popular culture

What鈥檚 all the buzz about?

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 21:23:44 +0000

What鈥檚 all the buzz about? Rachel Sauer Thu, 10/02/2025 - 15:23

Bradley Worrell

In a week celebrating both National Coffee Day and International Coffee Day, 麻豆免费版下载Boulder scholar and 鈥渃offee-ologist鈥� Kate Fischer considers a good cup of joe

By her education and training, Kate Fischer is a cultural anthropologist. But she uses an entirely different descriptor to explain her research focus.

鈥淚 sometimes tell people I鈥檓 a coffee-ologist,鈥� says Fischer, an associate teaching professor at the 麻豆免费版下载 and seminar instructor in the Miramontes Arts and Sciences Program. While the connection between her chosen career field and area of research might not be clear at first blush, she explains, 鈥淢y PhD is in cultural anthropology, which allows me to look at coffee from a lot of different angles鈥攆rom biology and tropical plant science, to agricultural management, to labor conditions on the farms, all of the chemistry and engineering that goes into transforming it (into a beverage), and then the brewing and the baristas in the coffee shops who serve it. So, really it touches everything.鈥�

For those who really, really love their coffee鈥攊ncluding Fischer鈥攖his week was a special one, as Monday was National Coffee Day in the United States and Wednesday was International Coffee Day.

Kate Fischer, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder associate teaching professor and cultural anthropologist, researched coffee in Guatemala and Costa Rica during her PhD studies.

With two days this week devoted to celebrating all things coffee, it seemed like the perfect time for Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine to ask Fischer about her thoughts on what makes for a good cup of java, the appeal of both new specialty coffees and old standards like Folgers and the pros and cons of becoming a coffee connoisseur. Her answers have been lightly edited and condensed for space.

Question: How did you come to be a self-described coffee-ologist?

Fischer: I started as a barista back in the day, and I had so many questions. Some people might have been happy to search online for answers; other people, like me, go and get PhDs to get their questions answered (laughs). And then still have questions.

My initial research was in Guatemala and then later in Costa Rica, where I lived for a year and a half while working on my PhD, looking to get the bigger picture of coffee. I was really fascinated by the idea that you could have this same crop grown in so many places, with some similarities but also many differences.

Question: How is it that coffee has become such a big part of the American experience when it鈥檚 not native to this country?

Fischer: Coffee has been a part of the United States for a really long time, but it particularly took off around World War II. Its ubiquity came from the fact that it became a part of soldiers鈥� rations, so when they came back from the war they were used to it and, as a result, we saw big increases in demand. With modernized packaging and shipping, it became easier to sell on store shelves.

It became this sign of a modern family to have your coffee in the home. Even if they weren鈥檛 drinking it as a kid, kids grew up with the smell of it in the parents鈥� and grandparents鈥� home. Even people who tell me they don鈥檛 enjoy the taste of coffee say they like the smell, because it brings back a lot of memories for them.

Question: Is there any data on how many Americans regularly drink coffee? And how coffee consumption today compares with past years?

Fischer: This year鈥檚 National Coffee Association report tells us that 66% of American adults drink coffee daily, which is more than any other beverage, and up nearly 7% compared to 2020. The average coffee drinker drinks three cups a day. While it鈥檚 up since 2020, over time our consumption of coffee has dropped, because there is so much more competition now.

Question: There is a perception that young people today don鈥檛 like coffee. As someone who teaches young adults, do you believe there is any validity to that idea?

Fischer: Again, I think one of the big things is that today there鈥檚 so much more competition in terms of drinks, especially ready-to-go drinks. In the 1980s, your big competition was soda and maybe tea. Today we have kombucha, boba tea, Monster and Celsius energy drinks and so many other choices, so the overall coffee share is probably a bit less.

"I encourage people who are interested in coffee not to get overwhelmed or turned off by some of those gatekeepers who have their opinions of what good coffee tastes like. There are lots of different ways to enjoy coffee," says 麻豆免费版下载Boulder coffee researcher Kate Fischer.

When I ask my students, especially first-years, how many of them drink coffee every day, it鈥檚 just a couple. Many of them have had other caffeinated beverages. But when I ask how many of them drink coffee at some point during the week, then it鈥檚 nearly everybody. So, it might not be every day, but they are drinking coffee at some point during the week. With juniors and seniors, there鈥檚 a definite increase in caffeine consumption, particularly coffee.

Question: How do you explain the appeal of coffee to people who don鈥檛 drink it or who say they don鈥檛 like coffee?

Fischer: For people who don鈥檛 love the taste of coffee, it is more of a caffeine delivery vessel, and maybe a sugar delivery vessel for people who like the lattes with the crazy syrups and other things in them. They want to hide the taste, but caffeine and sugar are strong appeals. For the people who really get into their coffee, there is the sensory side of it, like the way it鈥檚 roasted and ground, and how different preparation methods can make the same coffee taste very different.

I think a lot of people, when they say they don鈥檛 like coffee, really it鈥檚 bad coffee they don鈥檛 like. They don鈥檛 like hotel coffee, or dining hall coffee, or really dark roast coffee. There are so many other good alternatives to those types of coffee if they are willing to try them.

Question: What do you think makes for a good cup of coffee? Is it the beans? The grinding? The brewing process? Something else? Are there any commonalities?

Fischer: All of the above. What makes good coffee is a topic I鈥檝e been looking at for a long time, and it has led me down many rabbit holes.

There are a lot of ways that people try to be empirical about what makes good coffee, which, as a cultural anthropologist, I tend to challenge the notion that you can be empirical about something as subjective as taste, but there are objective pieces to it.

The Specialty Coffee Association has come up with a grading system. For a long time, it was a numeric scale, and they said, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 how you鈥檙e going to prepare this coffee,鈥� and they had this whole checklist of things like the roast level, the grind size and all these different things. And then there is a specialized tasting, called cupping, where experts look at these different attributes and score them. And people are trained to do this, judging coffees on a straight scale of totally bitter to totally sweet, and anybody who has a trained palate will agree on this. They鈥檝e done all kinds of blind tests on this and they are very consistent in their judgments. Today it has evolved to include more holistic assessments that do a better job of separating out objective qualities from preferences.

But really, the answer is: The best cup of coffee is the one you like the best. Like anything else, it鈥檚 a preference.

"For the people who really get into their coffee, there is the sensory side of it, like the way it鈥檚 roasted and ground, and how different preparation methods can make the same coffee taste very different," says 麻豆免费版下载Boulder scholar Kate Fischer.

Question: Do you have thoughts on specialty brands, such as Death Wish Coffee, that are designed to give you a huge jolt of caffeine and basically assault your senses?

Fischer: At that point, is it really any different than drinking a Red Bull or other energy drink? With something like Death Wish, that鈥檚 absolutely a branding style and choice of who they鈥檙e aiming it at, and I think they are trying to capture the energy drink crowd by giving them a drink that鈥檚 more (caffeine) concentrated.

Ultimately, I think that鈥檚 about knowing your customer and what the buyer is looking for. So, if you鈥檙e trying to sell that customer who wants Death Wish a fruity, really light, delicate coffee, you鈥檙e probably not going to do very well.

Question: Alternatively, there are those who just like basic black coffee without any special flavorings or other enhancements. Anything you would say to them to encourage them to broaden their horizons, coffee-wise?

Fischer: There are a lot of people out there who say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want my coffee to taste like cranberries鈥� or these other descriptors. They want coffee to taste like coffee, which for them might be something like Folgers. My father, for example, wants a nice, simple, comfort-food version of coffee, and for him, Folgers is comfort food. And for me, it鈥檚 just bitter and sad and needs a lot of help to disguise what it is. Which is not what I want in my coffee.

I try not to judge people for liking what they like when it comes to coffee, but developing a palate for coffee does ruin you. I鈥檝e tried not to be a coffee snob, but once you鈥檝e had the really good stuff and you know what it can taste like, it鈥檚 hard to go back.

Question: With two major events celebrating coffee this week, will you personally be doing anything to celebrate?

Fischer: I hadn鈥檛 planned to, but now I鈥檓 thinking I should. I would just encourage people to drink coffee and learn something about where it came from. With coffee, it鈥檚 one of those things that can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be.

Also, I encourage people who are interested in coffee not to get overwhelmed or turned off by some of those gatekeepers who have their opinions of what good coffee tastes like. There are lots of different ways to enjoy coffee.

And it鈥檚 OK if coffee is not your thing. I don鈥檛 understand it, but it鈥檚 OK.

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In a week celebrating both National Coffee Day and International Coffee Day, 麻豆免费版下载Boulder scholar and 鈥渃offee-ologist鈥� Kate Fischer considers a good cup of joe.

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Television is a laughing matter

Rachel Sauer — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 22:17:11 +0000

Television is a laughing matter Rachel Sauer Mon, 09/15/2025 - 16:17

Jared Bahir Browsh

In the 75 years since it was introduced, the laugh track has conditioned viewers to know when and how much to laugh

Some audiences love it, and some audiences hate it, but the laugh track鈥攚hich celebrates its 75th anniversary this year鈥攈as a deeper, more psychological impact than many realize.

For months after I completed my book on Hanna-Barbera, I purposely avoided shows with laugh tracks. After hundreds of hours of over-the-top laughter that followed every Fred Flintstone fall or Scooby Doo pun, I became hyperaware of the laughter that accompanied my favorite shows like 鈥淚 Love Lucy" and 鈥淪einfeld.鈥� These shows returned to my TV rotation after this short detox, but similar to involuntary processes like breathing, once I begin noticing laugh tracks, I couldn鈥檛 stop, breaking the desensitization and conditioning that has occurred for many viewers after decades of watching sitcoms.

Like a number of early television shows, laugh tracks originated on radio before transitioning to television. Pioneering radio engineer Jack Mullin brought a tape recorder back from Germany after World World II, exhibiting the technology by recording musical performances and then playing back the music. In June 1947, he met the producer for Bing Crosby鈥檚 radio show, and after he demonstrated the technology, Crosby decided to pre-record his show.

Jared Bahir Browsh is the Critical Sports Studies program director in the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder Department of Ethnic Studies.

At the time, the few shows that were prerecorded were done so on acetate disc, which was fine for scripted content, but the low quality of the recording prevented the discs from being used to broadcast music. Crosby preferred a pre-recording in a studio, but NBC denied his request. He left NBC in 1945, then joined ABC in 1946 after the young network allowed him to record his show, the first major radio show to be recorded. The first season was recorded on disc, but when Crosby heard the quality of magnetic tape, he switched to tape recording the show.

The improved quality of the recording helped push the show to the top 20 during its second season. The technique allowed show producers to edit out less-entertaining segments or performances deemed inappropriate for radio. During the third and final season of the show, comedian Bob Burns performed a 鈥渂lue鈥� set, which led to raucous laughter but was too racy for broadcast. Producers kept the laughter, and when the studio audience was less than receptive to a comedy performance a few weeks later, Mullin added the laughter from Burns鈥� performance during post-production, and the laugh track was born.

Sweetening live laughter

In early television, shows that were not recorded live used a single camera, filming the same scene several times. CBS engineer Charles (Charley) Douglass noticed inconsistencies in the laughter, with some reactions shorter or longer than intended, especially after the third or fourth filming. Also, certain individual laughter could be distracting, overshadowing the performance when audience members laughed at the wrong time. Douglass began 鈥渟weetening鈥� the live laughter by adding recorded laughs when the joke did not land, and even edited down laughter when it went on too long.

