Culture

‘Going For Broke’: Life on the Edge By Those Who Live It

‘Going For Broke’: Life on the Edge By Those Who Live It

Going for Broke: Living on the Edge in the World’s Richest Country turns to the real experts on economic hardship in America: those who live it.

Can Barbiecore Put Some Color into Corporate-World Fashion?

Can Barbiecore Put Some Color into Corporate-World Fashion?

Barbiecore might be more than a summer phase. The Barbie movie has some women thinking it’s time we rocked the pink in corporate-world fashion.

Drama, Desire, and Diplomacy: The Rise of Turkish Television in India 

Drama, Desire, and Diplomacy: The Rise of Turkish Television in India 

Netflix represents an opportunity to internationalize and escape the pressures of a volatile domestic market in Turkish television. It has forced Turkish producers to tell Turkish stories in a globally compelling way.

Does Representation Really Matter?

Does Representation Really Matter?

I don’t need to see my likeness reflected in the world because I am already both “represented” by and reflected in the richness of humanity, and more importantly, I actively “represent” a potential for others too. 

Meghan Markle’s ‘Archetypes’: A Platform Stuck in Beta?

Meghan Markle’s ‘Archetypes’: A Platform Stuck in Beta?

With the end of her Archetypes podcast, Meghan Markle’s first exposure to the meritocracy of the customer has been cruel.

Retrofuturism: How the Alt-Right Learned to Love Depeche Mode

Retrofuturism: How the Alt-Right Learned to Love Depeche Mode

For Richard Spencer and today’s alt-right, ‘80s British synthpop bands like Depeche Mode satisfy their retrofuturist cultural fantasies.

James Baldwin Digs Into the Roots of American Music

James Baldwin Digs Into the Roots of American Music

James Baldwin’s writing about music illuminates the significance of racial slavery for all American music. Black American music can help America to move forward if used properly.

Breaking the Habit: Can the US Kick a Century of Drug Dependence?

Breaking the Habit: Can the US Kick a Century of Drug Dependence?

In Quick Fixes, Benjamin Y. Fong explores America’s stubborn addiction to drugs and looks beyond failed drug wars for a way to break the habit once and for all.

W. E. B. Du Bois’ Unfinished WWI History Speaks Volumes About America

W. E. B. Du Bois’ Unfinished WWI History Speaks Volumes About America

W. E. B. Du Bois hoped that WWI would help Black Americans make gains at home after serving their country abroad. His work for racial progress, like America itself, remains unfinished.

Everything You Know Means Nothing: Problematic Art and Crystal Castles’ Legacy

Everything You Know Means Nothing: Problematic Art and Crystal Castles’ Legacy

An abusive past with Crystal Castles haunts former singer Alice Glass. Glass haunts her past back with her multi-artist, confrontational goth synthpunk.

Hopelessly Devoted to Whom? Olivia Newton-John, Juliana Hatfield, and Me

Hopelessly Devoted to Whom? Olivia Newton-John, Juliana Hatfield, and Me

In her tribute album, Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John, Hatfield gives us a direct line to the heady days of the ’80s and makes us wonder if shiny, electric blue lycra was really so bad. 

Bob Dylan’s Art Is Best Served Naked

Bob Dylan’s Art Is Best Served Naked

As Bob Dylan learned, only through baring of one’s soul does one show the way forward, providing both a glimpse into the other and perhaps the shape of things to come.