WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.740 Welcome back to another deep dive. We are so 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:03.399 glad you're here with us. It's good to be back. 00:00:03.620 --> 00:00:06.480 Usually when we sit down to do this, we are wrestling 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.839 with, you know, a massive stack of papers. Oh, 00:00:09.859 --> 00:00:12.900 yeah. Research journals, opinion pieces. Maybe 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:15.220 a dense nonfiction book or two about, I don't 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:17.960 know, the global economy or the history of salt. 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:20.480 Take all that complexity and try to distill it. 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:22.899 Right, into something you can actually use. But 00:00:22.899 --> 00:00:27.239 today... Today is a little different. A lot different. 00:00:27.539 --> 00:00:30.579 Today, our source material isn't a library. It's 00:00:30.579 --> 00:00:34.000 a single word. One word. Four letters. Fame. 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:36.979 That's it. That is the entire scope of our mission 00:00:36.979 --> 00:00:39.560 today. It sounds simple. It does. But before 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:41.500 you think we're just going to talk about celebrities 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:44.020 and red carpets for an hour, I need you to look 00:00:44.020 --> 00:00:46.079 at the document we're actually analyzing. We're 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:48.880 doing a deep dive into a disambiguation page. 00:00:49.219 --> 00:00:51.479 And for those who don't spend their lives, you 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:53.570 know... navigating information architecture. 00:00:53.929 --> 00:00:56.210 What exactly is that? A disambiguation page is 00:00:56.210 --> 00:00:58.950 a fascinating corner of the internet. It's essentially 00:00:58.950 --> 00:01:02.429 a traffic cop for the English language. A traffic 00:01:02.429 --> 00:01:05.030 cop. I like that. It's the place you end up when 00:01:05.030 --> 00:01:08.269 a word has become so overloaded, so heavy with 00:01:08.269 --> 00:01:10.890 different meanings and contexts that the dictionary 00:01:10.890 --> 00:01:13.849 just throws its hands up and says. Okay, you 00:01:13.849 --> 00:01:16.549 typed in fame, but which one did you mean? Exactly. 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:19.260 Did you mean the David Bowie song? Did you mean 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:23.120 the chemical compound? Or the tiny town in Mississippi? 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:25.620 It's like an archaeological dig site for culture. 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:28.000 That's a great way to put it. You peel back the 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:30.760 layers of this one word and you find these wildly 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.400 different artifacts just buried next to each 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:36.019 other. By the end of this hour, we are going 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:39.180 to connect Lady Gaga to renewable energy. And 00:01:39.180 --> 00:01:41.969 we are going to draw a line between... A magic 00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:45.450 club for teenagers and a canceled NASA satellite. 00:01:45.709 --> 00:01:47.969 I can't wait for that part. And that is the mission, 00:01:48.109 --> 00:01:50.030 really. We want to categorize and understand 00:01:50.030 --> 00:01:53.390 the different flavors of fame found in this source 00:01:53.390 --> 00:01:55.709 material. The flavors of fame. Because when you 00:01:55.709 --> 00:01:58.269 look at the list as a whole, it stops being just 00:01:58.269 --> 00:02:01.290 a word and starts looking like. Like a map of 00:02:01.290 --> 00:02:03.269 human aspiration. Okay, so let's start at the 00:02:03.269 --> 00:02:05.590 very top. Where do we begin? The source gives 00:02:05.590 --> 00:02:08.530 us a definition to anchor us. It does. It says, 00:02:08.650 --> 00:02:11.729 fame usually refers to the state of notability 00:02:11.729 --> 00:02:14.509 or celebrity. Okay, that's the baseline. Simple 00:02:14.509 --> 00:02:16.550 enough. That is what you expect. It's the condition 00:02:16.550 --> 00:02:20.129 of being known. But immediately, and I love that 00:02:20.129 --> 00:02:22.090 this is the very first thing the source does, 00:02:22.330 --> 00:02:25.449 it points us to the etymology. Right, there's 00:02:25.449 --> 00:02:29.520 a see also link for theme. Theme. p -h -e -m 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:31.960 -e so this isn't just a spelling variation this 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:33.960 is the root this is the origin story it is it 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:36.919 is the greek personification of fame and renown 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:40.300 but theme wasn't just a goddess of you know being 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:43.699 popular she was the personification of rumor 00:02:43.699 --> 00:02:47.860 of report of gossip she was the messenger of 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:50.919 zeus oh okay if something happened theme was 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:53.520 the force that carried the news it's a reminder 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:56.300 that at its core fame isn't about being talented 00:02:56.300 --> 00:02:58.560 or being rich it's about being spoken of exactly 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:01.240 it's about being a signal in the noise and as 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:03.199 we go through this list i want you to keep that 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:05.349 in mind Whether we're talking about a ship or 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:07.629 a hip hop album. These are all just modern vessels 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:09.729 for that ancient idea. There are things that 00:03:09.729 --> 00:03:11.990 want to be spoken of. And looking at our outline, 00:03:12.169 --> 00:03:15.090 the biggest, loudest, most leg warmer wearing 00:03:15.090 --> 00:03:18.770 vessel on this list is the franchise. The Fame 00:03:18.770 --> 00:03:21.710 franchise. You absolutely cannot discuss this 00:03:21.710 --> 00:03:24.110 word in the context of the 20th century without 00:03:24.110 --> 00:03:26.710 anchoring it in the 1980 American musical film, 00:03:26.789 --> 00:03:29.250 Fame. It's the Big Bang. The source lists it 00:03:29.250 --> 00:03:32.789 so simply. Fame. 1980 film, an American musical. 