Episode 45: Girls Gone Wild Part 2

We pick up from last week on the salacious sensation from the early 2000’s. This episode focuses mainly on the numerous lawsuits involving Joe Francis, the infamous creator of Girls Gone Wild. This dude has managed to get himself into court for a cornucopia of offenses. Turns out the guy making millions by filming naked drunk college girls is a bit of a scumbag! Also stick around as the Dumpy Boys dip into tabloid sphere with the Kardashian Konnection.

Episode 44: Girls Gone Wild Part 1

Culture Dumps examines one of the most controversial success stories of all time. Girls Gone Wild rose to fame in the late 90s, with their infamous advertisements littering late night TV. The phase “___ Gone Wild” became something of a meme. In the era of celebrity sex tapes, GGW perfectly fit into the burgeoning genre of reality porn. There is an undeniably exploitative theme to the entire franchise. There are so many problems with the video series and its millionaire creator, Joe Francis, we had to break this topic up into two episodes.

Episode 37: Celebrity Sex Tapes

Celebrity sex tapes are a phenomenon. Whether they were stolen and leaked to the public or purposefully released for financial gain, the public cannot get enough. Our fascination with the private lives of the famous can reach some uncomfortably invasive places. In this episode we track the dark history of celeb sex tapes and highlight the most influential of the bunch. From Pam and Tommy to Verne Troyer, this episode has it all!

Episode 36: TATU

This week we go behind the iron curtain to discuss the Russian pseudo-lesbian powerpop group TATU. TATU took the world by storm with their school girl outfits and french kisses but there was so much more to the story than two girls in love navigating their emotions through song. It was all a hoax, there was no way one of the most anti-LGBT countries in the world would allow a real lesbian couple to become super stars. Ryan is joined once again by Audra Isadora who lends a unique perspective on this early 2000’s phenomenon. 

Episode 33: Soap Shoes

In the mid 1990’s extreme sports were peaking in popularity. Whether it was inline skating, skateboarding, or BMX, kids around the world were more than willing to jump off shit. Enter Soaps. An extreme sport shoe complete with a grind plate that would allow “soapers” to use any environment as their playground. Not all was as it seemed with Soaps, as with most dumps. We also interview Thomas Mottier, one of the innovators of “freestyle walking.” 

Episode 28: Beanie Babies part 3

We have reached the end of the plush road. We conclude our Beanie Baby coverage with tales of bankruptcy, break ups, arrests, and the bursting of the one of the biggest speculative bubbles of all time. All good things must come to an end, and in this case dumb things do too. This one gets dark folks so prepare yourselves and enjoy the finale of the saga of Beanie Babies.

Episode 26: Beanie Babies Part 1

Here it is folks, the first installment of our coverage of one of the biggest Culture Dumps in history. Ty Beanie Babies. What became the biggest toy crazy of the 1990’s, the first internet shopping craze, and ultimately a long term investment with no pay off started in the mind of one man, Ty Warner. Unlike beanie babies, this episode is not understuffed!

Episode 18: Y2K

As the year 2000 approached, the world was in a panic. It was believed that the computer systems that were heavily relied upon for almost all basic functions of modern society would seize to exist. Planes would fall from the sky, banks would lose all their money, nuclear reactors would fail. Well, that didn’t happen. Guess it’s good thing canned foods last a long time, because people had tons of it in their at home bunkers. 

Episode 16: Nipplegate

Janet Jackson was one of the biggest stars on the planet in 2004. She was also booked to perform at the biggest annual televised event America has to offer. Millions upon millions of album sales and her established reputation of being an icon were not enough to protect her from public scrutiny after the most notorious “wardrobe malfunction” of all time. This is Nipplegate!