Category: AmericanStudier
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May 4, 2026: Little Rhody Remembered: The Name
[On May 6, 1776, Rhode Island became the first colony to formally declare its independence from England. That’s one of many ways this smallest state has made a big impact,…
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May 2-3, 2026: Columbo Villains: Just One More Thing
[It’s criminal how little I’ve written in this space about one of my favorite characters and cultural works. Well that changed this week, as I’ve AmericanStudied a handful of the…
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May 1, 2026: Columbo Villains: Joe Devlin
[It’s criminal how little I’ve written in this space about one of my favorite characters and cultural works. Well that changes this week, as I’ll be AmericanStudying a handful of…
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April 30, 2026: Columbo Villains: Hassan Salah and Luis Montoya
[It’s criminal how little I’ve written in this space about one of my favorite characters and cultural works. Well that changes this week, as I’ll be AmericanStudying a handful of…
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April 29, 2026: Columbo Villains: Lyle Rumford
[It’s criminal how little I’ve written in this space about one of my favorite characters and cultural works. Well that changes this week, as I’ll be AmericanStudying a handful of…
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April 28, 2026: Columbo Villains: Beth Chadwick
[It’s criminal how little I’ve written in this space about one of my favorite characters and cultural works. Well that changes this week, as I’ll be AmericanStudying a handful of…
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April 27, 2026: Columbo Villains: Martin Hollister
[It’s criminal how little I’ve written in this space about one of my favorite characters and cultural works. Well that changes this week, as I’ll be AmericanStudying a handful of…
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April 25-26, 2026: Earth Day Inheritors: Aidan and Kyle Railton
[Earth Day has been around for more than 50 years, but it’s more important than ever here in 2026. So for this year’s commemorations I’ve AmericanStudied a handful of the…
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April 24, 2026: Earth Day Founders: Walter Reuther
[Earth Day has been around for more than 50 years, but it’s more important than ever here in 2026. So for this year’s commemorations I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of the…
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April 23, 2026: Earth Day Founders: Walt Kelly and Pogo
[Earth Day has been around for more than 50 years, but it’s more important than ever here in 2026. So for this year’s commemorations I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of the…
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April 22, 2026: Earth Day Founders: Julian Koenig
[Earth Day has been around for more than 50 years, but it’s more important than ever here in 2026. So for this year’s commemorations I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of the…
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April 21, 2026: Earth Day Founders: Marc McGinnes & Denis Hayes
[Earth Day has been around for more than 50 years, but it’s more important than ever here in 2026. So for this year’s commemorations I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of the…
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April 20, 2026: Earth Day Founders: Rod Nash
[Earth Day has been around for more than 50 years, but it’s more important than ever here in 2026. So for this year’s commemorations I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of the…
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April 18-19, 2026: General Studying: Military Leaders in 2026
[On April 11, 1951, President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his position as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. MacArthur is one of many U.S. Generals who have a…
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April 17, 2026: General Studying: Westmoreland and Vietnam
[On April 11, 1951, President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his position as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. MacArthur is one of many U.S. Generals who have a…
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April 16, 2026: General Studying: The Anti-Bonus Army Generals
[On April 11, 1951, President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his position as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. MacArthur is one of many U.S. Generals who have a…
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April 15, 2026: General Studying: Smedley Butler
[On April 11, 1951, President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his position as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. MacArthur is one of many U.S. Generals who have a…
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April 14, 2026: General Studying: Longstreet, Lee, and Benjamin Butler
[On April 11, 1951, President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his position as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. MacArthur is one of many U.S. Generals who have a…
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April 13, 2026: General Studying: Revolutionary War Generals
[On April 11, 1951, President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his position as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. MacArthur is one of many U.S. Generals who have a…
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April 11-12, 2026: Why NeMLA Matters More than Ever in 2026
[About a month ago Vaughn and I had the chance to attend and present at the 57th Northeast Modern Language Association Convention, held this year in Pittsburgh. So as I’ve…
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April 10, 2026: NeMLA Recaps: Special Events
[About a month ago Vaughn and I had the chance to attend and present at the 57th Northeast Modern Language Association Convention, held this year in Pittsburgh. So as I’ve…
