For Episode 18, I am joined by cultural critic and superstar podcaster Karen Tongson to talk about teenage angst, celebrity, what makes pop music “popular,” and “Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too” (Episode 2, Season 5 of Black Mirror), which first premiered in 2019. Listen/Download BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast episodes Subscribe to BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast I have…
Read MoreHELP SUPPORT LOCAL MEMPHIS MUSICIANS! To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the Center for Disease Control has urged U.S. citizens to cancel all events of more than 50 people and to practice social distancing for the next 8 weeks. Cities and states across the nation are ordering all bars, clubs, and restaurants to close. No doubt, the same will…
Read MoreThis is the last day of the #30DaySong Challenge, and I’m very glad I decided to revive it again. I had forgotten how therapeutic regular blogging could be, especially when writing about music. I want to thank all of you, readers, who came to the blog for the first time (or returned after a long…
Read MoreIn previous iterations of the #30DaySongChallenge, I’ve answered this prompt about “a song you want played at your funeral” before– see here for my 2015 answer, and here for my 2011 answer– but, to be honest, that was before I really started thinking seriously about my own funeral. For the last few years, I’ve been teaching…
Read MoreI had intended to write a really uplifting post today about the power of hope. Something about not giving in to the siren call of despondency or, worse, quietism. Something about the curious capacity of the human spirit to not only endure the darkness before the dawn, but to manufacture assurance that the sun will,…
Read MoreIt’s a little bit hard to complain about the break-up of Outkast, since André 3000 (André Benjamin) and Big Boi (Antwan Patton) have both gone on to be stellar solo artists, but still… they were soooooo gooooood together. Back in 1996, a friend gave me Outkast’s ATLiens album as a birthday present. The “Dirty South”…
Read MoreToday’s #30DaySongChallenge pick is a two-fer! And I can’t think of any artist who deserves this kind of double-dipping more than The King of Soul, Otis Redding, an absolutely inimitable performer who always makes you want to go back for seconds. Last year, the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts published a study hypothesizing that there…
Read MoreIt’s really no mystery to anyone who knows me how much I dislike Taylor Swift. She’s my pick for today. Barf. It genuinely pains me to spend any time or space at all writing on this otherwise-respectable blog about Taylor Swift. I’m sure she’s a nice person in real life, and for charity’s sake I’ll…
Read MoreThe lyrics to my #30DaySongChallenge pick today are not “utterly mysterious” in a strict sense. As a whole, I know what the song is about. It’s stated right there in the title. Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson don’t want you, mamas, to let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Also, don’t let your babies…
Read MoreFirst, a clarification: It appears that I misread the prompt list and mixed up Day 15 and Day 16. So, what follows is the post for what should have been my pick yesterday. And you can see yesterday‘s post for what should have been my pick for today. Second, a caveat: I’ve written a lot on…
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