00:03:33.150 --> 00:03:35.930 But that description feels, I don't know, so 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:38.650 dry for a movie that was so sweaty. It was incredibly 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:42.099 sweaty. And gritty. Right. Directed by Alan Parker, 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:44.560 this wasn't The Sound of Music. It was set in 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.460 the High School of Performing Arts in New York 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:49.659 City, and it dealt with heavy themes. Like what? 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:52.939 Literacy struggles, abortion, sexual exploitation. 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:55.400 It was pretty raw for a musical. But it gave 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:57.639 us a thesis statement for the modern era of celebrity, 00:03:57.939 --> 00:03:59.719 didn't it? It did. Remember the quote from the 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:03.000 dance teacher, Lydia Grant? You want fame? Well, 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.159 fame costs. And right here is where you start 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:07.539 paying. Yeah. In sweat. That line is iconic. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:09.960 It shifted the cultural perception of fame. How 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:13.099 so? Before this, fame was often portrayed as 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:16.339 this magical thing that just happened to you. 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:17.899 You were discovered at a soda fountain, that 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:19.540 kind of thing. Right, the old Hollywood myth. 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.990 But fame, the movie. Made it transactional. It 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:26.170 made it a job. You pay for it in sweat. And that 00:04:26.170 --> 00:04:29.209 message really, really resonated. Oh, absolutely. 00:04:29.509 --> 00:04:31.970 The source material shows us that this single 00:04:31.970 --> 00:04:35.529 film sparked a massive chain reaction. It wasn't 00:04:35.529 --> 00:04:37.850 just a standalone piece of art. It was a franchise 00:04:37.850 --> 00:04:41.050 in the truest sense. Exactly. Immediately following 00:04:41.050 --> 00:04:44.209 the film, the source lists the famed TV series. 00:04:44.490 --> 00:04:47.850 Running from 1982 to 1987. That's a five -year 00:04:47.850 --> 00:04:50.810 run. That's pretty significant. It is. And this 00:04:50.810 --> 00:04:53.209 is where the brand of fame really solidified. 00:04:53.430 --> 00:04:56.009 But the tone shifted, didn't it? Completely. 00:04:56.089 --> 00:04:58.790 The movie was R -rated, right? It was. The TV 00:04:58.790 --> 00:05:01.129 show was on network television in the mid -80s. 00:05:01.129 --> 00:05:02.949 They had to scrub away all that grit we were 00:05:02.949 --> 00:05:05.149 talking about. So it became lighter. Much lighter. 00:05:05.290 --> 00:05:07.750 More about the camaraderie of the students. It 00:05:07.750 --> 00:05:09.689 became family -friendly. And that's important, 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:11.930 I guess, because it allowed the concept of fame 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:15.370 to enter living rooms everywhere. Right. It wasn't 00:05:15.370 --> 00:05:17.930 a cautionary tale anymore. It was a weekly celebration 00:05:17.930 --> 00:05:21.230 of talent and hard work. And the expansion didn't 00:05:21.230 --> 00:05:24.250 stop at the screen. What came next? The Source 00:05:24.250 --> 00:05:28.149 Lists fame musical, The Stage Show, which premiered 00:05:28.149 --> 00:05:30.329 in 1988. So let's get this timeline straight. 00:05:30.410 --> 00:05:32.790 You have the movie in 80. The TV show starting 00:05:32.790 --> 00:05:37.819 in 82. And The Stage Musical in 88. Wow. They 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:40.660 squeezed every possible dollar out of that IP 00:05:40.660 --> 00:05:44.220 in the 1980s. It's a perfect example of transmedia 00:05:44.220 --> 00:05:46.500 storytelling before we even had a term for it. 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:48.980 But then looking at the timeline, it goes quiet 00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:52.160 for a bit. It does. The 90s happen. Grunge happens. 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:54.959 The shiny optimism of fame kind of falls out 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:58.060 of fashion. Until 2009. Until 2009. The remake. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.459 The sourceless fame 2009 film. And it's explicitly 00:06:01.459 --> 00:06:04.000 described as a remake of a musical film. It didn't 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.860 quite hit the same way, did it? I feel like it 00:06:05.860 --> 00:06:08.259 came and went. It didn't. Not at all. And I think 00:06:08.259 --> 00:06:10.420 that speaks to how the definition of the word 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:12.920 itself had changed in the, what, the intervening 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:15.399 30 years? What do you mean? Well, in 1980, the 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:17.920 idea of a school dedicated to performing arts 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.079 was kind of exotic to the mainstream. Right. 00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:23.300 A special, unique place. By 2009, we were living 00:06:23.300 --> 00:06:26.189 in a post -American idol world. We had YouTube. 00:06:26.230 --> 00:06:29.449 The idea of kids wanting to be famous wasn't 00:06:29.449 --> 00:06:31.930 a story anymore. It was just the default setting 00:06:31.930 --> 00:06:34.649 of reality. Exactly. The premise wasn't special 00:06:34.649 --> 00:06:37.050 anymore. Which brings us to what I think is the 00:06:37.050 --> 00:06:39.209 most fascinating pivot on this list. I know what 00:06:39.209 --> 00:06:41.589 you're going to say. The source lists a 2003 00:06:41.589 --> 00:06:45.769 TV series called Fame. But this wasn't a drama. 00:06:45.949 --> 00:06:48.850 It wasn't actors pretending to be students. No. 00:06:48.930 --> 00:06:51.709 It was a reality show. A talent competition. 00:06:52.230 --> 00:06:54.230 That is the moment the snake ate its own tail. 00:06:54.649 --> 00:06:57.050 It really is. We went from a fictional representation 00:06:57.050 --> 00:07:00.290 of people seeking fame to a reality show where 00:07:00.290 --> 00:07:03.069 people actually sought fame using the brand name 00:07:03.069 --> 00:07:05.209 of the fiction. It's a meta commentary on the 00:07:05.209 --> 00:07:07.709 culture, isn't it? The fiction became the reality. 