More Than You Think!

On this episode of "More Than You Think!' we discuss how Gen Z uses memes to express more than just humor. Memes have also become a way to express our political attitudes.


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More Than You Think! is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2, student-run radio from NC State University. Like what you hear? Consider supporting it with a gift to the WKNC Enhancement Fund. Visit our podcast page to hear more and follow us on all social media platforms @WKNC881. Thanks for listening.

Creators and Guests

Host
Valerie Gorham
WKNC Podcast Content Creator

What is More Than You Think!?

“More Than You Think!" is a podcast that explores the deeper layers of pop culture, uncovering how today’s trends connect with the political, economic, and social climate shaping our world. Each episode dives into the ways music, media, and cultural moments reflect — and influence — the society we live in. "More Than You Think!" is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 at NC State University.

00:07
Valerie
Well, if it isn't me, Valerie, the host of More Than you Think, the podcast on WKNC Radio about how political, economic and social events interact with pop culture. Welcome back. This is like the 19th episode, I think. And today, as I said last time, we are going to talk about Charlie K. Well, not necessarily. We're going to talk about meme culture, Gen Z, and how meme culture is kind of really relevant. It's like a very important part of Gen Z culture and Internet memes, trends online. It kind of shows our attitude towards certain people, certain events. Like for example, there's this new. Well, it's not necessarily new. It's been going around now for like several months. But calling someone or something spiritually Israeli, you know, they've turned it into a, an adjective.

01:11
Valerie
Israeli is like an adjective to describe something that is lame, annoying or that just kind of sucks, that nobody likes. Because nobody likes Israel. Right, because they're bombing children. Okay, so we're going to talk about Kirkification, the Kirkification of the Internet. What does it mean and why? And why is it important? Well, a little background. Over a year ago, because we have officially passed the first ever Kirkiversary, which is what it was called over a year ago on September 25, 2025, Charlie Kirk was murdered. He was shot in the neck and I think he probably died instantly. Nobody knows exactly what happened, but he died the same day. Charlie Kirk was a right wing political activist. He was pro Israel. He did not really believe in women's rights.

02:10
Valerie
I don't know his exact stance on women's right to vote, but I do know that he was against bodily autonomy and he was, he believed that women for the most part were going to college to find husbands. And I think that he supported that. That he didn't really like that women were actually trying to have careers. Married homemakers, traditional. He was one of those. Okay, so he is debating college students at some college in Utah. I don't remember what it was. And then someone on the rooftop of a distant building, not too distant, sniped him and shot and killed him.

02:57
Valerie
And you know, usually when someone dies, they are paid very much respect or they are, you know, like, for example, I bet when like Bin Laden died, I was really young and I remember when it happened, but nobody really made jokes about it because he was a terrorist that everyone was against. It was a very serious moment. It was a celebration here in the US But I remember just like, I don't think people really made the type of jokes about it that you see, when someone dies nowadays online, and I don't know, I wasn't there for World War II. I'm sure I know that people would joke about Hitler, but I think that when he died they probably didn't plaster his face over top of other people to mock him in death.

03:55
Valerie
Because, you know, the, like the two people that I just mentioned, Bin Laden and Hitler, you know, they were very serious war criminals that ended the lives of millions of people. And then you have Charlie Kirk who would go to colleges to debate 18 year olds who were feeling a little brave that day. You know, he would go on YouTube and debate twinks. And it's someone who you can't really take seriously, even though he had, you know, a chapter or whatever of his program at every, at most colleges and the, I mean, we have one here at NC State. It's, you know, you, if you go on their Instagram, there are some really goofy comments on there. But today I just want to talk about what the significance is behind this Kirkification, what it really means.

04:45
Valerie
And if you're a public person, someone famous, a celebrity, a politician, anything like that, someone who has a lot of people with eyes on you and you become some sort of Internet joke or meme, the type of joke made about you has a lot to say about what people think of you. And then of course, the context in Charlie Kirk's case, he's dead and he was killed, executed live in front of I think either hundreds or maybe somewhere in the thousands of young college students. And my point here is that Gen Z has transformed meme culture. It's no longer passive Internet humor. We have used it and transformed it into a, a tool of social enforcement. And so this humiliation of Charlie Kirk, it is a penalty because he was trying to be some sort of authority figure.