The first time recorded laughter was used not merely as a sweetener but as the sole source of laughter for a sitcom was in 1950 during 鈥淭he Hank McCune Show鈥� produced for CBS by Bing Crosby Enterprises. Although the sitcom lasted only 13 episodes, other shows began to pick up the practice. The recorded laughter not only helped to signal jokes in the program but was also used to cover bumps in the original recording.

Many early sitcoms and variety shows filmed in front of a studio audience, but the design of multiple-set studios blocked half the audience from seeing some scenes and performances, so the laugh track helped fill some of those gaps. 鈥淚 Love Lucy" was a famous exception, using mostly audience laughter and reactions in the original broadcast; however, even some of "I Love Lucy鈥檚鈥� laugh audio was sweetened.

Douglass went on to create what was known as the 鈥渓aff box,鈥� a large, organ-like box that contained different laughs, many of which were originally recorded from segments of 鈥淭he Red Skelton Show.鈥� Douglass, who founded Northridge Electronics, was so secretive about his device that his family were the only ones to see inside it and just a few select technicians trained to use it. Douglass would often receive directions and edit in the laughter isolated from other producers and editors.

鈥淚 Love Lucy" used mostly audience laughter and reactions in the original broadcast; however, even some of the show's laugh audio was sweetened with a laugh track. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Psychology and social conditioning

The laugh track has survived 75 years on television, but not without challenges or controversy. The television comedy community has at best been ambivalent toward canned laughter, with some early television performers like Crosby, Milton Bearle and Bob Hope understanding how a laugh track could be used to project their desired reaction to a joke or routine. Many producers hated the artificial laughter, but because all the most popular comedies had laughter and most used a laugh track, they submitted to the trend at the time.

By the 1960s, most comedies had stopped filming in front of a studio audience, knowing the broadcast audience did not care whether the laughter was canned or real. They also knew the audience needed to hear the laughter to know a show is a comedy, so a laugh track was a requisite to any show categorized as a comedy. One of the most famous tests of this idea involved 鈥�Hogan鈥檚 Heroes鈥�: Audiences were shown early episodes with and without the laugh track, and the response was much better for the episodes with a laugh track. Shows like 鈥淗ogan鈥檚 Heroes鈥� and 鈥淢*A*S*H鈥� have had laugh tracks removed in rebroadcasts, leading to much darker shows around war themes.

The goal is for the canned reactions to match the assumed reactions of the audience, conditioning the audience to react or engage in the way intended. Media theorist Stuart Hall famously discussed encoding and decoding in his reception theory, although the audience does have the agency to decode, or create their own meaning, even when producers encode the content with their intended messages. The laugh track is another form of encoding in which the message鈥攊n this case the joke鈥攊s encoded with humor, and the laugh track is used to reinforce the message so the receiver, or audience, decodes the dialogue or action and finds it humorous.

Some creators pushed back against this, including Mel Brooks when creating 鈥淕et Smart,鈥� Jackie Cooper in his show 鈥淗ennessy鈥� and The Monkees, who thought the band鈥檚 comedy was intelligent enough to not require the track in their self-titled show. Brooks eventually relented, whereas Cooper and The Monkees finally were able to eliminate the laugh track in the third and second seasons, respectively. Both 鈥淗ennessy鈥� and 鈥�The Monkees鈥� were cancelled the season after they eliminated the laugh track, whereas 鈥淕et Smart鈥� lasted six seasons.

Laugh tracks were also widespread in children鈥檚 television. When Hanna-Barbera created several shows, including 鈥�The Flintstones" and 鈥淭he Jetsons鈥� for primetime, they included a laugh track similar to that in sitcoms, which they brought with them when they transitioned to Saturday morning. Hanna-Barbera鈥檚 Saturday morning cartoon budget was more limited than their primetime budget, so they and other animation studios created their own, more limited laugh track to circumvent Douglass鈥� monopoly, but would occasionally still employ Douglass laugh tracks for more high-profile productions. Other producers such as Rankin/Bass and Jim Henson also developed their own laugh tracks. The canned laughter not only showed animated viewers when to laugh, but it also extended scenes to reduce the amount of animation and, in turn, cost.

The Monkees thought their comedy was intelligent enough to not require the track in their self-titled show. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

However, some children鈥檚 television producers, like their live-action counterparts, hated laugh tracks and tried to broadcast without them. Ross Bagdasarian pushed back against a laugh track for 鈥淭he Alvin Show.鈥� Despite the popularity of The Chipmunks鈥� novelty music, the show was cancelled after one season, which was blamed partially on its lack of a laugh track.

Creators who won their battle against canned laughter were Charles Schultz, Jay Ward and Bill Scott. NBC assumed 鈥淎 Charlie Brown Christmas鈥� would fail without a laugh track, but 60 years later, the holiday favorite and Schultz鈥檚 other specials remain classics鈥攚ithout the laugh track. Ward and Scott were supported by the show鈥檚 sponsor General Mills when negotiating with ABC regarding the laugh track in "Rocky and His Friends/The Bullwinkle Show,鈥� and it was ultimately eliminated after the fourth episode.

Canned laughter鈥檚 introduction to children鈥檚 television contributed to the continued social conditioning of television audiences; laugh tracks both signal that the program is a comedy while helping audiences recognize jokes and know when they should laugh. The laugh track also creates a feeling of connection or community rooted in visual media transitioning from theaters, where audiences watched the show together, into homes where an individual or small group is watching alone.

Return of live audiences

A mix of old-school sensibilities, a crop of new producers and a shift in settings for sitcoms led to the return of live audiences in the late 1960s. When 鈥淗ere鈥檚 Lucy鈥� debuted in 1968, Lucille Ball insisted on a live audience for her third network sitcom. That era also saw a shift back to shows set in urban environments after networks earlier moved toward rural settings like those in 鈥淭he Beverly Hillbillies鈥� and 鈥淕reen Acres,鈥� attempting to appeal to middle America. This not only led to the rural purge in the early 1970s, as series returned to cities, but these urban sitcoms, created in larger, more accommodating studios, were more conducive to live audiences.

Writer and producer Norman Lear鈥檚 legendary career was built in front of a live studio audience, as his urban sitcoms like 鈥�All in the Family鈥� and 鈥淕ood Times鈥� not only featured working-class Queens or the housing projects of Chicago but were also groundbreaking in bringing more diverse representation to television. Similar to theater, actors in these sitcoms allowed the audience reactions to simmer, ultimately pausing the scene until the laughter subsided. However, even as live studio audiences returned, showrunners continued to sweeten the laughs with laugh tracks.

Actors in sitcoms like "Good Times" allowed audience reactions to simmer, ultimately pausing the scene until the laughter subsided. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Comedy dramas (or dramedies) like 鈥淓ight is Enough鈥� and 鈥淭he Love Boat鈥� even employed laugh tracks to help signal jokes, as they mixed comedy and more serious story lines and used the laugh track to help the audience distinguish between them.

Some games shows, like Chuck Barris' 鈥淭he Newlywed Game鈥� and 鈥淭he Gong Show,鈥� were also sweetened with laugh tracks, especially since audiences were less excitable due to the lack of prizes given or won. Mark Goodson鈥檚 productions, like "The Price is Right鈥� and 鈥淔amily Feud,鈥� were and continue to be famous for more raucous live audiences, but there still have been instances of occasional sweetening for broadcast.

As time went on, laugh track options were expanded, with the type of laughter increasingly customizable depending on the show. Both Douglass and the companies creating their own tracks, like Hanna-Barbera, ensured the laugh track for each show matched the tone, mood and pace of the show in which they were used. More subtle comedies featured more subdued laugh tracks, while more slapstick or over-the-top comedies used more raucous laugh tracks to match the program and encourage similar viewer reactions.

The laugh track continued to be nearly ubiquitous in sitcoms through the 1980s. However, as more satirical and animated sitcoms made it to broadcast, producers of this new crop of series began to move away from the laugh track to maintain flow and introduce more subtle humor. When 鈥淭he Simpsons鈥� debuted in 1989鈥攖he first primetime animated sitcom on a broadcast network since 鈥淭he Flintstones鈥� in 1966鈥攖he series departed from its prehistoric counterpart and trusted the audience to recognize the humor in the show. The shift also allowed for more visual humor and for producers to stack more jokes and allow dialogue to flow without waiting for the canned laughter to subside.

Yet, even through the 1990s, the most popular sitcoms, including 鈥淔riends鈥� and 鈥淪einfeld,鈥� maintained the classic sitcom approach and both invited live audiences to tapings and sweetened laughter with more advanced laugh tracks that were increasingly digital and customizable. As television entered a new millennium, more single-camera comedy series, including mockumentary series like 鈥淭he Office鈥� and cult favorites like 鈥淎rrested Development,鈥� ditched the laugh track. Also, cable dramedies like 鈥淪hameless鈥� and 鈥淎tlanta鈥� emerged, particularly on cable, balancing serious storylines with subtle comedy where laugh tracks just did not fit with the overall audience experience.

New generations of television (and streaming) viewers are now conditioned to watch comedies without laugh tracks, but there still is a place for traditional multicamera comedies that are either filmed in front of an audience whose laughter is sweetened or whose editors just insert laugh tracks. Audiences may be familiar with formulas or tropes in sitcoms, but laugh tracks still provide a feeling of communal watching even as appointment viewing and broadcast television slowly fades.

Jared Bahir Browsh is an assistant teaching professor of critical sports studies in the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder Department of Ethnic Studies.

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In the 75 years since it was introduced, the laugh track has conditioned viewers to know when and how much to laugh.

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We鈥檙e still tasting the spice of 1960s sci-fi

Rachel Sauer — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 13:00:00 +0000

We鈥檙e still tasting the spice of 1960s sci-fi Rachel Sauer Fri, 08/29/2025 - 07:00

Bradley Worrell

With this month marking Dune鈥檚 60th anniversary, 麻豆免费版下载Boulder鈥檚 Benjamin Robertson discusses the book鈥檚 popular appeal while highlighting the dramatic changes science fiction experienced following its publication

Sixty years ago this month, a novel about a galactic battle over a desert planet valued for its mystical spice forever altered the face of science fiction.

Authored by Frank Herbert, Dune would go on to sell more than 20 million copies, be translated into more than 20 languages and become one of the bestselling science fiction novels of all time, spawning several sequels and movie adaptions that have further boosted its popularity.

Benjamin Robertson, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder associate professor of English, pursues a research and teaching focus on genre fiction.

In retrospect, it鈥檚 hard to quantify how important Dune was to the genre of science fiction, says Benjamin Robertson, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder Department of English associate professor whose areas of specialty includes contemporary literature and who teaches a science fiction class. That鈥檚 because the status Dune attained, along with other popular works at the time, helped transition science fiction from something that was primarily found in specialty magazines to a legitimate genre within the world of book publishing, he says.

Robertson says a number of factors made Dune a remarkable book upon its publication in August 1965, including Herbert鈥檚 elaborate world building; its deep philosophical exploration of religion, politics and ecology; and the fact that its plot was driven by its characters rather than by technology. Additionally, the book tapped into elements of 1960s counterculture with its focus on how consuming a spice harvested on the planet Arrakis could allow users to experience mystical visions and enhance their consciousness, Robertson says.

Journey beyond Arrakis with a different kind of dune

鈥淭here鈥檚 also the element of the chosen one narrative in the book, which is appealing to at least a certain segment of the culture,鈥� he says. The book鈥檚 protagonist, Paul Atreides, suffers a great loss and endures many trials before emerging as the leader who amasses power and dethrones the established authorities, he notes.

