November 1-2, 2025: October 2025 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

September 29: The Thrilla in Manila: Boxing and America: A series for the iconic boxing match’s 50^th anniversary kicks off with why AmericanStudiers can’t forget the sweet science, & why I wish we could.

September 30: The Thrilla in Manila: Ali’s Evolution: The series continues with what led up to an inspiring 1967 moment, what it changed, & why it still matters.

October 1: The Thrilla in Manila: Marcos and the U.S.: Two distinct & equally important ways to AmericanStudy the corrupt leader behind the fight, as the series punches on.

October 2: The Thrilla in Manila: Joe Frazier and Boxing Villains: In honor of Ali’s opponent (although he really wasn’t villainous at all), a few classic adversaries across boxing & American history.

October 3: The Thrilla in Manila: Part 3s: The series on the third in a boxing trilogy concludes with a handful of other legendary Part 3s.

October 4-5: Lou Moore’s Sensational Sports Studying: But I couldn’t share a BoxingStudying series without paying tribute to our best BoxingStudier!

October 6: American Crime Fiction: Ross MacDonald: A series inspired by Elmore Leonard’s centennial kicks off with the author who exemplifies one of the most American literary genres.

October 7: American Crime Fiction: Tony Hillerman: The series continues with a great mystery series that captures the lure of the Southwest.

October 8: American Crime Fiction: Attica Locke: A link-tastic post featuring a handful of the many places where I’ve written about one of my favorite 21C authors.

October 9: American Crime Fiction: Tana French: Two ways to AmericanStudy the talented & popular Irish mystery novelist, as the series solves on.

October 10: American Crime Fiction: Presumed Innocent: The series concludes with the multiple layers of revelations built into the best mystery fiction.

October 11-12: American Crime Fiction: Elmore Leonard: For Leonard’s 100^th, a special tribute post highlighting five of the countless great adaptations of his works.

October 13: Not Just (Video) Games: Pong: For the 40^th anniversary of the first Nintendo gaming system, a video game studying series kicks off with two lesser-known moments in the history of the first blockbuster arcade game.

October 14: Not Just (Video) Games: Pac-Man: The series continues with three of the many ways Namco’s 1980 smash helped change the game(s).

October 15: Not Just (Video) Games: Oregon Trail: Three takeaways from the pioneering educational game, as the series plays on.

October 16: Not Just (Video) Games: GTA: Three aspects of video games that a focus on the Grand Theft Auto series can help us discuss.

October 17: Not Just (Video) Games: Video Game Studiers: The series concludes with five of the many books & scholars to read for more in-depth video game studying.

October 18-19: Not Just (Video) Games: Nintendo Classics: For Nintendo’s 40^th, one of my favorite posts in a while, life lessons from some of the legendary system’s most iconic games.

October 20: Erie Canal Studying: Starting the Project: For the 200^th anniversary of the waterway’s opening, an Erie Canal series kicks off with three figures who helped construct it.

October 21: Erie Canal Studying: DeWitt Clinton: The series continues with three additional contexts for the political figure most responsible for the Canal.

October 22: Erie Canal Studying: Canvass White: Two contrasting yet interconnected experiences with England that the pioneering civil engineer carried with him, as the series rolls on.

October 23: Erie Canal Studying: Ely Parker: Two ways to think about a Renaissance American’s contributions to the Canal.

October 24: Erie Canal Studying: That Song: The series concludes where you knew it would, with the silly song that has a lot to tell us about folk music & culture.

October 25-26: My Favorite Civil Engineer!: And a weekend tribute that likewise goes where you knew it would, to my favorite civil engineer Aidan Railton!

October 27: AmericanStudying a Springsteen “Lost” Album: “Inyo” & Los Angeles: A series inspired by the recently released “lost” album that instantly became a favorite kicks off with two ways its stunning title track added to my sense of LA histories.

October 28: AmericanStudying a Springsteen “Lost” Album: “Adelita” & Mexican American Wars: The series continues with one obviously important layer to the album’s most historical song, & a more subtle one.

October 29: AmericanStudying a Springsteen “Lost” Album: “The Aztec Dance” y Anzaldúa: One importantly specific & one beautifully universal layer to my favorite song on the album, as the series listens on.