05:54
Valerie
He was a racist, he was a sexist, he didn't believe in women's rights, he didn't think that people of color were worthy of positions of power. And then, you know, he was for some reason also a really big Nicki Minaj fan and him and Candace Owens would bond over that for some reason. Now, all jokes aside, I'm sure losing your husband and the father of your children or your best friend, it's really upsetting. And gun violence is not a joke. And it's something that really needs to be dealt with in this country because it's something that affects people and kills people daily.

06:32
Valerie
But then you think back on what Charlie Kirk stood for and how he said that it was okay, for, you know, a few hundred people to die every year to gun violence, because guns are a necessary freedom, and then lost his life to gun violence. I mean, the. The jokes literally write themselves. This is something very important in the Kirkification timeline, because Kirkification is, if not just a meme, as I said, it's more than just a joke. It's more than just a meme. It's more than just, oh, he was ugly. Let's put his face on everyone to. To make it funny. No, this man was someone who people didn't really respect outside of his cohort.

07:24
Valerie
And as Gen Z, you know, with the Internet, with the screens, with the ability to hide behind a keyboard and a screen, if we don't like you know, if Gen Z doesn't like you, they're going to make jokes about you online. It doesn't matter if you're dead. It doesn't matter if you were executed live in front of a live audience. If you're not respected, if there's any way to make fun of you, especially someone like Charlie Kirk, who really nobody liked conservative or liberal because he just wasn't a charming man. If there's a person like that who really deserves disrespectful, then my generation will turn that person into a meme and not a respectful one. Because there are a lot of memes that are respectful. The.

08:13
Valerie
The one that comes to my mind because it's literally my favorite thing ever, is the Zendaya hat theory meme. That is a respectful meme, believe it or not. Like, there is no bad intent towards Zendaya. In fact, it is, you know, a joke that she is meant to be a part of. Maybe that's the difference is that Charlie Kirk is gone and he can't be a part of the joke, whereas Zendaya is alive and well and she's actively employed, always coming out with a new blockbuster film. And she even goes so far as to chat about the Zendaya hat theory and how her husband, Tom Holland, lives in her hat because he's small and he loves it too. We're doing. Talking about that for the Spider man press tour. Talking about, like, some. Oh, yeah, I live in the hat.

09:06
Valerie
I want to come out of the hat sometimes. What the heck? And so this is like our form of political satire is like, you know, back in the day, they had the newspaper comics. Now we have AI Kirkification, and. And guys, don't use AI that often, please. Like, don't use too much of that AI because it does waste a Little bit of water, let's be honest. But you can Photoshop Charlie Kirk onto anything and that becomes a meme. And then there's a similar thing. You know, there was the J.D. Vance fatness meme. Like, I don't even know what to call that. It was like just like super AI enhanced teddy bear looking freaking inflated JD Vance. Like, I don't even know what you would describe that as. Like, he was just, it was like meta kill this guy.

09:59
Valerie
I don't know, some AI was used to make him look completely insane in multiple different pictures. And then these images started floating around and then he, you know, there's this joke that always happens. Once the person that the joke is about partakes in the joke is over. Because J.D. Vance, he actually, I think he like dressed up as that meme. It might have been like for Halloween or something, but it, he ended up dressing up as the meme and recreating it himself. And then nobody used it ever again. It was over. That's, that's. Wow. I actually haven't thought of this until I just started talking now. Like, like, really? Charlie Kirk cannot do that. You know, he's gone. It's interesting, once you take part in the meme, whether or not it continues, that has a lot to say about how people see you.