While Dune found commercial success by blending many different story elements and themes in a new way that engaged readers, it鈥檚 worthwhile to consider the book in relation to other works of science fiction being produced in the 1960s, Robertson says. It was during that turbulent time that a new generation of writers emerged, creating works very different from their predecessors in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, which is often considered the Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Whereas many Golden Age science fiction writers tended to set their tales in outer space, to make technology the focus of their stories and to embrace the idea that human know-how could overcome nearly any obstacle, Robertson says many science fiction writers in the 1960s looked to reinvent the genre.

鈥淭he 1960s is probably when, for me personally, I feel like science fiction gets interesting,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a big fan of what鈥檚 called the Golden Age of Science Fiction鈥攖he fiction of Asimov or Heinlein. The 鈥�60s is interesting because of what鈥檚 going on culturally, with the counterculture, with student protests and the backlash to the conformities of the 1950s.鈥�

New Wave sci-fi writers make their mark

In 1960s Great Britain, in particular, writers for New Worlds science fiction magazine came to be associated with the term New Wave, which looked inward to examine human psychology and motivations while also tackling topics like sexuality, gender roles and drug culture.

鈥淭his new generation of writers grew up reading science fiction, but they were dissatisfied with both the themes and the way it was written,鈥� Robertson says. 鈥淥ne of the New World鈥檚 most notable writers, J.G. Ballard, talked about shifting away from, quote-unquote, outer space to inner space.

鈥淭hat dovetailed with other writers who weren鈥檛 necessarily considered New Wave but were writing soft science fiction that was not focused on technology itself鈥攕uch as space ships and time travel鈥攂ut more about exploring the impact of technologies on humanity and on how it changes our relationship with the planet, the solar system and how we relate to each other.鈥�

New Wave authors also wrote about world-ending catastrophes, including nuclear war and ecological degradation. Meanwhile, many British New Wave writers were not afraid to be seen as iconoclasts who challenged established religious and political norms.

鈥淢ichael Moorcock, the editor of New Worlds, self-identified as an anarchist, and Ballard was exemplary for challenging authority in his works. He was not just interested in saying, 鈥楾his form of government is bad or compromised, or capitalism is bad, but actually the way we convey those ideas has been compromised,鈥欌€� Robertson says. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 enough for him to identify those systems that are oppressing us; Ballard argued we have to describe them in ways that estranges those ideas.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what science fiction classically does鈥攊t estranges us. It shows us our world in some skewed manner, because it鈥檚 extrapolating from here to the future and imagining 鈥hat might a future look like that we couldn鈥檛 anticipate, based upon the situation we are in now.鈥�

American science fiction writers might not have pushed the boundaries quite as far their British counterparts, Robertson says, but counterculture ideas found expression in some literature of the time. He points specifically to Harlan Ellison, author of the post-apocalyptic short story 鈥淚 Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,鈥� who also served as editor of the sci-fi anthology Dangerous Visions, a collection of short stories that were notable for their depiction of sex in science fiction.

Robertson says other American sci-fi writers of the time who embraced elements of the counterculture include Robert Heinlein, whose Stranger in a Strange Land explored the concept of free love, and Philip K. Dick, who addressed the dangers of authority and capitalism in some of his works and whose stories sometimes explored drug use, even as the author was taking illicit drugs to maintain his prolific output.

Meanwhile, Robertson notes that science fiction during the 1960s saw a more culturally diverse group of writers emerge, including Ursula K. Le Guin, the feminist author of such works as The Left Hand of Darkness and The Lathe of Heaven; Madeliene L鈥橢ngle, known for her work A Wrinkle in Time; and some lesser-known but still influential writers such as Samuel R. Delaney, one of the first African American and queer science fiction authors, known for his works Babel-17 and Nova.

At the same time, even authors from behind eastern Europe鈥檚 Iron Curtain were gaining recognition in the West, including Stanislaw Lem of Poland, author of the novel Solaris, and brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky in the Soviet Union, authors of the novella Ashes of Bikini and many short stories.

Impact of 1960s sci-fi remains long lasting

As the 1960s and 1970s gave way to the 1980s, a new sci-fi genre started to take hold: Cyberpunk. Sharing elements with New Wave, Cyberpunk is a dystopian science fiction subgenre combining advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, with societal collapse.

Robertson says the 1984 debut of William Gibson鈥檚 book Neuromancer is widely recognized as a foundational work of Cyberpunk.

While works of 1960s science fiction are now more than five decades old, Robertson says many of them generally have held up well over time.

鈥�Dune definitely broke out into the mainstream鈥攁nd the fact that Hollywood is continuing to produce movies based upon the book today says something about its staying power,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think the works of Ursula K. Le Guin, particularly the Left Hand of Darkness, is a great read and a lot of fun to teach. And Philip K. Dick is always capable of shocking you, not with gore or sex but just with narrative twists and turns.鈥�

If anything, Dick is actually more popular today than when he was writing his books and short stories back in the 1960s, Robertson says, pointing to the fact that a number of them have been made into films鈥攎ost notably Minority Report and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (which was re-titled Blade Runner).

鈥淎t the same time, I think one of the dangers of science fiction is thinking what was written in the 1960s somehow predicts what happens later,鈥� Robertson says. 鈥淚t can look that way. But, as someone who values historicism, I think it鈥檚 important to think about cultural objects in the time they were produced. So, the predictions that Philip K. Dick was making were based upon the knowledge he had in the 1960s, so saying what happened in the 1980s is what he predicted in the 1960s isn鈥檛 strictly accurate, because what was happening in the 1980s was coming out of a very different understanding of science, of politics and of technology.

鈥淲hat I always ask people to remember about science fiction is that it鈥檚 about more than the time that it鈥檚 written about鈥攊t鈥檚 about what the future could be, not about what the future actually becomes.鈥�

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With this month marking Dune鈥檚 60th anniversary, 麻豆免费版下载Boulder鈥檚 Benjamin Robertson discusses the book鈥檚 popular appeal while highlighting the dramatic changes science fiction experienced following its publication.

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Top illustration: Gary Jamroz-Palma

ESPN launches a new era

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 23:08:07 +0000

ESPN launches a new era Rachel Sauer Thu, 08/21/2025 - 17:08

Jared Bahir Browsh

Launching a new direct-to-consumer service this week and inking a recent deal to control NFL Media, ESPN continues evolving as the dominant force in sports media

On August 5, ESPN and the National Football League agreed to a deal giving ESPN control of NFL Media in exchange for a 10% stake in the sports network and media corporation. The next day, ESPN announced the deal with World Wrestling Entertainment to stream its premium events, including Wrestlemania.

There had been rumors for several years that Disney was looking to offload its sports network due to rising sports media rights expenses and challenges from streaming platforms. Tech companies like Apple and Amazon and internet providers including Comcast and Verizon were mentioned as potential partners.

The network, which is valued in the $25 billion to$30 billion range, ultimately turned its attention to partnering with a sports organization, moving forward with the NFL over other leagues, including the National Basketball Association.

Jared Bahir Browsh is the Critical Sports Studies program director in the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder Department of Ethnic Studies.

Over the last year and a half, ESPN took down its 鈥渇or sale鈥� sign and dug in its heels鈥攆irst partnering with Penn Entertainment and lending its name to the betting app ESPN Bet, which launched in November 2023. A year later, ESPN enabled users to link their ESPN Bet account with ESPN+, allowing users to gamble while watching sporting events.

In February 2024, ESPN announced a joint venture with Fox Sports and TNT Sports, a streaming service known as Venu Sports. Venu was ultimately abandoned after FuboTV, a sports streaming service, filed an antitrust lawsuit. Disney eventually bought 70% of FuboTV, ending the lawsuit in January 2025.

In July 2024, ESPN renewed its partnership with the NBA, joining Amazon and NBC as broadcasters of the basketball league. In November, ESPN announced that it acquired Inside the NBA, the popular show that had aired on TNT since 1989 and featured commentators Charles Barkley, Shaquille O鈥橬eal and Kenny Smith.

In May, ESPN announced it would launch its own direct-to-consumer service, officially signaling that its cable network would no longer be the center of its media empire. ESPN leaders turned their attention to streaming at a time when Apple, Google and Amazon have been attempting to leverage sports to increase their influence in the digital media environment. Shortly after the NFL deal, they announced a partnership to bundle ESPN and Fox One after Venu was abandoned.

A legacy of innovation

ESPN and the American Broadcasting Company have been at the forefront of innovation in sportscasting, their legacies inextricably linked when ABC purchased ESPN in 1984.

ABC launched as a radio network in 1943 when Edward Noble, the owner of Life Savers, purchased the Blue Network from NBC after the FCC recommended that RCA sell either its Red or Blue Network to promote competition in broadcasting. ABC was thought of as the 鈥渢hird network鈥� behind the much larger NBC and CBS, so ABC took some programming risks to compete with the other two networks, including airing taped counterprogramming on radio in 1948 when the other networks refused to air pre-taped shows.ABC aired the 1948 NFL championship and began airing NFL regular season games in 1953. The sports production company Sports Programs, Inc., founded by TV executive and producer Edward Scherick, approached ABC about airing a weekly Saturday baseball game during the 1953 season titled 鈥淕ame of the Week.鈥� In 1955, CBS purchased the program after first balking at it two years earlier.

In 1954, ABC agreed to provide funding for Disneyland in exchange for a primetime program, Disneyland, which was later renamed the Wonderful World of Disney, forging a relationship that continues today with ABC as a subsidiary of the media giant. The network continued to think outside the box for programming, nationally broadcasting a local Philadelphia music and dance show, Bandstand (renamed American Bandstand), starting in 1957. ABC also gained audiences by airing westerns鈥攕hows like The Lone Ranger and Davy Crockett, the latter of which aired as a serial on Disneyland and became a pop culture phenomenon.

The early 1960s were a turning point for ABC as the network continued to work with partners and think outside the box for programming. In February 1960, it purchased Sports Programs, Inc. which became ABC Sports with Scherick heading up the new sports division. In June 1960, ABC purchased the rights to air American Football League games as the upstart league launched to compete with the NFL. The deal became a template for future sports media rights deals as the revenue was shared with all franchises in the AFL; the NFL followed suit in 1961. This led to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 that allowed leagues to bargain collectively on behalf of their teams, rather than a piecemeal set of deals for individual teams and with the league for championships and all-star games. Before the act, it was against antitrust laws to pool rights contracts in sports.

Drag racer Don Nicholson gives an interview to Wide World of Sports in 1966. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Three months after the AFL deal, ABC Sports broadcasted college football for the first time鈥攁 matchup between the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia played at Alabama. As ABC prepared for the game, a young production assistant, Roone Arledge, sent a memo to Scherick outlining strategies to attract casual fans to their sports broadcasts and grow female audiences for sports. The broadcast was a success and Arledge continued to help ABC leverage sports to compete with NBC and CBS

Two weeks after the first college football broadcast, ABC took a chance and aired the first regularly scheduled primetime animated program, debuting The Flintstones on Sept. 30. In early 1961, ABC signed a deal with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to air track and field and other amateur events. Although there was not a huge demand for track and field coverage, Scherick and Arledge felt that people enjoyed watching games, and ABC could edit the broadcast to make it more entertaining. Since the track and field results were not widely known, they could also delay broadcast until the scheduled airtime on the weekend.

The deal with the AAU became the foundation for the program ABC鈥檚 Wide World of Sports, which debuted in April 1961, drawing audiences that embraced the drama of 鈥渢he thrill of victory and agony of defeat.鈥� It was a direct competitor to The CBS Sports Spectacular, which debuted in 1960 and featured events like NASCAR races and boxing matches.

