The Abortion Discord Sewn into Faded ‘Blue Denim’
Today’s discord and desperation over abortion in America has roots in Philip Dunne’s faded Blue Denim, one of the first Hollywood films to address the issue.
Culture
‘Dirty Dancing’ in Pre-Roe v. Wade America
Andrea Warner’s book on Dirty Dancing in pre- Roe v. Wade America, The Time of My Life, is the deep dive into the film we need in these times.
Backstreet Abortion Onscreen: Stories of Solitary Struggle and Solidarity
Nymphomaniac II, Happening, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire depict backstreet abortion as either a solitary or collaborative experience among women.
Disillusion and the Glimmer of Hope for American Suburbs
The familiar image of the American suburbs has not changed much since the 1950s. Benjamin Herold’s Disillusioned both updates and counters that image.
Waxing Moustaches: A Hair-Brained Interview with Humourist Aug Stone
What do sports, music, comedy, and neuroplasticity have to do with waxing moustaches? This hair-brained interview with humourist Aug Stone explains.
Rachel Maddow on the Bit Players’ Big Effects on Promoting American Fascism
Rachel Maddow’s latest book on political history, Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism, weaves varying players past into a singular danger present.
Christopher Hitchens and Fights Worth Having
You can smell the cigarette ash and Johnnie Walker Black Label on the pages of A Hitch in Time, a gleefully pugilistic posthumous Christopher Hitchens anthology.
Subversive Strumming: Fear and Loathing of the American Folk Music Revival
For the American political right of the post-war era, folk music more than rock ‘n’ roll was regarded as a national threat – but not because of the songs’ lyrics.
Yoko Ono’s Controversial Work at Tate Modern
Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind at Tate Modern is an engaging overview of the polarizing artist’s career, but her career didn’t end post-John Lennon and Fluxus.
K-Pop: Who Gets Canceled and Why
You can tell what bedevils a society by whom its members try to forcibly remove from the spotlight. In K-Pop, here’s who gets canceled and why.
K-Pop: Race in the Music Industry
Why do K-pop’s Asian pop stars get less recognition in the Land of the Free than non-Asian pop stars in the Land of the Morning Calm?