popular culture

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/22/2021
  

  Lucky Luke, the Comic Book Cowboy, Discovers Race, Belatedly

  While Emmanuel Macron decries American obsessions with race and prejudice, right-wing French comics readers have reacted with anger to an effort to update the longstanding cowboy-themed comic franchise with heroic Black characters. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/23/2021
  

  To Understand Contemporary American Culture, Look To Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee

  Stan Lee's approach to comics, described in a new biography by Abraham Reismna, enabled the creation of denser universes of characters and also created a fan culture that affects how popular culture is made, enjoyed and discussed.

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• 2/21/2021
  

  "Hamilton" and Politics Today

  by Donald J. Fraser

  The phenomenally successful "Hamilton" takes some liberties with its subject, but it still offers some valuable perspective on our politics today. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/17/2021
  

  The Crossroads Facing Country Music after Morgan Wallen’s Use of a Racist Slur

  by Amanda Marie Martinez

  Country music has always been more racially diverse than the commercial recording and radio industries in Nashville have recognized. It's time for the industry to reflect the music's history. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  2/11/2021
  

  The Lady Gaga Anthem That Previewed a Decade of Culture Wars

  Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" was embraced as an anthem by some LGBTQ fans, but immediately raised questions about identity and cultural authority that are at the center of online culture wars today. 

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• SOURCE: Variety
  2/8/2021
  

  Mary Wilson, Co-Founder of the Supremes, Dies at 76

  Mary Wilson was sometimes overshadowed by Diana Ross in the popular Motown group, but her peers recognized her contributions to the Supremes and popular music. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  1/28/2021
  

  Sun Records, Storied Early Rock Label, Sells Its High-Wattage Catalog

  "In the 1950s, Sun Records in Memphis became one of the most dynamic forces in American music, releasing the first recordings by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others, helping define rockabilly and rock ’n’ roll."

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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"