culture made Utah a hotbed for multi-level marketers
Amazon Docuseries LuLaRich Breaks Down the Chaotic Story of Deception Behind Multilevel Marketing Company LuLaRoe
These Women Say An Essential Oil MLM Has Been Taken Over By Satan. Yes, Really.
How Essential Oils Became the Cure for Our Age of Anxiety
FTC Takes Action Against doTERRA Distributors for False COVID-19 Health Claims
What You Should Know about Youngevity
Multilevel Marketing Companies Are Cashing In on the Crisis
Latinos crucial to Herbalife’s financial health
Written by Mina Le, Ella Gray, and Sophie Carter
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

Being a Poser, Gatekeeping Fashion, and "Quiet Luxury" with Rian Phin Apr 05, 2023

Show notes

Mina welcomes friend of the pod, Rian Phin, to chat about cultivating your own identity/aesthetic, being part of a subculture, the perilous state of fashion archiving, our unhealthy(???) usage of social media, the old money mystique, and more!
Rian Phin is a fashion writer, theorist, and content creator. You can find her on TikTok, Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram.
This is the TikTok video we discuss briefly.
Keep up with High Brow on Instagram!
Subscribe to the Patreon!
and keep up with Mina on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok!
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

Girlfailures, Sex Scenes, and Puriteens! Mar 29, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, Mina explores some of the discussions that came up in February and March: aestheticizing failure as a woman, HBO's The Idol, sex scenes in tv shows, and how censorship and AI are affecting society's relationship to sex and companionship.
Keep up with High Brow on Instagram!
Subscribe to the Patreon!
and keep up with Mina on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok!
Here was her reading list:
All hail the girlfailure by Roison Lanigan
Why are so many people rewatching Girls? by Callie Holtermann
What Rewatching Old Shows Teaches Us about Ourselves by Allie Volpe
'The Idol': How HBO's Next 'Euphoria' Became Twisted 'Torture Porn' by Cheyenne Roundtree
Are Sex-Negative ‘Puriteens’ Actually Taking Over the Internet? By EJ Dickinson
Penn Badgley Goes Deeper on Swearing Off Racy ‘You’ Sex Scenes: ‘That Aspect of Hollywood Has Been Very Disturbing’ by Kate Arthur
Hundreds of sexual deepfake ads using Emma Watson’s face ran on Facebook and Instagram in the last two days by Kat Tenbarge
When It Comes to OnlyFans, Humans Can Outcompete AI by Lux Alptraum
Replika's Companion Chat Bot Reportedly Loses the Sex and Leaves Fans Despondent by Nikki Main
Italy bans U.S.-based AI chatbot Replika from using personal data by Elvira Pollina and Martin Coulter
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

The Messed-Up History of Dieting (with Dr. Katharina Vester) Mar 22, 2023

Show notes

For this episode, Mina revisits an old video she made on the history of dieting, supplemented (no pun intended) with more information, listener stories, and an interview with Dr. Katharina Vester, culture historian and professor at American University.
Keep up with High Brow on Instagram!
Subscribe to the Patreon!
and keep up with Mina on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok!
Sources:
Regime change: Gender, class, and the invention of dieting in post-bellum America by Katharina Vester
From Robust Appetites to Calorie Counting: The Emergence of Dieting among Smith College Students in the 1920s by Margaret A. Lowe
The Progressive Era Body Project: Calorie-Counting and “Disciplining the Stomach” in 1920s America by Chin Jou
Dieting in the Long Sixties: Constructing the Identity of the Modern American Dieter by Nancy Gagliardi
Slimming One’s Way to a Better Self? Weight Loss Clubs and Women in Britain, 1967–1990 by Katrina-Louise Moseley
“Lose Like a Man”: Gender and the Constraints of Self-Making in Weight Watchers Online by Emily Contois
Fasting Girls: A History of Anorexia by Joan Jacobs Brumberg
Holy Anorexia by Rudolph M. Bell
History in the Comic Mode: Medieval Communities and the Matter of Person by Rachel Fulton and Bruce W. Holsinger
An examination of the imposture of Ann Moore, called the fasting woman, of Tutbury: illustrated by remarks on other cases of real and pretended abstinence by Alexander Henderson
America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 by Nicholas Rasmussen
The return of rainbow diet pills by Pieter A. Cohen, Alberto Goday & John P. Swann
A Speedy History of America’s Addiction to Amphetamine
Saint Wilgefortis: a bearded woman with a queer history
How slimming became an obsession for women in post-war Britain by Myriam Wilks-Heeg
Kids' Sugar Cravings Might Be Biological
5 Food Myths You Should Stop Believing
Anorexia Mirabilis: Fasting in Victorian England and modern India
The Jacob Case
Breatharian Website
Cult that shuns food shaken by reports leader is eating
Breatharian Leader Wiley Brooks Lives On Light, Air, And Quarter Pounders
Written by Mina Le, Ella Gray, and Sophie Carter
Edited by Sophie Carter
Music by Olivia Martinez
Cover by Lindsay Mintz

High Brow Trailer Mar 08, 2023

Show notes

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