ABC鈥檚 Wide World of Sports was a forum to test new sports programming, including college basketball, when ABC aired the NCAA Championship the day after it was played on March 24, 1962. Also in 1962, the anthology series featured events from the Professional Bowlers Association along with the Daytona 500. Two years later, the NBA was featured on Wide World of Sports as Arledge continued to seek engaging live sports programming. After a 1964 fly fishing segment on Wide World of Sports with broadcaster Curt Gowdy and fisherman Joe Brooks, Arledge created the anthology program The American Sportsman in 1965, an unscripted program featuring athletes and celebrities participating in outdoor sports.

Arledge recognized that diehard sports fans would watch their favorite sports regardless of the production elements, but casual fans were attracted to the narratives and human interest featured in Wide World of Sports and other programming from ABC Sports, which continues to be the template for sports broadcasting today. After watching videotape of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Arledge felt that instantly replaying sports action could contribute to this storytelling and explain the game to casual viewers. Although instant replay debuted in the United States during the Army-Navy Game on CBS in 1963, Arledge would soon leverage the technology to show the intricacies of football, helping casual audiences better understand the game and contributing to football鈥檚 rise as the most popular sport in the United States.

In 1964, Arledge first broadcast the Winter Olympic Games, obtaining the contract from CBS. ABC first broadcast the Summer Games in 1968 and would continue to broadcast the Summer Games for the next 20 years, with Wide World of Sports airing many of the qualifying events for both the Summer and Winter games. These broadcasts included Tommie Smith and John Carlos protesting during the medal ceremony after they won gold and bronze, respectively in the 200 meter race and the massacre in Munich in 1972. The latter event led to a closer relationship between sports and journalism, and was a turning point for Arledge who would become the first executive to oversee both a network sports and news division where he created ABC World News Tonight, Nightline and 20/20.

NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle had been looking for a way to air NFL games in primetime but was banned from Friday and Saturday night airtime since the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 protected Friday high school games and Saturday college football games from being overshadowed by NFL broadcasts. Between 1966 and 1969, CBS and NBC experimented with Monday night broadcasts of the NFL and AFL respectively. With the upcoming merger between the leagues and ABC鈥檚 weak Monday primetime schedule, ABC agreed to air a weekly game, creating Monday Night Football.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Arledge continued to take chances鈥攚ith varied results鈥攊ncluding Monday Night Baseball, which suffered from a limited choice of games during baseball鈥檚 travel days. In 1976, ABC began broadcasting the North American Soccer League as soccer exploded in popularity when Pele began playing in the league in 1975. ABC obtained exclusive rights in 1979, but interest in the league began declining the following year.

Finding a home on cable

Among the first ESPN anchors were Robin Roberts (left), Chris Berman (center) and Tom Jackson (right). (Photo: ESPN Images)

After being fired as communications director for the New England Whalers hockey team, Bill Rasmussen, his son Scott and Ed Eagan, an eye doctor and insurance agent, looked to create a regional sports network in Connecticut. When they discovered it would be cheaper to launch a national cable network over satellite, they established the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network on Sept. 7, 1979, supported by an investment from Getty Oil, which obtained 85% of the network and an advertising deal with Anheuser-Busch. Many felt there was not enough sports programming to fill 24 hours a day, but the network began airing sports and events that bigger broadcast networks thought were too niche, including the early rounds of the 1980 NCAA Basketball Tournament鈥攍aunching what is now known as March Madness鈥攁nd the 1982 FIFA World Cup with ABC airing the final.

In 1981, ABC SportsBeat, hosted by Howard Cosell, debuted and brought hard-hitting sports journalism, which previously had been exclusive to print journalism, to television. Although the show was not highly rated, it was one of the first on television to investigate issues like drugs and violence in sports. In 1983, the program produced a 30-minute documentary previewing the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, which was critical of the Olympics鈥� impact and was one of the first to question the long-term feasibility of the games despite the fact that ABC had spent $225 million to broadcast them.

After Texaco bought Getty Oil in 1984, the company sold its controlling stake in ESPN to ABC, which further legitimized the cable network as a sports broadcaster. ABC had previously purchased 15% of the network before buying the remaining 85% from Texaco then selling a 20% stake to Nabisco. ESPN was able to leverage ABC鈥檚 position as a broadcast network to expand its media rights. Later that year, the Supreme Court ruled in NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma that the NCAA鈥檚 control of college football broadcast rights was an unfair restriction on competition. ABC and ESPN quickly signed a deal with the College Football Association, which represented many of the top programs outside of the Big 10 and Pac 10.

Also that fall, the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 was passed, establishing national regulation of cable and helping calm tensions between municipalities wanting to protect local media and cable providers. The act helped facilitate an expansive growth of cable, making ESPN and other cable networks available in municipalities that had previously blocked or limited cable service. In 1987, ESPN debuted Sunday Night Football, which further cemented ESPN as a legitimate competitor to the broadcast networks.

By the 1990s, ESPN became synonymous with sports coverage at a time when media ownership was being deregulated. In 1990, Hearst purchased 20% of ESPN from Nabisco as the chain newspaper owner looked to expand its business into cable television. Soon after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed, Disney bought ABC and all its subsidiaries, including ESPN. In 1997, the Disney (now ESPN) Wide World of Sports athletic complex opened near Disney World, and Disney took control the Los Angeles Angels, adding to its sports portfolio that included the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and planning to create an ESPN West. Ultimately, Disney abandoned those plans, selling both teams by 2005. ESPN did open a Los Angeles studio near the Staples Center in 2009, but the network is consolidating its operations back to Bristol, Connecticut, and announced the closure of both its Los Angeles and New York Studios by the end of 2025.

Monday Night Football aired for the first time on ESPN in 2006. (Photo: ESPN Images)

In 2006, ABC Sports officially merged with ESPN, with the latter taking over sports coverage from its sister network. Later that year, Monday Night Football aired for the first time on the cable network. The NFL wanted to shift the marquee primetime game from Monday to Sunday, but Disney wanted to maintain their highly rated Sunday lineup, so they moved Monday Night Football to ESPN and NBC won the contract for the Sunday night game.

Growth and criticism

ESPN鈥檚 growth has not come without criticism, including the cost to cable providers and consumers, which is more than three times higher than its closest national competitor, TNT, due to increasing rights fees and production costs. Cable companies pay over $9 dollars per subscriber to carry ESPN, compared to about $3 for TNT. In spite of these prices, increasing media rights and cable cutting have led to budget crunches that have led to several rounds of layoffs, including newsroom staff in 2017 and 2023, leading to accusations that the network was moving away from sports journalism to focus more on promoting the leagues it covers.

ESPN backed out of its partnership with PBS Frontline on the production of League of Denial, which investigated traumatic brain injuries in the NFL and how the league hid their prevalence and long-term impact. ESPN鈥檚 exit from the investigation was reportedly due to pressure from the NFL. The network鈥檚 relationship with and investment in the league, which now includes NFL Media and the league obtaining 10% of the network, has increased concerns over a lack of critical coverage of the league鈥攊ncluding issues like violence against women, public funding of NFL stadiums and accusations of racism by team owners including Jerry Jones, who owns the network鈥檚 most covered team, the Dallas Cowboys. Some journalistic organizations like Poynter have claimed that promotion of Disney properties like Disney+ and content like Pixar and Marvel films on SportsCenter and other programs undermines the network鈥檚 remaining journalistic integrity.

ESPN has weathered this criticism and has positioned itself for the future as the top sports media company in the world. It has broadcasting rights for almost any sport imaginable and a strengthened relationship with the NFL, the most valuable sports league in the world, as it launches its direct-to-consumer service on Aug. 21 and partners with Fox for a new bundled service that will launch on Oct.2. It is a new era not just for sports media, but television as a whole as one of the last holdouts of traditional cable transitions to digital streaming.

Jared Bahir Browsh is an assistant teaching professor of critical sports studies in the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder Department of Ethnic Studies.

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Launching a new direct-to-consumer service this week and inking a recent deal to control NFL Media, ESPN continues evolving as the dominant force in sports media.

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One-hit wondering: Who let the dogs out?

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 23:32:39 +0000

One-hit wondering: Who let the dogs out? Rachel Sauer Thu, 08/07/2025 - 17:32

Jared Bahir Browsh

The Baha Men hit, released 25 years ago, occupies a distinctive spot in music and sports history, along with 鈥淢acarena鈥� and other novelty earworms

A quarter century ago, the world was gripped by a deeply philosophical question: 鈥淲ho let the dogs out?鈥� Twenty-five years after the Baha Men hit became a cultural phenomenon, the history of the song reveals the evolution of a viral novelty song while reflecting a music industry at a transition point at the start of the millennium.

Listeners likely are most familiar with the Baha Men cover of the song that was released on July 26, 2000, but the song, and its famous hook, has a much longer history. Ben Sisto鈥檚 2019 documentary 鈥淲ho Let the Dogs Out,鈥� traces the history of the hook, or chant, back to the 1980s, when high school teams like the Dowagiac Chieftains in Michigan and Austin Reagan Raiders in Texas would exclaim 鈥淥oh鈥� or 鈥淲ho let the dogs out,鈥� woofing along with the chant.

Jared Bahir Browsh is the Critical Sports Studies program director in the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder Department of Ethnic Studies.

Several other songs with a similar hook were released in the 1990s, leading to years of lawsuits over the rights to the song. Lawsuits targeted Anslem Douglas, who is credited with writing the Baha Men version of the song鈥攚hich is a cover of his song 鈥淒oggie,鈥� written as a feminist response to men catcalling women. In 1999, rapper Chuck Smooth recorded a song titled 鈥淲ho Let the Dogs Out?鈥� sampling the infamous hook and later joining the lawsuit.

Before the Baha Men recorded their version, infamous producer Jonathan King, who had several hits in the United Kingdom and helped discover Genesis, recorded his own cover of 鈥淒oggie鈥� under the name Fat Jakk and his Pack of Pets. King brought the recording to Steve Greenberg, who is credited with discovering Hanson, the Jonas Brothers, Joss Stone and AJR. Greenberg convinced the Baha Men, whom he discovered in 1991 and signed to Atlantic Records subsidiary Big Beat, to record a cover of the song. The Baha Men hesitated because the song was already popular in the Caribbean, but Greenberg convinced them, creating the label S-Curve Records to produce the album.

Even before the Baha Men version was released, teams like the Mississippi State University Bulldogs played the Chuck Smooth recording of the song beginning in the fall of 1998, and soon other teams followed. In June 2000, and as a joke, Seattle Mariners Promotions Director Gregg Greene used the Baha Men recording as a walk-up song for backup catcher Joe Oliver, several weeks before the song was released. All-Star shortstop Alex Rodriguez then requested the song; other teams adopted the song as an anthem. The New York Mets claim they used the song first, leading to both the Mariners and Mets exchanging jabs over who popularized the song as each team made runs deep into the playoffs.

As 鈥淲ho Let the Dogs Out鈥� made its rounds in stadiums and arenas in the United States, it became a global hit, reaching number one in several countries, including Australia. The song only peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, barely qualifying the song as a one-hit wonder. However, like other novelty songs鈥攊ncluding Aqua鈥檚鈥淏arbie Girl鈥濃€攊ts cultural impact goes far beyond its performance on the chart

The song got another boost when it was included on the 鈥淩ugrats in Paris鈥擳he Movie鈥� soundtrack, which was released two weeks after the song peaked on the Billboard Chart, ensuring children would continue 鈥渨oofing鈥� along with the song well into the next year. The song鈥檚 charm did wane in 2001, especially as sports fans began to find the song more annoying than energizing. But it still represents a unique time in music and a shift in stadium music in sports.