00:07:08.009 --> 00:07:09.689 And there's another one, too. The Irish version. 00:07:09.769 --> 00:07:13.060 The source also notes fame. The musical Irish 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:15.060 TV series, which was another reality search. 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:17.420 For actors to be in the stage show. So you have 00:07:17.420 --> 00:07:20.100 a reality show looking for actors to play fictional 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:21.959 characters who want to be famous. The layers 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:24.959 are just dizzying. It's unbelievable. But okay, 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:27.259 before we leave the screen, we have to acknowledge 00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:30.980 that the 1980s didn't invent the word. No, not 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:33.540 by a long shot. The source includes a vintage 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:39.019 entry. Fame, 1936 film. A British comedy. And 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:42.839 that genre tag comedy. is telling how so in the 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:45.779 30s particularly in british cinema the pursuit 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:48.279 of fame was often played for laughs it was seen 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:50.870 as a bit pompous you know a bit ridiculous not 00:07:50.870 --> 00:07:52.949 the life or death struggle we saw in the 1980 00:07:52.949 --> 00:07:55.850 version not at all it shows that our modern reverence 00:07:55.850 --> 00:07:58.310 for this concept is a relatively recent invention 00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:01.670 and speaking of mocking the concept we have ricky 00:08:01.670 --> 00:08:05.709 gervais yes the source lists fame 2007 film which 00:08:05.709 --> 00:08:07.829 was a stand -up tour and dvd her vase is the 00:08:07.829 --> 00:08:09.610 perfect counterweight to the musical isn't he 00:08:09.610 --> 00:08:12.529 he is his entire career is built on deconstructing 00:08:12.529 --> 00:08:14.790 the ego of celebrity so for him to name a tour 00:08:14.790 --> 00:08:17.410 fame It's an act of irony. He's putting the word 00:08:17.410 --> 00:08:19.430 in scare quotes. He's saying, look at how ridiculous 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:21.709 this all is. So on this one list, you have the 00:08:21.709 --> 00:08:24.250 earnest, sweaty striving of the musical. And 00:08:24.250 --> 00:08:27.370 the cynical, laughing deconstruction of the comedian. 00:08:27.490 --> 00:08:30.269 Two sides of the same coin. Now, I want to move 00:08:30.269 --> 00:08:32.710 to a pattern the source reveals about television. 00:08:33.350 --> 00:08:36.769 Specifically, episode titles. Ah, yes. It seems 00:08:36.769 --> 00:08:39.990 like fame is just a magnet for writers. If you 00:08:39.990 --> 00:08:42.210 have a show, eventually you write an episode 00:08:42.210 --> 00:08:45.169 called Fame. It's a universal trope. It's a shorthand 00:08:45.169 --> 00:08:47.230 for a certain kind of story. What kind of story? 00:08:47.330 --> 00:08:50.610 Well, the source lists a 2006 episode of Law 00:08:50.610 --> 00:08:55.279 & Order. It lists a 2010 episode of NCIS. Los 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.460 Angeles. The procedural dramas. Exactly. And 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:01.559 in those contexts, fame usually equals danger. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.440 It's the motive for a murder or it's a celebrity 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:06.879 stalker story. So it frames fame as a threat. 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:09.740 A threat or a corruption. Something that brings 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:12.159 out the worst in people. But then you have the 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:14.000 entry that made you laugh out loud when we were 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.419 prepping. Kokoio. The children's animated series. 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:18.240 I just love seeing it on the list. You have Law 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:22.259 & Order, NCIS, and then... Pocoyo, fame, an episode 00:09:22.259 --> 00:09:24.639 of the TV series Pocoyo. It seems like an anomaly, 00:09:24.820 --> 00:09:27.240 right? It does. But think about it. Pocoyo is 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:29.360 about early childhood development. It's about 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:32.000 social dynamics for toddlers. And even at that 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.740 age, the concept of being the center of attention 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:38.960 is hugely relevant. Who is looking at me? Why 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:42.600 are they looking at him and not me? Huh. I never 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:44.759 thought of it that way. Fame isn't just a Hollywood 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:48.159 industry. It's a fundamental human social dynamic. 00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:51.460 Whether you are a detective in L .A. or a toddler 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:54.179 in a blue outfit, you have to deal with the consequences 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:57.200 of renown. That is a surprisingly deep take on 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:59.919 a toddler show. But I'm here for it. It all connects. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:02.299 So we've looked at the screen. But if the 1980 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:04.899 movie is the visual anchor of this word, the 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:07.279 auditory anchor has to be the music. Oh, for 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:09.399 sure. The Sound of Fame section in our source 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:12.960 is massive. Music and fame are inextricably linked. 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:16.340 And we have to start with the 1975 entry. The 00:10:16.340 --> 00:10:19.639 song Fame. by David Bowie. A masterpiece. And 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:21.340 the source makes a point of listing the writers, 00:10:21.500 --> 00:10:24.159 which is key. David Bowie, Carlos Alomar, and 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.600 John Lennon. It's the holy trinity of 70s rock 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.519 cool, but the context here is crucial. This song 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.419 was released in 1975. Five years before the movie 00:10:32.419 --> 00:10:35.360 fame. Exactly. And the tone is completely different. 