How MAGA Humor Took Over American Comedy
In the minds of MAGA humorists, they, not their risk-averse and PC-hobbled liberal counterparts, are continuing the tradition of bold, truth-telling comedy.
Iain Ellis
Born in Manchester and raised east of London, Iain Ellis spent his formative years playing, performing, and consuming a heavy (if not healthy) diet of punk rock music and football. Little has changed since. In 1986, the young man went west to find his dreams in Bowling Green, Ohio. Instead, he picked up a PhD in American Culture Studies, writing his dissertation on 1980s American Punk Culture. In 2000, he traveled further west, settling in Lawrence, Kansas, where he currently teaches English and Youth Culture Studies at the University of Kansas. An avowed arrested adolescent, Iain continues to follow music and sports with a passion, performing and recording periodically with his Ohio-based Britpop band, piss artists, and playing weekly with his Lawrence football team, The Sweepers. When he grows up, Dr. Ellis hopes to head further west. You may also enjoy his book, Rebels Wit Attitude: Subversive Rock Humorists.
Can “No Kings” Protest Humor Shrivel Away Authoritarianism?
Besides billionaires—and without needing to beg or bribe—comedians and No Kings jesters may be the next highest demographic that is thriving during these Trump-led authoritarian times.
Trump Country Music’s Dance of the Cowboy Boots
Trump country music has right-wing country stars and fans dancing to the beat of the authoritarian in their hard-heeled country boots… for now.
Country Music Is a Political Bellwether
If politics runs downstream from culture per the “Breitbart Doctrine”, then do far-right politics run downstream from country music?
Kid Rock’s Trumpian Roots and Branches
In southern rock, Kid Rock, and bro-country, do we see the building blocks for a future state-sponsored rock culture?
The Lemon Twigs’ Retro Pop Syndrome
The Lemon Twigs may suffer from retro pop syndrome, but every nostalgic reference has an unexpected deviation, every familiar melody is twisted and turned into uncharted territory.
Live Forever: Oasis’ Enduring Appeal
As long as nostalgia is a driving motivator of cultural taste, Oasis will remain one of the world’s most popular bands.
Trumpism and Contemporary Christian Music’s Civil War
With the invasion of TWP, or Trump Worship Music, Trumpism is generating a civil war amongst Contemporary Christian Music fans and artists.
Pop, Populism, and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”
The contradictions in Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” makes it ripe for co-opting for Republican political campaigns from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump.
Dog-Whistling Dixie and Racial Politics in 1960s Country Music
Trump’s recent co-option of Lee Greenwood and his song “God Bless the U.S.A.” isn’t the first time the far right has used country music for its purposes.
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.
Strange Bedfellows? Rap and the Political Right
Hyper-masculinity, sexism, homophobia, offensive speech and distrust of institutions are some of the traits shared by rap culture and the American far right.