October 30: AmericanStudying a Springsteen “Lost” Album: “The Lost Charro” & My Book: A more pessimistic & a more optimistic way to read a unique Springsteen song.

October 31: AmericanStudying a Springsteen “Lost” Album: Inyo & Western Stars: The series and month conclude with how we can see Inyo as a complement to another great recent Bruce album, & why it’s much more than that.

15^th anniversary series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!

September 27-28, 2025: September 2025 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

September 1: Fall Semester Previews: Honors Lit: My annual Fall semester previews series focused this year on moments I’m looking forward to amidst, well, everything, kicking off with an opening text in my Gilded Age Honors Lit seminar.

September 2: Fall Semester Previews: First-Year Writing: The series continues with a fun close reading assignment in my FYW classes.

September 3: Fall Semester Previews: American Lit II in Person: A semester-ending conversation that always connects me to so many unfamiliar artists, as the series teaches on.

September 4: Fall Semester Previews: American Lit II Online: How my online students defy stereotypes and really engage with each other in that virtual space.

September 5: Fall Semester Previews: The Boys in College!: The series concludes with the fall semesters I’m definitely most looking forward to!

September 6-7: A Preview of My Podcast’s 2^nd Season: A weekend follow-up, looking forward to my long-form scholarly project over this academic year.

September 8: Comic Strip Studying: The First American Comic: For the 150^th anniversary of the first comic strip in an American periodical, a series on the medium kicks off with two publications that help contextualize that groundbreaking cultural work.

September 9: Comic Strip Studying: The Yellow Kid: The series continues with two ways in which a short-lived, easily misunderstood comic strip character has lived on for more than a century.

September 10: Comic Strip Studying: Dennis the Menace: Three telling aspects of a longstanding funny pages troublemaker, as the series draws on.

September 11: Comic Strip Studying: Doonesbury: Three interesting evolutions of one of our longest-running and most influential comic strips.                                                         

September 12: Comic Strip Studying: The Boondocks: The series concludes with two contrasting but complementary ways the turn of the 21^st century strip broke new ground.

September 13-14: Comic Strip Studying: Fellow ComicsStudiers: A special weekend follow-up, highlighting a handful of the many awesome folks we should all be reading to learn more.

September 15: Censorship Histories: The Zenger Case: For the 40^th anniversary of the Congressional hearings on music warning labels, a series on censorship histories kicks off with two distinct but interconnected lessons from a groundbreaking 1730s trial.

September 16: Censorship Histories: The Comstock Act: The series continues with one important application of a controversial law, and a far more significant underlying problem.

September 17: Censorship Histories: The Sedition Act: Three frustrating examples of federal censorship under the authoritarian aegis of a 1918 law, as the series struggles on.

September 18: Censorship Histories: Banning vs. Challenging Books: Why the concept of “banned” books isn’t quite as obviously wrong as we might think.

September 19: Censorship Histories: The 1985 Hearings: The series concludes with an anniversary post on three pairings that reflect the multiple angles through which the PMRC sought to censor pop music.

September 20-21: Challenging Censorship in 2025: I couldn’t write about censorship histories without engaging a bit with what’s happening in our own moment, and more exactly with lessons on how we can challenge these unfolding histories.

September 22: Recent Scholarly Reads: Action Without Hope: A series featuring recent reads I’d recommend to all starts with Nathan Hensley’s bracing and vital book on Victorian literature after climate collapse.

September 23: Recent Scholarly Reads: We Now Belong to Ourselves: The series continues with Arianne Edmonds’ wonderful book that challenges any easy definition of what is and isn’t “scholarly.”

September 24: Recent Scholarly Reads: The Rediscovery of America: The first of two books that my sons gave me for Father’s Day, this one Ned Blackhawk’crucial indigenous reframing of American history and identity.

September 25: Recent Scholarly Reads: Frederick Douglass: And the second of the Father’s Day books, David Blight’s beautiful bio of the legendary American.

September 26: Recent Scholarly Reads: Selling Out Santa: The series concludes with the forthcoming book I’m looking forward to most, my wife Vaughn Joy’s Selling Out Santa!

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!