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:37.580 It's dark, it's funky, but it's an angry song. 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:42.049 It is pure venom. Bowie was in the middle of 00:10:42.049 --> 00:10:44.830 a messy management dispute. He was arguably the 00:10:44.830 --> 00:10:47.629 most famous rock star on the planet at that moment. 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:51.210 And he hated it. And the lyrics show it. Absolutely. 00:10:51.690 --> 00:10:54.950 Fame makes a man take things over. Fame puts 00:10:54.950 --> 00:10:57.590 you there where things are hollow. It's an attack 00:10:57.590 --> 00:11:00.049 on the parasites, the managers, the emptiness 00:11:00.049 --> 00:11:02.629 of it all. And having John Lennon on backing 00:11:02.629 --> 00:11:06.110 vocals, a man who is literally trapped by his 00:11:06.110 --> 00:11:08.779 own fame. Yeah. That just adds this incredible 00:11:08.779 --> 00:11:12.220 weight to it. Exactly. So in 1975, the definition 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:14.779 of fame in pop culture was cynical. It was a 00:11:14.779 --> 00:11:17.399 trap. But then, just five years later... We get 00:11:17.399 --> 00:11:20.200 the song Fame by Irene Cara from the movie. And 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:22.279 the source knows it won the Academy Award for 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:24.679 Best Original Song. A huge deal. I'm going to 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:26.480 live forever. I'm going to learn how to fly. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:29.299 It is the polar opposite of the Bowie song. It's 00:11:29.299 --> 00:11:32.519 an anthem of pure, unadulterated optimism. It's 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.080 joyful. It's energetic. So within a five -year 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.440 window, the word fame meant two completely different 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.279 things on the radio. Completely. It was a curse 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.840 for Bowie and a blessing for Irene Cara. But 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.919 the music section doesn't stop in the 80s. And 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:47.019 this is where the disambiguation page becomes 00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:50.590 a timeline of style. I noticed a shift in how 00:11:50.590 --> 00:11:52.769 the word is actually written. You mean the acronyms? 00:11:52.809 --> 00:11:55.809 The dots. All the periods. The source lists a 00:11:55.809 --> 00:11:58.909 song by Young Jeezy called F .A .M .E. And Chris 00:11:58.909 --> 00:12:02.330 Brown's album F .A .M .E. from 2011. And Maluma's 00:12:02.330 --> 00:12:05.169 album F .A .M .E. from 2018. What's that about? 00:12:05.490 --> 00:12:08.610 This is a distinct modern trend, particularly 00:12:08.610 --> 00:12:11.730 in hip -hop and Latin pop. It seems that simply 00:12:11.730 --> 00:12:15.840 calling your album fame feels a bit... or maybe 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.480 too generic now. So by turning it into an acronym, 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:20.519 you add a layer of code. You make it personal. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.019 For Chris Brown, I think it stood for forgiving 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:25.580 all my enemies and fans are my everything. Right. 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:27.740 So he's taking the word fame, which carries all 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:30.120 that baggage we just talked about, and he's redefining 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:32.059 it on his own terms. He's reclaiming the narrative. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.379 It's not just being known. It's a specific philosophy 00:12:34.379 --> 00:12:37.000 he's outlining. And the list shows this trend 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:40.100 is still going. We have a 2020 song, F -A -M 00:12:40.100 --> 00:12:42.620 -E, by Hooligan Hefs. Australian drill music 00:12:42.620 --> 00:12:45.279 featuring Hooks, Hooligan Skinny, and Massey 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:47.720 Rook, which just shows the global reach of the 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:50.580 concept. And we have a song, Fame, by B .O .B. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:53.820 We have a song, Fame by Cypher, from their 2022 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:57.460 EP, The Code. And this is one of my favorite 00:12:57.460 --> 00:12:59.480 things about using a live source like this. We 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:02.429 have a future entry. I saw that. The source lists 00:13:02.429 --> 00:13:06.549 Fame, Rise song from a 2025 single album. Rise 00:13:06.549 --> 00:13:08.990 is a K -pop group. So this is still happening. 00:13:09.190 --> 00:13:12.269 It tells us that even in 2025, on the other side 00:13:12.269 --> 00:13:14.649 of the world, from that 1980 New York film set, 00:13:14.830 --> 00:13:17.169 artists are still looking at this four -letter 00:13:17.169 --> 00:13:20.529 English word and saying, yes, that is the title. 00:13:20.549 --> 00:13:23.070 That is the energy we want. It is remarkably 00:13:23.070 --> 00:13:25.490 durable. It is. And we can't talk about durability 00:13:25.490 --> 00:13:27.149 without talking about the albums. We've mentioned 00:13:27.149 --> 00:13:29.960 Chris Brown and Maluma. But there is one entry 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:32.200 that feels like the definitive modern usage. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:35.799 It has to be Lady Gaga, The Fame. Her 2008 debut 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:38.320 album. Talk about truth in advertising. Right. