Clik here to view.
What Does Randy Newman Say When He Talks With God?
On the ever-expanding battlefield where humorists wage war with religion, singer-songwriter Randy Newman is a
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kurt Vonnegut: Our Reluctant, Agnostic, Hippy Guru
“‘What should young people do with their lives today?’ The most daring thing is to
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who’s Better Than Mark Twain at Bible-bashing?
“I cannot call to mind a single instance where I have ever been irreverent, except
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can Satire Bring Down Donald Trump?
As I write, Hillary Clinton is enjoying a moderate post-convention bounce after the polls have
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nutty Professors? The Case for Scientist-Humorists in the Culture Wars
At the historical hub of the culture wars are science and religion. Despite the much-recited
View ArticleClik here to view.
Richard Dawkins and the Need for a New Science Populism
With the publication of The God Delusion in 2006, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins thrust himself
View ArticleClik here to view.
Believe Me! Trumpism and the Messianic Impulse
We are facing the prospect of the most theocratic administration in modern history. Ordinarily, it
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can We Say the F Word Yet? On Fascism and Humor
Fascism… cannot be evaluated purely through the prism of historical precedent; it must be recognized
View ArticleClik here to view.
One Nation, Divided by Humor
Are we just joking to our own choirs? Although a celebrated attention-grabber in 2005, few
View ArticleClik here to view.
Whatever Happened to Indie Rock?
“Without even the slightest hope of a thousand sales…. The band went in and knocked
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why, After All These Years, Are We Still Speaking in Sein Language?
During my pre-teen years, it became a standard ritual at school to show up having
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hardcore Punks and Their Shenanigans in the Outhouse
Initially called either “Past the Pavement Hall”, “The Barn”, or “The Cistern Chapel”, a small
View ArticleClik here to view.
Haven’t You Learned How to Take a Joke? The Comedy-on-Campus Debates
Although colleges have never been the primary breeding grounds for our great comedians, during the
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Happened to British Culture When Alternative Comedy Went from Posh to Punk?
Despite recent waves of kitsch nostalgia for it, British comedy in the ’70s was, for
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Cappella Punk: What’s Happening to Alternative Comedy in the US?
Is alternative comedy the new punk rock? Portia Sabin, president of Kill Rock Stars, the
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Rebel Rockin’ Roots of Punk Rock Humor
The best punk, like the best humor, packs a critical punch, and no music genre
View ArticleClik here to view.
New Atheism’s Gender Problems
Since the emergence of the so-called New Atheists in the early 2000s, generations old and
View ArticleClik here to view.
Three Chords and the Truth: The Ramones, the Sex Pistols and the Clash
As much as punk exists as a subculture, style, attitude, and artistic aesthetic, it is—first
View ArticleClik here to view.
New Wave: Turning Rebellion into Money
“Don’t Call it Punk.” — Seymour Stein, President of Sire Records, 1977. Few today would
View ArticleClik here to view.
Post-Punk: The Cerebral Genre
The punk spirit would likely have died but for the theoretical questions post-punk forced bands into answering.
View ArticleClik here to view.
When You Speak to Your Muse, Does It Answer? It Does in ‘Boss Broad’
To paraphrase Calvin Coolidge, the chief business of American writers is America; Megan Volpert, author
View ArticleClik here to view.
Industrial Punk: Here’s a Finger, Now Form a Band!
Post-modernism is often perceived as cultural expression that has broken from modernism while simultaneously reflecting
View ArticleClik here to view.
Darkness Illuminates: Goth Punk’s Great Escapism
The goth subculture has traveled many tributaries over the past 40 years. Many have forgotten—or
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rebelling Against the Rebellion: British Punk’s Second Coming
Louder, faster, angrier, and harder than punk ever sounded, second-wave punk in 1979 Britain kept the core instrumental ingredients but used and produced them in ways that boiled off any subtleties or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Punk Hybrids: Back in the Garage
Pink Fender by rahu (Pixabay License / Pixabay) Genre analysis is an inexact methodology. Art
View ArticleClik here to view.
Punk Hybrids: Wham! Bam! Glam-Punk!
The road from garage to punk had as its most important fill-up station the glam
View ArticleClik here to view.
Punk and Metal: Frenemies for Life
Worlds collided when punk and metal realized they were opposite sides of the same coin. Who knew they would be frenemies for life?
View ArticleClik here to view.