August 30-31, 2025: August 2025 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

August 3: Birthday Bests: 2010-2011: My annual birthday series kicks off with 34 favorites from my first year of AmericanStudying!

August 4: Birthday Bests: 2011-2012: 35 from year two!

August 5: Birthday Bests: 2012-2013: 36 from year three!

August 6: Birthday Bests: 2013-2014: 37 from year four!

August 7: Birthday Bests: 2014-2015: 38 from year five!

August 8: Birthday Bests: 2015-2016: 39 from year six!

August 9: Birthday Bests: 2016-2017: 40 from year seven!

August 10: Birthday Bests: 2017-2018: 41 from year eight!

August 11: Birthday Bests: 2018-2019: 42 from year nine!

August 12: Birthday Bests: 2019-2020: 43 from year ten!

August 13: Birthday Bests: 2020-2021: 44 from year eleven!

August 14: Birthday Bests: 2021-2022: 45 from year twelve!

August 15: Birthday Bests: 2022-2023: 46 from year thirteen!

August 16: Birthday Bests: 2023-2024: 47 from year fourteen!

August 17: Birthday Bests: 2024-2025: And the newest birthday post, 48 favorites from the past, fifteenth year of AmericanStudying!

August 18: University of Michigan Studying: Founding Histories: With my younger son Kyle off to the University of Michigan, this year’s post-birthday series focused on Wolverine contexts, starting with three foundational moments.

August 19: University of Michigan Studying: Three Presidents: The series continues with takeaways from the terms of three 19^th century presidents.

August 20: University of Michigan Studying: Football: Three early moments that chart the rise of a perennial pigskin powerhouse, as the series studies on.

August 21: University of Michigan Studying: Famous Alums: Five famous Michigan alums, in honor of my future one.

August 22: University of Michigan Studying: Uncle Peter: The series concludes with a quick tribute to my prior connection to Michigan.

August 23-24: University of Michigan Studying: Kyle’s Plans: And a special weekend follow-up on three of the many things I’m excited about during Kyle’s time at Michigan!

August 25: Alien Nation: Roswell: For the 30^th anniversary of Fox’s Alien Autopsy, a series on our fascination with aliens kicks off with the longstanding & problematic sides to one of our most enduring conspiracy theories.

August 26: Alien Nation: E.T. and Aliens: The series continues with friendly & hostile extraterrestrials, and the real bad guys in each case.

August 27: Alien Nation: Close Encounters and Contact: Two superficially similar films that feature distinct portrayals of both aliens & America, as the series probes on.

August 28: Alien Nation: Alien Autopsy: On the 30^th anniversary of its first airing, two cultural contexts for a historic hoax.

August 29: Alien Nation: Recent Revelations: The series concludes with how we can make sense of the dramatic rise of “UFO” sightings in recent years.

Fall semester previews start Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!

August 2, 2025: July 2025 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

June 30: Models of Critical Patriotism: Hannah Griffitts: For this year’s 4^th of July series, I excerpted and expanded upon sections from Of Thee I Sing, starting with this post on the great poem “The Female Patriots."

July 1: Models of Critical Patriotism: David Walker: The series continues with a fiery work and voice that exemplify the “critical” in critical patriotism.

July 2: Models of Critical Patriotism: Standing Bear: Two 2025 takeaways from one of our most inspiring court rulings, as the series celebrates on.

July 3: Models of Critical Patriotism: Carlos Bulosan: One of our most poetic and powerful patriotic passages.

July 4: Models of Critical Patriotism: Thoreau: The series concludes with a July 4^th special on a particularly patriotic text from one of our best protest voices.

July 5-6: Keeping the Critical Patriotic Conversations Going: And a special weekend follow-up request for opportunities to keep talking about my book and all things American patriotism!

July 7: Rock-y Groundbreakers: Bill Haley: In honor of Haley’s 100^th birthday, a series on rock ‘n roll pioneers kicks off with how Haley’s mythos is limited but still important.

July 8: Rock-y Groundbreakers: Chuck Berry and Little Richard: The series continues with a pair of foundational voices who represent some of the worst and best of rock and race.

July 9: Rock-y Groundbreakers: Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens: Two ways to separate a forever-linked pair, and one non-tragic way to pair them, as the series rocks on.

