Tag Archives: American Culture

Culture, History, Magazines, Previews, Tourism, Travel

Preview: France-Amérique Magazine – January 2023

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France-Amérique Magazine – January 2023 Issue:

Art Deco: Two Decades of Transatlantic Collaboration

If you think that French-American architectural ties boil down to swapping a few Statues of Liberty, then you should visit the Art Deco France-North America exhibition, in Paris until March 6 – or at least read our article on two decades of transatlantic collaboration, a friendship etched in stone. Also in this issue: Paris through the eyes of American thinker Susan Sontag; former prime minister Alain Juppé on the Conseil Constitutionnel – the French version of the Supreme Court; and director Alice Diop on her latest film, Saint Omer, which has been shortlisted to represent France at the Oscars!

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Previews, Reviews, Society, Stories

Culture: New York Times Magazine – Oct 16, 2022

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The Culture Issue – 10.16.22

The Elusive Power of Cate Blanchett

The actress has stayed one step ahead of audiences by constantly being in motion. In her new movie “Tár,” she’s as inscrutable as ever.

American Culture Is Trash Culture

It’s not just that trash is what Americans want from movies; it’s who we are. So where did it go?

Can Black Literature Escape the Representation Trap?

A crop of recent novels strains against the expectations of a publishing industry attempting to embrace diversity.

Culture, History, Magazines, Previews, Society, Stories

Previews: Humanities Magazine – Spring 2022

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HUMANITIES: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities

In This Issue

Dueling: the Violence of Gentlemen

What honor required of men.

Joseph Farrell

Politics and the Psyche    

During World War II, François Tosquelles treated patients by addressing the sickness of society

Camille Robcis

A New Museum For First Americans 

Oklahoma

Andy Rieger

Books, Culture, Interviews, Reviews, Society, Videos

New Books: ‘South To America’ By Imani Perry

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In her new book “South to America,” author Imani Perry seeks to change how people view the American South and, thus, the country’s history as a whole. Jeffrey Brown spoke with Perry, who traveled through the southern regions of the U.S. and explored the complexities and misperceptions she found along the way.

Culture, Lifestyle, Magazines, Politics, Stories, Travel, Views

Covers: France-Amérique Magazine – January 2022

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Arts & Literature, Cartoons, Culture, History, Videos

1950’s: A ‘Moral Panic’ That Targeted Comic Books

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Comic books have been a staple of American pop culture for the better part of 90 years. The origin story of comics as we know them, however, is much more complicated. In the 1950s, a moral panic swept across the country — one in which parents and children burned comic books by the bushel in public gatherings — and led to the near destruction of the comic book industry. Comics were big business even by the 1940s. They reached millions of readers each week. And the superheroes created then have now become billion-dollar franchises, showcased in blockbuster films and massive conventions such as Comic-Con. Events in 1954, however, almost changed that. Laws were passed. Careers were ruined. And comics fell under a strict censorship regime that lasted for decades to come.

Architecture, Culture, Design, Magazines, Reviews, Views

Architecture & Culture: Harvard Design Magazine ‘American Paradigm’ (2021)

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The latest issue of Harvard Design Magazine reveals full redesign and new editorial model as it assesses the establishment, and reconsideration, of the paradigm of “America”.

Harvard Design Magazine 48: America marks a turning point for the magazine as the first issue under new editorial director Julie Cirelli, featuring Mark Lee and Florencia Rodriguez as guest editors. This issue also debuts a full redesign by Alexis Mark, the Copenhagen-based graphic design firm. Publishing this month, the issue gathers contributions from leading figures across the fields of architecture, design, urban planning, fashion, art, and governance, including Maurice Cox, Shaun Donovan, Michèle Lamy, Sylvia Lavin, and Marc Norman. Join Lee, Rodriguez, and Norman, alongside contributors Paul Andersen, Neeraj Bhatia, and Maite Borjabad Lòpez-Pastor, for a virtual launch event next Tuesday, March 23, 7:30pm ET.

Harvard Design Magazine 48: America reflects on the theme and definition of “America” through lenses of cultural production, racial justice, and architectural and design practice. In the 20th century, a paradigm of America characterized by progress, openness, and democracy was perpetuated—but with an ominous underbelly of exclusion, racism, and inequity left unexamined. While viewpoints on America’s story and history differ, if not reject one other, what is widely shared is a sense of 2020 as a breaking point—or, “a consciousness of an imminent existential threshold,” as write Lee and Rodriguez.

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Analysis, Business, Culture, Food, Society, Videos

Candy Business: ‘How Wrigley’s Dominated Chewing Gum’ (Video)

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Gum lines the pockets of most Americans and has been a staple in American culture for centuries. For some, gum is all about flavor, and for others, it’s about fear of bad breath, curbing hunger, or alleviating anxiety. For nearly 130 years, the brand Wrigley’s has become synonymous with chewing gum.

Since its start, the gum maker has dominated the chewing gum market, spawning brands from Juicy Fruit to Orbit to 5 Gum. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the William Wriglely Jr. Co.; over its storied past, the brand has faced turbulent years. Since the early 2000s, the chewing gum market has seen a decline in public sentiment, which hurt significant players. In 2006, the company ended its long-standing tradition of being a family run business with William Wrigley Jr. stepping down as CEO.

By 2008, Wrigley’s faced increasing global competition and was acquired by Mars along with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. According to Euromonitor International, the gum industry’s market value hit $18.6 billion in 2020. Since 2015, Mars Wrigley has held 25% of the global brand share for chewing gum and a 40% portion in the U.S. The Covid-19 pandemic since it began in March 2020 has negatively impacted gum’s most prominent players and could negatively affect Mars Wrigley gum brands’ future.

Arts & Literature, Books, Culture, Photography, Travel

Top New Travel Books: “American Surfaces” By Stephen Shore – Road Trip Photos From Early 1970’s

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Stephen Shore American Surfaces book April 2020Stephen Shore’s images from his travels across America in 1972-73 are considered the benchmark for documenting the extraordinary in the ordinary and continue to influence photographers today.

The original edition of American Surfaces, published by Phaidon in 2005, brought together 320 photographs sequenced in the order in which they were originally documented. Now, in the age of Instagram and nearly 50 years after Shore embarked on his cross-country journey, this revised and expanded edition will bring this seminal work back into focus.

Stephen Shore photo by Alec Soth May 10 2019
Stephen Shore

Stephen Shore is one of the most influential living photographers. His photographs from the 1970s, taken on road trips across America, established him as a pioneer in the use of color in art photography. He is director of the photography program at Bard College, New York.

Teju Cole is a novelist, photographer, critic, curator, and author. He is the Gore Vidal Professor of the Practice of Creative Writing at Harvard.

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