Unite and Fight! England’s Punk-Reggae Hybrid
In December 1976, Bob Marley survived an assassination attempt in his Jamaican homeland. This prompted
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Deep and Distant Roots of the Ska-Punk Hybrid
Guitar by rahu (Pixabay License / Pixabay) In Jamaica reggae came after ska; conversely, when
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Punk Got the Funk
Considering its rhythmic complexities and instrumental demands, at first glance funk music would appear to
View ArticleClik here to view.
Psychobilly: Qu’est-ce Que C’est?
Psychobilly inhabits a space where some of rock’s oldest genres—rockabilly, garage, surf, country, and blues—cross-pollinate
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cowpunk: A Brief Y’alternative History
Cowpunk is a reaction against conventional country music, yet embodies some of its distant and deepest traits. Likewise, it's also a reaction against punk, yet manifests as one of its purest expressions.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Folk Punk: Three Chords and the Truth
When coupled with punk in the late 1970s to create folk punk, folk music’s most enduring and endearing traits—DIY, inclusivity, and proud amateurism—shined bright.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Punk Rap: The Early Years
When the rebel subcultures punk and rap crossed paths in '70s NYC, a hybrid was born that endures and reconfigures to this day.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Runway Punk: A Story of Celebration and Co-option
Haute couture designers tap into the socio-political commentary of punk’s confrontational attire to reflect upon societal decay–and to satirize high fashion.
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Happens When Punk Rockers and Sports Jocks Meet in the Middle?
When punk rockers and sports jocks meet their clash creates a fusion that causes a different kind of explosion.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Subversive Threads: How Punk Inspired the Craftivist Movement
Craftivism’s core values of autonomy, subversion, political consciousness, and subcultural community make it yet another example of punk’s enduring influence.
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Art of the Pose: Punk and Performance
London School of Ballet prodigy Michael Clark saw beauty in the moves he witnessed when attending punk gigs as a kid in the late 1970s.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Punk in the Classroom: Question Everything
Punk’s "question everything" attitude has always been suited to education, despite the forces that seek to contain its rabble-rousing trouble-making from the classroom.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Punk Wouldn’t Have Spread So Far Without the Sh*t Media
Simultaneously inside and outside by either choice or circumstance, punk has always had paradoxical – sometimes hostile – relations with TV, radio, and the internet.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Punk Literature 101: Recommended Readings
Stimulated by, then stimulating, certain writings, punk has been a change agent of literature, injecting energy and disruption into multiple genres.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who Put the Pop in Gen Z’s Pop Punk?
Although beloved by millions, Gen Z's pop punk may also be punk’s most hated form, yet its roots are deep in "pure punk" soil.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Public Image Limited’s Keith Levene and the Post-Punk Revolution
Post-punk is one of the most adventurous genres in rock history, and Public Image Limited's Keith Levene is one of its greatest trailblazers.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pub Rock Guitarist Wilko Johnson Was an Inspiration to a Generation of...
Guitarist Wilko Johnson of pub rock band Dr. Feelgood created a polyrhythmic down-and-up chop on open chords that inspired Paul Weller (the Jam), Hugh Cornwell (the Stranglers), and Jon King (Gang of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Kids Are Alt-Right: How Punk Got Co-opted by Fascism
Like political populism, punk’s traits and tenets are sufficiently vague, contradictory, and unmoored to be vulnerable to co-option by all political opportunists—including the fascist alt-right.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Retrofuturism: How the Alt-Right Learned to Love Depeche Mode
For Richard Spencer and today’s alt-right, ‘80s British synthpop bands like Depeche Mode satisfy their retrofuturist cultural fantasies.
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Alt-Right’s Roots Go Deep in Co-Opting Pop Music
As with the Nazis and Goebbels and the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right's desire to co-opt pop music for their purposes requires ideological and ethical gymnastics.
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Rise of Rock ‘n’ Roll Nation and the Far Right Reaction
American anxieties about the rise of rock 'n' roll nation were exploited by the far right, relating the music’s lyrics, sounds, dances, and subcultures to ubiquitous worries about communism and the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Holy Rollers: American Pentecostalism’s Musical Offspring
First-born Holy Rollers of American Pentecostalism include rebels Sister Rosetta Tharpe, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Ray Charles.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Subversive Strumming: Fear and Loathing of the American Folk Music Revival
For the American political right of the post-war era, folk music more than rock ‘n’ roll was regarded as a national threat – but not because of the songs' lyrics.
View Article