July 10: Rock-y Groundbreakers: Fats Domino: A few iconic moments in the career of the legendary rock ‘n roller.

July 11: Rock-y Groundbreakers: Women Who Rock: The series concludes with four of the many women who helped launch the rock revolution, through pieces by female journalists and historians.

July 12-13: Crowd-sourced Rock Responses: My first crowd-sourced post in a while, featuring responses to the week’s posts and further rock recs.

July 14: AmericanStudying Sinners: Coogler’s Career: A series on my favorite film of the year kicks off with how the director’s prior (great) films foreshadowed this masterpiece.

July 15: AmericanStudying Sinners: Hoodoo: The series continues with two literary predecessors to my favorite character in the film.

July 16: AmericanStudying Sinners: The Mississippi Chinese: A 1970s book and 2010s article that help contextualize one of the film’s most unique families, as the series screens on.

July 17: AmericanStudying Sinners: The Blues: Two stunning scenes that together embody the best of a foundational musical genre.

July 18: AmericanStudying Sinners: Interracial Romance: The series concludes with another layer to the film’s mid-credits scene and why I love it so much.

July 19-20: AmericanStudying Sinners: Other Scholars on the Film: A special weekend follow-up featuring responses to the film from fellow SinnersStudiers.

July 21: The U.S. Postal System: Ben Franklin: A series for the USPS’s 250^th anniversary kicks off with innovations from three stages in the career of the first Postmaster General.

July 22: The U.S. Postal System: The Pony Express: The series continues with three figures who helped shape the short-lived but iconic Western mail route.

July 23: The U.S. Postal System: Stamps: Six telling stamps that help trace the history of this essential element, as the series continues to deliver.

July 24: The U.S. Postal System: Mailed Threats: One moment when the mail was falsely perceived as threatening, other moments when it genuinely was, and how we can put them in conversation.

July 25: The U.S. Postal System: Cultural Representations: The series concludes with takeaways from five prominent cultural representations of the USPS, including Frog & Toad!

July 26-27: A Tribute to the U.S. Postal Service: A brief but impassioned weekend follow-up, making the case for the USPS, its workers, and all federal workers in 2025.

July 28: Echoes of Bad Presidents: Andrew Jackson: Speaking of 2025, a series inspired by Andrew Johnson’s death kicks off with how Andrew Jackson echoes our current worst president.

July 29: Echoes of Bad Presidents: James Buchanan: The series continues with one more obvious and one subtler echo of the pre-Civil War baddie.

July 30: Echoes of Bad Presidents: William McKinley: How tariffs reflect multiple layers of bad presidents past and present, as the series echoes on.

July 31: Echoes of Bad Presidents: Andrew Johnson: How our worst prior president both does and doesn’t echo our very worst one.

August 1: Echoes of Bad Presidents: The 20^th Century: The series and month conclude with quick hits from five 20^th century badnesses here in our very bad 21^st century moment.

Birthday posts start tomorrow,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!

June 28-29, 2025: June 2025 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

June 2: GraduationStudying: George Moses Horton’s Poem: A series inspired by my younger son Kyle’s high school graduation kicks off with the layers behind a deceptively simple poem.

June 3: GraduationStudying: Crummell and Douglass’s Debate: The series continues with an impromptu graduation day debate that exemplifies one of our most complex and crucial questions.

June 4: GraduationStudying: Du Bois’s Speech: Two lessons from one of my favorite speeches by my favorite American, as the series commences on.

June 5: GraduationStudying: The Graduate: One aspect of the iconic 1967 film that hasn’t aged well, and two that still feel very relevant.

June 6: GraduationStudying: That Suncreen Speech: The series concludes with three stand-out quotes from Mary Schmich’s famous 1997 advice for graduates.

June 7-8: What’s Next for Kyle: And a follow-up update on what’s next for my favorite recent graduate!

June 9: Revolutionary War Figures: Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys: In honor of the Continental Army’s 250^th birthday, a Revolutionary War series kicks off with the less than noble side to a folk hero.

June 10: Revolutionary War Figures: Molly Pitcher: The series continues with why the iconic hero who might not have existed still matters.

June 11: Revolutionary War Figures: The “Black Regiment”: Three telling details about the Continental Army’s longstanding African American regiment, as the series fights on.