From Napster to TikTok

The late 1990s saw huge changes in technology that caused significant disruptions in the music industry. Throughout the 20th century, music technology continually advanced, making music more portable and providing more avenues to cater musical tastes to individual listeners.

The 1950s provided a foundation for modern popular music, as young listeners became the target of music producers and disc jockeys鈥攅specially as other forms of programming, like scripted programs and variety shows, transitioned from radio to television. Radio stations focused more on broadcasting music, especially as rock 鈥檔鈥� roll exploded in popularity thanks to DJs like Alan Freed, who helped popularize the term in 1951. Rock 鈥檔鈥� roll鈥檚 growth was supported by improvement in audio technology like the electric guitar, condenser microphones and enhanced amplifiers.

Radio put a greater focus on individual hit songs or singles, separating popular songs from a larger album. Album sales in all formats remained popular through the 1990s, but the greater focus on hits shifted the audience鈥檚 listening habits, especially as DJs curated shows of hit songs from a variety of artists. The introduction of the 7-inch 45 rpm record in 1949, which ran for between 5 to 6 minutes, also promoted single sales and became standard in jukeboxes.

The popularity of rock 鈥檔鈥� roll among young listeners raised criticism from parents and politicians over concerns of sexualization and the influence of Black artists promoting integration. However, by the mid-1950s, teenagers found more freedom as the transistor radio came to market in 1954, allowing radios to travel outside of the home and car. FM radio, with its higher-quality sound, also slowly spread as the FCC implemented a rule in 1964 forcing FM stations in cities to create original programming rather than simply simulcast from AM; many FM stations chose music formats.

Music continued to become more portable and individualized as magnetic tape formats, including the 8-track and then the compact cassette, offered the option to listen to singles and albums on the move. They also allowed listeners to curate their own music. Through the 1970s, 8-tracks dominated the music market, peaking in 1978 as the preferred tape format for cars and homes. In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, which worked with compact cassettes that were not only more portable but also allowed listeners to fast forward and rewind to listen鈥攁nd relisten鈥攖o their favorite songs anywhere.

Following decades of work by scientists to develop digital audio, the compact disc introduced the format to the public in 1982, allowing for greater portability, track selection and higher-quality sound. It later allowed users to upload or 鈥渞ip鈥� music to computers, helping to expand music sharing through peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Although P2P promoted the sharing of all types of files, Napster鈥檚 launch in 1999 and LimeWire鈥檚 in 2000 popularized the practice of downloading compressed music files as MP3s.

In spite of lawsuits brought by artists like Metallica and Dr. Dre over copyright concerns and the music industry becoming anxious over how MP3s would impact sales and revenues, Apple introduced the iPod in October 2001. It was not the first portable digital music player, but it drastically improved data capacity, battery life, functionality, the file transfer process and portability.

In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, which worked with compact cassettes that were not only more portable but also allowed listeners to fast forward and rewind to listen鈥攁nd relisten鈥攖o their favorite songs anywhere.

Users continued to download music through file-sharing sites even as Napster fought lawsuits before shutting down in July 2001. iTunes launched eight months before the iPod debuted, allowing for computer music management, including the ability to more easily rip CDs and build both mix CDs and playlists for the iPod when it launched. The iTunes store launched in 2003, allowing for seamless purchase of songs and albums, which could be transferred easily to the iPod. However, music sharing remained popular.

The digital era increased the focus on singles over albums, as consumers have increased options to curate their playlists by selecting individual songs rather than full albums through subscription-based streaming services like Spotify and YouTube Music. A few top artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonc茅 have strong fanbases that may buy full albums, but their albums sales still pale in comparison to artists of the 20th century.

One-hit wonders, novelty songs and ear worms

There is no official definition of a one-hit wonder, but in his book One-Hit Wonders, music journalist Wayne Jancik defined it as "an act that has won a position on Billboard's national, pop, Top 40 just once.鈥� The Baha Men barely meet these requirements in the United States, and because of its rise as a stadium anthem and its gimmicky hook, some see 鈥淲ho Let the Dogs Out鈥� as a novelty song. A song is considered a novelty if there is some foundation of humor or unusual hook or sounds within the song.

Throughout modern music history, there have been countless songs that can be considered novelty鈥攚ith artists like The Coasters (鈥淵akety Yak鈥�) and 鈥淲eird Al鈥� Yankovic enjoying successful careers from their novelty and parody songs. Cartoon bands like Alvin and the Chipmunks, created by Ross Bagdasarian (stage name David Seville) and The Archies (鈥淪ugar, Sugar鈥�) are considered novelty acts despite their music hitting No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Many kids鈥� (or children鈥檚) songs are considered novelty songs when they chart, including 鈥淭he Ballad of Davy Crockett鈥� from the Disneyland miniseries in 1954 and, more recently, 鈥淏aby Shark.鈥�

Like 鈥淲ho Let the Dogs Out,鈥� another novelty song, 鈥淢acarena,鈥� was a minor hit for other artists before catching on when it was re-recorded and reintroduced to the U.S. market in the summer of 1995. Considering listeners rarely know the lyrics of these songs beyond the catchy hook, the much-repeated eponymous lyrics could also be considered an earworm.

An earworm is a memorable piece of music that occupies someone鈥檚 mind well after the song stops playing. Earworms are often associated with advertising jingles like McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" or Oscar Mayer's "Oscar Mayer Weiner Song," but music listeners can also develop ear worms from catchy songs鈥攅specially if the hooks are replayed and the tune is associated with particular memories like sporting events. Another example of this is Steam鈥檚鈥淣a Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.鈥�

Social media has placed an increased emphasis on hooks, creating ear worms that can promote a song to hit status or revitalize a song's popularity. A recent example of both of these phenomena is Doechii鈥檚鈥淎nxiety,鈥� which she originally recorded in 2019. After the hook went viral on TikTok, she recorded the song again in 2025, leading to its becoming a top-ten single.

鈥淲ho Let the Dogs Out鈥� and 鈥淢acarena鈥� unknowingly represent a shift in the music industry at the turn of the 20th century. These pre-social media viral songs, popularized by a novel hook and gaining popularity off-radio, can be considered ahead of their time鈥攚ith the 鈥淢acarena鈥� even fostering a viral dance. Although playing these songs may result in more eye-rolls than cheers, their path to success cannot be overlooked in this modern digital music era.

Jared Bahir Browsh is an assistant teaching professor of critical sports studies in the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder Department of Ethnic Studies.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about critical sports studies? Show your support.

The Baha Men hit, released 25 years ago, occupies a distinctive spot in music and sports history, along with 鈥淢acarena鈥� and other novelty earworms.

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Up, up and away 鈥� to another Superman movie

Rachel Sauer — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 13:30:00 +0000

Up, up and away 鈥� to another Superman movie Rachel Sauer Wed, 07/09/2025 - 07:30

Bradley Worrell

麻豆免费版下载Boulder鈥檚 William Kuskin, who teaches a course on comics and graphic novels, considers Superman鈥檚 enduring appeal as Hollywood debuts a new adaptation about the Man of Steel

A new Superman movie arrives in theaters Friday, raising the question: Will American moviegoers turn out in large numbers to watch it?

Some recent superhero-themed films from Marvel and DC Comics have underperformed at the box office, prompting a debate about whether moviegoers are suffering from superhero fatigue. However, there鈥檚 some reason to believe Superman will prevail against lethargy thanks in part to a dedicated, supportive fan base, says William Kuskin, 麻豆免费版下载 Department of English chair, who teaches a popular course on comics and graphic novels and whose expertise includes popular culture and film.

鈥淭he comic shop boys I hang out with have been talking about this film for a bit now. To normal mortals, we鈥檙e probably all exhausted with the latest summer blockbuster movies, but I think there are going to be a good number of fans who will go see it,鈥� he says.

麻豆免费版下载Boulder Professor William Kuskin, chair of the Department of English, notes that the new film Superman may prevail against "superhero fatigue" thanks in part to a dedicated, supportive fan base.

Even beyond those most ardent of Superman fans, Kuskin says he believes the Man of Steel continues to enjoy approval in popular culture in part because he uses his superhuman powers to fight for 鈥渢ruth, justice and the American way鈥�鈥攎aking him a symbol of unity in a time when the country is deeply divided.

Additionally, Kuskin says that with this new film, DC Comics has signaled it is turning away from the dark, gritty tone that permeated its previous superhero films, most notably the Batman trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan and the 2021 Zack Snyder Justice League movie, where Batman has a dark vision of Superman being controlled by the supervillain Darkseid. Kuskin says he believes such a move could help broaden the film鈥檚 appeal as DC seeks to relaunch the franchise.

鈥淚 think the goal with the new movie is to be not so dark; it鈥檚 to brighten him (Superman) up and in some ways bring us back to the model that (Superman actor) Christopher Reeves set in the 1970s,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 also reflected in the choice to have James Gunn direct, as they (DC Studios) were looking for a director who could bring some joy to the franchise. 鈥�

Gunn previously directed several Marvel films, including the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, where he earned a reputation for bringing some charm and levity to the franchise, Kuskin says. As just one example, he points to Star-Lord鈥檚 extended disco-dance scene to the tune 鈥�Come and Get Your Love鈥� in the opening of the first film.

What鈥檚 old is new again

While DC Comics may be looking to get audiences back into theaters by recreating Superman鈥檚 positive, wholesome appeal in movies from the 1970s and 1980s, Kuskin says it鈥檚 important to note that Superman鈥檚 persona鈥攁nd his superpowers鈥攈ave evolved since he first debuted in Action Comics in 1938.

Upon his introduction, Superman was remarkable for being 鈥渇aster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive (and) able to leap tall buildings at a single bound.鈥� However, as Kuskin notes, Superman couldn鈥檛 actually fly in the beginning, and many of his other powers were added over time to make him more formidable.

Perhaps even more notably, Kuskin says Superman could be an antagonist if the situation called for it.

鈥淭he very first Superman story has him saving a woman who has been falsely accused of murder. Superman has to break down the governor鈥檚 door and insist in no uncertain terms that the governor rescind her sentence,鈥� he says. 鈥淗is message is that the ethical choice is always obvious鈥攅ven if it means turning against the government, which makes him a figure, essentially, of anarchy.

Superman debuted in Action Comics in 1938. (Art by Joe Shuster and color by Jack Adler)

鈥淭he story conveys that it takes someone with real guts to right those wrongs; it鈥檚 a really powerful message.鈥�

As Superman entered the World War II years, Kuskin says, he joined the pantheon of superheroes who battled the Axis powers in the pages of comic books. Around that time, Superman took on the qualities of not just a hero but an American savior, Kustin adds鈥攅ven though his well-known origin story has him being born on the planet Krypton.

鈥淲ith the embrace of 鈥榯ruth, justice and the American way,鈥� that鈥檚 how Superman transforms from something of an anarchist to this figure of Americanness,鈥� Kuskin says.

He notes it was also during that time period that Superman came to be defined as a contrast to DC Comics鈥� other main hero protagonist鈥擝atman. Whereas Superman embraces authority and represents a figure of absolutism, Batman tends to operate outside of the law. In fact, in Batman鈥檚 formative years in the late 1930s and early 1940s, he used guns and operated 鈥渁s a masked vigilante seeking to make (Gotham) city safe for commerce,鈥� Kuskin says.

At the same time, Kuskin adds, with no superpowers to speak of, as a practical matter, Batman was forced to rely on his intelligence, his cunning and his gadgets.

