Category: Popular Culture

News and Notes Melissa Block of NPR’s All Things Considered interviews Daniel Webster, co-author of Reducing Gun Violence in America, about the wide variation in gun laws from state to state, and how those laws correspond to gun violence. Ron Coddington, author of African American Faces of the Civil War, is interviewed on The Kojo Nnamdi…

Guest post by David Vaught On Opening Day, many a broadcaster waxed poetic over the green grass, blue sky, fresh air, and carefree atmosphere of the downtown oasis of a professional ballpark. But ponder this: Baseball captures the essence of the American rural experience. Whether they know it or not, Americans think of baseball in…

Guest post by Janine Barchas Has Jane Austen jumped the shark? Or is she giving Will Shakespeare a run for his money? This December 16th marks the 237th anniversary of the birthday of Jane Austen, born in the sleepy village of Steventon in 1775—the seventh child of a country rector. Austen quietly published four novels…

While all of us here at the Press love the books and journals we publish, we do save time to enjoy books from other publishers. As the weather warms up and so many of us get the itch to just sit outside and read, we thought we’d share the books we are reading or recently…

Stars Wars fanatics the world over, Mobtown not excluded, celebrated May the 4th be with You, I'll Have Another is headed to Baltimore for the second leg of the Triple Crown, and the Baltimore Orioles swept the Boston Red Sox after a marathon 17-inning game. We've been busy at the Press, too. Read on for…

Guest post by E. Paul Zehr When I was a kid I read a lot of comic books. As an adult I now have to be more “choosey” because I have less time for pleasure reading. Sad, but true. There were many characters that interested me: Batman, Iron Man, Daredevil, Captain America, Thor, Nova, the…

Guest post by E. Paul Zehr When I was a kid I read a lot of comic books. As an adult I now have to be more “choosey” because I have less time for pleasure reading. Sad, but true. There were many characters that interested me: Batman, Iron Man, Daredevil, Captain America, Thor, Nova, the…

Guest post by Steven Gimbel We love Albert Einstein, and by “we” I mean most everyone. Fifty-seven years after his death and you can still find everything from T-shirts and bumper stickers to dolls and finger puppets bearing his likeness. Part of this is because he reshaped the way we see the universe in deep and …

Guest post by Christopher N. Phillips What place does storytelling have in literary history today?  I didn’t expect this to be a central question in my book, Epic in American Culture, but the more I explored the topic, the more I realized that storytelling caused many of the problems I faced in this project—and story…

By Robin Noonan, publicist On my drive into work this morning I heard that today is National Pie Day. Immediately my thoughts turned to a nice spring treat: strawberry rhubarb pie. After arriving at the office and riffling through the index of Manly Meals and Mom's Home Cooking, by Jessamyn Neuhaus, I realized that the DJ…