June 12: Revolutionary War Figures: Benedict Arnold: The benefits and limitations to remembering our most infamous traitor the way that we do.

June 13: Revolutionary War Figures: YA Novels: The series concludes with three groundbreaking historical novels that reflect the evolution of YA literature as well as our Revolutionary memories.

June 14-15: Revolutionary War Figures: The Continental Army: For the Continental Army’s 250^th, a special post featuring three details about its formation and evolution.

June 16: American Nazis: Madison Square Garden: For the 80^th anniversary of Operation Paperclip, a series on Nazis in America kicks off with an infamous 1939 event.

June 17: American Nazis: Ford, Lindbergh, and Coughlin: The series continues with three famous figures who reflect the breadth and depth of American Nazism.

June 18: American Nazis: The Plot Against America: Three telling and compelling layers to Philip Roth’s 2004 novel, as the series marches on.

June 19: American Nazis: Wernher von Braun: Three striking lines from Tom Lehrer’s satirical song about the Nazi turned American scientist.

June 20: American Nazis: Neo-Nazis and Charlottesville: The series concludes with how we can respond to a resurgent Neo-Nazi movement.

June 21-22: American Nazis: Project Paperclip and Hunters: A special weekend post on one of our best cultural representations of Operation Paperclip and Nazis in America.

June 23: Sound in Film: Vitaphone’s Anniversary: A series on the 100^th anniversary of a groundbreaking cinematic technology kicks off with contexts for that pioneering moment.

June 24: Sound in Film: Al Jolson: The series continues with how the first spoken dialogue in an American film reflects some of our worst and best.

June 25: Sound in Film: Mid-Century Evolutions: How two films and one genre reflect the changing landscape of film sounds, as the series talks on.

June 26: Sound in Film: Dialogue Dubbing: Revealing one of film’s hidden histories through three characters whose dialogue was dubbed by a different performer.

June 27: Sound in Film: Meaningful Music: The series concludes with a link to a wonderful piece from FilmStudier Vaughn Joy on how one iconic film uses music.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!

May 31-June 1, 2025: May 2025 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

May 5: The Works Progress Administration: EO 7034: A series for the WPA’s 90^th anniversary kicks off with three significant elements of the Executive Order that established it.

May 6: The Works Progress Administration: My Column on Federal Workers: I wanted to make sure to include as part of this series one of my recent Saturday Evening Post Considering History columns on federal workers during the Depression.

May 7: The Works Progress Administration: The Arts: The series continues with three quotes that together help sum up the creation and arc of the WPA’s vital artistic & cultural programs.

May 8: The Works Progress Administration: Iconic Individuals: Three iconic & inspiring individuals linked to the WPA, as the series labors on.

May 9: The Works Progress Administration: Wartime Evolutions: The series concludes with two distinct but interconnected ways the WPA evolved during WWII, and what we can do with the combination.

May 10-11: A Works Progress Administration for the 21^st Century: Unlikely as the idea is in May 2025, a special follow-up post making the case for a new WPA!

May 12: Spring Semester Reflections: Major American Authors of the 20^th Century: For this year’s Spring semester reflections series, I paid tribute to my late Dad’s presence in my courses, starting with a Langston Hughes poem I taught the day after he passed.

May 13: Spring Semester Reflections: American Literature II: I also taught Gatsby the day after Dad passed, so shared how a debate I had with him helped shape my teaching.

May 14: Spring Semester Reflections: First-Year Writing II: The series continues with how I got to feature my Dad’s work in my FYW courses.

May 15: Spring Semester Reflections: Graduate Research Methods: My Dad’s focus on psychoanalytical theory isn’t my own, but I found a way to include it in my Grad course nonetheless.

May 16: Spring Semester Reflections: Student Tributes to Dad: The series concludes with a handful of moving tributes to my Dad as a teacher from former students.

May 17-18: What’s Next: And a weekend follow-up post highlighting three things I’m looking forward to in the Fall semester!

May 19: Malcolm X’s 100^th: The Autobiography: For Malcolm Little’s 100^th birthday, a series on cultural representations of Malcolm kicks off the complicated layers to his own text.

