Show Notes
[full deep-dive long episode is live]
Social media is a breeding ground for poor-shaming working-class mockery, and I’ve been collecting evidence for the past 4 months to prove that. What we are seeing is the re-invention of the harmful working-class stereotypes present in early 2000s/10s media regurgitated in our algorithms right now. We can look at how deeply intertwined identity and consumption habits to begin understanding why social media creates a hierarchy of lifestyles that shames those as the bottom and analyse the key theme of ‘distinction’ driving a lot of the hate and ‘humour’.
I’ve pulled examples from my ongoing to prove just how social media fuels and reinvents the mockery of the working class.
Email: [email protected] Insta – whatzaraloves TikTok – whatzaraloves6 YouTube: Whatzaraloves Podcast: Taboo on the Bus
Kyey references:
Books: Chavs by Owen Jones
Journals: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5153/sro.1814 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01634437231185966 https://napier-repository.worktribe.com/output/3176889
Articles: https://www.vice.com/en/article/chav-caricature-comeback-tiktok-2020/ https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2021/09/02/how-the-medias-selective-idealisation-of-the-working-class-perpetuates-inequality/ https://consequence.net/2025/12/ricky-gervais-working-classes-mock-mortality/
More from Taboo on the Bus
Bonus new monthly series: Taboo on the Tube where I unpack other people’s taboo topics and conversations on the tube.
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[Long-form deep dive episode at home is also live]
Sit down with me today to dissect the harms of AI data centres on a micro and macro level, looking at their local, racial, environmental, and social impacts. From Sophia and Cinzia promoting Google Gemini for AI pasta recipes, to Open AI taking influencers on a ChatGPT nature retreat, to the Save Brick Lane coalition, let’s unpack the current AI landscape and the powerhouses behind this force.
[Mini Bus version. Long episode is also live] Sit down with me today to dissect the harms of AI data centres on a micro and macro level, looking at their local, racial, environmental, and social impacts. From Sophia and Cinzia promoting Google Gemini for AI pasta recipes, to Open AI taking influencers on a ChatGPT nature retreat, to the Save Brick Lane coalition, let’s unpack the current AI landscape and the powerhouses behind this force.