The DNC Misses a Beat: A Political History of Migration through Latinx Pop Songs
What should we understand as the connection between politics, people, and places? Can Latinx pop songs be trusted to represent us?
History
Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here Is an Homage to Fearless Women
Masterfully layered and confidently executed, I’m Still Here swivels between intimate family drama and sweeping political thriller in an homage to fearless women.
Woke vs. MAGA Is Just Like the Disco vs. Rock Divide
Want to understand (and maybe start to reconcile) the Woke vs. MAGA divide? Start with the disco vs. rock divide of the 1970s.
The US Military’s Secret War on Comic Books
During wartime past, even war-themed comic books designed to help the US military’s reputation were the victims of friendly fire. Ominously, that has changed.
Blaxploitation Movies and Music Are the Story of the 1970s
Blaxploitation signaled the moment ghetto culture and the Black vernacular hit the American mainstream, paving the way for rap, hip-hop, disco, and modern sports.
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The Art of Psychological Warfare
From marketing manipulation to all-out psychological warfare, Stories Are Weapons clarifies how our world – and worldview – is seldom our own.
Kathleen Hanna, Riot Grrrl, and Punk
Riot Grrrl’s activism and grass-roots activity showed the movement was more concerned with breaking the rules and conventions than breaking through in punk.
When Silence Roars: Rock Widows on When the Music Stops
The interviews of rock widows in I Can’t Remember If I Cried reveal life for these women when their husbands exit the stage, the music stops, and the silence roars
A Freewheeling Questlove Drops a New Hit with ‘Hip-Hop Is History’
With its deft layering of words, its samples, and how it articulates sound, Questlove’s Hip-Hop Is History is like De La Soul’s excellent album 3 Feet High and Rising.
The Magnificent Dance of ‘The Swans of Harlem’
In her dance history book The Swans of Harlem, author Karen Valby structures a magnificent, wide-ranging, complex narrative that’s both engaging and emotional.
‘Too Much Too Young, the 2 Tone Records Story: The Beat. UB40. Tears of a Clown’ (excerpt)
This excerpt from Daniel Rachel’s history of 2 Tone Records shows the formation of the Beat and the best version of the band-defining “Tears of a Clown” ever.
Tommy Orange Testifies to the Power of Cultural Reclamation
In Wandering Stars masterful storyteller Tommy Orange shifts our lens from historically imposed assimilation to contemporary cultural reclamation.