10:54
Valerie
Because the Zendaya hat meme, it's still, you know, it's not as massive. And you know what else is massive? It used to be, but it's still alive. And even after she talked about it, even after she wore another hat to the Met gala, it's still alive. In fact, that sort of thing actually brings it back to life when the fire is starting to dim down a little bit. And then you've got the Kirkification thing. It's been going since last year. In fact, I remember it actually started a few weeks after his death because people were afraid to make jokes about it at first because it was, you know, it's very sudden, it was very violent. And then people realized, you know what, now that this guy's gone, lets talk behind his back.

11:43
Valerie
Oh my gosh, that reminds me of like this episode of Austin and Ally where Allie gets up from like a table at the mall. She walks away for like five seconds, she can still hear them perfectly well. And then DEZ immediately goes, ugh, I thought she'd never leave. Let's talk bad about her or something like that. She could still hear them. But I also want to talk about some other authority figures, you know, non celebrity, because this Zendaya is like a pop culture celebrity, but there are other types of celebrities. You've got Greta Thunberg, aoc, Malala. Like, these are people who are also political activists, or in AOC's case, she's a legitimate politician, elected official. People don't joke about them. And AOC has live streamed playing among us. Like, nobody's making memes about her.

12:30
Valerie
Nobody's making memes about Malala, except for girls who are like, oh my gosh, I skipped class today and I felt bad and I thought about Malala who, you know, suffered for women's rights. Or then I mean, you have Greta who was actually. She actually did face some disrespectful memes online throughout, mostly throughout her childhood because she started being an activist at such a young age. And people, you know, there was the how dare you thing and people were making jokes about that. I remember people used to joke that like other people similar age as her and slightly younger would joke about like, oh, she's so hot. She's like, you know, saying stuff like that, like, you know, jokes about that sort of thing.

13:22
Valerie
And I think part of the reason was because she was a child and so people didn't really pay her respect because they didn't see her as an equal or as a powerful person. And then nowadays you don't really see that anymore because now she's older, she's like protesting with her boyfriend, which is kind of like amazing, like awesome. Like, that's beautiful. Wow. And not only has she grown and flourished as like a person just who has gotten older, but she's also just sort of gained an iconic status over the course of her activism. And, you know, she has that status of like a real activist, like an authority figure, someone who represents Gen Z being change makers. You know, she's inspiring to Gen Z. And so you don't really see memes about her being made anymore because people actually respect her now.

14:22
Valerie
And so meme culture really is this thing that Jensi has that is. It's not just about the jokes, it's not just about the humor, but it's, it is really a way of expressing ourselves and expressing our attitude as a generation towards people and you know, depending on what they stand for, how do we feel about it and how do we reflect it online? So since we are able to hide behind profile pictures that could be anything we want. You know, I could post a terrible kirkification and then my profile picture is freaking Zendaya Hat Theory meme. Like we're all Kirk in it. Kirk it. I start talking, I keep my finger on the trigger. Okay. Yeah.

15:13
Valerie
Basically, to give you a thesis, to give you a breakdown of what I'm trying to say that is that, you know, Gen Z is different from previous generations. You know, they relied on traditional protesting or more traditional forms of rebellion. But Gen Z has been brought up on technology. We've been brought up online. And so when it comes to people that stand for things that Gen Z doesn't agree with, our form of rebellion is humiliation online. That is we cyber bully. You cyber bully. Like, the threshold for humiliation and disrespect has been lowered because by making a person look stupid, by not taking a person seriously, you make that person less powerful. And that's the impact that you leave when you make a meme like that. By making that person less powerful, you're less likely to put them in power.

16:15
Valerie
Like, less likely to get them elected or, you know, seen or viewed or spread their words to others. And yeah, that's how Gen Z is doing it. That's how we are navigating politics. All right, well, that's the message for today. Yeah, Gen Z is being goofy online. Nothing new here, but I will talk to you guys next time. I have an interesting topic more to do with Gen Z's goofiness. I have to look more into it, but it looks like Toys R Us is coming back because adults are buying children's toys and we are going to start talking about how that is significant in today's climate of economics. Next time on More than you Think. Okay, until next time. Love you. Bye. Sa.
pod 19 - 9:29:26, 12.00�AM.mp3
Meeting created at: 29th Sep, 2026 - 12:05 AM