{"title":"Talk About Sex: How Sex Ed Battles Helped Ignite the Right. Twentieth Anniversary Edition By Janice M. Irvine, Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2023. $34.95. (Paperback) 252 pp. ISBN: 978-1-43-992422-8","authors":"Kurt Edward Milberger","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 2","pages":"145-146"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148238295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Searching for Woody Guthrie: A Personal Exploration of the Folk Singer, His Music, and His Politics. By Ron Briley, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2020. 400 pp. ISBN: 978-1-62-190533-2","authors":"Scott R. Stalcup","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 2","pages":"143-144"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148238301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“They Look Just Like You and Me”: The Evolution of Immigrant Representation in American Sitcoms, 1950–2025","authors":"Judith Clemens-Smucker, Caleb George Hubbard","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70015","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Immigrant representation in American sitcoms has evolved drastically from the 1950s to 2025, portraying immigration experiences in response to cultural and political ideology. By analyzing these changes through the lens of historical television texts, United States legislation, and Stuart Hall's representation theory, it is possible to see how these differences are a result of the decades in which they were produced. Beginning with early shows featuring immigrants focused on assimilation narratives, representation can be traced through sparse portrayals in the 1960s–1970s, exaggerated stereotypes in the 1980s, lack of representation during post-9/11 suspicion, and finally to more authentic contemporary portrayals. <i>Superstore</i> episode “Employee Appreciation Day,” which directly addresses immigration enforcement, is an example clearly showing how contemporary thought influences media texts. Examination of sitcoms' encoded messages about immigrant identities shows that television's unique capacity to either humanize or dehumanize immigrant individuals or groups can potentially create empathy and understanding or promote cultural bias.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 2","pages":"87-97"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148237887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘It's Like a Horror Movie That You Walk Through’: Experiencing Horror Through Immersive Recreation","authors":"Susan Weidmann","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70030","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Horror stories have provided enjoyable forms of leisure for centuries. Over the past five decades, however, these experiences have evolved into increasingly immersive forms of popular culture. What once involved constructing the narrative world internally through reading has expanded into sensory engagement through visual and auditory media such as film and television. More recently, participation has become even more active, as audiences control avatars in horror-themed video games or physically engage with narrative environments in haunted houses and other immersive horror attractions. This paper examines the evolution of immersive horror—from its literary origins to contemporary embodied and interactive experiences—and considers the role of American culture in shaping this industry. It concludes with a discussion of the future of immersive horror entertainment.</p>","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 2","pages":"121-130"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jacc.70030","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148237353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Boomtown: What Fort Worth, Texas, Teaches Us About the Role of Film Commissions in the Era of Mobile Production","authors":"Tricia Jenkins, Kimberly Owczarski","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70019","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article argues that local film commissions in the United States are increasingly stepping beyond their traditional roles as facilitators of location scouting and permitting to become active agents shaping the long-term viability of media production in their regions. Using the Fort Worth Film Commission and its collaboration with Taylor Sheridan and 101 Studios as a case study, the essay demonstrates how commissions are engaging in legislative lobbying, workforce development, and infrastructure planning to compete in the unpredictable landscape of mobile production. Through interviews, economic data, scholarship, and legislative analysis, the article reveals how Fort Worth's film commission has helped transform a city with no major production infrastructure into an emergent media hub—offering a template for how commissions in politically conservative or under-resourced regions might sustain production beyond one-off projects. Ultimately, the case study provides new insights into the evolving functions of film commissions in shaping where and how contemporary media production takes root.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 2","pages":"111-120"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148237512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture By Karen Lemmey, Tobias Wofford, and Grace Yasumura (eds.), Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2024. 292 pp. (Hardcover) $65.00, ISBN: 978-0-691-26149-2","authors":"Joy Sperling","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70003","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 2","pages":"141-142"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148238296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wrestling Voices: Amplifying Patriotism and Ethnic Stereotypes in 1980s American Professional Wrestling","authors":"Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70025","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article examines the use of promotional interviews (“promos”) in American professional wrestling of the 1980s. I argue that promos introduced a vocal modality into a form of sports entertainment that, as Roland Barthes ([1957] 1972) showed in <i>Mythologies</i>, had always been dominated by visual spectacle. I then undertake a focused linguistic and auditory analysis of promos made by two wrestlers: the Iranian Iron Sheik and his American opponent Hulk Hogan. The analysis shows how voices were made to amplify ethnic stereotypes and patriotic sentiments in constructing the all-American heroes and foreignized villains that proliferated in, and that helped to legitimize, this era of neoconservative nationalism in American culture and politics.</p>","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"19-29"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jacc.70025","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147569415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hardcore Punk in the Age of Reagan: The Lyrical Lashing of an American Presidency. By Fitzgerald, Robert, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2025. 241 pp. $34.95 (Softcover) ISBN: 978-1-46-9668545-8","authors":"Scott R. Stalcup","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70059","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"64-65"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147562638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Perverse Eucharist: Flanagan's Midnight Mass as Religious Satire","authors":"Paul A. Crutcher","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70031","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"30-37"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147562825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning Hollywood's Master of the Macabre. Revised Edition by David J. Skal and Elias Savada Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2025. 408 pp. ISBN: 978-1-5179-1673-2","authors":"Daniel P. Murphy","doi":"10.1111/jacc.70027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.70027","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44809,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AMERICAN CULTURE","volume":"49 1","pages":"79-80"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147566226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}