May 20: Malcolm X’s 100^th: An Opera: The series continues with two distinct and equally important ways to contextualize the opera X (1986).

May 21: Malcolm X’s 100^th: Lee’s Film: Three interesting contexts for Spike Lee’s epic 1992 biopic, as the series marches on.

May 22: Malcolm X’s 100^th: A Cameo in Selma: Malcolm isn’t a main focus of Ava DuVernay’s film, but his powerful scene reflects the film’s overall goals.

May 23: Malcolm X’s 100^th: One Night in Miami: The series concludes with a recent film adaptation that embodies the important goal of humanizing our heroes.

May 24-25: Malcolm X’s 100^th: Malcolm in 2025: A special weekend follow-up post highlighting three lessons we can learn from Malcolm in 2025!

May 26: 2020s Blockbusters: Top Gun: Maverick: A Memorial Day series on recent summer blockbusters kicks off with a problem & a possibility with our cultural moment of ubiquitous sequels.

May 27: 2020s Blockbusters: Inside Out 2: The series continues with two distinct ways to contextualize the highest-grossing film of 2024.

May 28: 2020s Blockbusters: Jurassic World: What’s not new in the recent Jurassic Park films and what is, as the series explodes on.

May 29: 2020s Blockbusters: Barbie: What I liked a lot about the recent mega-blockbuster, and what I loved.

May 30: 2020s Blockbusters: Live Action Disney: The series and month conclude with three ways to explain the large and growing corpus of live-action remakes of animated films.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!

May 3-4, 2025: April 2025 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

March 31: Foolish Texts: A Fool’s Errand: For this year’s April Fool’s series, I AmericanStudied “fool”-ish cultural works, starting with Albion Tourgée’s ironic and powerful Reconstruction novel.

April 1: Foolish Texts: “Won’t Get Fooled Again”: The series continues with lessons and limits from an English classic rock anthem.

April 2: Foolish Texts: Nobody’s Fool: Two AmericanStudies takeaways from one of our quirkier and more affecting films, as the series fools on.

April 3: Foolish Texts: This Fool: Three Latino cultural works that can contextualize the recent sitcom about Los Angeles cholos.

April 4: Foolish Texts: Fool: The series concludes with a trio of pop culture adaptations of Shakespeare, inspired by Christopher Moore’s 2009 novel.

April 7: A Great Gatsby Centennial: Gatsby’s Pool: For the centennial of Fitzgerald’s novel, a tribute series kicks off with a tragic dip that’s as difficult to pin down as the man taking it.

April 8: A Great Gatsby Centennial: Three Phone Calls: The series continues with three calls that illustrates the novel’s portrayal of Modern technologies.

April 9: A Great Gatsby Centennial: Foshay Tower: The building and entrepreneur that bring an American icon to life, as the series reads on.

April 10: A Great Gatsby Centennial: Gatsby’s American Dreams: Two contrasting but also interconnected ways to analyze the novel’s ambiguous title character.

April 11: A Great Gatsby Centennial: Novelist-Narrators: The series concludes with a link to my 2011 American Literary Realism article on this innovative narrative technique.

April 12-13: A Great Gatsby Centennial: Fellow GatsbyStudiers: And here’s a special weekend post highlighting a ton of great work from fellow studiers of the novel!

April 14: Kyle Contexts: Younger Siblings: A series inspired by my awesome younger son’s 18^th birthday kicks off with prior posts on badass younger siblings in American history and culture.

April 15: Kyle Contexts: The ACLU: The series continues with three significant stages in the evolution of the nation’s preeminent civil rights organization.

April 16: Kyle Contexts: Musical Crossovers: A handful of examples of historic musical crossovers, as the series celebrates on.

April 17: Kyle Contexts: Track & Field Fighters: Five moments when track stars (like my younger son) dealt with and overcame challenges (like my younger son has).

April 18: Kyle Contexts: Chinchillas: The series concludes with three ways to contextualize my son’s favorite cute animal.

April 19-20: Kyle Railton’s Guest Post on the OJ Simpson Trial: And I couldn’t dedicate a series to Kyle without re-sharing his excellent Guest Post!

