Popular culture

Every year, millions of foreign tourists flock to China - only to find themselves overwhelmed by the complexities of navigating the world's largest and fastest culture. A professor, blogger, and avid China explorer, Matthew B. Christensen created this...

A Geek in Korea reinvents the culture guide for the Internet age. Packed with articles and photographs, it covers all the touchstones of Korean culture - from Buddhism and Confucianism to chapters on the traditional arts and...

Jokes change from generation to generation, but the experience of the comedian transcends the ages: the drive, jealousy, heartbreak, and triumph. From the Marx Brothers to Milton Berle to George Carlin to Eddie Murphy to Louis CK-comedy historian Kliph...

Entertaining television challenges the idea that the BBC in the 1950s was elitist and 'staid', upholding Reithian values in a paternalistic, even patronising way. By focusing on a number of (often controversial) programme case studies - such as the soap...

This pioneering book studies the rise, heyday and demise of regionalism from the Belle Epoque until the Eve of the Second World War. By using a novel comparative perspective it gives a fresh view of the relationship between cultural regionalism,...

Robin Nelson's State of play up-dates and develops the arguments of his influential TV Drama In Transition (1997). It is equally distinctive in setting analusis of the aesethetics and compositional principles of texts within a broad conceptual framework...

Presents the 1925 Paris Exhibition as a key moment in attempts to update the image of Paris as "capital of the 19th century". At the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris itself, as much as the commodity, was put on...

Brazil has one of the most significant and productive film industries in Latin America. This ground-breaking study provides an entertaining insight into the Brazilian films that have most captured the imagination of domestic audiences over the years.The...

Nicola McDonald's collection and the romances it investigates are crucial to our understanding of the aesthetics of medieval narrative and to the ideologies of gender and sexuality, race, religion, political formations, social class, ethics, morality and...

This study traces the evolution of the various categories of "factual entertainment" programmes which have come to dominate our screens over the last decade. The book focuses on issues such as the changes in the braodcasting environment which have given...

An introduction to popular film and the way in which it is studied, this book brings together the critical approaches and issues that have sought to define popular film from the 1950s to the present day. It inlcudes discussion of mass culture theory and...

A revealing collection of quotations from world-renowned artist Damien Hirst.Hirst-isms is a collection of quotations - bold, surprising, often humorous, and always insightful - from celebrated artist Damien Hirst, whose controversial work explores the...

A unique collection of brilliant quotations from the legendary Pop artistOne of the most influential artists of his time and ours, Andy Warhol is nearly as renowned for what he said as for what he did. Indeed, he is so quotable that things he never said...

Featuring never-before-seen drawings by the renowned contemporary artist, a beautiful facsimile edition that reveals the working process of an extraordinary creative mindSketchbook reproduces original working drawings and sketches by the contemporary...

Celebrated artist Keith Haring (19581990) has been embraced by popular culture for his signature bold graphic line drawings of figures and forms. Like other graffiti artists in the 1980s, Haring found an empty canvas in the advertising panels scattered...

An innovative and accessible guide to doing social research in the digital ageThe rapid spread of social media, smartphones, and other digital wonders enables us to collect and process data about human behavior on a scale never before imaginable,...

A look at the revolution in game live streaming and esports broadcastingEvery day thousands of people broadcast their gaming live to audiences over the internet using popular sites such as Twitch, which reaches more than one hundred million viewers a...

The fascinating untold story of digital cash and its creators-from experiments in the 1970s to the mania over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrenciesBitcoin may appear to be a revolutionary form of digital cash without precedent or prehistory. In fact, it is...

An exploration of the artistic and cultural influences that shaped writer and illustrator Edward GoreyThe illustrator, designer, and writer Edward Gorey (1925-2000) is beloved for his droll, surreal, and slightly sinister drawings. While he is perhaps...

An incisive history of the controversial Google Books project and the ongoing quest for a universal digital libraryLibraries have long talked about providing comprehensive access to information for everyone. But when Google announced in 2004 that it...

A sociologist and former fashion model takes readers inside the elite global party circuit of 'models and bottles' to reveal how beautiful young women are used to boost the status of men Million-dollar birthday parties, megayachts on...

In the age of search, keywords increasingly organize research, teaching, and even thought itself. Inspired by Raymond Williams's 1976 classic Keywords, the timely collection Digital Keywords gathers pointed, provocative short essays on more than two...

A fun and stunningly illustrated introduction to the art of linear optimizationLinear optimization is a powerful modeling method for discovering the best solution to a problem among a set of available alternatives. It is one of today's most important...

Stories for Ways and Means features original "grown up" story collaborations by some of this era's most compelling storytellers from the worlds of music and contemporary art.Ten years ago Jeff Antebi, the founder of music publisher Waxploitation, had an...

The late 1950s and early '60s were the golden age of science fiction, an era when the farthest reaches of imagination were fed by the technological breakthroughs of the postwar years. While science fiction writers expressed the dreams and nightmares of...

WET, the Magazine of Gourmet Bathing, was published between 1976 and 1981, in Venice, California. WET was an experimental venue for up-and-coming writers, photographers, illustrators, and graphic designers. Nearly all of WET's editorial attitudes and...

The Cannabis Breeder's Bible offers real-world, professional techniques for breeding primo pot and gives precise growing information for 60 popular marijuana varieties. The book covers new hybridization techniques, international seed law issues,...

Olly Moss has quickly become, according to Slashfilm, "one of the most in demand and influential pop culture artists today". For his simple but brilliant first book, Olly has put his own twist on the Victorian art of silhouette portraits. While this...

"An excellent reference work on the subject."-Library Journal (starred review)For fans, culture watchers, and perplexed outsiders, this expanded edition offers an engaging tour of the anime megaverse, from older artistic traditions to the works of modern...

Engaging and surprising,From the Outershows how footy can both thrill and devastate, exclude and unite, by shining a light on the diversity and splendour of the game. A celebration of our great game, From? the Outer brings together 30 personal stories...

Full of facts about summer, including an exploration of our emotional links with summer, top lists of summery song and film titles, summer festivals and beaches, and international summer celebrations and rituals.  Making the most of the longest days of...

A bold look at the creative, controversial, and vibrant history of skateboarding, and the amazing skaters who continually reinvent it Skateboarding isn't just a recreational activity, but a professional sport, lifestyle, art form, and cultural...

William McInnes, one of Australia's best-loved entertainers and authors, takes a look at the Aussie obsession with sports and pop culture.  A chance encounter in an auction house is the jumping-off point for William's inimitable take on our...

Cosmic Numerology: How to harness your full potential using the power of numbers and planets

Simplify your life - from the inside out Brooke McAlary knows first-hand the power of simplifying and living with less. After being diagnosed with postnatal depression, she embraced a slower, more intentional life. Then, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit,...

A fun, well-structured collection of facts and trivia about the climate. Did you know that: Deserts provide food for fish? 70% of all birds on the planet are chickens? Climate change was the reason why humans began to talk? Cows emit...