In this episode, Maja Mikulska from The Hmm and Anielek Niemyjski from the Institute of Network Cultures are joined by Maya B. Kronic - co-author of Cute Accelerationism and Head of Research and Development at Urbanomic - to discuss all things Sock. From Bushwick enbies to memes and fancy foot cover-ups, the conversation focuses on what it means to explore gender nonconformity, both online and offline.
Mentioned in the episode:
Having roommates in Bushwick be like
Logged On podcast episode with Maya
NB names be like
Demi Lovato being nonbinary for less than a year
Gender adventure TikToker
Enby barista trend
Socks in queer experience
Zettay Ryouiki
Find The Hmm at:
thehmm.nl
linkin.bio
Find Maya at:
readthis.wtf
Thinking Face Emoji is a podcast by The Hmm, in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, and financially supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.
Jingle and sound design by Jochem van der Hoek.
Editing by Salome Berdzenishvili.
Cover art by Aspirin.
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46:16
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46:16
Nu-genics
In the third episode of Thinking Face Emoji, Margarita Osipian from The Hmm and researcher Mita Medri, are joined by writer and cultural commentator Ana Sumbo, to discuss the online phenomenon of looksmaxxing. Hunter vs prey eyes, the canthal tilt, siren vs. doe eyes, angel vs witch skull, or a FYP filled with Gigachad jawlines. This is the landscape, or some might say cesspool, of looksmaxxing. With its incel-verse undertones and radical history, we discuss whether this phenomenon is just another glow-up trend or is it signaling a resurgence in eugenics?
Mentioned in this episode:
“men used to go to war” | TikTok clip from Kareem Shami
The Slow Burn Back to Eugenics by Ana Sumbo
The Digital Legacy of Eugenics project by Lila Brustad
Rage against the machine: how incel culture went mainstream in 2023 by Günseli Yalcinkaya
Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech and Our Fight for an Independent Future by Anita Chan
I tried all of the most popular looksmaxxing glowup tips! | TikTok clip from Michael Hoover
Deathnics thread on looksmax.org
Yassified Eugenics by Abha Ahad
POV: How the SS officers pulled up to the Nuremberg trials | TikTok clip from Kareem Shafti
Are you the hunter or the hunted? | Instagram video from @rawreturned
Lard of estrogen | Instagram video from @nickfraserrrrr
Find The Hmm at:
thehmm.nl
linkin.bio
Find Ana at:
Substack
Thinking Face Emoji is a podcast by The Hmm, in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, and financially supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.
Jingle and sound design by Jochem van der Hoek.
Editing by Salome Berdzenishvili.
Cover art by Aspirin.
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39:34
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39:34
Sigma Male, or How Incel Terms Went Mainstream
In this episode Salome Berdzenishvili, from the Institute of Network Cultures, and Sjef van Beers, from The Hmm, talk to Dr. Daniël de Zeeuw, from the University of Amsterdam’s department of Mediastudies, about how terms originally associated with incel and femcel communities seem to have reached the mainstream.
Mentioned in this episode:
“‘Teh Internet is Serious Business’: On the Deep Vernacular Web Imaginary and its Discontents“
Based and confused: Tracing the political connotations of a memetic phrase across the web
Find The Hmm at:
thehmm.nl
link in bio
Find Daniël at:
bluesky
uva.nl
Thinking Face Emoji is a podcast by The Hmm, in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, and financially supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.
Jingle and sound design by Jochem van der Hoek.
Editing by Salome Berdzenishvili.
Cover art by Aspirin.
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43:48
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43:48
Girlboss, Through the Years
In this inaugural episode of Thinking Face Emoji, Margarita Osipian and Sjef van Beers from The Hmm, are joined by Sam Cummins, of Nymphet Alumni, to discuss the girlboss. Overly familiar with the many critiques this online stereotype has gotten over the years, we shift our focus to look at the cultural and aesthetic environment that led to the girlboss, her inception, and the impact she made on our (online) culture today.
Mentioned in this episode:
What is a Girlboss? | Netflix
Ban Bossy — I’m Not Bossy. I’m the Boss.
Beyoncé at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards
That Feeling You Recognize? Obamacore.
What Do Students at Elite Colleges Really Want?
Nymphet Alumni Ep. 113: Information Age Grindset w/ Ezra Marcus
All-woman Blue Origin crew floats in space
In Space, No One Can Hear You Girlboss
Find The Hmm at:
thehmm.nl
linkin.bio
Find Sam and Nymphet Alumni at:
Instagram
Nymphetalumni
Instagram - Nymphet Alumni
Thinking Face Emoji is a podcast by The Hmm, in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, and financially supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.
Jingle and sound design by Jochem van der Hoek.
Editing by Salome Berdzenishvili.
Cover art by Aspirin
From girl math to men who are babygirl to looksmaxxing incels, online culture has accelerated, and perhaps even changed, how we express our gender identies. In this podcast created by The Hmm in collaboration with The Institute of Network Cultures, we are focusing on online gender expression. The early Internet is often viewed as an emancipatory space where people explored and experimented with identity and gender. Today, this spirit of identity play exists simultaneously alongside a broader trend that leans toward more cisheteronormative gender roles.
This podcast series is an extension of The Hmm’s 2025 research topic THIS IS WHO YOU’RE BEING MEAN TO.
Netherlands