How the classic aesthetic of 1960s pulp comics influenced art, culture, and politics. As a form of visual art, comic books rely on a distinct and eye-catching aesthetic. This is especially true of the iconic comics, graphic novels, and illustrations of the 1960s and 1970s. The Look of the 1960s explores the sources of inspiration that influenced ......
Despite the island's long-simmering tensions, Dominicans and Haitians once unified Hispaniola. Based on research from over two dozen archives in multiple countries, Siblings of Soil presents the overlooked history of their shared imperial endings and national beginnings from the 1780s to 1822. Haitian revolutionaries both inspired and aided ......
Travel Narratives in the Cinema of Alexander Payne
The first in-depth analysis of the films of Alexander Payne through the lenses of authorship, tourism, and leisure. With the films Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, Nebraska, and The Holdovers, Alexander Payne has carved out an unusual role in American cinema as a bankable auteur. There is something about Payne's neurotics and searchers, his ......
The incredible career of the forgotten but foundational pro wrestler who shaped American sports culture. William Muldoon was an infamous athlete whose prowess and savvy across his six-decade career led him to wealth, cultural importance, and political power. Muldoon, the child of poor Irish immigrants, began wrestling in the 1870s and quickly ......
The Christ of Ixmiquilpan and Colonial Piety in Mexico City
A study of the Christ of Ixmiquilpan, a historically beloved religious icon from sixteenth-century Mexico, and its evolving cultural importance. The life-sized crucifix known as the Christ of Ixmiquilpan (also the SeNor de Santa Teresa) was one of the most important artworks in colonial Mexico. The statue began as an ordinary devotional image, ......
An analysis of how post-9/11 war movies changed from following soldiers on specific missions to chronicling war as a day-to-day occupation. In 2003, the United States began a war in Iraq without a mission. Instead of fighting to restore peace-the traditional objective of warfare-servicemembers faced the grim reality that there was no goal. ......
How West Texas business and culture molded the rise of conservatism in the United States. Much of what we understand as modern American political conservatism was born in West Texas, where today it predominates. How did the people of such a vast region-larger than New England and encompassing big cities like Lubbock and Amarillo, as well as tiny ......
A new collection of essays grappling with identity and memory, from a master of the form. The author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Gates of the Alamo, the sweeping Texas history Big Wonderful Thing, and decades of incisive journalism, Stephen Harrigan is an adept writer skilled in crafting memorable characters. From this singular ......
An oral history with the women of Parliament-Funkadelic, from forming the band to landing the mothership. Parliament-Funkadelic is perhaps the greatest funk band ever assembled. Yet at the time of the group's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, none of the women who helped create the sound and performed in P-Funk were invited to the ......