SNL101

We discuss Olivia Rodrigo’s debut as host and musical guest on May 2, 2026. While digital press praised Rodrigo’s full commitment to bits, we were more split, echoing an MSNBC critique that SNL is still “figuring out” Rodrigo’s comedic voice by slotting her into a pop-star template rather than building around her own sensibility. We gush over Aziz Ansari’s Kash Patel in the Iran Press Briefing Cold Open before exploring Rasta Driver as a case study in white performers adopting Black cultural affect, the deployment of bedroom culture and the collapse of private spaces in My Room, as well as the absurdity of TikTok surveillance and “contentification” in  Home Security Ad. Readings and resources including feminist analyses of bedroom culture, Nozick’s Experience Machine, and the nuanced performances of Jamie Kennedy in Malibu’s Most Wanted and Chet Hanks in Atlanta. 

Listen on Libsyn: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/42286260

Readings

Aleksic, A. (2025, January 17). The “contentification” of culture. The Etymology Nerd. https://etymology.substack.com/p/the-contentification-of-culture
McRobbie, A., & Garber, J. (1978). Girls and subcultures. In S. Hall & T. Jefferson (Eds.), Resistance through rituals: Youth subcultures in post-war Britain (pp. 209–222). Hutchinson.
Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. Basic Books.
Williams, A., & Raekstad, P. (2022). Surveillance capitalism or information republic? Journal of Applied Philosophy, 39(3), 421–440. https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12570
Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. PublicAffairs.

Resources

Glover, D. (Director). (2022, April 28). Trini 2 de bone (Season 3, Episode 7) [TV series episode]. In D. Glover, P. Simms, D. McGunigle, S. Glover, H. Murai, & S. Robinson (Executive Producers), Atlanta. FX Productions.

Whitesell, J. (Director). (2003). Malibu’s most wanted [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures; Village Roadshow Pictures.