popular culture

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  9/22/2021
  

  Climate Anxiety and the Return of Arctic Horror

  by Bathsheba Demuth

  As climate change driven by capitalism threatens the polar ice caps, new miniseries return to the themes of arctic exploration, where cold and ice threaten humans and commerce, rather than the other way around. 

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• SOURCE: Vox
  9/17/2021
  

  "The Eyes of Tammy Faye": When the GOP Got in Bed with the Christian Right

  The scandals involving the PTL television ministry of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker allowed Jerry Falwell to expand the inluence of the Moral Majority and connect the religious right more firmly to the Republican Party. A new film highlights that moment. 

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• SOURCE: The Drift
  9/14/2021
  

  XOXO, Ruling Class​: Gossip Girl, The O.C., and the New Gilded Age

  David Klion looks at TV producer Josh Schwartz's jump from "The OC" to "Gossip Girl" and argues that, after the 2007 financial crisis, popular culture was able to show the sociopathy of the super-rich. `

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• SOURCE: Black Perspectives
  9/15/2021
  

  The Significance of Yasuke, the Black Samurai

  by Warren A. Stanislaus

  "While media coverage of Afro-Japanese encounters overwhelmingly focuses on incidents of racism or misunderstandings, Yasuke’s interaction with Japan has helped illuminate a rich but overlooked history of Afro-Japanese connectivity." 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  9/15/2021
  

  The 70s are Back, But Not How You Think

  by Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff

  "In the coronavirus era, disco themes resonate. People long for community and wonder if leaders have our backs. Social media offers some of the trappings that defined disco — from the clothes to the allure of being seen in a new way."

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  9/13/2021
  

  "Negotiated Authenticity" and the Precarious Position of Black Creators in Television History

  "Since its invention, television has shaped this country’s self-image. To the extent that we share notions of “normal,” “acceptable,” “funny,” “wrong,” and even “American,” television has helped define them. For decades, Black writers were shut out of the rooms in which those notions were scripted."

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• SOURCE: CNN
  9/9/2021
  

  "Impeachment" Shows How Different the Clinton Scandal Looks with Women at the Center

  by Nicole Hemmer

  "Monica Lewinsky fits squarely in this retelling of the work and experiences of women in the 1990s, as well as broader efforts to grapple with the influence of the decade on our current political travails."

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• SOURCE: Vanity Fair
  8/30/2021
  

  Why Hip Hop Conquered the World: The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip Hop and Rap Drops

  The new anthology "tells the story of American history from 1979 to 2013 through the eyes of the young Black Americans who changed it profoundly."

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  8/27/2021
  

  The "Candyman" Reboot Subverts Cinematic Tropes of Black Suffering

  Director Nia DaCosta, with co-writers Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld, has turned the problematic racial framing of its predecessor on its head, and casts critical light on the treatment of Black characters throughout the history of film. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  8/26/2021
  

  Britney Spears is Part of a Long History of Celebrity Religious Conversion (and Fan Skepticism)

  by Rebecca L. Davis

  The skepticism that has often accompanied public conversions by celebrities, from Sammy Davis, Jr. to Britney Spears, reflects prevalent assumptions about what religious experiences are authentic. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  8/31/2021
  

  "Respect" Highlights the Other Black Women Artists who Helped Aretha Franklin Become the Queen of Soul

  by Fredara M. Hadley

  "Black women, even female Black entertainers, are rarely accorded that sense of control over their own lives. But as Aretha Franklin’s longevity in music and life demonstrated, the possibilities are endless when Black women are the center of their own universe."

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  8/24/2021
  

  Charlie Watts Put Some Jazz in Rock and Roll

  by Victor Coelho

  "In an era when rock drummers were larger-than-life showmen with big kits and egos to match, Charlie Watts remained the quiet man behind a modest drum set. But Watts wasn’t your typical rock drummer."

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  8/21/2021
  

  Tom T. Hall, Writer of Numerous Nashville Hits, Dies at 85

  "In all my writing, I've never made judgments," he said in 1986. "I think that's my secret. I'm a witness. I just watch everything and don't decide if it's good or bad."

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  8/13/2021
  

  Reassessing Gladys Knight's Talent and Impact

  "The scholar Mark Anthony Neal has written that Knight was “the female voice of the Black working class in the 1970s”—more grounded than either the divine Aretha Franklin or the glamorous Diana Ross—and the group’s sensibilities were also working-class."

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• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  8/3/2021
  

  ‘The Green Knight’ Adopts a Medieval Approach to ‘Modern’ Problems

  by David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele

  Modern psychological dramas in the Arthurian film aren't foreign to the Middle Ages; they're there in the original text. Viewers should reconsider what they "know" about the medieval period. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  7/29/2021
  

  Ron Popeil, Inventor and Ubiquitous Infomercial Pitchman, Dies at 86

  "Mr. Popeil’s mastery of television marketing, dating to the 1950s but spanning several decades, made him nearly as recognizable onscreen as the TV and movie stars of his era."

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• SOURCE: Radio Open Source
  7/15/2021
  

  Daphne Brooks on Truth-Telling Music

  African American Studies scholar Daphne Brooks tells the back stories of Black women in music and the cultural impact of their songs. 

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• 7/18/2021
  

  1920s "Tutmania" and its Enduring Echoes

  by Gill Paul

  A remarkable confluence of events and circumstances launched a cultural mania for ancient Egypt in Britain and the US with the 1922 discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. 

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• SOURCE: LitHub
  7/12/2021
  

  The Epically Terrible Star Wars Holiday Special: An Oral History

  Mark Hamill: "George said, 'Look, it’s just a way to keep the merchandising fresh in people’s minds and it’s really a favor to me for those merchandisers.' So I said, 'Oh, all right, but I’m not singing'.”

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• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  6/28/2021
  

  Country Music's Next Big Question: Where are Latino Artists?

  by Amanda Marie Martinez

  “My dream is for the cowboys and the vaqueros — who were the first cowboys — to all be in one place, to bring those two worlds together.”