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:40.399 She called her debut album The Fame, and then 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.279 she became arguably the most famous woman on 00:13:42.279 --> 00:13:45.500 Earth. It was a manifesto. Gaga approached fame 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:49.580 as a sociologist. She studied it. She treated 00:13:49.580 --> 00:13:51.740 her own celebrity as performance art. She famously 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:53.820 said she felt famous before anyone knew who she 00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:57.850 was. Right. By naming the album The Fame, she 00:13:57.850 --> 00:14:00.429 was casting a spell. She was inviting it in, 00:14:00.450 --> 00:14:02.950 manifesting it. It's almost like she looked at 00:14:02.950 --> 00:14:05.549 the cynical Bowie song and said, I know it's 00:14:05.549 --> 00:14:07.909 toxic and I'm going to wear that toxicity like 00:14:07.909 --> 00:14:10.850 a dress. Precisely. And the source also points 00:14:10.850 --> 00:14:12.950 out a precursor to her, someone who did something 00:14:12.950 --> 00:14:17.629 similar. Grace Jones, her 1978 album Fame. Grace 00:14:17.629 --> 00:14:21.409 Jones and Lady Gaga. that tracks it does both 00:14:21.409 --> 00:14:24.330 are avant -garde both are fashion icons both 00:14:24.330 --> 00:14:26.529 play with the idea of what a star looks like 00:14:26.529 --> 00:14:28.649 and acts like they use the word fame not just 00:14:28.649 --> 00:14:31.110 as a title but as a challenge to the audience 00:14:31.110 --> 00:14:33.129 okay before we move on i have to shout out the 00:14:33.129 --> 00:14:35.250 bands there's a duo just called fame there's 00:14:35.250 --> 00:14:37.509 a thai band called fame but the one that stands 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:41.289 out to you is the person it is georgie fame Clive 00:14:41.289 --> 00:14:44.850 Powell, born in 1943, an English R &B and jazz 00:14:44.850 --> 00:14:46.950 musician. He didn't write a song called Fame. 00:14:47.049 --> 00:14:48.710 He didn't release an album called Fame. He changed 00:14:48.710 --> 00:14:50.669 his name to Fame. It's the ultimate commitment. 00:14:50.870 --> 00:14:53.870 In the early 60s, managers often gave their artists 00:14:53.870 --> 00:14:57.690 these flashy names. Billy Fury, Marty Wild. And 00:14:57.690 --> 00:15:00.350 Clive Powell became Georgie Fame. He literally 00:15:00.350 --> 00:15:03.769 adopted the concept as his identity. And he's 00:15:03.769 --> 00:15:06.620 still performing. He has lived as Fame. for over 00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:09.500 60 years. That's incredible. Okay, so we've done 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:11.200 the red carpet, we've done the charts, we've 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:13.440 covered what people expect when they hear this 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:16.259 word. Now? Now we are going to pivot. We are 00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:18.600 going to leave the studio and enter the laboratory. 00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:20.940 This is the section of the source material that 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:23.340 deals with acronyms, but not the Chris Brown 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:26.879 kind. These are the functional, nerdy, hidden 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:29.340 acronyms. This is my favorite part, because when 00:15:29.340 --> 00:15:32.019 you strip away the glitter, F -A -M -E is just 00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:34.909 four letters. And scientists love an acronym. 00:15:35.090 --> 00:15:36.789 They certainly do. The first one on the list 00:15:36.789 --> 00:15:39.809 is fatty acid methyl esters. Fatty acid methyl 00:15:39.809 --> 00:15:44.330 esters. Fame. I just love the image of a serious 00:15:44.330 --> 00:15:47.090 chemist in a white coat saying, I need to analyze 00:15:47.090 --> 00:15:49.850 this fame. And they're holding a beaker of sludge. 00:15:50.230 --> 00:15:52.970 It's not quite sludge. What is it exactly? It's 00:15:52.970 --> 00:15:55.169 actually very, very important. Fame is the primary 00:15:55.169 --> 00:15:58.809 component of biodiesel. Biodiesel. So fuel. Yes. 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:01.720 If you take vegetable oil or animal fats and 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.000 you want to run a diesel engine on them, you 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:05.960 have to change their chemical structure so they 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.340 don't clog the engine. You put them through a 00:16:08.340 --> 00:16:11.139 process called transesterification. The result 00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:15.679 is fatty acid methyl esters. Fame. So while Lady 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:18.279 Gaga is singing about the fame, there are trucks 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:21.220 driving down the highway literally powered by 00:16:21.220 --> 00:16:24.120 fame. It's a great juxtaposition. One is ephemeral 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:27.080 and social. The other is industrial and combustible. 00:16:27.470 --> 00:16:29.490 And that's not its only use, right? No, it's 00:16:29.490 --> 00:16:31.970 also used to analyze the purity of olive oil. 00:16:32.070 --> 00:16:33.789 If you want to know if your extra virgin olive 00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:36.769 oil is real, you check the FAME profile. From 00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:40.090 olive oil to Wall Street, the source lists FAME 00:16:40.090 --> 00:16:43.070 database. Forecasting Analysis and Modeling Environment. 00:16:43.470 --> 00:16:45.149 What does that do? It's a database management 00:16:45.149 --> 00:16:47.690 system and a programming language. It's used 00:16:47.690 --> 00:16:49.909 primarily in the financial and energy sectors 00:16:49.909 --> 00:16:52.789 to handle time series data. Time series data? 00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:55.399 What's that? Imagine you need to track the price 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:59.000 of oil every minute for 20 years. That's a lot 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.919 of data points, all in a specific order. FAME 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:04.359 is the tool you use to store and model that. 00:17:04.619 --> 00:17:07.559 So again, totally utilitarian. It's about prediction 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:10.019 and analysis, not popularity. Not at all. But 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:12.319 then we have an acronym that breaks my heart 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:15.940 a little bit. The Space Sentry. Ah, yes. The 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:19.019 Full Sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer. That is 00:17:19.019 --> 00:17:22.029 such a majestic name. The Full Sky Astrometric 00:17:22.029 --> 00:17:24.930 Mapping Explorer. Fame. It was a NASA mission. 00:17:25.190 --> 00:17:28.190 The goal was astrometry, which is measuring the 00:17:28.190 --> 00:17:30.549 positions and movements of stars with incredible 00:17:30.549 --> 00:17:33.329 precision. So they were making a map. The best 00:17:33.329 --> 00:17:36.509 map ever. They wanted to map 40 million stars. 