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Language Is a Virus, and People Could Die

Language Is a Virus, and People Could Die

The COVID pandemic seemed to accelerate the spread of new viral media, but viruses mutate, pop culture replicates, and everything’s a cover song.

The Art of Psychological Warfare

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.

Is the ‘Barbie’ Movie Performative Subversion or Meaningful Rebellion?

Is the ‘Barbie’ Movie Performative Subversion or Meaningful Rebellion?

Is the Barbie movie, like the Barbie dolls, a superficial attempt to co-opt feminist discourse? Or does it offer something substantial? 

The Art of Advertising (excerpt)

The Art of Advertising (excerpt)

The Art of Advertising invites us to consider both the intended and unintended messages of the advertisements of the past.

When British Advertising Became Ubiquitous and Beautiful

When British Advertising Became Ubiquitous and Beautiful

Lambert tracks British social history through posters, cards, and other ephemera in the vividly illustrated The Art of Advertising.

‘Represented’: Black Buying Power and the American Dream

‘Represented’: Black Buying Power and the American Dream

The unheralded and underappreciated PR exec. Moss Kendrix is the de facto hero in Brenna Wynn Greer's enlightening history of Black marketers and the evolving depiction of Black people in mass media.

Weaponizing Culture

Weaponizing Culture

Curator and art activist Nato Thompson argues that culture is not just contested terrain, it is a tool used for asserting and maintaining power.

Everybody Wears Streetwear, So Everybody Should Read About It in ‘This Is Not Fashion’

Everybody Wears Streetwear, So Everybody Should Read About It in ‘This Is Not Fashion’

Beyond utility and good looks, perhaps the most essential feature of streetwear is that it always says something. King ADZ and Wilma Stone excel in this area of ideology.

2012: Another Year the World Should Have Ended

You are a Target: ‘The Daily You’

Foodie Folklore: Josh Chetwynd’s ‘How the Hot Dog Found its Bun’

Flash Points: Mommy’s Breast, Marriage Equality and Why Chipotle Is King