The Soft Power of Cool with Dr. Henrik Wilberg

This week, we’re joined by Dr. Henrik S. Wilberg, recently of the NYT, author of the Substack Why We Remain in the Provinces, polyglot, surplus obsessive, and dad. We get his geographic CV and his summer travels, then go deep on the death of cool, the European/American style divide, and why vintage might be exhausted.

Along the way: how American clothing first landed in Europe, countries rediscovering their own vintage, Ralph usurping the WASP ideal and selling American cool back to itself, the soft power of cool in the post-GWOT era, designers destroyed by capitalism, and the fantasy that we’re all still living in the same world. Henrik also previews his idea of “filial style,” which he describes as “piety rather than self-expression,” and explains why we remain in the provinces.

Also: Barbra Streisand, fax machines, Brokeback Mountain, and a lot of things we forgot.

Dead stars. Nothing is the same. Listen now, link in bio.