00:17:36.630 --> 00:17:38.690 They wanted to create a map of our corner of 00:17:38.690 --> 00:17:40.869 the galaxy that was more accurate than anything 00:17:40.869 --> 00:17:43.150 in history. And what happened? The source notes 00:17:43.150 --> 00:17:45.809 it was canceled in 2002. Why? Budget constraints. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.940 It's poetic, in a sad way. A satellite named 00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:51.220 Fame that never made it to the launch pad. It 00:17:51.220 --> 00:17:53.359 wanted to see everything, to map the heavens, 00:17:53.500 --> 00:17:56.779 but it got grounded. It's a what -if of space 00:17:56.779 --> 00:17:59.859 history. It fits the theme, though. Fame is often 00:17:59.859 --> 00:18:03.140 elusive. Even for satellites. Now, from the tragic 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:05.180 to the absolutely delightful, let's talk about 00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:07.539 the organizations. Specifically, the one for 00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:10.460 the kids. You must mean the future American magical 00:18:10.460 --> 00:18:14.019 entertainers. Yes. F -A -M -E. Future American 00:18:14.019 --> 00:18:16.819 Magical Entertainers. A former magic club for 00:18:16.819 --> 00:18:19.180 young magicians. It's so charming. Just picture 00:18:19.180 --> 00:18:21.599 it. A basement or a community center somewhere. 00:18:21.900 --> 00:18:24.640 A group of teenagers with decks of cards and 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:27.000 silk handkerchiefs practicing their sleight of 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:29.940 hand. And calling themselves fame. It's a bit 00:18:29.940 --> 00:18:32.279 on the nose. It is, but look at the first word. 00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:35.880 Future. It speaks to that aspiration again. Right. 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:38.960 They aren't famous yet. They are the future entertainers. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.319 They are practicing the art of illusion to get 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:44.480 there. It's very literal. Show business is magic, 00:18:44.579 --> 00:18:46.960 and they are learning the tricks. The list of 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:49.099 organizations really shows how everyone wants 00:18:49.099 --> 00:18:52.779 a piece of this acronym. We have Fashion Malawi 00:18:52.779 --> 00:18:54.839 Edition. Which is a development organization 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:57.660 in Malawi using the acronym to promote African 00:18:57.660 --> 00:19:00.220 fashion design, bringing the concept to a completely 00:19:00.220 --> 00:19:02.680 different geography and context. And we have 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:05.000 the Federation of Archaeological Managers and 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:08.440 Employers. Founded in 1975. I love the date. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.240 1975, that's the same year Bowie released his 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:14.160 song. So while Bowie was singing about the hollowness 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:17.220 of fame. A group of British archaeologists were 00:19:17.220 --> 00:19:19.420 sitting in a room deciding to call their union 00:19:19.420 --> 00:19:23.240 fame. The disconnect is wonderful. Welcome to 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:27.019 the meeting of fame. Agenda item one, dirt removal. 00:19:27.589 --> 00:19:29.789 It just highlights the utility of the acronym. 00:19:29.930 --> 00:19:32.930 You have federation, archaeological, managers, 00:19:33.250 --> 00:19:35.349 employers. If you string them together, you get 00:19:35.349 --> 00:19:38.130 a pronounceable word. It's branding. Exactly. 00:19:38.309 --> 00:19:41.650 Even for archaeologists, having a catchy acronym 00:19:41.650 --> 00:19:44.069 confers a sense of legitimacy and importance. 00:19:44.369 --> 00:19:47.019 And that applies to sports too, right? Falk Associates 00:19:47.019 --> 00:19:49.519 Management Enterprises. Founded by David Falk 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:52.460 in 1992, he was a titan of the industry. He was 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:54.720 Michael Jordan's agent. If anyone understood 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.619 the value of fame, it was him. So naming his 00:19:57.619 --> 00:20:00.460 company Fame was a power move. It's an assertion 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:02.920 of dominance in his field. We should acknowledge 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:05.839 the source also lists the fans of adult media 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.019 and entertainment awards. Which fits the pattern 00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:10.700 perfectly. Adult media and entertainment, even 00:20:10.700 --> 00:20:12.579 in that industry, perhaps especially in that 00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:15.720 industry, there's a desire for awards, for recognition, 00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:18.880 for a structure of fame. Okay, let's move from 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:21.380 the acronyms back to the written word. We have 00:20:21.380 --> 00:20:23.779 a section on novels, and it seems like fame is 00:20:23.779 --> 00:20:26.119 a very popular title for a book. It is. It's 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.950 punchy. It's evocative. If you see a book on 00:20:28.950 --> 00:20:31.130 a shelf called Fame, you immediately have questions. 00:20:31.309 --> 00:20:35.289 Is it a romance? A thriller? A satire? The source 00:20:35.289 --> 00:20:38.369 lists a whole cluster of them. A 2005 novel by 00:20:38.369 --> 00:20:41.329 Karen Kingsbury. A 2008 novel by Mark Rowlands. 00:20:41.450 --> 00:20:45.690 A 2011 novel by Tilly Bagshaw. And a 2009 novel 00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:47.950 by Daniel Kilman. The source notes the original 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:51.430 German title was Ruhm. Which translates to Fame. 00:20:51.569 --> 00:20:53.349 Right. And what's interesting here is the timing. 00:20:54.019 --> 00:20:57.920 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011. This is the same era 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:00.579 as the Lady Gaga album. And the peak of the reality 00:21:00.579 --> 00:21:02.980 TV boom. Exactly. It seems like writers in the 00:21:02.980 --> 00:21:05.000 mid -2000s were collectively trying to process 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.140 this cultural shift. That makes perfect sense. 