Cultural Studies

"Culture is an instrument wielded by professors to manufacture professors." — Simone Weil

Family No Longer Sustains: On Michael Szalay’s “Second Lives”
Olivia Stowell reviews Michael Szalay’s “Second Lives: Black-Market Melodramas & the Reinvention of Television.”
Olivia StowellJul 29, 2023
- Cultural Studies
- Television
An Act of Dissimilation: On Max Czollek’s “De-integrate!”
David N. Myers reviews Max Czollek’s “De-integrate! A Jewish Survival Guide for the 21st Century.”
David N. MyersJul 10, 2023
- Cultural Studies
- Politics
Quantum Mechanics: On McKenzie Wark’s “Raving”
Vivian Medithi reviews McKenzie Wark’s “Raving.”
Vivian MedithiJun 29, 2023
Ball Is Cry!! On Katie Heindl’s “Basketball Feelings”
Liz Wolfson profiles Katie Heindl, author of the sports Substack “Basketball Feelings.”
Liz WolfsonJun 10, 2023
- Cultural Studies
- Sports
QAnon, a Compensatory Fantasy for a Nation in Decline: On Robert Guffey’s “Operation Mindfuck” and Mia Bloom and Sophia Moskalenko’s “Pastels and Pedophiles”
Jordan S. Carroll reviews Robert Guffey’s “Operation Mindfuck: QAnon and the Cult of Donald Trump” and Mia Bloom and Sophia Moskalenko’s “Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon.”
Jordan S. CarrollDec 31, 2022
- Cultural Studies
- Politics
How Do You Know What To Shoot?: On William Wyler and John Sturges’s “Thunderbolt”
On its 75th anniversary, Jason Resnikoff revisits the World War II documentary “Thunderbolt” and how it captures the relationship between filmmaking and war-making.
Jason ResnikoffDec 28, 2022
Open Season on Husbands: Female Revenge Movies of the Long 1990s
Isabelle Lang and Laura Valenza revisit the 1990s feminist revenge plot and its bearing on today’s domestic violence laws.
Isabelle Lang, Laura ValenzaNov 25, 2022
Nada Que Ver: On Julián Cardona and Alice Leora Briggs’s “Abecedario de Juárez”
José Luis Benavides reviews “Abecedario de Juárez: An Illustrated Lexicon” by Julián Cardona and Alice Leora Briggs, with translations by Alice L. Driver.
José Luis BenavidesNov 21, 2022
The Mandates of Magic: On Timeka N. Tounsel’s “Branding Black Womanhood”
What are the mandates of Black Girl Magic? Leigh-Michil George looks at the history of “Essence” magazine and the complicated personal politics of representation in an essay about Timeka N. Tounsel’s “Branding Black Womanhood: Media Citizenship from Black Power to Black Girl Magic.”
Leigh-Michil GeorgeNov 10, 2022
Flesh and Affect: On Alexander R. Galloway’s “Uncomputable”
Arjun Appadurai scans Alexander R. Galloway’s “Uncomputable: Play and Politics in the Long Digital Age.”
Arjun AppaduraiSep 18, 2022
- Cultural Studies
- Science & Technology
“Entrepreneurs in Bodily Capital”: On Lisa Uperesa’s “Gridiron Capital: How American Football Became a Samoan Game”
David Lipset reviews Lisa Uperesa’s anthropological study “Gridiron Capital: How American Football Became a Samoan Game.”
David LipsetSep 11, 2022
In Praise of the Arab Editor
Nile Green discovers Ahmed El Shamsy’s “Rediscovering the Islamic Classics: How Editors and Print Culture Transformed an Intellectual Tradition.”
Nile GreenAug 21, 2022