Popular History

Nel 1933 viene lanciato nei cinema USA "I tre porcellini" di Walt Disney. Questo piccolo avvenimento segna l'inizio della parabola della cultura mainstream promossa dai film delle majors hollywoodiane, raccolta e amplificata dalla radio e dalla tv. Questo tipo di cultura, basata su un'idea consolatoria dell'intrattenimento, fondata su una visione manichea del bene contro il male e sul must del lieto fine, prende forma allora e mette radici nell'immaginario collettivo dell'Occidente.

Schwitzen im Proberaum einer Moskauer Rockband. Ehemalige Sowjetrepubliken, die Kabardino-Balkarien heißen. Ein Stripclub an der Wolga. Techno Clubs, in denen nichts zufällig passiert. Und das Krankenzimmer eines Moskauer Hospitals. Diane Hielscher diskutiert auf Kinderspielplätzen über die Postmoderne, tanzt mit Jugendlichen am schwarzen Meer, trinkt in dunklen Bars und fremden Wohnzimmern. Nebenbei erlernt sie die Feinheiten der russischen Vulgärsprache - während im Kaukasus gerade der Krieg ausbricht.

Welcome to the electrifying world of K-pop! From its origins in a once-overlooked corner of Asia to today's global superstars like BTS and BLACKPINK, discover how South Korea built an entertainment empire that's revolutionizing modern culture. This comprehensive guide reveals the fascinating story behind K-pop's meteoric rise and lasting impact.

What was the real significance of William James's breakdown? Of the anti-Semitism in T.S. Eliot's writing? At each step in his latest journey through American cultural history, Menand has an original point to make.

From the sleek Aston Martin that spits out bullets, nails, and passengers at the push of a button to the microjet that makes hairpin turns to avoid a heat-seeking missile, the science and technology of James Bond films have kept millions of movie fans guessing for decades. Are these amazing feats and gadgets truly possible? The Science of James Bond takes you on a fascinating excursion through the true science that underlies Bond's most fantastic and off-the-wall accoutrements.

Esta es la historia de la Santa Muerte, culto de crisis; remix de catolicismo, kermesse y New Age; un culto hedonista pero también de sacrificio corporal; reflejo de fuerzas económicas, psicológicas y sociales más amplias de lo que tal vez ninguno de sus acólitos sospecha.

Smith tells the joyful story of the musicians, the radio DJs, the record labels, and the live venues where jazz not only survived but thrived in the 1960s. In an era marked by turmoil and struggle, popular jazz offered a powerful outlet for joy, resilience, pride, and triumph.

The Secret has taken the book world by storm, giving people the power to live happier, more prosperous lives through the law of attraction. In the same vein as Breaking the Da Vinci Code, The Secret of "The Secret" takes an independent look at the people and the ideas behind the bestseller and...

Comic Book Women offers a feminist history of the golden age of comics, revising our understanding of how numerous genres emerged and upending narratives of how male auteurs built their careers. Considering issues of race, gender, and sexuality, the authors examine crime, horror, jungle, romance, science fiction, superhero, and Western comics to unpack the cultural and industrial consequences of how women were represented across a wide range of titles by publishers like DC, Timely, Fiction House, and others.

Danny Goldberg's new book is a subjective history of 1967, the year he graduated from high school. It is, he writes, "an attempt at trying to remember the culture that mesmerized me, to visit the places and conversations I was not cool enough to have been a part of." It is also a refreshing and new analysis of the era; by looking at not only the political causes, but also the spiritual, musical, and psychedelic movements, Goldberg provides a unique perspective on how and why the legacy of 1967 lives on today.

The Naughty Nineties: The Triumph of the American Libido examines the scandal-strafed decade when our public and private lives began to blur due to the rise of the web, reality television, and the wholesale tabloidization of pop culture. In this comprehensive and often hilarious time capsule, David Friend combines detailed reporting with first-person accounts from many of the decade's singular personalities, from Anita Hill to Monica Lewinsky, Lorena Bobbitt to Heidi Fleiss, Jesse Jackson to key members of the Clinton, Dole, and Bush teams.

"WOW!! I didn't know that!!" - this is what I predict you will say literally hundreds of times as you listen to this book. In fact, in the humblest sort of way, I am confident that you will learn more from this book about the world we live in and interacting with our fellow human beings than you did in all your years of high school and college. I really wish someone would have given me this book before I left school and entered the real world.

Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran and former host of All Access, DC Comics' web show, Jason Inman, discusses the influence war has had on some of the most memorable superheroes in comics.

This book is the first anthology to explore the connection between race and the suburbs in American cinema from the end of World War II to the present. It builds upon the explosion of interest in the suburbs in film, television, and fiction in the last fifteen years, concentrating exclusively on the relationship of race to the built environment. Race and the Suburbs in American Film is a stimulating resource for considering the manner in which race is foundational to architecture and urban geography, which is reflected, promoted, and challenged in cinematic representations.

Christmas is the most important holiday of the year. After the corresponding days that exalt the national pride of each country, such as Independence Day in the United States, Victory Day in Russia, or Bastille Day in France, it's December 25 that articulates the life, the work, and the economy in much of the world, including many non-Christian countries. Since ancient times, the beginning of winter has been the occasion for most people to eat, drink, dance, and get together to beat the drum and take a break.

The Boy Scouts: The History and Legacy of the World's Most Popular Youth Organization chronicles the history of the organization, and how it came to be so famous.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that it is much easier to overthrow a government than form a new one, and that in turn it is easier to form a government than to govern. The men who founded America knew these facts in theory, but in the last decade of the 18th century, they learned them by experience when, just a few years after the new Constitution had been ratified, a rebellion arose over taxes.

Ce livre est le récit d’une rencontre avec un pays, avec la saisissante diversité géographique et humaine de la France, avec des lieux qui disent : ce que nous sommes, notre héritage, ce qui nous lie et nous relie.

In extensive interviews with scene pioneers and mainstays, including Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional), Geoff Rickly (Thursday), Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance), Gabe Saporta (Midtown/Cobra Starship), and Max Bemis (Say Anything), veteran music journalist Michael Tedder has crafted a once-in-a-generation exploration of emo and The Scene that is as forthright as it is tenderly nostalgic, taking to task the elements of toxic masculinity and crass consumerism that bled out of the early 2000s cultural milieu and ultimately led to the implosion of emo's first home, MySpace.

Gay bars have been closing by the hundreds. The story goes that increasing mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, plus dating apps, have rendered these spaces obsolete. Beyond that, rampant gentrification in big cities has pushed gay bars out of the neighborhoods they helped make hip. Who Needs Gay Bars? considers these narratives, accepting that the answer for some might be: maybe nobody. Greggor Mattson embarks on a journey across the country to paint a much more complex picture of the cultural significance of these spaces, inside "big four" gay cities, but also beyond them.