00:21:07.660 --> 00:21:09.859 Reality TV changed the rules and made fame seem 00:21:09.859 --> 00:21:12.039 accessible to everyone, for good or ill. And 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:13.660 fiction writers had to step in and say, okay, 00:21:13.740 --> 00:21:15.759 but what does that do to us as a society? Right. 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:18.420 Killman's book, for example, is a series of interconnected 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:21.140 stories about how technology and celebrity disconnect 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:23.839 us from reality. It explores the consequences. 00:21:24.339 --> 00:21:26.539 When everyone has a screen and everyone wants 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:29.559 to be on the screen, what happens to human connection? 00:21:29.900 --> 00:21:32.240 A question we're still asking. We are. The source 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.789 also mentions a periodical. Fame. Magazine. Described 00:21:36.789 --> 00:21:39.289 as an American celebrity monthly that ran from 00:21:39.289 --> 00:21:43.549 1988 to 1991. Short life. Just three years. But 00:21:43.549 --> 00:21:46.750 look at the dates. It launched in 88, the peak 00:21:46.750 --> 00:21:50.250 of the fame franchise era. Peak 80s excess. But 00:21:50.250 --> 00:21:53.329 it folded in 91. Why do you think that is? 1991? 00:21:53.769 --> 00:21:56.589 That's the year Nirvana released. Never mind. 00:21:56.690 --> 00:21:59.829 Exactly. The culture shifted on a dime. The glossy, 00:21:59.950 --> 00:22:02.309 high -hair, shoulder pad aesthetic of the 80s 00:22:02.309 --> 00:22:05.700 crashed. Grunge took over. Irony took over. And 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:08.140 a magazine explicitly celebrating the glitz of 00:22:08.140 --> 00:22:11.380 fame probably felt suddenly very, very uncool. 00:22:11.500 --> 00:22:13.539 It's a great reminder that the word itself, the 00:22:13.539 --> 00:22:16.420 concept, goes in and out of style. It does. Now, 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:19.000 we've talked about ideas, songs, books, and chemical 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:22.259 compounds, but fame is also a place on a map. 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:24.940 Geography is always the most grounding part of 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:27.779 these deep dives, I find. Me too. The source 00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:30.440 lists two specific locations in the United States. 00:22:31.140 --> 00:22:34.849 Fame, Mississippi, And Fane, West Virginia. And 00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:37.630 both of them are listed as unincorporated communities. 00:22:38.130 --> 00:22:40.490 Which is a polite way of saying very small. Very 00:22:40.490 --> 00:22:43.869 small. No mayor, no city council, just a cluster 00:22:43.869 --> 00:22:46.089 of houses and a zip code. There is something 00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:49.710 so wonderfully ironic about a tiny, quiet crossroads 00:22:49.710 --> 00:22:52.589 in rural Mississippi being named Fane. It's the 00:22:52.589 --> 00:22:55.029 exact opposite of the definition we started with. 00:22:55.109 --> 00:22:57.230 Right. It's not notable. It's not celebrated 00:22:57.230 --> 00:23:00.490 globally. It's just home for a few people. It 00:23:00.490 --> 00:23:02.349 makes you wonder about the founders, doesn't 00:23:02.349 --> 00:23:05.549 it? Why name it Fame? Was it aspirational? Did 00:23:05.549 --> 00:23:08.329 they think a railroad was coming through? Or 00:23:08.329 --> 00:23:10.230 was it named after a person? We'll probably never 00:23:10.230 --> 00:23:12.269 know. Whatever the reason, today it stands as 00:23:12.269 --> 00:23:14.769 a quiet counterpoint. You can go to Fame, Mississippi, 00:23:15.009 --> 00:23:17.029 and I guarantee you won't find any paparazzi. 00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:19.569 You'll find silence. And then we leave the land 00:23:19.569 --> 00:23:22.869 and go to the sea. The source lists HMS Fame. 00:23:23.269 --> 00:23:26.369 And not just one. The source notes numerous ships 00:23:26.369 --> 00:23:29.430 of the Royal Navy. And Fame. Yeah. Numerous merchant 00:23:29.430 --> 00:23:31.740 ships. This is where the history of the word 00:23:31.740 --> 00:23:35.440 really shines. Long before David Bowie, long 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:38.440 before cameras, the British Royal Navy was naming 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:41.819 warships fame. And this goes back to Femme, the 00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:43.759 goddess we talked about at the start. It changes 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:46.259 the context completely. A warship named Fame 00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:48.779 isn't about being liked on Instagram. No, it's 00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:51.380 about glory. It's about reputation in battle. 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:54.920 Precisely. A ship named Fame projects power. 00:23:55.140 --> 00:23:57.779 It says, our reputation precedes us. You have 00:23:57.779 --> 00:24:00.559 heard of us, and you should be afraid. There 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:02.940 is a lineage of ships carrying that name across 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:05.539 centuries of naval warfare. So it connects the 00:24:05.539 --> 00:24:08.019 word to national pride and military might. Which 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:10.539 is a very different flavor than celebrity. Speaking 00:24:10.539 --> 00:24:13.160 of history and memory, there was one more physical 00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:15.279 object on our list that carries a significant 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.519 amount of weight. The monument. Yes. The source 00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:22.259 lists Fame Confederate Monument or Gloria Victus. 00:24:22.259 --> 00:24:24.740 It's a memorial in Salisbury, North Carolina. 00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:27.460 This brings a somber historical tone to the discussion. 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:30.779 Here, fame isn't about entertainment at all. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:34.160 No, it's about memorializing a conflict. Gloria 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:36.920 Victus translates to glory to the vanquished. 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:39.650 And the statue itself. It represents the concept 00:24:39.650 --> 00:24:42.289 of fame holding a laurel wreath over a dying 00:24:42.289 --> 00:24:45.410 soldier. It serves as a reminder that this word 00:24:45.410 --> 00:24:47.710 has been used to shape historical narratives. 