April 21: EarthquakeStudying: San Francisco in 1906: For Charles Richter’s 125^th birthday, an earthquake series kicks off with two distinct, equally inspiring responses to one of our most destructive disasters.

April 22: EarthquakeStudying: Three Other California Quakes: The series continues with one striking detail about each of three major 20^th century quakes.

April 23: EarthquakeStudying: The Indian Ocean in 2004: Three cultural works that can help us remember one of the most devastating natural disasters in history, as the series shakes on.

April 24: EarthquakeStudying: Haiti in 2010: Two interconnected ways to AmericanStudy a Caribbean disaster.

April 25: EarthquakeStudying: Movies: The series concludes with takeaways from three blockbuster films about catastrophic quakes.

April 26-27: EarthquakeStudying: Charles Richter: For his 125^th birthday, the very strange things I learned about Charles Richter, and what we do with such private details about public figures.

April 28: Ending the Vietnam War: The Mayaguez Incident: For the 50^th anniversary of the symbolic end of the Vietnam War, a series on cultural representations of that conclusion kicks off with a maritime crisis turned military incident.

April 29: Ending the Vietnam War: First Blood: The series continues with what an iconic film speech gets wrong about the end of the war, and what it gets very right.

April 30: Ending the Vietnam War: Miss Saigon: Two bravura sequences that reveal what a musical can and can’t do with history, as the series rolls on.

May 1: Ending the Vietnam War: “Galveston Bay”: Two ways an underrated Springsteen song importantly adds to his body of work about the war.

May 2: Ending the Vietnam War: Da 5 Bloods: The series concludes with one fraught and one vital meaning of “unfinished business” in Spike Lee’s recent film.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!

March 29-30, 2025: March 2025 Recap

 [A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

March 3: Hockey Histories: Origin Points: On the 150^th anniversary of the first organized hockey game, a series on the sport’s histories kicks off with three telling layers to that first game.

March 4: Hockey Histories: Fighting: The series continues with the way not to argue for the sport’s violent tradition, and a possible way to do so.

March 5: Hockey Histories: The Miracle on Ice: The symbolic role of sports in society, and the line between history and story, as the series skates on.

March 6: Hockey Histories: Black Players: Three groundbreaking players who together reflect the sport’s gradual evolution towards its more diverse 21^st century community.

March 7: Hockey Histories: Team Trans: The series concludes with two complicated and equally important ways to contextualize a groundbreaking hockey team.

March 8-9: Significant Sports Studiers: Following up my own SportsStudying, a special weekend post highlighting Bluesky Starter Packs of other SportsStudiers.

March 10: Spring Breaking at the Movies: Spring Break: A Spring Break series on cinematic representations of the college tradition starts with more and less destructive pop culture stereotypes in a 1983 non-classic.

March 11: Spring Breaking at the Movies: Spring Breakers: The series continues with the fine line between challenging and exploiting the objectification of female celebrities.

March 12: Spring Breaking at the Movies: From Justin to Kelly: What wasn’t new about a historic beach bomb, and what was, as the series parties on.

March 13: Spring Breaking at the Movies: Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise: American anti-intellectualism and the worse and better ways to challenge it.

March 14: Spring Breaking at the Movies: Baywatch: The series concludes with a repeat of one of my favorite posts, on why the beautiful beach bodies are also a body of evidence.

March 15-16: Reflections of a College Dad: As I near the end of my first year as a college dad (and the start of my first year with two young men in college…le sigh), three of the countless moments when I’ve been pleasantly reminded of my changed circumstances.

March 17: ScopesStudying: The Butler Act: For the 100^th anniversary of the anti-evolution Tennessee law, a series on it and its famous legal aftermath kicks off with three historical ironies.

March 18: ScopesStudying: John Scopes: The series continues with three interesting facts about the science teacher who became the center of one of our most famous trials.

March 19: ScopesStudying: Bryan and Darrow: Two ways to contextualize the trial’s most famous debate, as the series evolves on.

March 20: ScopesStudying: Three Plays: How three stage adaptations of the trial reflect the fraught relationship between art and history.

March 21: ScopesStudying: “Part Man, Part Monkey”: The series concludes with three layers to one of Springsteen’s funniest and most under-rated tracks (just ask my wife!).

