Category: Culture (Page 17 of 21)
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.
I’ve tried to learn Spanish several times, but I’m sorry to say I haven’t had much luck. The first time was in high school, and my high school offered the choice faced by many in United States rural and/or lower income communities: a couple of French classes or a couple of Spanish classes. I chose Spanish. The courses were painfully slow, and I didn’t pick up much.
Later on in college, like many former Catholics who majored in philosophy, I took Latin courses for my language requirement. Latin obviously isn’t Spanish, but it’s helpful. And then, about 6 months ago, I took up Spanish again via podcasts called Coffee Break Spanish.
More Americans should learn Spanish. Why? Minimally, Americans should learn some language other than English. Many Americans make it through life as total monolinguists. This is much less common in lots of other places. And, sadly, I count myself among the Americans who don’t really know a second language. Sure, I can muddle my way through lots of Latin texts and some German texts. I’ve picked up a basic understanding of Spanish, though I still can’t speak it.
I think all that’s a shame. It’s a manifestation of US-chauvinism and our excessively English-centric international business, cultural, and scientific climates.
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.