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April 9, 2026: NeMLA Recaps: NeMLA Books
[About a month ago Vaughn and I had the chance to attend and present at the 57th Northeast Modern Language Association Convention, held this year in Pittsburgh. So as I’ve…
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April 8, 2026: NeMLA Recaps: Twain Panels
[About a month ago Vaughn and I had the chance to attend and present at the 57th Northeast Modern Language Association Convention, held this year in Pittsburgh. So as I’ve…
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April 7, 2026: NeMLA Recaps: Vaughn’s Panel on Food & Culture
[About a month ago Vaughn and I had the chance to attend and present at the 57th Northeast Modern Language Association Convention, held this year in Pittsburgh. So as I’ve…
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April 6, 2026: NeMLA Recaps: My Panel on Asian and Asian Diasporic Fiction
[About a month ago Vaughn and I had the chance to attend and present at the 57th Northeast Modern Language Association Convention, held this year in Pittsburgh. So as I’ve…
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April 4-5, 2026: Selling Out Santa Out in the World: (Some of) My Takeaways
[My awesome wife Vaughn Joy’s book Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy has been out for about four months, which means Vaughn has had the…
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April 3, 2026: Selling Out Santa Out in the World: Contingent Magazine
[My awesome wife Vaughn Joy’s book Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy has been out for about four months, which means Vaughn has had the…
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April 2, 2026: Selling Out Santa Out in the World: Op Eds
[My awesome wife Vaughn Joy’s book Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy has been out for about four months, which means Vaughn has had the…
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April 1, 2026: Selling Out Santa Out in the World: Podcasts
[My awesome wife Vaughn Joy’s book Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy has been out for about four months, which means Vaughn has had the…
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March 31, 2026: Selling Out Santa Out in the World: FSU Grad Colloquium
[My awesome wife Vaughn Joy’s book Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy has been out for about four months, which means Vaughn has had the…
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March 30, 2026: Selling Out Santa Out in the World: Edgartown Public Library
[My awesome wife Vaughn Joy’s book Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy has been out for about four months, which means Vaughn has had the…
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March 28-29, 2026: Historic Baseball Teams: My Podcast’s New Second Season on Baseball at Manzanar
[In honor of MLB’s Opening Day, this week I’ve blogged about historic baseball teams! Leading up to this weekend post on the upcoming second season of my narrative history &…
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March 27, 2026: Historic Baseball Teams: The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
[In honor of MLB’s Opening Day, this week I’ll be blogging about historic baseball teams! Leading up to a weekend post on the upcoming second season of my narrative history…
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March 26, 2026: Historic Baseball Teams: The House of David
[In honor of MLB’s Opening Day, this week I’ll be blogging about historic baseball teams! Leading up to a weekend post on the upcoming second season of my narrative history…
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March 25, 2026: Historic Baseball Teams: The Braves
[In honor of MLB’s Opening Day, this week I’ll be blogging about historic baseball teams! Leading up to a weekend post on the upcoming second season of my narrative history…
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March 24, 2026: Historic Baseball Teams: The Celestials
[In honor of MLB’s Opening Day, this week I’ll be blogging about historic baseball teams! Leading up to a weekend post on the upcoming second season of my narrative history…
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March 23, 2026: Historic Baseball Teams: The Massachusetts Game
[In honor of MLB’s Opening Day, this week I’ll be blogging about historic baseball teams! Leading up to a weekend post on the upcoming second season of my narrative history…
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March 21-22, 2026: Lilah Francis Mabee on Maritime Meanings
[On March 19th, 1951, Herman Wouk published The Caine Mutiny. That’s one of many important American novels set on ships, so this week for its 75th anniversary I’ve AmericanStudied Caine…
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March 20, 2026: Nautical Novels: The Hunt for Red October
[On March 19th, 1951, Herman Wouk published The Caine Mutiny. That’s one of many important American novels set on ships, so this week for its 75th anniversary I’ll AmericanStudy Caine…
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March 19, 2026: Nautical Novels: The Caine Mutiny
[On March 19th, 1951, Herman Wouk published The Caine Mutiny. That’s one of many important American novels set on ships, so this week for its 75th anniversary I’ll AmericanStudy Caine…
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March 18, 2026: Nautical Novels: The Old Man and the Sea
[On March 19th, 1951, Herman Wouk published The Caine Mutiny. That’s one of many important American novels set on ships, so this week for its 75th anniversary I’ll AmericanStudy Caine…
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March 17, 2026: Nautical Novels: The Sea-Wolf
[On March 19th, 1951, Herman Wouk published The Caine Mutiny. That’s one of many important American novels set on ships, so this week for its 75th anniversary I’ll AmericanStudy Caine…
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March 16, 2026: Nautical Novels: Billy Budd
[On March 19th, 1951, Herman Wouk published The Caine Mutiny. That’s one of many important American novels set on ships, so this week for its 75th anniversary I’ll AmericanStudy Caine…