Meanwhile, Kuskin says it鈥檚 worth noting that Batman and Superman are derivative of earlier comic book heroes, particularly Olga Mesmer, a superhero from Venus whose superpowers roughly mirrored those of Superman, including super-strength and X-ray vision, and Lee Falk鈥檚 The Phantom, who was a somewhat wealthy costumed crime fighter with no superpowers, akin to Batman, who relies on his intelligence and skill with his two handguns.

Masking and unmasking

Kuskin says one of the more interesting aspects of Superman and Batman relates to masking and unmasking, and what it means symbolically to their roles as heroes.

鈥淪uperman is a figure of extroversion, so for him it鈥檚 all about unmasking. It鈥檚 about going from glasses鈥攚hich indicate a studious nature and a monastic sensibility鈥攖o no glasses,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y read of Superman is that the glasses are a signal of allowing himself a release, while Batman is the opposite. He goes from no glasses to putting on a mask, so it鈥檚 a signal of masking and turning inward.

鈥淭o put it another way, Superman is the extrovert who can鈥檛 wait to shed his suit and tie and leap out the window and proclaim his affinity for humanity with all his boundless energy. Batman is the exact opposite,鈥� Kuskin says. 鈥淗e needs to hide his external nature to deal with the world, not as himself, but as the truly dark version within himself. That expression is not very healthy, but it鈥檚 the only way he can really make a difference in the world. It鈥檚 effective, but it鈥檚 not a celebration in any way; it鈥檚 more of a revelation.鈥�

In the end, Kuskin argues, all superheroes fall into one of those two molds, as an extrovert or the introvert. If that鈥檚 the case, it begs the question: Which one does Kuskin prefer?

鈥淲ell, I have Batman tattooed on my arm, and I don鈥檛 have one of Superman, so that probably tells you something,鈥� he says with a laugh. 鈥淔or one thing, Batman has the narrative constraint of not using guns because of his ethical position. It鈥檚 also a constraint that makes it even harder for him to be victorious, and yet Batman never loses. And then there鈥檚 the whole issue with his traumatic childhood, so he鈥檚 not even playing on a level playing field. He鈥檚 got problems and he has to deal with those, too.鈥�

Meanwhile, back at the cineplex

While superhero movies have enjoyed a mixed reception as of late, Kuskin says he believes a lot of that has to do with the quality of the storytelling (or lack thereof) rather than audience support for the superhero genre. He gives special credit to the Marvel franchise for the strong continuity of its storylines across multiple films, and particular kudos for the storytelling in its Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame movies.

鈥淚 loved Endgame and Infinity War. I thought they were wonderfully crafted and heartfelt,鈥� he says. 鈥淎fter that, I didn鈥檛 find much joy in either Marvel or DC offerings. I did really like Robert Pattinson鈥檚 rendition of Batman. I felt he captured the sense of introversion that lies at the heart of Batman. And there鈥檚 a scene where he makes a public appearance as Bruce Wayne and he鈥檚 so beaten and so broken. That is the reality of Batman, so I really enjoyed that movie.

鈥淲ill I go see this new Superman movie? The jury鈥檚 still out,鈥� Kuskin says. However, after watching the 7-minute movie trailer, he says he鈥檚 a bit underwhelmed, based upon what he sees as an over-reliance on CGI effects and slow-motion punches鈥攕eemingly at the expense of a compelling story.

鈥淚 still think Batman is king. Society has become despairing and Batman鈥檚 despair speaks so powerfully,鈥� he says. 鈥淪till, Superman is a tremendous property, so we鈥檒l see what DC studios can do.鈥�

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Actor David Corenswet plays Superman in the film being released July 11. (Photo: Warner Bros)

What鈥檚 more hardcore than history?

Rachel Sauer — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 22:24:13 +0000

What鈥檚 more hardcore than history? Rachel Sauer Wed, 06/18/2025 - 16:24

麻豆免费版下载Boulder alumnus Dan Carlin brings a love of history and a punk sensibility to a new season of The Ampersand as he discusses his hit podcast, Hardcore History

Listen to The Ampersand

There are a lot of places to experience punk: in the dim, smoky basement of Club 88 in Los Angeles in 1983, listening to a then-little-known band called NOFX, but also on the ancient battlefields of Britannia, where Briton warriors drew their swords against the invading Romans.

In the first scenario, Dan Carlin was actually there wearing his signature black T-shirt and Orioles cap. The battlefield? He visits it in his vivid imagination (still in a black T-shirt and ball cap)鈥攄rinking in the details and drawing a sensory-rich narrative from historical texts and records.

麻豆免费版下载Boulder history graduate Dan Carlin brings a punk sensibility to his wildly popular podcast, Hardcore History.

Carlin, a 麻豆免费版下载 history graduate, is something of a journalist of the past鈥攁 punk rock kid who became a punk rock adult who brings that counterculture ethos to Hardcore History, among the most popular podcasts in the United States with millions of downloads per episode.

He recently joined host Erika Randall, 麻豆免费版下载Boulder interim dean of undergraduate education and professor of dance, to kick off a new season of "The Ampersand,鈥� the College of Arts and Sciences podcast. Randall joins guests in exploring stories about 鈥�ANDing鈥� as a 鈥渇ull sensory verb鈥� that describes experience and possibility.

Their conversation covered everything from creativity to punk rock to a dog named Mrs. Brown.

DAN CARLIN: So, what makes the past interesting is not so much that it's just, oh, here's a wild story from the past. It's that even though鈥攚hat did Shakespeare say? Right, "All the world's a stage, and all the people merely players"鈥攖he people in the story are people just like we are.

And so, the ability to touch base with something that is otherwise impossible for us to relate to, right, the past is a foreign country, as the saying goes. They do things differently there. Trying to imagine living in a society where they perform human sacrifice, for example, is not possible for us. But you can start to realize that the people in the story are the same as we were.

And if you took a human infant out of the incubator at your local hospital, put them in a time machine, sent them back in the past to a time where people enjoyed visiting public executions, and that child was raised in that culture, they, too, would enjoy going to public executions. So, genetically speaking, we're the same people. And I think that's the end toward understanding the past. I mean, if people ever end up on Mars someday, we might not be able to imagine what it's like to be on Mars. But we can imagine what it's like to be people, even on Mars.

ERIKA RANDALL: I teach dance history, and it really, to me, is about the people and then the context, right, and the people who are next to the people, and how going to see a World's Fair was akin to having access to the world wide web because you suddenly got to be in a moment in time. In the 1900s, all these people came together, and then the forum changed.

So, to say that with just dates and facts but not to go, 鈥淚magine that in this moment Loie Fuller is there with Marie Curie at the same event, running into each other. And look at what that did to dance. Look how technology and art, creativity and science came together because of that confluence of human people at an event.鈥�

And that helps to get students excited versus, 鈥淭his is the kind of piece that was made at this time on this date,鈥� but to really get into the storytelling. And then the letters, the archives, the archival material that actually brings those humans to life, I find, oh, I want students to get as excited about that as I do. What do you think we do in this generation of people who are learning with so much information that they maybe don't read the bylines perhaps the way you and I did or dive into the works cited to get into the detail of, like, what can make me feel here?

CARLIN: There's a lot to unpack in that question because I think it touches upon a lot of things that I think about but don't have any answers for. I think this is self-evident and obvious, but we're involved in a mass giant human experiment right now. And anybody who's raising kids, even my kids are late teens, early 20s, so, I mean, but they're not really kids anymore.

Dan Carlin's "The End Is Always Near" explores some of the apocalyptic moments from the past as a way to frame the challenges of the future.

But this is all part of this generation, as I tell my oldest, that cropped up literally right after she was born. I mean, once the iPhone comes around, and we're walking around with鈥攚hat did Elon Musk say? We're all cyborgs now, right? Once we enter that world, we firmly leave the analog world behind.

And what I mean by that is I try to explain to people that the entire history of humanity up until about the 21st century, maybe the very, very end of the 20th, that's an analog world, right? So, if you grew up, as I did, in a pre-computer world, you lived in the same world that the people in ancient Assyria lived in, right? I mean, they came home when the metaphorical streetlights went on, just like we did, right? No way to call mom, no tracking.

But the point is so, all of a sudden, now we enter into a world where we don't know how this plays out because there hasn't been enough time. What's more, unlike ancient times, where the pace of change was slow, so that even if there was some revolutionary new discovery, right, a brand new plow is invented that's going to change the entire world, you would probably have several hundred years to incorporate that new technology and see what that was going to do to society. Even movable print, which shook up the whole world, is nothing compared to what we have now because what we have now, if you said nothing's really going to change for another 50 years, then we could sit there and try to incorporate what's happened, right?

So, there's the ability to absorb and sort of make it a part of. In other words, society redirects around the inventions so that it then becomes the society plus those inventions. But what I think we're all aware of now is that the pace of change is so quick that by the time we would incorporate, oh, my gosh, what is the world plus Facebook like鈥�

RANDALL: It's already moved on.

CARLIN: We're off of Facebook. Yes! And so, the ability to ever get to the absorption phase is gone. What that does for society is a big unknown.

So, the question is often brought up about things like the ability to think deeply or to contemplate. Or, I mean, do people get bored without their cell phone for two minutes? Does that rob us of the ability that ancient thinkers used to have to just sit out in the open air amongst the trees and think? Or as one person pointed out鈥攁nd I think there's real benefit to this, too鈥攖he counterreaction to boredom, right, what boredom makes us do.

RANDALL: Yes.

CARLIN: To not be bored ends up being鈥�

RANDALL: It sparks creativity. It actually lights us up.

CARLIN: Yes. The games you have to invent as a kid because there is no easy access to something else, right?

RANDALL: Yeah.

CARLIN: I don't know what that means for society. I tell my kids all the time that if you happen to be somebody who bucks that trend, it reminds you of the line, "In the world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," right? I mean, if you can do math and nobody can do math anymore, that's an advantage, right? So, I always try to turn it into, well, if you're one of the few who reads, that's going to help you.

I think doing the show when you're doing five hours of history podcasting sometimes, and that there's an audience for that, helps you go, oh, well, good. There's still that out there. But when you have more than a billion people as your potential audience, getting a few million here or there that are interested in your little niche thing is not necessarily reflective of broad societal trends.

So, I don't know that our audience is representative, and I'm not sure I can draw many conclusions from that.

RANDALL: But it doesn't make you want to go get those other billion. It makes you鈥攍ike, you don't want to have to necessarily adapt your path towards those folks who want the quick flip and quick hit.

Dan Carlin has hosted Hardcore History since 2006.

CARLIN: I wouldn't do that. No, I wouldn't do that for several reasons. One, there's people who have that lane鈥攍ots of people who have that. It鈥檚 an easier lane, to be honest. But also, because it's the same thing with why I'm following the Baltimore Orioles when I live in Los Angeles, and I've never been to Baltimore. I mean, this is鈥擨 was a punk rock person. I'm a Generation X person.

There's a whole bunch of things in my biography where you just go, oh, this guy is going to do it differently. My wife would say, you just have to be different, don't you? And, yeah, I think that's what it is. So, I don't want those other people. I kind of take pride that the audience invented a name for themselves. They call themselves the "hardcorps," C-O-R-P-S.

RANDALL: Oh, I love that.

CARLIN: This is how I always was as a kid, too. It's not that I'm different and bad. I'm different, and I'm going to take pride in that. And I want my several million, instead of the billions, because it's us, right? It's our own private "hardcorps" club.

RANDALL: In the basement.

CARLIN: We're doing our own thing. You can go enjoy your 30-second TikTok pieces of entertainment.

