9 posts tagged ‘Culture / Cultural Comment’
Can Shostakovich Ever Escape Stalin’s Shadow?
The New Yorker,
Endless debate over whether the ending of the composer’s Fifth Symphony represents a capitulation to Soviet demands or a secret dissent obscures a more tantalizing possibility.
The Weird, Enduring Appeal of Tool
The band has built its legacy by stubbornly refusing to act the way rock bands are supposed to.
How the Movie Professor Got Cancelled
The life of an academic lacks natural narrative momentum. Cue cancel culture.
The Intimate Reality of the J.F.K. Assassination
A visit to Dealey Plaza, after years of thinking and reading about the Kennedy assassination, came as a shock.
The Surprising Sweetness of the Ayn Rand Fangirl Novel
Lexi Freiman’s “The Book of Ayn” paints an obsession with the godmother of libertarianism as a useful but transient phase.
The Cassette-Tape Revolution
The disruptive power of the cassette anticipated the even greater tectonic shift that the digital age would bring to music.
“The Crown” Presents the Last Days of Princess Diana
The people’s princess remains irresistible in both fiction and memory.
Sympathy for the Schoolgirl
Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” explores a vexed archetype.