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March 14-15, 2026: James Wong Howe in Context: The You’re Missing Out Podcast
[Late last year, in preparation for a podcast appearance of my wife’s, we watched Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and through it were introduced to the groundbreaking cinematographer and all-around amazing…
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March 13, 2026: James Wong Howe in Context: Sanora Babb and Mid-Century America
[Late last year, in preparation for a podcast appearance of my wife’s, we watched Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and through it were introduced to the groundbreaking cinematographer and all-around amazing…
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March 12, 2026: James Wong Howe in Context: Cinematography and Film History
[Late last year, in preparation for a podcast appearance of my wife’s, we watched Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and through it were introduced to the groundbreaking cinematographer and all-around amazing…
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March 11, 2026: James Wong Howe in Context: Cecil B. DeMille and the American Dream
[Late last year, in preparation for a podcast appearance of my wife’s, we watched Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and through it were introduced to the groundbreaking cinematographer and all-around amazing…
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March 10, 2026: James Wong Howe in Context: Boxing and Semi-Pro Sports in America
[Late last year, in preparation for a podcast appearance of my wife’s, we watched Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and through it were introduced to the groundbreaking cinematographer and all-around amazing…
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March 9, 2026: James Wong Howe in Context: Chinese Americans at the Turn of the Century
[Late last year, in preparation for a podcast appearance of my wife’s, we watched Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and through it were introduced to the groundbreaking cinematographer and all-around amazing…
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March 7-8, 2026: Incorporating America: Our 21st Century Moment
[125 years ago this week, the United States Steel Corporation was created. That was and remains one of the most striking moments of incorporation in American history, but it’s far…
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March 6, 2026: Incorporating America: Ida Tarbell and Standard Oil
[125 years ago this week, the United States Steel Corporation was created. That was and remains one of the most striking moments of incorporation in American history, but it’s far…
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March 5, 2026: Incorporating America: U.S. Steel
[125 years ago this week, the United States Steel Corporation was created. That was and remains one of the most striking moments of incorporation in American history, but it’s far…
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March 4, 2026: Incorporating America: Santa Clara County
[125 years ago this week, the United States Steel Corporation was created. That was and remains one of the most striking moments of incorporation in American history, but it’s far…
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March 3, 2026: Incorporating America: The Bank of the United States
[125 years ago this week, the United States Steel Corporation was created. That was and remains one of the most striking moments of incorporation in American history, but it’s far…
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March 2, 2026: Incorporating America: Trachtenberg’s Book
[125 years ago this week, the United States Steel Corporation was created. That was and remains one of the most striking moments of incorporation in American history, but it’s far…
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February 27, 2026: Hawaiian Stories: From Here to Eternity
[Back in December 2024, I dedicated a weeklong series to histories from our 50th state. This week, in honor of the 75th anniversary of James Jones’s debut novel From Here…
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February 26, 2026: Hawaiian Stories: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
[Back in December 2024, I dedicated a weeklong series to histories from our 50th state. This week, in honor of the 75th anniversary of James Jones’s debut novel From Here…
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February 25, 2026: Hawaiian Stories: Blue Crush
[Back in December 2024, I dedicated a weeklong series to histories from our 50th state. This week, in honor of the 75th anniversary of James Jones’s debut novel From Here…
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February 24, 2026: Hawaiian Stories: Hawaii 5-0
[Back in December 2024, I dedicated a weeklong series to histories from our 50th state. This week, in honor of the 75th anniversary of James Jones’s debut novel From Here…
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February 23, 2026: Hawaiian Stories: James Michener
[Back in December 2024, I dedicated a weeklong series to histories from our 50th state. This week, in honor of the 75th anniversary of James Jones’s debut novel From Here…
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February 20, 2026: Non-Favorite Scholarly Ideas: Silos
[For this year’s post-Valentine’s non-favorites series, I wanted to follow up last week’s on scholarly books I’ve loved with a handful of scholarly ideas I don’t. Leading up to a…
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February 19, 2026: Non-Favorite Scholarly Ideas: Walter Benn Michaels’s First Two Books
[For this year’s post-Valentine’s non-favorites series, I wanted to follow up last week’s on scholarly books I’ve loved with a handful of scholarly ideas I don’t. Leading up to a…
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February 18, 2026: Non-Favorite Scholarly Ideas: New Critical Fallacies
[For this year’s post-Valentine’s non-favorites series, I wanted to follow up last week’s on scholarly books I’ve loved with a handful of scholarly ideas I don’t. Leading up to a…
