Friday, May 18 2012
Flash Points: Mommy’s Breast, Marriage Equality and Why Chipotle Is King
Welcome to the first edition of Flash Points -- a new weekly feature that provides a critical overview of cultural trends and developments. This week: the controversial Time cover, the gay marriage debate and the annual CLIOs.
Tuesday, February 28 2012
Bill Frisell on John Lennon: Talking About ‘All We Are Saying’
The unique jazz guitarist talks about All We Are Saying -- his recent cover album of 16 John Lennon tunes -- as well as how the Beatles changed his life, and how back in the day, owning an instrument meant you were automatically in a band.
Tuesday, January 3 2012
Occupying Video: The Underbelly of Globalization Caught on Camera
Occupy Wall Street's strength might be how it enables diverse constituencies to seize upon its imagery and message to engage with social justice concerns, both on the ground and within the video.
Thursday, February 18 2010
ESPN: Changing the Way Americans Think About Sports
ESPN changed the course of American sports culture by providing access to national and international events 24 hours per day and cultivating the entertainment potential of sporting events and personalities.
Friday, December 4 2009
MCA’s Heavy News
This is more about the surprise I felt when an hour after my heart ached for my own mother it ached again in a similar way for someone whom I have never actually met. So I’ve spent probably months listening to the Beastie Boys. So what? This gives me the right? The short answer is “Yes. Yes, it does."
Friday, July 24 2009
The Demise of Vibe Magazine and the Future of Criticism
With diminishing places for thoughtful criticism, black cultural critics exist as little more than commentators on the Obama White House. Blackness has been reduced to a news cycle.
Friday, July 17 2009
Re-Inventing the Deal: An Interview with Michelle Shocked
Corporate battles, homelessness, and forgiveness are routine to this "indelible" woman.
Wednesday, July 15 2009
The Phantom Speaks! An Interview with Cult Movie Critic Joe Kane
Joe Kane writes about the fun stuff on the fringes -- low budget horror movies and action movies, exploitation movies, cult movies, B movies.
Thursday, June 18 2009
The New Games Journalism
The most useful moments for New Games Journalists are ones that occur in multiplayer, describing experiences that could never occur during just a general session of play.
Friday, May 29 2009
The Future is an Empty Room
As digital technology consolidates its conquest of the known universe, emptying our living spaces and assimilating our lives, all that will be left in our future is space. Lots and lots of empty space.
Wednesday, April 22 2009
A Fan’s Notes: An Interview with Journalist Bob Drury
Newspaperman, magazine journo and best-selling author Bob Drury tells PopMatters about his prolific career in journalism and the path from newspapers to magazines to the New York Times best-seller list.
Friday, April 17 2009
On Evas and Angels: Postmodern Fantasy Devotion to Neon Genesis Evangelion
More than a decade after its debut, Neon Genesis Evangelion continues to reign as a cultural icon in Japan. Understanding how it made such a lasting impact gives us a window onto Japanese social history and fandom.
Wednesday, March 18 2009
Does Video Game Criticism Need a Pauline Kael?
Kael, much like video game critics today, was faced with a massive philosophical shift in her chosen artistic medium that large quantities of critics were against.
Tuesday, March 17 2009
Smash Hits to GQ: Adventures in Magazine Writing
GQ journalist Chris Heath talks with PopMatters about music and celebrity journalism, the Pet Shop Boys and a lifetime of scribing for major magazines in the UK and the US.
Friday, October 3 2008
The Olbermann Effect
Keith Olbermann has transformed news into entertainment. Countdown viewers no longer expect the facts; they expect to laugh and to think. Thank goodness.
Friday, July 25 2008
Surviving the Net Crunch: A Practical Guide for Print Publications in a Digital World
Forget about easy answers, and don't think that the latest hip tech craze will save: PopMatters' Jason Gross offers advice for how long-running print publications can adapt to this brave new Net-driven world.
Monday, May 14 2007
Total freedom: Interview with Bob Odenkirk
Derek and Simon is about two guys -- and now it's expanded to include some of their friends -- and their search for women to sleep with.
Friday, March 16 2007
The Lies They Tell: How to Stop the Fox Propaganda Machine
The "Sliming Bowl" is well under way, and Fox's influence is too big -- and too damaging -- to ignore. Can the progressive Internet media and blogosphere bring it down?
Monday, January 22 2007
What Happened to Our Voice?
PopMatters investigates the sad trajectory of the Village Voice after merging with the national-weekly behemoth New Times Media.
