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The Realest Thing You've Ever Seen

Robert Christgau Barnes and Noble Review
With this book, Springsteen has joined the ranks of those musicians who have also produced first-rate autobiographies. Indeed, the musician's biography has developed into its own literary genre. Long-time music critic Christgau offers a detailed appreciation of this important memoir.

Developing Foods for Millennials

Lauren R. Hartman Food Processing Magazine
Millennials value freshness, authenticity, daring flavors and atypical eating occasions (like snacking). Food & beverage developers capitalize on the food buying behaviors, influences, nutritional concerns and vast eating potential of this age group.

The Tragedy of Vice Principals

Andrew Simmons The Atlantic
The jokes in the HBO comedy may not be all that funny, but the show reveals something raw and authentic about public-school dynamics.

I am Khanga

Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo ZAM Africa Magazine
On May 8, 2006, the South African Judge Willem van der Merwe ruled that ANC leader Jacob Zuma was not guilty of the rape of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo. Zuma did not deny having sex with her, but claimed since the victim wore a khanga, a wraparound cloth, she had “asked for it.” Here is her poetic response.

Making Sense of Modern Pornography

Katrina Forrester The New Yorker
Disagreement on the left reigns over pornography. Is it in essence the objectification of capitalist commodity relations applied to "the other" with possibly disastrous social consequences, or is its celebration of eroticism potentially subversive of an entire repressive culture? The book under review examines the modern porn industry where the Internet has made it ubiquitous, and access on many sites even free. So if this isn't our fathers' old titillations, what is it?

After Irony

Maggie Doherty Dissent
One of the newer fields of academic study is called "Affect Studies," described by Maggie Doherty as the "humanistic and social-scientific investigations of the ways that feelings are generated, experienced, and interpreted" In this review, she explores how two authors use ideas generated by this field to explore the political life of feelings.

Review: The Birth of a Nation Isn’t Strong Enough to Shake Director’s Past

Lawrence Ware The Root
Before the film was overshadowed by the revelation that Nate Parker was acquitted under dubious circumstances of sexual assault, The Birth of a Nation was lauded as an achievement in filmmaking. It received a standing ovation when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Fox Searchlight acquired it for a record $17.5 million. Parker was praised for his visionary and brave retelling of the life of Nat Turner.

DNA Tests May Shed New Light on Food Fraud

Kevin T. Higgins Food Processing Magazine
DNA bar-coding that quickly confirms or reject claims that a food product is what it purports to be are entering the market, with the promise of exposing economically motivated fraud.

Domestic Situation

Kathleen Lynch Spillway #24
In this touching, unembellished poem, Kathleen Lynch introduces the domestic situation of two people aging differently: "the man who once wanted everything" and his wife who now "wants the world."