00:24:48.009 --> 00:24:50.210 So monuments are attempts to make a specific 00:24:50.210 --> 00:24:53.289 version of history famous or permanent. That's 00:24:53.289 --> 00:24:55.589 a good way to put it. It really shows that this 00:24:55.589 --> 00:24:58.089 word isn't neutral. It can be used for pop songs, 00:24:58.250 --> 00:25:00.569 but it can also be used for political statements 00:25:00.569 --> 00:25:03.250 and historical memory. It's a tool. Absolutely. 00:25:03.490 --> 00:25:06.490 Fame is a spotlight. And whoever builds the monument 00:25:06.490 --> 00:25:09.509 or writes the song or names the ship gets to 00:25:09.509 --> 00:25:11.970 decide where to point that spotlight. Okay. We 00:25:11.970 --> 00:25:14.329 have traveled from Mississippi to the Royal Navy 00:25:14.329 --> 00:25:17.569 to North Carolina. Let's bring it back to something 00:25:17.569 --> 00:25:20.970 a bit more consumable. I think I know where you're 00:25:20.970 --> 00:25:23.450 going. The final category in our source is consumer 00:25:23.450 --> 00:25:26.349 goods. And we return to the queen of the concept. 00:25:26.549 --> 00:25:29.250 Lady Gaga. Again. The source lists Lady Gaga 00:25:29.250 --> 00:25:31.930 fame, a fragrance for women endorsed by Lady 00:25:31.930 --> 00:25:34.150 Gaga. This feels like the full circle moment 00:25:34.150 --> 00:25:36.250 we talked about. We talked about her album, The 00:25:36.250 --> 00:25:38.609 Fame. We talked about her song, The Fame. And 00:25:38.609 --> 00:25:41.950 now she has bottled it. She literally sold fame 00:25:41.950 --> 00:25:44.589 as a perfume. It is the ultimate commodification. 00:25:44.990 --> 00:25:46.930 But do you know the detail about the fluid itself? 00:25:47.069 --> 00:25:49.150 It's not in the source list, but it's a famous 00:25:49.150 --> 00:25:52.049 detail about this product. Now what? The perfume 00:25:52.049 --> 00:25:56.200 liquid was black. Black in the bottle? Yes. It 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:59.539 was the first black eau de parfum. It sprays 00:25:59.539 --> 00:26:02.259 black, but it dries clear on the skin. That is 00:26:02.259 --> 00:26:04.740 incredibly on brand for her. It was designed 00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:07.720 to represent the dark heart of fame. It looks 00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:10.039 destructive. It looks like an oil slick, but 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:13.079 then it disappears. Wow. It perfectly encapsulates 00:26:13.079 --> 00:26:15.420 the journey of the word in the 21st century. 00:26:15.859 --> 00:26:18.500 Fame is a product. It's a chemical simulation. 00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:20.200 It's something you buy at a department store. 00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:22.759 It's brilliant branding. And it ties everything 00:26:22.759 --> 00:26:25.859 together. The list starts with a definition of 00:26:25.859 --> 00:26:28.200 notability, goes through movies, music, science, 00:26:28.380 --> 00:26:31.119 geography. And ends with a bottle of black perfume. 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:33.700 It's a comprehensive ecosystem. It really is. 00:26:33.980 --> 00:26:37.380 So let's try to recap this journey. When we started, 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:41.299 fame was just a word. Now, now it's a jazz musician 00:26:41.299 --> 00:26:44.579 from 1943 named Georgie who changed his name 00:26:44.579 --> 00:26:47.160 to fit the times. It's a canceled satellite that 00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:49.359 wanted to map 40 million stars but ran out of 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:51.700 money. It's a magic club for kids practicing 00:26:51.700 --> 00:26:54.319 illusions in a basement. It's a chemical compound 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:56.859 used in biodiesel to run our engines. And yes, 00:26:57.160 --> 00:27:00.319 it is a Lady Gaga empire. It's amazing how a 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:04.039 simple disambiguation page can reveal so much 00:27:04.039 --> 00:27:07.240 about how we think as a culture. We use this 00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:10.299 one word to label our biggest dreams. Whether 00:27:10.299 --> 00:27:12.880 that's a platinum album or a successful harvest 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:16.079 of fatty acids. That's the takeaway for me. While 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.359 we usually define fame as being known, the source 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:21.740 list proves that the word is often used as an 00:27:21.740 --> 00:27:24.319 aspiration. That's it. It's a label for things 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:26.940 that want to be important. That small town in 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:29.180 Mississippi named itself fame because it hoped 00:27:29.180 --> 00:27:31.859 to be something. That debut album named itself 00:27:31.859 --> 00:27:34.380 fame. That satellite was named fame. They're 00:27:34.380 --> 00:27:36.420 all reaching for something. It's a badge of hope. 00:27:36.539 --> 00:27:38.559 Exactly. It's the human condition of wanting 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:41.039 to matter, distilled into four letters. And I 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:42.779 want to leave our listeners with one final thought, 00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:44.930 something to chew on. We mentioned theme at the 00:27:44.930 --> 00:27:47.390 beginning. The ancient personification of renown. 00:27:47.390 --> 00:27:50.990 The root of it all. In a way, every single thing 00:27:50.990 --> 00:27:53.990 on this list, every ship, every album, every 00:27:53.990 --> 00:27:57.029 magic club, is just a modern shrine to that ancient 00:27:57.029 --> 00:28:00.390 idea. We haven't stopped worshipping theme. We 00:28:00.390 --> 00:28:02.670 just changed the rituals. Instead of building 00:28:02.670 --> 00:28:05.569 temples, we film reality shows and launch perfumes. 00:28:06.170 --> 00:28:09.849 But the desire, the desire to be spoken of, is 00:28:09.849 --> 00:28:12.470 exactly the same. That is a powerful thought. 00:28:12.569 --> 00:28:15.509 The medium changes, but the human drive for renown 00:28:15.509 --> 00:28:17.930 is constant. Thank you so much for joining us 00:28:17.930 --> 00:28:20.130 on this deep dive into the dictionary. Who knew 00:28:20.130 --> 00:28:22.269 four letters could hold so much world? It was 00:28:22.269 --> 00:28:23.890 a pleasure to explore it. We'll see you next 00:28:23.890 --> 00:28:25.349 time on The Deep Dive. Keep learning.