Wet Brain Podcast

Wet Brain was a podcast active from June 2021 to November 2022 with a notable Discord server which served as a gathering place for the New York downtown art scene. The Wet Brain Discord was notable for playing a significant role in the Vibe Shift cultural movement. Hosted by Walter Pearce and Honor Levy, the podcast featured conversations with various figures from New York's alternative art, fashion, and internet culture scenes.

Podcast

Wet Brain was hosted by Walter Pearce, a writer and casting director at Midland Agency, and Honor Levy, an alt-lit writer. The podcast adopted a distinctive style characterized by ironic detachment, stream-of-consciousness discussions, and intentionally chaotic formatting. The show description read: "(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Wet Brain is a podcast hosted by Honor Levy and Walter Pearce. We call our friends. We call you. Schizzed out, chopped, post-cringe–why can't you just be mellow? ♥"

The podcast featured notable guests including Peter Vack, Dasha Nekrasova and Eugene Kotlyarenko. Topics discussed on the show ranged from religion, internet culture, and fashion to politics, memes, and New York literary drama. The podcast released approximately 36 episodes between August 2021 and November 2022.

A particularly significant episode was "Vibe Shift Lowkey Fell Off" from February 17, 2022, which featured guests including Angelicism01, Sierra Armour, Barrett Avner and a statement from Remilia Corporation discussing the concept of the "Vibe Shift" – a term controversially misattributed to Sean Monahan in February 16, 2022 article in The Cut.

Discord server

The Wet Brain Discord server, which ran concurrently with the podcast from approximately 2021 to 2022, became a notable online meeting ground for the New York downtown art scene and members of the emerging Vibe Shift movement. The server operated with a "zero moderation" free speech policy that attracted a diverse array of participants but eventually contributed to controversies that led to its decline.

Notable participants

The Discord server featured a range of notable participants including:

• Walter Pearce and Honor Levy (hosts)
• Dasha Nekrasova (actress and Red Scare podcast co-host)
• Allison Peery (artist and member of Remilia Corporation from 2021-2023)
• Eugene Kotlyarenko (filmmaker)
• Peter Vack (filmmaker)
• Charlotte Fang (founder of Remilia Corporation)
• Angelicism01 (anonymous writer and cultural critic)
• waifmaterial (artist and member of Remilia Corporation through 2021 until departing in 2022)

Charlotte Fang and Angelicism01 became particularly active in the server in 2021, with their collaborative interactions strongly influencing the formation of the Vibe Shift cultural scene.

Role in Vibe Shift movement

The Wet Brain Discord server played a central role in the emergence of the Vibe Shift scene, providing a digital space where participants could share ideas, memes, and develop the philosophical and aesthetic concepts that defined the movement. The interactions between figures like Charlotte Fang, Angelicism01, and other participants helped establish connections between various subcultural scenes including post-internet art, crypto culture, and dissident Twitter.

Controversies and decline

In summer 2022, the Wet Brain Discord became the center of doxxing and cancel operations against both Angelicism01 and Charlotte Fang. These efforts were reportedly led by Sophia Vanderbilt, who had previously been involved with the Remilia community.

Following these controversies, both Angelicism01 and Charlotte Fang departed from the Wet Brain Discord server, which significantly diminished its influence as a cultural hub. The server's decline coincided with the end of its most active period of influence on the Vibe Shift scene.