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Edited by Mark Reiter and Richard Sandomir, and featuring contributions from experts on everything from breakfast cereal and movie gunfights to First Ladies and bald guys, The Final Four of Everything celebrates everything that's great, surprising, or silly in America, using the foolproof method of bracketology to determine what we love or hate-and why. As certain to make you laugh as it will start friendly arguments, The Final Four of Everything is the perfect book for know-it-alls, know-a-littles, and anyone with an opinion on celebrity mugshots, literary heroes, sports nicknames, or bacon. Bracketology is a unique way of organizing information that dates back to the rise of the knockout (or single elimination) tournament, perhaps in medieval times. Its origins are not precisely known, but there was genius in the first bracket design that hasn't changed much over the years. You, of course, may be familiar with the bracket format via the NCAA basketball tournament pairings each March. If you've ever watched ESPN or participated in a March Madness office pool, you know what a bracket looks like. The Final Four of Everything takes the idea one step further, and applies the knockout format to every category BUT basketball. In areas where taste, judgment, and hard-earned wisdom really matter, we've set out to determine, truly, the Final Four of Everything.

With essays ranging in topic from the films of Neil LaBute to the sexual politics of Major League Baseball, this diverse collection of essays examines the multi-faceted media images of contemporary masculinity from a variety of perspectives and academic disciplines. The book's first half focuses on the issue of racialized masculinity and its various manifestations, with essays covering, among other topics, the re-imagining of Asian American masculinity in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow and the ever-present image of black male buffoonery in the neo-minstrel performances of VH1's Flavor of Love. The book's second half explores the issue of contemporary mediated performance and the cultural politics of masculinity, with essays focusing on popular media representations of men in a variety of gendered roles, from homemakers and househusbands to valorous war heroes and athletic demigods.

Rocky still resonates with people around the world. These are their stories.

A short history of the earliest clowns -- The despicable rogue Mr. Punch -- The unnatural nature of the evil clown -- Coulrophobia: Fear of clowns -- Bad clowns of the Ink -- Bad clowns of the Screen -- Bad clowns of the Song -- The carnal carnival: Buffoon boffing and clown sex -- Creepy, criminal, and killer clowns -- Activist clowns -- Crazed caged carny clowns -- The phantom clowns -- Troll clowns and the future of bad clowns

Public Enemy are an American hip hop group, formed in New York in 1982, known for their politically charged lyrics and criticism of the American media. This account focuses on the highs and lows of their career, provides an overview of their album releases, and examines what the future holds for them and hip hop as a whole.

Television scholarship has substantially ignored programming aimed at Black audiences despite a few sweeping histories and critiques. In this volume, the first of its kind, contributors examine the televisual diversity, complexity, and cultural imperatives manifest in programming directed at a Black and marginalized audience. Watching While Black considers its subject from an entirely new angle in an attempt to understand the lives, motivations, distinctions, kindred lines, and individuality of various Black groups and suggest what television might be like if such diversity permeated beyond specialized enclaves. It looks at the macro structures of ownership, producing, casting, and advertising that all inform production, and then delves into television programming crafted to appeal to black audiences—historic and contemporary, domestic and worldwide. Chapters rethink such historically significant programs as Roots and Black Journal, such seemingly innocuous programs as Fat Albert and bro’Town, and such contemporary and culturally complicated programs as Noah’s Arc, Treme, and The Boondocks. The book makes a case for the centrality of these programs while always recognizing the racial dynamics that continue to shape Black representation on the small screen. Painting a decidedly introspective portrait across forty years of Black television, Watching While Black sheds much-needed light on under-examined demographics, broadens common audience considerations, and gives deference to the the preferences of audiences and producers of Black-targeted programming.

A conservative journalist goes behind enemy lines to cover the 2020 Democratic primaries from the inside. The 2020 Democratic primaries were some of the most extreme in the history of the United States. But the show isn't over yet. Socialism is still on the rise, and ideas that used to be considered crazy are now even more mainstream than they were before. In Red November, conservative journalist Joel Pollak tells the story of how the Democratic party got so extreme, and give a riveting account of life on the campaign trail. There are stories from the Democratic debates, interviews with candidates, and scuffles between journalists. Part travelogue, part satire, part memoir, Red November is a factual, yet humorous, look behind-the-scenes at the candidates, activists, and voters as Democrats choose who will take on the sacred task of removing Donald Trump -- "45," as he is known to his haters -- from the White House and ushering in a utopian age of "Medicare for All" and the "Green New Deal."

A Brooklyn native, Joseph Belcastro joined the New York City Police Department in July, 1983. He spent four years on uniform patrol, then another four years in the precincts plainclothes Anti-Crime Unit, before being transferred to the NYPDs infamous Street Crime Unit on Randalls Island. In his tell-all memoir, Joe describes his earliest encounters as a rookie cop in uniform, how he developed his unique crime-fighting strategies, and the partners he had along the way. Joes uncanny ability to follow his gut instincts, along with his determination and perseverance, led him to personally make over a thousand arrests, and to assist his partners in at least a thousand more. Ride along with Joe on his vehicle pursuits, sit in the back seat of his car stops, and in the process share the triumphs and disappointments in the life of a street cop. Its a ride you wont want to miss!