Showing results for "Popular Culture" in History

Apology of Socrates by Plato. Plato's Apology is not a novel, but a Socratic dialogue recounting Socrates' defense speech at his trial in 399 BC, where he was charged with impiety and corrupting the youth. The title comes from the Greek apologia, meaning a speech in defense, not an admission of guilt, as Socrates defends his life's work of questioning Athenians and seeking truth, famously claiming his wisdom comes from knowing he knows nothing. It's a foundational text in philosophy, portraying Socrates as a "gadfly" challenging the status quo, and is one of four dialogues (with Euthyphro, ...

America’s relationship with alcohol is a fraught and inconsistent one. While many other nations and cultures have stable attitudes toward drinking, the American perspective on alcohol has been volatile, vacillating wildly from the gallon-a-day beer rations on the Mayflower to nationwide prohibition and back again. Why are Americans so ambivalent about alcohol? What can we learn about the past and the American character through these extreme fluctuations between alcoholism and sobriety across the centuries?

A seminal and controversial figure in the history of political thought and public relations, Edward Bernays pioneered the scientific technique of shaping and manipulating public opinion, which he famously dubbed the "engineering of consent". During World War I, he was an integral part of the US Committee on Public Information, or CPI, a powerful propaganda apparatus that was mobilized to package, advertise, and sell the war to the American people as one that would "Make the World Safe for Democracy".

Beatleness explains how the band became a source of emotional, intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual nurturance in fans’ lives, creating a relationship that was historically unique. Looking at that relationship against the backdrop of the sexual revolution, the Vietnam War, political assassinations, and other events of those tumultuous years, the audiobook critically examines the often-heard assertion that the Beatles changed everything.

The Art of War by Niccolò Machiavelli. The Art of War (1521) is the only book published by Niccolo Machiavelli during his lifetime, and he saw it as one of his finest achievements. The Art of War develops many themes introduced in Machiavelli’s earlier works “The Prince” and “Discourses” and presents them as the collected wisdom of a fictional leader Lord Fabrizio Colonna. The book is constructed as a series of dialogues supposedly held during a summer afternoon spent in the Orti Oricellari gardens in Florence. The stated aim is “To honor and reward virtue, not to have ...

About 15 percent of all Americans are estimated to be Marijuana smokers, and 56 million have tried it at least once. These figures have been published so often that it's easy to get the impression that marijuana smoking is one of the more secure 60s legacies. The trouble is that the statistics one always hears about relate to those who try or use marijuana. And the fact that those figures are staggering only makes it seem all the more surprising that a dramatic number of people have stopped using the drug.

Cool had a lot to do with sex, sex appeal, and sex roles. Girls have never received enough credit for the fantastic leap of the mind they took in the 60s. In these post-women's-power days, we've come to take a lot for granted. But when the 17-year-old girl from the comfortable home started adopting some of the attitudes of the black jazz musician, the lessons of centuries of class and gender indoctrination were dumped in the trash along with the pink plastic curlers.

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork...

If there is an enemy in the War on Drugs, it is people of color. That is the lesson of forty years of cultural production in the United States. Popular culture, from Scarface and Miami Vice to Narcos and Better Call Saul, has continually positioned Latinos as an alien people who threaten the US body politic with drugs. Jason Ruiz explores the creation and endurance of this trope, its effects on Latin Americans and Latinx people, and its role in the cultural politics of the War on Drugs.

The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind is a seminal work on crowd psychology by Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931), a French social psychologist. He observes that a crowd forms when an influential idea unites a number of individuals and prompts them to act towards a common goal. In a crowd, the conscious personality of the individual is submerged and dominated by the collective mind. Furthermore, every sentiment becomes contagious to a degree that individuals readily sacrifice their personal interest to the collective.

In Crowd A Study of the Popular Mind, Gustave Le Bon delves into the nature of crowds and their impact on civilization. He argues that throughout history, societies have been shaped and guided by a select intellectual elite rather than the masses. While crowds possess the power to destroy, they lack the capacity to create and maintain civilization, which requires discipline, rationality, and cultural sophistication. Le Bon likens the destructive influence of crowds to microbes that accelerate the decay of weakened societies. This thought-provoking exploration challenges readers to reconsider ...

Vietnam - Culture Smart! outlines the history, culture, and traditions of the Vietnamese. It explains certain deep-seated attitudes, describes some of the social and cultural changes now underway, and gives practical advice on what to expect and how to behave in unfamiliar situations. It aims to help you discover for yourself the warmth and vast potential of this fascinating country and its delightful people. They are open and friendly, with senses of humor and irony, and are frankly curious about the outside world.

Does the number of children gunned down double each year? Does anorexia kill 150,000 young women annually? Do white males account for only a sixth of new workers? Startling statistics shape our thinking about social issues. But all too often, these numbers are wrong. This book is a lively guide to spotting bad statistics and learning to think critically about these influential numbers. Damned Lies and Statistics is essential listening for everyone who reads or listens to the news....

In this fascinating and deeply researched book, Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession with fame. Icons are not merely famous for being famous; the media alone cannot make or break stars; fans are not simply passive dupes. Instead, journalists, the public, and celebrities themselves all compete, passionately and expertly, to shape the stories we tell about celebrities and fans. The result: a high-stakes drama as endless as it is unpredictable.

Fundamentalism and American Culture has long been considered a classic in religious history, and to this day remains unsurpassed. Now available in a new edition, this highly regarded analysis takes us through the full history of the origin and direction of one of America's most influential religious movements.

Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles explores how social, economic, political, and cultural demands created the web of freeways whose very form—futuristic, majestic, and progressive—perfectly exemplifies the City of Angels.

Сериал "Аббатство Даунтон" полюбился многим за эффектные костюмы, однако каждое платье — это не только дань моде, но и отражение сложной, удивительно интересной эпохи. Действие начинается гибелью "Титаника", и заканчивается в конце 1920-х годов. Давайте посмотрим, как длинные юбки становились короче, как пышные укладки превращались в стильный боб, и каким стремительным и вместе с тем плавным оказался процесс изменения мира, человека и его вкуса в одежде. От изысканных нарядов прошлого – к тем, которые мы сегодня и сами были бы не прочь носить!

"Quem nunca pecou que atire a primeira pedra", disse Jesus na Bíblia. Dependendo da intenção de quem a jogasse, este também seria considerado um pecador. Se lançasse a pedra com raiva, certamente teria agido com Ira. Se sentisse prazer com o ato, cairia na Luxúria. Se a pedrada fosse por causa de uma dívida, seria um gesto de Cobiça. Se fosse para ficar com os bens da vítima, seria Inveja. Se fosse para aparecer perante os outros, olha aí a Vaidade. Se precisasse beber para tomar coragem, cometeria a Gula.

Наша история - и древнейшая, и средневековая, и современная - полна неразрешимых до сих пор загадок и тайн. Среди них исчезновение цивилизаций, культур, городов и земель, существовавших когда-то и пропавших без следа.

The air conditioner is often hailed as one of the modern world's greatest inventions—yet nearly as often blamed for global disaster. It has changed everything from architecture to people's food habits; saved countless lives, and caused countless deaths. First appearing in 1902, when Willis Carrier, an engineer barely out of college, developed the "Apparatus for Treating Air," everyone assumed it would instantly change the world. But the story of air conditioning and its rise to ubiquity is far from simple.