Do words of the year even mean anything?

Shameless

Shameless Media

Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2024

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hey! On today’s show: ‘brain rot’, ‘enshittification’, ‘polarisation’, ‘demure’, ‘manifest’ - what do all these words have in common? Well, they’ve each been tapped as candidates for 2024’s Word of the Year. These are the words that, allegedly, encapsulate the vibe and cultural mood of 2024. But do these words actually… mean anything? This week, Zara recommended The Gentleman From Peru by Andre Aciman. Mich recommended ‘How Does My Divorce Make You Feel?’ in The Cut. Big thanks to the 2025 Australian Open for making this episode possible. The Ground Pass is a good shout – you can wander the Garden Square eateries by day, or even head in for drinks after work. Purchase your AO25 Ground Pass from just $35 by visiting Ticketmaster.com.au. This episode was audio-produced by Eilish Gilligan. Want to support our show? Clicking ‘follow’ on Apple and Spotify is the best way to do that, and we're super grateful to anyone who leaves a five-star review while they're at it. Also! An old-fashioned 'Tell a Friend In Real Life' is equally appreciated. Want more? We've got more… Follow us on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/2mf557ux Aaaand we’re on TikTok: https://tinyurl.com/2hchchrp Everything else your heart could ever desire is here: https://linktr.ee/shamelesspodcast Thanks for listening! We’re huge fans of you.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of Shameless Media.
0:07.3	This episode of Shameless is brought to you by the 2025 Australian Open.
0:12.1	Grab a ground pass from $35 and explore Melbourne's best food alongside world-class tennis. Hello and welcome to Shameless, the pop culture podcast for smart people who love dumb stuff.
0:48.9	You're joined, as always, by Melbourne writers, Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald.
0:52.8	Hello, Zara McDonald and hello
0:54.2	producer, Elish Gilligan. Hello, hello. Hi Gil, hi Mish. I'm excited. Coming up on today's show,
1:00.6	brain rot, insidification, polarization, demure, manifest. What do all these words have in common? Well,
1:08.3	they've each been tapped as candidates for 2024's word of the year.
1:11.9	Now, these are words that allegedly encapsulate the vibe and cultural mood of 2024.
1:16.9	Do they actually mean anything? And what do they mean to us through a pop culture lens?
1:21.7	But before we get into that, where do we want to start? I think we need to start with the fact
1:27.2	we found the babies. We found the bachelor babies. Do you know what we want to start? I think we need to start with the fact we found the babies.
1:28.3	We found the Bachelor babies.
1:31.0	Do you know what we're talking about, girl?
1:32.3	I haven't had a chance to listen to the episode.
1:34.0	No shame.
1:35.1	No shame.
1:35.8	I'm so sorry.
1:37.0	So when we say we found the babies, you're like these women are insane.
1:39.8	Yeah, I'm a bit worried.
1:41.0	Yeah.
1:41.5	You and shot. Sorry, I just took a big sip of my drink. We should say from the top.
	...

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