popular culture

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• SOURCE: The Baffler
  1/18/2021
  

  Operation Desert Shirt

  Writer Matt Stieb examines the cultural reaction to the first Gulf War by studying the topical t-shirts of the day. Blithely invoked violence and casual bigotry silkscreened on cheap fabric should be a reminder of the cruelty inherent in war. 

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• SOURCE: Texas Observer
  12/11/2020
  

  Selena’s Life and Legacy in Corpus Christi

  Historian Cynthia E. Orozco discusses the life and legacy of the Tejana singer Selena Quintanilla as a new Netflix biographical series launches. 

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• SOURCE: Deadline
  12/12/2020
  

  Charley Pride Dies: Pioneering Black Country Music Star Was 86

  Charlie Pride was the first Black performer inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is one of three Black members of the Grand Ole Opry. 

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• SOURCE: Medium
  12/9/2020
  

  The Other ‘Mank’: Joe Mankiewicz and the Wildest Night in Hollywood History

  by Greg Mitchell

  The Netflix film "Mank" provides an opportunity to remember the civil liberties stand taken by Frank Mankiewicz's brother Joe, who opposed the imposition of loyalty oaths on the Directors' Guild at the height of the postwar red scare. 

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• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  11/19/2020
  

  The Devil Had Nothing to Do With It

  by Greil Marcus

  The music writer looks at three recent books on the Mississippi blues singer and guitarist Robert Johnson, looking to pull his story out of the realm of myth. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  11/16/2020
  

  Academy Museum Gives Debbie Reynolds Her Due as a Costume Conservator

  For reasons likely including institiutionalized sexism, costumes have been a neglected part of the preservation of cinematic history. The new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures hopes to work with the late Debbie Reynolds's son to change that. 

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• 11/15/2020
  

  Recovering Acts of Progressive Patriotism: Teaching Through Protest Music

  by Matthew Lindaman

  A history professor reflects on a course teaching critical perspectives on patriotism through protest and music that articulates an inclusive and progressive nationalism.

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• SOURCE: The Revealer
  11/12/2020
  

  On Evangelical Masculinities (Review)

  Journalist Daniel José Camacho reviews Kristin Kobes Du Mez's book "Jesus and John Wayne" and considers the way that masculinities are expressed in non-white evangelical communities. 

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• SOURCE: IndieWire
  11/2/2020
  

  Chris Rock Sounds Off on Hating Civil Rights Movies: ‘They Make Racism Look Very Fixable’

  Rock did not call out any Civil Rights movies by name, although his argument that such films “make racism look very fixable” were the same criticisms thrown at Best Picture winner “Green Book.”

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• SOURCE: The Criterion Collection
  10/28/2020
  

  How Curtis Mayfield and Gladys Knight Created a Sound for Working-Class Black America

  by Mark Anthony Neal

  "Claudine" offered refreshing insight into the humanity of those Black women, their children, and their struggles and joys. And the film’s soundtrack, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield and performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips, was a large part of its achievement.

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• 10/25/2020
  

  Survivors, Apprentices, and Entrepreneurial Sharks: The Mark Burnett Reality TV Presidency

  by Daniel Horowitz

  Mark Burnett's reality TV empire has championed individualism and the myth of the entrepreneurial genius while reviving the celebrity and launching the political career of Donald Trump. Is 2020 the end of the line for both? 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at The Washington Post
  10/13/2020
  

  Popular TV Characters Have Become a Part of the 2020 Campaign. Here’s Why

  by Oscar Winberg

  By the early 1970s, politics was moving to a focus on candidates over parties; New York Mayor John Lindsay sought help for his 1972 presidential bid from actor Carroll O'Connor, whose endorsement blurred the lines between the liberal O'Connor and his reactionary Archie Bunker character.

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  10/7/2020
  

  With His Signature Guitar Style, Eddie Van Halen Changed Rock Music

  by Ken Murray

  A professor of guitar performance explains Eddie Van Halen's innovations in technique, contribution to electric guitar design, and influence across genres including the solo on Michael Jackson's 1983 mega-hit "Beat It"

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• SOURCE: CNN
  10/6/2020
  

  Led Zeppelin Victorious in 'Stairway to Heaven' Plagiarism Case

  Representatives of the estate of the late Randy Wolfe, who claimed authorship, said the case nevertheless proved its point that "Led Zeppelin are the greatest art thieves of all time."

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/23/2020
  

  Go Live in Another Decade. I Recommend It.

  After 1960, much of history as many Americans experienced it — through popular culture on TV, on the radio and at the movies — is preserved and easily accessible online. With a few clicks around YouTube, history leaps into the present, often in ways that deepen and complicate the narrative.

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  9/16/2020
  

  Black Sabbath's Paranoid at 50: Potent Anthems of Working-Class Strife

  Music critics dismissed Black Sabbath's sludgy sound and alienated lyrics, but fans ensured that the band's second album would become one of the most influential rock records of all time. The songs' channeling of working-class pain and frustration, not their fascination with the occult, explain why.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/6/2020
  

  How Latinos Can Win the Culture War

  by Elizabeth Méndez Berry and Mónica Ramírez

  Latino/a Americans can secure their place in America against racist and nativist attacks by demanding representation in the news and entertainment media. The media have been important sources of power in the past, but are still not representative of American demographics. 

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• SOURCE: The New York Times
  8/25/2020
  

  ‘Soul!’ Brought Black Culture to TV in 1968. A New Doc Tells Its Story.

  “Mr. Soul!” spotlights Ellis Haizlip, the host of a show that gave Stevie Wonder, Wilson Pickett and James Baldwin a platform.

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• SOURCE: WUNC
  8/26/2020
  

  Civil War And Southern Charm: How Hollywood Takes On The South (audio)

  Film experts Marsha Gordon and Laura Boyes talk about watching films that gloss over the darker parts of Southern history, but they also explore how more contemporary films resonate with viewers as true to their own experiences.

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  8/24/2020
  

  How Wagner Shaped Hollywood

  Music historian Daniel Ira Goldmark counts more than a hundred Warner Bros. cartoons with Wagner on their soundtracks.