April 1-2, 2023: March 2023 Recap

[A Recapof the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

March6: American Cars: Oldsmobile, Ford, and Dodge: As my younger son gets readyto become a teenage driver, a CarStudying series starts with the practical andmythical details to the origins of American automobiles.

March7: American Cars: Crime Cars: The series continues with AmericanStudiescontexts for three infamous crime cars.

March8: American Cars: Rebel Without a Cause: A few reasons why the film’sfamous “chicken run” scene is so significant, as the series races on.

March9: American Cars: Smart Cars: From KITT to Christine to Herbie the LoveBug, lessons from three cars with minds of their own.

March10: American Cars: The Fast and the Furious: The series concludes with twoways to contextualize the hugely successful car racing franchise.

March13: Wild West Stories: Gunfighter Nation: For Wyatt’s Earp’s 175thbirthday, a Wild West series kicks off with a groundbreaking AmericanStudiesbook on violence.  

March14: Wild West Stories: Billy the Kid: The series continues with two tellinglayers to the famous young outlaw’s mythos, and the context they both mostlymiss.

March15: Wild West Stories: Walt Longmire: A great contemporary character whostraddles the line between classic and revised clichés, as the series drawson. 

March16: Wild West Stories: Annie Oakley: Three figures who each and togetherhelp us see the human realities behind the mythic sharpshooter.  

March17: Wild West Stories: True Grit The series concludes with how a classicWild West novel both uses and challenges elements of the mythos.

March18-19: Wild West Stories: Wyatt Earp: For Earp’s birthday, on myths,realities, and how to split the difference.

March20: Bruce on the Blog: Executioner Songs: For the amazing occasion offinally seeing Springsteen with my sons, I wanted to share a handful of the manytimes I’ve BruceStudied, starting with Bruce and Norman Mailer.

March21: Bruce on the Blog: “State Trooper”: The series continues with two verydifferent ways to AmericanStudy one of Bruce’s most ambiguous songs.

March22: Bruce on the Blog: Wrecking Ball and High Hopes: Two entirely differentand equally inspiring recent albums from an evolving artist, as the seriesrocks on.

March23: Bruce on the Blog: “American Skin (41 Shots)”: Two more reasons why Ihave come to love my all-time favorite song.

March24: Bruce on the Blog: Born in the U.S.A.: The series concludes with twoways to argue for the patriotic possibilities of an easily misunderstood songand album.

March25-26: Bruce in 2023: A special weekend reflection on that amazing 2023concert and how it both reflects on the past and helps us fight for the future.

March27: 19th Century Humor: Irving’s Knickerbocker: My annual AprilFool’s series focused this year on 19th century humorists, startingwith Irving’s ahead of its time creation.

March28: 19th Century Humor: Fanny Fern: The series continues withthe very serious side to one of our most talented humorists.

March29: 19th Century Humor: Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: A writer andstory that are funny, wise, and anything but narrow, as the series laughs on.

March30: 19th Century Humor: Melville’s Chimney: The deeply strangestory that proves that allegory can be funny.

March31: 19th Century Humor: Ah Sin: The series concludes with thefine line between satire and stereotypes.

Nextseries starts Monday,

Ben

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