Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology
These are posts on culture from the blog Base and Superstructure. Mostly the focus is on American culture. But there might be a few posts on broader, international issues.
So, here’s the thing. I find the intersection of food and politics compelling. Often very compelling. Know what I don’t find compelling? The writing people do at the intersection of food and politics. But then I found out about this book: The Ethnic Restaurateur.
And it sounded promising! Krishnendu Ray comfortably crosses the worlds of food and theory, and I think he gives us plenty worthwhile in The Ethnic Restaurateur.
What’s the Driftless Area? Glad you asked! It’s a part of the country stretching across Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin – the parts around where those four states meet. Decorah’s the area pretty much directly in the middle. My partner and I recently traveled to Decorah, and here are some thoughts on that.
In DJ Shadow’s 2016 Classic Nobody Speak, El-P from the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels starts off the song as follows:
Picture this
I’m a bag of dicks
Put me to your lips
I am sick
I will punch a baby bear in his shit
Two 2019 coming-of-age films feature this charming tune. First, we have Booksmart, which I wrote about a bit earlier as one of the best films of the year so far. And second, we have Good Boys. Good Boys is…something different. This might say something about gender, film, and childhood in the US.
I read an in-depth and at times terrifying account of how moderating Facebook posts impacts staff. The Verge published it some time ago, and in fact I read it some time ago. Apparently Facebook moderation is an endless wall of hate speech, graphic porn, threats of violence, depictions of violence, etc. And people spend hours at a time wading through the stuff. It’s enough to give anyone panic attacks and nightmares.
I don’t have any stories like that, though I’ve had the kind of chronic career stress grad school in the humanities often produces. And we’re at a unique historical juncture when it comes to issues of jobs and career.
How about you? How does your work shape you?
The business literature says middle managers form an essential part of the company. But, really, why do companies have middle managers? Do they perform some essential task or service? Do they serve some rhetorical or ideological function? I’ll lay out some thoughts on middle managers, what they do, who they serve, and why the role exists.
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