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February 17, 2026: Non-Favorite Scholarly Ideas: The Dunning School
[For this year’s post-Valentine’s non-favorites series, I wanted to follow up last week’s on scholarly books I’ve loved with a handful of scholarly ideas I don’t. Leading up to a…
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February 16, 2026: Non-Favorite Scholarly Ideas: The Turner Thesis
[For this year’s post-Valentine’s non-favorites series, I wanted to follow up last week’s on scholarly books I’ve loved with a handful of scholarly ideas I don’t. Leading up to a…
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February 14-15, 2026: A Scholar and Scholarly Book I Love
[For this year’s Valentine’s series, I wanted to build on the weekend post on my Dad’s book and highlight a handful of other scholarly books that have been especially meaningful…
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February 13, 2026: Scholarly Books I’ve Loved: Colleagues
[For this year’s Valentine’s series, I wanted to build on the weekend post on my Dad’s book and highlight a handful of other scholarly books that have been especially meaningful…
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February 12, 2026: Scholarly Books I’ve Loved: Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments
[For this year’s Valentine’s series, I wanted to build on the weekend post on my Dad’s book and highlight a handful of other scholarly books that have been especially meaningful…
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February 11, 2026: Scholarly Books I’ve Loved: A Different Mirror
[For this year’s Valentine’s series, I wanted to build on the weekend post on my Dad’s book and highlight a handful of other scholarly books that have been especially meaningful…
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February 10, 2026: Scholarly Books I’ve Loved: The Unredeemed Captive
[For this year’s Valentine’s series, I wanted to build on the weekend post on my Dad’s book and highlight a handful of other scholarly books that have been especially meaningful…
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February 9, 2026: Scholarly Books I’ve Loved: The Two-Ocean War
[For this year’s Valentine’s series, I wanted to build on the weekend post on my Dad’s book and highlight a handful of other scholarly books that have been especially meaningful…
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February 7-8, 2026: Fenimore Cooper Studying: Dad’s Book
[200 years ago Wednesday, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans was published. That’s one of many Cooper novels with a lot to tell us about his and our…
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February 6, 2026: Fenimore Cooper Studying: Complementary Nonfiction
[200 years ago Wednesday, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans was published. That’s one of many Cooper novels with a lot to tell us about his and our…
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February 5, 2026: Fenimore Cooper Studying: Homeward Bound & Home as Found
[200 years ago Wednesday, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans was published. That’s one of many Cooper novels with a lot to tell us about his and our…
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February 4, 2026: Fenimore Cooper Studying: The Last of the Mohicans & The Prairie
[200 years ago Wednesday, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans was published. That’s one of many Cooper novels with a lot to tell us about his and our…
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February 3, 2026: Fenimore Cooper Studying: The Pioneers & The Pilot
[200 years ago Wednesday, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans was published. That’s one of many Cooper novels with a lot to tell us about his and our…
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February 2, 2026: Fenimore Cooper Studying: Precaution & The Spy
[200 years ago Wednesday, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans was published. That’s one of many Cooper novels with a lot to tell us about his and our…
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January 31-February 1, 2026: Crowd-sourced Challenger Studying
[Forty years ago this week, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart upon takeoff, instantly becoming one of the most visible and tragic American stories of the last half-century. So this…
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January 30, 2026: The Challenger Disaster: Cultural Representations
[Forty years ago this week, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart upon takeoff, instantly becoming one of the most visible and tragic American stories of the last half-century. So this week I’ll…
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January 29, 2026: The Challenger Disaster: Aftermaths
[Forty years ago this week, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart upon takeoff, instantly becoming one of the most visible and tragic American stories of the last half-century. So this week I’ll…
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January 28, 2026: The Challenger Disaster: The Explosion
[Forty years ago this week, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart upon takeoff, instantly becoming one of the most visible and tragic American stories of the last half-century. So this week I’ll…
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January 27, 2026: The Challenger Disaster: Christa McAuliffe
[Forty years ago this week, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart upon takeoff, instantly becoming one of the most visible and tragic American stories of the last half-century. So this week I’ll…
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January 26, 2026: The Challenger Disaster: Predecessors
[Forty years ago this week, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart upon takeoff, instantly becoming one of the most visible and tragic American stories of the last half-century. So this week I’ll…
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January 24-25, 2026: Occasional Poems: Mine!