RANDALL: I can't imagine you in that ball cap and black T-shirt as a punk rock guy. Like, who were you listening to? Were you pierced? What are we talking about? Did the visual change, or were you a contrarian there, too, when you rolled up with your Orioles cap into the basement with people with mohawks?

CARLIN: Well鈥攁nd I'm speaking to people who were there now in your audience who remember鈥攑unk is a caricature of what it was then. It's hard to describe what it was like in '79 or '80 or '81.

RANDALL: In L.A., right?

CARLIN: Yeah. I mean, listen, I remember John Doe, who was the lead singer of X. He had a great line. He said punk was wearing black jeans and having a normal haircut鈥攚hat we would call a normal haircut today.

If you had short hair in 1978, people would yell out the car. You know, he said people would yell out the car and yell Devo at you because that was contrary. He said, 鈥淎ll I had was a normal American haircut, but that was a statement in 1978.鈥�

So, we looked more normal. A lot of times, we had a lot of hair colors. But with me, if you saw me at CU, I didn't look鈥� I had long hair at CU.

RANDALL: Were you punk? Were you punk at CU?

CARLIN: I was always punk.

Click the button below to hear the rest of the conversation.

Listen to The Ampersand

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about history? Show your support.

麻豆免费版下载Boulder alumnus Dan Carlin brings a love of history and a punk sensibility to a new season of The Ampersand as he discusses his hit podcast, Hardcore History.

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We still need a bigger boat

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 17:02:38 +0000

We still need a bigger boat Rachel Sauer Tue, 06/17/2025 - 11:02

Rachel Sauer

Fifty years after 鈥楯aws鈥� made swimmers flee the ocean, 麻豆免费版下载Boulder cinema scholar Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz explains how the 1975 summer hit endures as a classic

On June 19, 1975, it wasn鈥檛 such a terrible thing to feel something brush your leg while frolicking in the ocean. It was startling, sure鈥攈umans鈥� relationship with the ocean has long harbored a certain element of fear, says 麻豆免费版下载 Professor Andrew Martin鈥攂ut the rational mind could more quickly acknowledge that it was probably seaweed.

That changed the following day, when a film by a young director named Steven Spielberg opened on screens across the United States. On June 20, 1975, to feel something brush your leg in the ocean was to immediately think, 鈥淪HARK!鈥�

Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder professor of cinema studies and moving image arts, regularly teaches "Jaws" in Introduction to Cinema Studies.

Are sharks really as scary as their reputation?

In the 50 years since 鈥淛aws鈥� made people flee the water for fear of sharks, the film has become widely recognized as a cinematic landmark.

鈥溾€橨aws鈥� is a movie I teach regularly in Introduction to Cinema Studies鈥攜es, it鈥檚 that important,鈥� says Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder professor of cinema studies and moving image arts, adding that 鈥淛aws鈥� also is an important case study for misconceptions, including the evolution and de-evolution, of the term 鈥渂lockbuster.鈥�

A disaster-horror movie

The cinematic landscape in which 鈥淛aws鈥� arrived was one of greater daring and a transition away from the focus on producers in the classical Hollywood era to a focus on a new cohort of directors鈥斺€渕ostly men, mostly white,鈥� Acevedo-Mu帽oz acknowledges鈥攚ho studied cinema in college and were greatly influenced by the French New Wave.

鈥淲ith the collapse of the Hollywood studio system, suddenly there鈥檚 more opportunity for creativity, for edgy content,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n the late 鈥�60s, early 鈥�70s, you have some movies that really were trailblazers in what鈥檚 unofficially called the American New Wave. 鈥楤onnie and Clyde,鈥� 1967, comes to mind鈥攏obody had seen that kind of romanticization of violence and graphic violence before.鈥�

Young directors like Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese were more in touch with the counterculture of the time, and old-guard producers, recognizing these young mavericks might be lucrative, green-lit projects like 鈥淭he Godfather,鈥� 鈥淢ean Streets鈥� and 鈥淛aws,鈥� Acevedo-Mu帽oz says.

鈥淭here鈥檚 incentive to be risky in that juncture of the 鈥�60s to the 鈥�70s,鈥� he notes. 鈥淭hen to that context you add the economic crisis of the early 1970s, the recession and unemployment, plus the end of the Vietnam War, heads are getting hot and people are angry.

Creating doom in two simple notes

It鈥檚 possible for a universe of dread to exist between two notes: duu-DU 鈥� duu-DU

Just two notes, played with increasing urgency and speed, let moviegoers know that a shark is coming, and fast.

An element of the genius of John Williams鈥� Oscar-winning score for the film 鈥淛aws,鈥� released 50 years ago Friday, is how much it conveys in just those iconic two notes.

鈥淲illiams layers melodic tension in these notes with an increasing rhythmic motion鈥攈e accelerates the speed in which we hear the notes, and he accelerates their frequency,鈥� says Michael Sy Uy, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder associate professor of musicology and director of the American Music Research Center. 鈥淲hen you combine that with the emotions attached to the fear, anxiety and dread of being attacked by a shark, then we start to feel how this music is living with and entering our ears, and it makes us feel actual anxiety or dread.鈥�

The two notes of duu-DU are separated by the closest interval in Western musical notation that our ears are trained and socialized to hear, he adds鈥攁 half step鈥攖hat, when played in succession, can help listeners feel a sense of melodic tension.

In the case of the 鈥淛aws鈥� soundtrack, it can help listeners feel a deep dread. In fact, some scholars argue that 鈥淛aws鈥� would not be the cinematic landmark it is without John Williams鈥� score.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to imagine movies today and over the past five decades without their soundtracks,鈥� Uy says. 鈥淲e make music a part of the storytelling because music can add an extra layer of meaning. It can contradict what is happening in a scene between actors, or it can validate what they鈥檙e saying. Music can tell the story even when words don鈥檛.鈥�

Learn more about 麻豆免费版下载Boulder's film and television soundtrack connections in the American Music Research Center's Dave Grusin collection. Grusin is a Grammy-winning composer, contemporary of John Williams and 麻豆免费版下载Boulder alumnus.

鈥淭he crises of the 1970s are one of the reasons why we have the flourishing of the disaster film at that time. I would point first to 鈥楾he Poseidon Adventure,鈥� which is the best of them all, and 鈥楾he Towering Inferno,鈥� 鈥楨arthquake.鈥� And to a certain extent, 鈥楯aws鈥� is a hybrid of the classic horror monster movie and the 1970s disaster movie.鈥�

The dire economic background of the early 1970s was important to 鈥淛aws鈥� and other disaster films, Acevedo-Mu帽oz says, because 鈥渁 disaster movie, like a horror movie, tells us we are going through a really rough time, but if we all work together and we make a few sacrifices, we鈥檙e going to get out of this OK. If we follow the lead of Paul Newman or Steve McQueen or Gene Hackman, we鈥檒l eventually get out of this all right.鈥�

Driving the buzz

鈥淛aws鈥� is often called the original summer blockbuster, but relentless repetition of this idea does not make it true, Acevedo-Mu帽oz says: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no one movie we can point to as the original summer blockbuster.鈥�

In fact, he adds, the term 鈥渂lockbuster鈥� really refers to the end of a classic Hollywood distribution and exhibition practice called block booking: If theaters wanted to show big-draw feature films, they also had to book smaller, cheaper, shorter films that came to be known as 鈥淏 movies," which "were made quickly by 'B units' that often reused sets or even costumes from the big movies to cut costs. But scholarship on B movies has argued that because the studios weren鈥檛 paying too much attention to those units, some of the B movies were rather edgy and interesting."

Block booking meant that the producers and distributors controlled a lot of what was in exhibition venues, "but there were occasionally movies that may have broken that pattern, and those were in some ways the original blockbusters鈥攁s in busting the block of block booking practice," he says.

While 鈥淛aws鈥� did break box-office records of the time, it鈥檚 also noteworthy in cinema history as one of the first miracles of marketing, he says. It was based on a mega-bestselling book by Peter Benchley, one that was optioned for film while still in galleys, and the film marketing piggy-backed on the name recognition of the book.

Further, 鈥淛aws鈥� was one of the first films to intentionally create buzz as part of the overall publicity and marketing plan, including strategically leaked tidbits from the film鈥檚 set on Martha鈥檚 Vineyard.

On its June 20, 1975, opening day, 鈥淛aws鈥� was one of the most prominent films to benefit from a practice called 鈥渇ront loading,鈥� which meant making more prints of the film and showing it in as many theaters as possible, rather than the previous practice of rolling openings from largest to smallest markets.

鈥淭he marketing and distribution team of Universal Pictures also decided to take a front-loading approach with 鈥楯aws,鈥� so that it was playing everywhere,鈥� Acevedo-Mu帽oz says. 鈥淥r almost everywhere. It still took months to get to my hometown, but we knew it was coming, and that anticipation was building.

鈥淪o, 鈥楯aws鈥� is important because it was this consolidation of these different practices of marketing, creating buzz, creating anticipation, creating tie-ins鈥攊t put all these things in one place that were practices that had been around before the summer of 鈥�75 but afterwards became the model.鈥�

As for the film鈥檚 effect on moviegoers and their summer vacation plans? 鈥淚 know a lot of people,鈥� Acevedo-Mu帽oz says, 鈥渨ho refused to go swimming after they saw 鈥楯aws.鈥欌€�

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about cinema studies and moving image arts? Show your support.

Fifty years after 鈥楯aws鈥� made swimmers flee the ocean, 麻豆免费版下载Boulder cinema scholar Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz explains how the 1975 summer hit endures as a classic.

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Recognizing a century of boats against the current

Rachel Sauer — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 19:17:08 +0000

Recognizing a century of boats against the current Rachel Sauer Wed, 04/23/2025 - 13:17

Collette Mace

The Great Gatsby remains relevant for modern readers by shapeshifting with the times, says 麻豆免费版下载Boulder scholar Martin Bickman

鈥淪o we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.鈥�

The final words of F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 classic novel, The Great Gatsby鈥攑ublished 100 years ago this month鈥攁re among the most known and appreciated in American literature.

Martin Bickman, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder professor of English, notes that the intentional vagueness of The Great Gatsby helps readers of all generations connect with the characters.

And according to Martin Bickman, a 麻豆免费版下载 professor of English, this line and the novel鈥檚 conclusion reflect the age in which it was written and neatly ends a novel that seems to capture the American psyche.

But why is The Great Gatsby considered the Great American Novel? Not because it鈥檚 great or because it鈥檚 American, Bickman explains鈥攁lthough it is both. This novel has remained relevant from generation to generation because it shapeshifts with the times, continuing to carry themes that Americans are bred to notice.

Questions of the American dream, wealth, class standing and ambition are central to American values in both 1925 and today. And while these themes look very different to the modern American, Bickman says the intentional vagueness of the novel helps readers of all generations connect with the characters.

To understand this, Bickman, a 麻豆免费版下载President鈥檚 Teaching Scholar who has taught a course called American Novel, cites 鈥渞eader response theory,鈥� a framework he emphasizes is critical in the study of literature. According to reader response theory, the reader of a text to take must take an active role in constructing the meaning within the text; if readers look only at a novel through the perspective of the author, that neglects much of the text鈥檚 meaning.

For this reason, no text can be interpreted the exact way by two different people. Readers approach texts differently as a result of their position in the world, and the experiences that have shaped them inform their understanding of what they read. The text then becomes a blank canvas for what readers project onto it, Bickman says

Seeing ourselves in Gatsby

What does this have to do with Gatsby? According to Bickman, the title character is just two-dimensional enough to serve as a perfect projection screen for readers of the novel. He鈥檚 mysterious, allowing the narrator, Nick Calloway, to cast his own assumptions about the world and the wealthy onto him, as well as vague enough to allow the reader to project their own internal thoughts and biases onto him.

