Web series American Hipster is profiling “hipsters” in 10 American cities including—surprise!—Portland. At first, this sounded as pleasant as a visit to OMSI’s much-hyped vomit center, but it turns out the show so far has focused eight-minute segments interviewing genuinely talented Portland artists about their craft.

If being called a “hipster” is what is takes to get recognition for your hard work and exceptional skill at a craft well, okay, then.

Check out this episode about Portland printers KeeganMeegan. They design, carve, and print lino-cut band posters and make letterpressed cards, among other skills. It’s annoying that if someone’s a talented artist in a particular list of fields—like printing—they’re a “hipster” but there would be no snark about their craft if they excelled in some other arbitrary list of arts, like ballet. But anyway, it’s nice that this show takes them seriously.

Also worthwhile is this episode about freak bike builders (and Bike Snob’s riff on it).

Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.

4 replies on “Despite the Name, “American Hipster” is Actually an Interesting Show”

  3. It’s a phenomenon driven by out-of-date media conglomerates. Outlets like NY Times and Time magazine need to show they’re still on the cutting edge, they get close enough to maintain credibility with most folks, and their scope is broad enough to establish the discussion. They need something to write about, and people/places don’t always fall into actual categories, so the media create them. Most people follow their lead. Why not? Glasses? They see a blur of buzzwords and that’s close enough. @0.35 and following: “Hipsters are [buzzword/vague term]” “Hipsters are bikes”? OK, sounds great. I wonder if my bike is a hipster.

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