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Mystery of the Mullet

Slate Daily Feed

Slate

News, Business, Society & Culture

3.91.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2020

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The mullet, the love-to-hate-it hairstyle is as associated with the 1980's as Ronald Reagan, junk bonds, and break dancing. But in at least one major way, we are suffering from a collective case of false memory syndrome. In this episode we track the rise and fall of the mullet, and also the lexical quandary at its heart: who named the mullet?


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Transcript

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0:00.0

This podcast contains explicit language.

0:09.4

Lauren Wright is a DJ, and for the last three years, she's had a very particular haircut.

0:15.1

You know the one. Business in the front, party in the back.

0:18.2

I am the proud owner and wearer of a mullet.

0:23.6

So first, can you describe what your mullet looks like to be?

0:26.3

Like, what nature of mullet is it?

0:27.8

It's pretty short and tight on the sides,

0:30.6

and I've got some solid length in the back.

0:32.8

So it's kind of getting flowy.

0:35.0

I think it's more the mullet that makes more people uncomfortable. You know,

0:38.6

it's a little less feminine. It's definitely curly and luscious and, I don't know, I'm pretty

0:46.5

proud of it. Lauren first encountered mullets when she was a kid back in the 90s. So I grew up in Texas

0:53.2

and I remember, I think the first mullet I she was a kid back in the 90s. So I grew up in Texas and I remember I think the first

0:56.5

mullet I ever saw in person was in elementary school. My PE teacher who was a woman. She was the head

1:05.8

coach. She had this like long,, curly mullet.

1:11.3

And she had a really thick country accent.

1:14.6

And she was always chewing gum, gold hoops, just like strong gay woman, which I didn't

1:21.3

really know at the time.

1:23.2

At least twice a week, she'd say, everybody line up.

1:27.1

And we'd get on the line and she would

1:29.0

throw on Billy Ray Cyrus, achy-breaky heart.

1:32.9

And we would, she'd teach us different line dances.

...

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