Publishing is full of rankings, from power lists to best-dressed lists to under-40 lists. The CULT100 is different. There is just one criterion for inclusion—but it’s a high bar.

To qualify, a candidate must be actively shaping and changing our culture in real time. The people on this list represent five generations and hail from the worlds of food, publishing, art, fashion, activism, and entertainment. To put this group together, CULTURED‘s editors leveraged the full strength of our network, tapping artists, writers, and cultural leaders to tell us who they look to when they want to feel challenged, hopeful, and inspired.

Some members of the CULT100 are household names; others have been working behind the scenes to make possible the cultural encounters that stop us in our tracks. In a time of binary thinking, the creators featured in this year’s list are embracing contradiction, bouncing willfully between disciplines, and refusing to take no for an answer. They have guts, vision, and a potent cocktail of realism and optimism. None of them is shying away from the anxiety of our moment. Instead, they are thinking big, sharing generously, and embodying courage. The good news is, their work makes us all a little bit braver, too.

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KELLY MCCARTHY
Photography by KELLY MCCARTHY

CHI OSSÉ

POLITICIAN

The youngest New York City Council Member in history is showing politicians across the country how to harness social media to cut through the noise. Exhibit A: His video series Why Is Shit Not Working.

WHAT’S SOMETHING PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT YOU? Some people think I don’t take my job seriously because I have fun with it. I get sarcastic comments about my “little videos” and not doing the hard work of government. But I do both. I think we have to.

"Some people think I don’t take my job seriously because I have fun with it."

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO CULTURE? Politics are increasingly driven by cultural kinship instead of policy. I’m trying to make political participation accessible and cool. I try to make this work fun and engaging. People spend more time on TikTok and Instagram Reels than TV or Netflix these days. They’re coming for entertainment. I try to have fun and make it fun to come along for the ride, and I think we’re seeing that play a pretty central role in the ongoing merger of culture and politics. Last year, I defeated the real estate lobby in New York to pass the FARE Act, which ended forced rental broker fees. Big money had beaten every previous attempt, but I used social media power to mobilize the people and win. That was both a contribution to culture and a use of cultural strength to change lives.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF IN YOUR INDUSTRY? LESS OF? More spine! Fewer spineless people bending over for big money!

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TALIA RYDER
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NARA SMITH