Tuesday, April 30 2013
The Civil War’s ‘Young Napoleon’: An Interview with Richard Slotkin
Renowned cultural critic and historian Richard Slotkin discusses his new book, The Long Road to Antietam, and shares his thoughts on the future of American Studies. He indulges us with his favorite movies, too.
Monday, April 29 2013
Join the Underground: Loren Glass’ History of the Famous/Infamous Grove Press
Grove was the hippest and most important publisher of books that broke sexual taboos, plotted revolution, and kept millions of young intellectuals across the US in touch with the avant-garde and revolutionary politics throughout the world.
Friday, April 26 2013
Books of the Dead: The Followers and Clones of ‘The Evil Dead’
Initially a disaster of an experimental horror film, The Evil Dead went on to become an acclaimed and influential movie that launched careers and spawned sequels and copycats, not to mention a string of cash in faux-sequels. Who were these pretenders to the Deadite throne?
Thursday, April 25 2013
The Death Knell Sounds Again: The History of Music Industry Whining
A business which makes billions a year can’t stop whining about how illegal downloading, streaming, and Internet radio is sending it to the poor house.
Wednesday, April 24 2013
Playing to Suffer, Suffering to Play
I have found myself struck with admiration recently by games that I have played that have put me in less than empowering positions, games that celebrate difficulty and hardship, struggling and deprivation, rather than empowerment and excess.
Tuesday, April 23 2013
In Defense Of ... The Rock Drummer
Bobby Gillespie once said it best: You can't have a good band if you don't have a good drummer. As rock music has proved over the years, that adage is far more true than one might think.
On Killing Two Crucial Birds With One Pen
Norman Ball’s How Can We Make Your Power More Comfortable? and The Frantic Force are stalked, ever so subtly, by the fraught subtext of a father and daughter’s haltingly convergent kinship. Surely this is a writer Dad and I could break conciliatory bread over.
Monday, April 22 2013
Django May Be Unchained, But America Is Never Unshackled from Its Racist Past
Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is at its strongest when it problematizes America's racist past.The destruction of Candyland not only vindicates Django’s revenge-fuelled quest, but also implies that slavery itself has been wiped off the face of the earth.
Friday, April 19 2013
How to (Be a French Pop Band and) Make It in America
Through an analysis of Daft Punk and Phoenix’s recent careers, a recipe for success may be unearthed for those French bands aspiring to win a Grammy or two.
Thursday, April 18 2013
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning: Gospel Music in a Secular World
Critically, commercially and historically, gospel is the great overlooked American music, maybe because few genres of music force you to confront your beliefs so immediately.
Wednesday, April 17 2013
Ode to the Return of the Clarinet
Why did you leave jazz, O Clarinet? Did you ask too much of us, or did we ask to much of you? Either way, you've returned with a sleek, expressive vengeance!
Tuesday, April 16 2013
Do Women Have Sex? ‘The Chapman Report’
Everyone knows it's impossible for any woman to enjoy guilt-free sex with jazz musicians and delivery boys.
Monday, April 15 2013
Author Hugh Howey on What’s Good About E-Books, Open Source Movements, and Fan Fiction
The success of Hugh Howey’s self-published Wool series points to a complete upending of publishing paradigms. Much like Amanda Palmer in music, Howey has created a whole new model of how authors relate to readers.
Friday, April 12 2013
In Defense Of ... A Disgust for Reality Television
The recent death of a Buckwild cast member serves as a reminder that we have become far too accepting of manufactured truths and sensationalized reality.
Thursday, April 11 2013
‘Black Against Empire’ Assumes a Central and Critical Spot Within the Black Panther Canon
This meticulous work of research and analysis attempts something beyond the scope of power-to-the-people flashbacks of Afros, dashikis and raised fists: it takes the Black Panther Party seriously as a political entity taking dead aim on American laws and values.
Wednesday, April 10 2013
What Comes After the Jason Molina Is Gone Blues?
The late Jason Molina was never anything but honest about his trials and errors, his long dark blues, and his farewell transmissions.
Tuesday, April 9 2013
Time Stand Still: Why Rush Belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rush, as much as any rock band, represents the eternal present tense: they adapted and evolved in real time, reflecting the issues, sounds and styles of their day.
Monday, April 8 2013
Gay Dating Sites: Here’s Your Ticket to Crazy Town
With this many local gay men on meeting sites, a quest to meet at least one new friend should be easy, I thought. What I had yet to realize was that the world of online dating is disassociated from reality -- really disassociated.
Friday, April 5 2013
In Defense Of ... Hip-Hop Receiving the Respect It Deserves
In Ice-T's 2012 documentary, Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap, he asks why rap music doesn't garner the same amount of respect afforded to jazz and blues music.
