Martin Aagård

Aagård is from Gävle, where he was educated at the elite Vasaskolan [sv] gymnasium. He later wrote about participating in hazing as a member of a men's club there,^[2] and has also said that in school he and his friends hung out with members of the Communist Youth "because they were fun" and that for a while he took part in anarchistic demonstrations with Nature and Youth Sweden.^[3]

With his friend Uje Brandelius [sv], Aagård played in a rockabilly band called Handsome Hank and the Hookers.^[3] In 1991, they formed the pop band Doktor Kosmos with Twiggy Pop [sv]^[4] and Miss Universum [sv];^[5] he plays guitar, bass and synthesizer.

Aagård has worked as a literary critic and radio columnist. He has been a culture writer for Dagens Nyheter, culture editor for Arbetarbladet and Dalarnas Tidningar, an editor of the defunct culture magazine Sex, editor-in-chief of the art magazine Konstnären  [sv], the editor of the "Under strecket" essay section in Svenska Dagbladet, and deputy culture editor at Aftonbladet under Åsa Linderborg, then acting culture editor following her departure in 2019.^[6] In 2022, he became the culture editor at Dagens ETC  [sv].^[5] He has also contributed to the magazines Arena, Neo and Filter, and the culture sections of the newspapers Expressen, Helsingborgs Dagblad and Sydsvenskan.

In 2006, he was a reporter for the investigative TV4 programme Drevet  [sv], a show where reporters were expected to clearly state their own position in their segments. Aagård produced reports on, among other things, Antifascist Action,^[7] the Plymouth Brethren,^[8] and anti-abortion activists.^[9] The segment on the Plymouth Brethren was ruled by the Broadcasting Commission to have violated the requirement for impartiality.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, Aagård and Aftonbladet were sued for 30,000 SEK by the artist Richard Herrey after Aagård called Herrey "din gamle rasist" ('you old racist') in an exchange on X.^[10] Herrey lost the case against both parties.^[11]

In 2010, Aagård married Aftonbladet journalist Natalia Kazmierska [sv].^[3] Together they published in 2018 Popkulturens död ('The Death of Pop Culture'), a book which advances a theory of popular culture and argues that its revolutionary potential has disappeared.^{[5][12][13][14][15]}