March 22-23: 21^st Century Attacks on Educators: A special weekend post on what’s new about our horrifying spate of anti-education attacks, and what’s frustratingly not.

March 24: Patriotic Speeches: Patrick Henry: A series for the 250^th anniversary of the “Give me liberty” speech kicks off with excerpts from book on the contested history of American patriotism.

March 25: Patriotic Speeches: Frederick Douglass: The series continues with the stunning critical patriotic speech that’s just as important 170 years later.

March 26: Patriotic Speeches: August Spies: The inspiring patriotic speech that concluded a farcical show trial, as the series orates on.

March 27: Patriotic Speeches: Margaret Chase Smith: Why we shouldn’t misrepresent a famous 1950 speech as apolitical, and why it’s well worth celebrating nevertheless.

March 28: Patriotic Speeches: Alexander Vindman: The series concludes with another excerpt from my book, this one on a crucial 21^st century moment of critical patriotism.

April Fools series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!

March 1-2, 2025: February 2025 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

February 3: Inspiring Sports Stories: The Celestials: For this year’s Super Bowl series, I wanted to focus on the very needed topic of inspiring sports stories, starting with my recent podcast on my favorite one!

February 4: Inspiring Sports Stories: Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The series continues with two ways to parallel the pioneering athlete to legendary men, and one key way not to.

February 5: Inspiring Sports Stories: Chubbtown: Two contrasting & equally important ways to contextualize an inspiring family story, as the series cheers on.

February 6: Inspiring Sports Stories: Jaylen Brown: Two inspiring layers to the most recent NBA Finals MVP, way beyond the basketball court.  

February 7: Inspiring Sports Stories: FSU Student-Athletes: The series concludes with a tribute to six of the amazing student-athletes I’ve been able to teach in my 20 years at FSU.

February 8-9: Inspiring Sports Stories: Aidan and Kyle Railton: But I couldn’t write a series on inspiring sports stories without highlighting my two favorite athletes & humans!

February 10: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America: For this year’s Valentine’s Day series, I wanted to share love letters to my favorite American city, starting with how it helps us engage with America’s defining identity.

February 11: Love Letters to the Big Easy: The Battle of New Orleans: The series continues with three striking sides to one of America’s most insignificant victories.

February 12: Love Letters to the Big Easy: Treme: Five characters through which the wonderful HBO show charts New Orleans stories, as the series parades on.

February 13: Love Letters to the Big Easy: Fats Domino: A few iconic moments in the career of the legendary New Orleans rock ‘n roller.

February 14: Love Letters to the Big Easy: Literary New Orleans: The series concludes with five of the many books through which we can read New Orleans.

February 15-16: One More Love Letter to the Big Easy: & a special Valentine for my Valentine, a few magical moments my wife & I experienced during our recent trip to New Orleans!

February 17: Places I Love and Hate: Cville: For this year’s installment of my post-Valentine’s non-favorites series, I focused on formative places that I have a love-hate relationship with, starting with my troubled hometown.

February 18: Places I Love and Hate: CHS: The series continues with prisons, pains, & promises in a public school.

February 19: Places I Love and Hate: Harvard: Individuals who made my undergrad experience great and an institution that did not do so, as the series of mixed emotions rolls on.

February 20: Places I Love and Hate: Philly: Frustrating attitudes, fantastic academics, and a secret third thing.

February 21: Places I Love and Hate: Salem: The series concludes with the Massachusetts city that embodies the worst and best of American collective memories.

February 24: AlaskaStudying: Seward’s Folly: For the 100^th anniversary of Glacier Bay becoming a National Monument, an Alaska series kicks off with the complex reasons behind territorial expansion.

February 25: AlaskaStudying: Mardy Murie: The series continues with three factors that help explain the unique life & legacy of the “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement.”

February 26: AlaskaStudying: Glacier Bay: For its 100^th anniversary, three forces of nature who helped preserve Glacier Bay before it became a National Monument.

February 27: AlaskaStudying: Nenana Ice Classic: What a unique Alaskan tradition tells us about both Alaska & tradition, as the series explores on.

February 28: AlaskaStudying: McKinley or Denali?: The series concludes with revisiting a decade-old column to think about the recent re-renaming of Denali.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!