“Born in the U.S.A.” is a song of audible rage, but this rage is entirely inseparable from its production, from its angular and glossy trappings.
Essays
Caesar Derangement Syndrome Was a Mental Health Disaster
Erik Skindrud compares the political upheaval of Gaius Julius Caesar with the current state of American politics.
Marie Kondo’s Contributions to the Reception History of Jane Austen
Janine Barchas finds new ways of analyzing the reception of Jane Austen texts through discarded mass-produced editions.
America’s Dirty War on Immigrant Children
Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco and Nancy Scheper-Hughes discuss the history of state-sponsored family separation in North and Central America.
Torture and the Military in Mexico’s Democracy
Between 2006 and 2018, the CNDH documented at least 78 cases in which the Mexican army perpetrated acts of torture and cruelty.
On The Limits of Cinematic Alchemy
Annabelle Gurwitch on family history, "Green Book," and white savior stories.
Is The Hunger Games the Myth That Defines Our Times?
Frazer Merritt, Dennis Merritt, and Kevin Lu contemplate "The Hunger Games" franchise and the roll of myths in our unstable times.
In Mary Poppins’s Return, Imagination is Just Background Noise
Shane Cashman compares 1964's "Mary Poppins" to 2018's "Mary Poppins Returns," which favors explanation over imagination.
Drinking with the Ghost: Jack Kerouac in Big Sur, CA
Katie Orphan follows the path of Jack Kerouac northward along California's winding coastline.
Filtering Out: Instagram and the Dangerous Pull of Nostalgia
Marta Zarzycka examines the impact of ubiquitous, easy-to-use photo filters on our perception of reality.
