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.
Michael Curtis Nelson
Michael Curtis Nelson has a Ph.D. from Indiana University, where he is Director of Publications and Graphics.
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.
Biography ‘Saving Freud’ Tells of Struggles with Freud’s Stubborn Denial
Andrew Nagorski’s engrossing biography, Saving Freud, brings forth the dangerous power of denial.
‘The Shame Machine’ Illuminates a Key Component of Today’s Incivility
The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation offers a means to fight back against shaming but little advice for addressing shameless behavior.
Hitchcock’s ‘Blackmail’ and the Birth of the British Talkies
Consideration of both the sound and the silent versions of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Blackmail’ provides a unique opportunity to explore the methods of an artist and industry in transition.
Huddled Masses and New Media: ‘How the Other Half Looks’
How America's ur-ghetto, New York's Lower East Side, changed the way we see ourselves.
‘Voices from the Rust Belt’: Dispatches from one of America’s Most Misunderstood Regions
The daughters and sons of the embattled, resilient US heartland map out its personal, cultural, and historical landscape.
Pause and Effect: How to Stop Jumping to Conclusions
A sociologist offers hope for finding better solutions to complex problems by asking better questions about causation.
‘Vampyr’ Is the Best Vampire Movie You’ve Never Seen
If Carl Theodor Dreyer had his way, his 1932 film Vampyr would now be a Halloween vampire movie tradition.
Shelter from the Norm: Umbrellas Aren’t Always What They Seem in ‘Brolliology’
Mary Poppins, Mrs. Gamp, Egyptian deities, a Japanese umbrella spirit, and a supporting cast of hundreds of brollies fill Marion Rankine’s lively history, Brolliology.
The Complicated Story of Race and Rock ‘n’ Roll in the ’60s
In Just Around Midnight, Jack Hamilton explains what happened over the course of the '60s that turned rock 'n' roll white.
‘The Rhapsodes’: When an Aesthetic Approach to Film Criticism Was Novel
It’s hard to imagine now, but in the '40s it was a daring thing to champion film. These four critics did just that, and did it very well.