A friend sent me a link to University of Texas historian Steven Mintz’s response to the NYT’s new series titled ‘How to Be Cultured.’ There was a part of me who thought he was joking about the Times series, but, sure enough, there it was. No, the series is not a self-parody of NYT pomposity. It’s the real deal NYT pomposity, complete with CliffNotes-like suggestions on the minimum you need to know so you too can be cultured (and come across as cultured), from operas to films to cheeses etc. The Times series even provides a test to see if you’re cultured. (You’ll be surprised to learn: I flunked.) 

… While clicking through the series, I kept thinking of The Talented Mr. Ripley. … I also kept wondering over and over again if this was some sort of NYT joke. But apparently it’s not.

Update — 4.23.26 — As a friend pointed out to me last evening, Jay Gatsby was another social-climber who studied hard to appear cultured. … Now that’s a truly cultured observation!

Update II – 4.23.26 – Speaking of weird news media products, check out WBUR’s ‘The Midnight Rebellion,’ described by the station as an “interactive climate fiction podcast.”  Scott Van Voorhis describes it as just plain “bizarre.” And it is. … I know it’s only a podcast, but WBUR does describe itself as a “trusted and beloved news source” and a “public media leader committed to exceptional journalism.” I guess fiction now counts as journalism at the station.

Update III — 4.24.26 – From the first reader mentioned above, re this cultured post: “(It’s) a blunter way of saying what Prof Mintz implied – for NYT ‘culture’ oscillates somewhere between loyalty oaths and fashion statements, or as the memes say ‘The Current Thing.‘”