[65 years ago Tuesday, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President. One of the most famous parts of that January 1961 event was Robert Frost’s powerful poem, so this week…
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January 23, 2026: Occasional Poems: 21st Century Inaugural Poems
[65 years ago Tuesday, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President. One of the most famous parts of that January 1961 event was Robert Frost’s powerful poem, so this week I’ll AmericanStudy…
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January 22, 2026: Occasional Poems: Angelou and Williams for Clinton
[65 years ago Tuesday, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President. One of the most famous parts of that January 1961 event was Robert Frost’s powerful poem, so this week I’ll AmericanStudy…
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January 21, 2026: Occasional Poems: Frost for Kennedy
[65 years ago Tuesday, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President. One of the most famous parts of that January 1961 event was Robert Frost’s powerful poem, so this week I’ll AmericanStudy…
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January 20, 2026: Occasional Poems: Whitman on Lincoln
[65 years ago Wednesday, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President. One of the most famous parts of that January 1961 event was Robert Frost’s powerful poem, so this week I’ll AmericanStudy…
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January 19, 2026: Occasional Poems: Wheatley to Washington
[65 years ago Wednesday, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President. One of the most famous parts of that January 1961 event was Robert Frost’s powerful poem, so this week I’ll AmericanStudy…
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January 17-18, 2026: Crowd-sourced 60s & 70s TVStudying
[This week marks the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Batman TV show & the 50th of The Bionic Woman. So I’ve AmericanStudied those shows & three others from…
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Guest Post: Walter Greason & Tim Fielder’s New Comic Dearly Beloved
[Walter Greason, AKA SAGE GRAY, is a longtime friend and collaborator. With artist Tim Fielder he is the author of the acclaimed The Graphic History of Hip Hop. I’m very…
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January 16, 2026: The Boob Tube in the 60s & 70s: The Brady Bunch
[This week marks the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Batman TV show & the 50th of The Bionic Woman. So I’ll AmericanStudy those shows & three others from the 60s & 70s, all of which happen…
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January 15, 2026: The Boob Tube in the 60s & 70s: Bewitched
[This week marks the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Batman TV show & the 50th of The Bionic Woman. So I’ll AmericanStudy those shows & three others from the 60s & 70s, all of which happen…
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January 14, 2026: The Boob Tube in the 60s & 70s: The Bionic Woman
[This week marks the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Batman TV show & the 50th of The Bionic Woman. So I’ll AmericanStudy those shows & three others from the 60s & 70s, all of which happen…
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January 13, 2026: The Boob Tube in the 60s & 70s: Bonanza
[This week marks the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Batman TV show & the 50th of The Bionic Woman. So I’ll AmericanStudy those shows & three others from the 60s & 70s, all of which happen…
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January 12, 2026: The Boob Tube in the 60s & 70s: Batman
[This week marks the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Batman TV show & the 50th of The Bionic Woman. So I’ll AmericanStudy those shows & three others from the 60s & 70s, all of which happen…
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January 10-11, 2026: 2026 Anniversaries: Spring 2026 Plans
[The start of a new year meant my annual series on historic anniversaries. Leading up to this weekend post on some of what I’m planning for my Spring semester sabbatical!]…
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January 9, 2026: 2026 Anniversaries: On Screen in 1976
[The start of a new year means my annual series on historic anniversaries. Leading up to a weekend post on some of what I’m planning for my Spring semester sabbatical!]…
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January 8, 2026: 2026 Anniversaries: Heard in 1926
[The start of a new year means my annual series on historic anniversaries. Leading up to a weekend post on some of what I’m planning for my Spring semester sabbatical!]…
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January 7, 2026: 2026 Anniversaries: Published in 1876
[The start of a new year means my annual series on historic anniversaries. Leading up to a weekend post on some of what I’m planning for my Spring semester sabbatical!]…