As well as having characters that reflect the reader in personality and perceptions, The Great Gatsby also reflects classic American messages that are relevant today.

Because of his intentional ambiguity, Gatsby as a character can reflect what the reader thinks of many different things, including the elite, the rich and even the quintessential American dreamer.

This is how The Great Gatsby becomes a chameleon, remaining relevant in era, despite its age, Bickman says. As well as having characters that reflect the reader in personality and perceptions, the novel also reflects classic American messages that are relevant today.

The green light on Daisy鈥檚 dock, for example, represents the unattainable hopes for the future that stem from the inability to transcend the past. This feeling is still present, and most likely always will be in a country that believes in the possibility of a glowing future as long as we just work hard enough to get there鈥攕uch is, in essence, the American dream, Bickman says.

It also showcases the all-to-frequent pain of the American dream. Although Bickman says the billionaires of today had no equal in Fitzgerald鈥檚 time, the uneasiness surrounding the callousness of the rich is on full display in Gatsby. Daisy, for example, named for the beautiful and delicate flower that Gatsby sees her as, is just as cruel and selfish as any of the men around her. She was the one driving the car, after all.

However, as she comes from 鈥渟elf-earned鈥� money, and as someone who has seemingly 鈥渨on鈥� at the American dream, does she get a pass for her selfishness? In a way, she seems to, at least for the moment. And as time moves on, and the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, it seems that the original questions of whether the rich can be callous changes to whether the rich can be cruel鈥攁 key difference in how the world works, according to Bickman.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a real pathology now,鈥� he says, 鈥淚 mean, these people are cruel. The richest of the rich in the 1920s were nothing like today鈥檚 billionaires.鈥�

So the lessons of The Great Gatsby remain relevant, Bickman says, suggesting that modern readers should take a deep look between the lines and wonder what Gatsby can show us about ourselves.

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'The Great Gatsby' remains relevant for modern readers by shapeshifting with the times, says 麻豆免费版下载Boulder scholar Martin Bickman.

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Don鈥檛 fear the fungi

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 13:30:00 +0000

Don鈥檛 fear the fungi Rachel Sauer Thu, 04/17/2025 - 07:30

Bradley Worrell

麻豆免费版下载Boulder mycologist Alisha Quandt says there鈥檚 little reason to fear a fungi-zombie apocalypse like the one imagined in the HBO hit TV series 鈥楾he Last of Us鈥�

Alisha Quandt prepared herself in advance to be asked by students and others about Sunday鈥檚 season 2 premier of 鈥淭he Last of Us鈥濃€攖he hit HBO series that imagines a post-apocalyptic future where a fungal infection on a massive scale turns the majority of humanity into zombie-like creatures seeking to infect the last pockets of civilization.

It鈥檚 not that Quandt is a super-fan of the TV show (鈥淚鈥檓 not into zombies, honestly,鈥� she confesses), but as a mycologist鈥攁 scientist who studies fungi鈥攕he is used to getting asked about the TV show, specifically whether the grim future it imagines is anything people need to be worried about, or whether it鈥檚 simply harmless entertainment.

鈥淚鈥檓 happy if it gets people excited about fungi. They鈥檙e so incredible,鈥� says Alisha Quandt, a 麻豆免费版下载Boulder assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

鈥淓specially when the TV show first debuted, it was definitely a topic people wanted to discuss,鈥� says Quandt, a 麻豆免费版下载 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology assistant professor.

鈥淎nd it seems like the topic (of infectious fungi) comes up in popular culture every five to 10 years. When I was starting my PhD, people were fascinated by the 鈥楶lanet Earth鈥� TV series by David Attenborough, where this ant infected by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis staggers around, being controlled by the fungus. Then later, the Last of Us videogame came out, which really got people excited about (zombie) fungi.鈥�

Quandt did her PhD research studying Cordyceps-like fungi, which is the type of pestilence the TV show identifies as the culprit for turning civilization into a hellscape populated by zombies controlled by the spiky fungi tendrils sprouting from their heads. For the record, Quandt finds that scenario very unlikely, for a variety of reasons.

No need to panic

For starters, the TV show imagines a worldwide outbreak is caused by Cordyceps-contaminated food. However, Quandt says most fungal infections in humans are caused by inhaling spores or through contact with the eyes or skin鈥攁nd not through the digestive tract. She notes that in many parts of the world, people have been ingesting Cordyceps fungi for decades without incident, because they believe they contain beneficial properties.

鈥淚鈥檝e eaten Cordyceps in Asia, in Korea and China,鈥� says Quandt, who remains unzombified. 鈥淚t鈥檚 considered a part of traditional Chinese medicine, especially certain species. Even here in the U.S., you can find Cordyceps in coffees and teas, for example. They sell them at stores in Boulder.鈥�

Quandt says another reason not to be overly concerned about Cordyceps is that many of them are 鈥渟pecialists鈥� that have a very narrow range of hosts that they infect, down to a specific family of ant or spider. While some Cordyceps can transition from infecting one type of arthropod to another, or to jump from infecting an insect to another fungus, she says making the leap to a healthy human being is remote.

What鈥檚 more, the average human body temperature of 97 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit is not an environment that鈥檚 hospitable for many fungi, although Quandt acknowledges there are exceptions. 鈥淭he Last of Us鈥� imagines a future in which global warming has raised Earth temperatures to a point where mutated Cordyceps zombie fungi could live comfortably in human hosts, but Quandt notes that ambient temperatures of even 90 degrees Fahrenheit are still cooler than the human body.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a hard path for me to follow,鈥� she says of an environmental change that would allow Cordyceps to evolve in such a way. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of assumptions that would go into that trajectory.鈥�

麻豆免费版下载Boulder scientist Alisha Quandt finds the scenario from "The Last of Us" in which a Cordyceps-like fungi causes worldwide zombification very unlikely, for a variety of reasons. (Photo: HBO)

Beyond those arguments, Quandt says there is an even more important one as to why humans don鈥檛 need to start doom prepping for a fungi apocalypse.

鈥淢y argument about why we shouldn鈥檛 be worried about a fungal pandemic is that our bodies, when fully immunocompetent鈥攎eaning healthy human bodies鈥攁re extremely well equipped to deal with fungal propagules (spores) that come into contact with our bodies, mostly through our lungs,鈥� she says. 鈥淔ungi have this cell wall that is made up of stuff that our bodies do not make. So, our bodies are really good identifying and dealing with that.鈥�

Quant says fungal infections do pose a risk to people whose immune systems are compromised鈥攑articularly if they have taken a heavy dose of antibiotics, because those can kill off good bacteria, which can lower resistance to harmful fungi.

鈥淥nce our immune system goes away, which could handle those types of (fungi), we have so few antifungal drugs to treat fungal infections compared to the myriad of antibiotics that we have to treat bacterial diseases,鈥� she says.

For the immunocompromised, Quandt says one of the most concerning fungi鈥攚hich just cropped up in recent years and has spread worldwide鈥攊s Candida auris.

鈥淚t is a really concerning human pathogen because it is what we call nosocomial, meaning it is hospital related. People get these infections in hospitals, and once it鈥檚 in a hospital, it can be almost impossible to get rid of it,鈥� she says.

鈥淧eople will use all kinds of bleach and ethanol but it鈥檚 very hard to get rid of the yeast once it gets into a hospital room. And the fully immunocompetent, like nurses and doctors who are not sick, can end up spreading it from room to room to sick, often elderly, patients. Unfortunately, there鈥檚 not a good defense on the ground, so to speak, once Candida auris takes hold.鈥�

But while 鈥渙pportunistic pathogens鈥� like Candida auris can pose a risk to the immunocompromised, the number of fungal diseases that could be described as 鈥減rimary pathogens鈥濃€攎eaning they can infect and potentially cause serious health issues for healthy individuals鈥攊s less than a handful, Quandt says.

One primary pathogen that can be found in the United State is Valley Fever, which is primarily located in New Mexico, Arizona and southern California. Farming, construction or other practices that disrupt the soil can release the fungi鈥檚 spores, which people can then breathe into their lungs. Once inhaled, Valley Fever can potentially cause fever, cough, tiredness, shortness of breath and, in limited cases, serious conditions such as pneumonia and meningitis.

鈥淏ut those are the rarer things, and I鈥檓 still not worried about them becoming common because they鈥檙e still not being spread from person to person,鈥� she says.

In contrast with the way 鈥淭he Last of Us鈥� portrays fungi as an existential threat, Quandt sees a type of virus that鈥檚 already well-known to the scientific community and the public alike as a much greater risk for causing a global pandemic. The World Health Organization estimates the COVID-19 pandemic killed 14.9 million people worldwide between January 2020 and December 2021.

鈥淎s we鈥檝e recently seen, unfortunately, there are a lot of other places to look for more likely suspects for (global pandemics). Things that were predicted by a lot of great investigative journalists and epidemiologists, like coronavirus and other zoonotic diseases (which jump from animals to humans), pose a much greater threat to mankind,鈥� she says.

鈥淎s we鈥檝e recently seen, unfortunately, there are a lot of other places to look for more likely suspects for (global pandemics). Things that were predicted by a lot of great investigative journalists and epidemiologists, like coronavirus and other zoonotic diseases (which jump from animals to humans), pose a much greater threat to mankind.鈥�

And now, back to the show

Even beyond the fact she鈥檚 not into zombies, Quandt says her training as a mycologist can get in the way of her enjoyment of 鈥淭he Last of Us鈥� as entertainment, based upon the few episodes she has watched.

鈥淚鈥檓 probably a little too close to watch the show鈥攅specially the fruiting bodies,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ometimes they would show a person who is dead up against a wall, and the fruiting structures look life shelf fungi,鈥� she says.

鈥淭hose are related to mushrooms鈥攖hey鈥檙e not related to (fungi) that are molds, like Cordyceps. The artistry was beautiful, so they did a good job visually, but it鈥檚 just completely inaccurate. So, it does take you out of it a little bit to watch as an expert; you have to really suspend belief.鈥�

Another scene that inspired disbelief for Quandt was a flashback episode鈥攑rior to the fungal pandemic鈥攚hen a mycologist in Jakarta is asked by representatives of the country鈥檚 military to provide guidance on how to proceed after a group of workers in a building are found to be infected with early cases of the Cordyceps contagion. After surveying the infected, the mycologist gives the military members a chilling one-word answer: 鈥淏omb!鈥� (As in, bomb the entire country to try to prevent the infection from spreading.)

鈥淢y husband was watching the show with me. He paused it there and he鈥檚 like, 鈥榃hat should they do?鈥� I was like, 鈥楪et all the antifungals that you can. Get all the major ones and then get the rare ones鈥攁nd start pumping these people with IVs, or all the people that you think might be exposed and get going on it.鈥� But the fact she said 鈥榖omb!鈥� I almost found it funny, but I was also like, 鈥極h, my God, that鈥檚 so dramatic.鈥� Still, it鈥檚 a TV show, and I acknowledge that.鈥�

While Quandt may opt not to watch more episodes of 鈥淭he Last of Us,鈥� she says if the TV show raises public awareness about fungi鈥攅ven if the details in the show are not entirely correct鈥攕he is all for it.

鈥淚鈥檓 happy if it gets people excited about fungi,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e so incredible.鈥�

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about ecology and evolutionary biology? Show your support.

麻豆免费版下载Boulder mycologist Alisha Quandt says there鈥檚 little reason to fear a fungi-zombie apocalypse like the one imagined in the HBO hit TV series 鈥楾he Last of Us.'

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