When your host, Auntie Kiki, says she’s an “ex rich person” and espouses the label of “nouveau pauvre,” you may be left wondering whether that means she’s fabulously wealthy or delightfully destitute, or somewhere in between. In this episode of Awkward Etiquette with Kiki Astor, we explore our society’s love-hate relationship with wealth, performative wealth on social media platforms and in real life, the rich vs poor divide, the rise of nouveau pauvre as the defining ethos of our times, and why the old money aesthetic and lifestyle gained so much traction in a time of financial instability. We also dive into the growing economic disparity of our era—why the ultra-wealthy keep getting richer while the rest feel increasingly precarious, and how this imbalance manifests in social media and social interactions. Why does losing wealth sting more than never having it? Is elegance ultimately more admirable than riches? And in a world where Instagram flaunts excess while reality often tells a different story, how do we maintain grace and authenticity?

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

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