Episode Details

Why is it so important to be cool? 

This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about Black culture, 21 Jump Street, social approval, bandwaggoning, alternative hierarchies, and Lauryn Hill. They don’t talk about Digable Planets. 

references 

• Dru Hill's "5 Steps" 
• Old Man, look at my life. 
• Journal of Experimental Psychology: "Cool is cool wherever you are" 
• Miles Davis' The Birth of the Cool 
• Uncola: Seven-Up, Counterculture and the Making of an American Brand 
• Wired Video: Linguists Explain the History of "Cool" 
• BET Video: The Origin Of "Cool": How Black Culture Embodies "Cool" & Influences Trends For Mainstream 
• 21 Jump Street (2012) first day of school scene 
• Corrections Department: To clarify, the study does not specifically question the Black origins of our collective use of the word "cool," rather it questions whether the emotional restraint in Black culture that came to define the early idea of "cool" is still the current concept of "cool." 
• Bow Chicka Wow Wow