Category: News
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When Free Speech Fought Back in 1985
Are we safe if a comedian does not have free speech? Were we safe when musicians did not have free speech? Did the executive branch always hate the first amendment or is this a new trend? In September 2025, ABC/Disney abruptly suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly denounced Kimmel’s political…
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Pee Wee Herman: Lessons From a Manchild
By Rachael Price Nowadays, one does not usually understand the term “manchild” to be a compliment. Whereas it once denoted a young person who had to deal with adult challenges early in life, such as the autobiographical protagonist of Claude Brown’s landmark Civil Rights-era novel Manchild in the Promised Land, it now tends to invoke…
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Surviving the Cold War (Again): A Gen Xer’s Guide
If you were a Gen X kid, you remember the Cold War and may be having a familiar feeling right now. Global tension you didn’t fully understand but could feel. We didn’t learn about the Cold War from history books. We learned it from Sting songs, Stallone movies, and being told by our teachers that…
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Jill Sobule: Social Legacy Far Beyond One Hit
I was scrolling my Insta on May 1st when I saw my favorite human and Go-Go, Jane Weidlin post in grief that it did not feel real. What didn’t feel real? Jill Sobule passed at age 66. I felt the breath escape my lungs and a wave of emotion hit. She’s one of those icons…
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Hearts of Glass With the Heartbeat of Blondie
The news hit me hard and this was hard to write: Clem Burke, the drummer of Blondie, died at age 70 after a private battle with cancer. We’ve lost not just a drummer, but the beat of my youth. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Blondie’s songs were the soundtrack of my coming-of-age. Today,…
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Joy Division and the New Order of the 80’s!
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced its 2025 nominees for the Hall of Fame! In the list as one nominee is Joy Division/New Order. This is a bittersweet moment in musical history that not everyone knows about. In Gen X Watch, columnist Jeremy Ritch has written about the importance of not being…
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Deaf Culture Wins & the Turning Point Threats
Barely a few weeks into 2025 GOP Conservatives are attacking essential services to the Deaf Community. These voices include Turning Point leader Charlie Kirk, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and Heritage Foundation member Christopher Rufo, and contributing writer to Project 2025 and alt-right and white supremacist publications under the pseudonym Richard Hoste, Richard Hanania. Why are…
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Swatch Beats Malaysia and Takes PRIDE to Heart!
On Nov 25th, AP News reported that Swiss watchmaker Swatch won a lawsuit against the Malaysian government after a court ordered the return of 172 Swatch watches that were seized last year due to designs that authorities said bore LGBT elements. Further, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the watches were seized illegally without…
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The Ugly Christmas Sweater Rebellion of 2002
From primary school all the way to corporate and family affairs there is a relatively new Christmas tradition. The ugly Christmas sweater! Could something inspired by the 50’s and perfected in the 80’s unite generations and help people? Let’s have an important discussion on ugly sweaters and how Millennials got it right when they rummaged…
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Faith and the Last Christmas of George Michael
On December 12th of 1987 George Michael topped the US Charts with the # 1 hit, “Faith”. Sadly, the world would lose this talent on Christmas of 2016 to heart and liver disease. He died on Christmas. But as we run headlong into this Christmas, maybe we need to explore the wonder that is the…
Recent Posts
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- Love My Way: The Psychedelic Furs and the Marimba That Woke Me Up
- When Free Speech Fought Back in 1985
- Pee Wee Herman: Lessons From a Manchild
- Chrissie Hynde Taught Me How to Listen
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Comments
I have loved that song for decades and never knew this inspiring backstory--thank you for this!
It was new information for me not too long ago. It all started seeing a young gay man dancing to…