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Signs of Urban Life: On “The 99% Invisible City” and “The City Beneath”
Two books decipher the hidden meanings behind urban design, from sewage systems to graffiti art....
Oliver Wang
Oliver Wang is a professor of sociology at CSU Long Beach and a frequent writer on arts, culture, and the city. He has lived in the San Gabriel Valley for 20 cumulative years.
Articles
Giving Up the Goods: Mobb Deep’s “The Infamous” Turns 25
Oliver Wang revisits the antihero tales of crime and grime of the 1995 legacy-making album “The Infamous” by Mobb Deep on its 25th anniversary....
Beyond Soul Food
A new book explores the wide range and deep history of African-American cuisine....
From Chop Suey to Haute Cuisine: A Case Study in American “Ethnic Food”
Oliver Wang digests books on the complicated history of Chinese-American cuisine and the problematic label of “ethnic food.”...
Space Invaders
Geoff Manaugh elevates burglars above petty criminal status and instead characterizes them as “drunk Jedis of architectural space.”...
Top Five, Dead or Alive
On Shea Serrano's new "Rap Year Book."...
Records Don’t Love You Back: In Search of Lost 78s
These records, like the collectors who chase after them, enjoy transient existences and sharing them gives that ephemerality some meaning and purpose....
Rage, Race, and Recipes
In Fresh Off the Boat, Chef Eddie Huang’s thoughts on race and masculinity are provocative but they often result in the memoir’s most muddled arguments....
RJ Smith on James Brown
RJ Smith photo by Jenny Burman Oliver Wang interviews R.J. Smith about his biography of the hardest working man in show business: The One: The Life and Music of James Brown. ...
PODCAST: Laura Pulido and Wendy Cheng and The People's Guide to LA
Co-authors Laura Pulido and Wendy Cheng take Oliver Wangon an audio tour of several of the sites in The People's Guide of Los Angeles....
David Leonard and Oliver Wang on "After Artest"
David J. Leonard discusses race, sports, and his new book "After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness" with LARB Audio Editor Oliver Wang....
Living with Linsanity
Racial difference was an integral part of Linsanity since the beginning and, as the phenomenon grew, the issue would continue to snowball....
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