Blog posts by Matthew

Don't Stop Celebrating Black Music Month

Matthew,

The history of Black music in America is essentially the history of American music. From blues, ragtime and gospel, through jazz, soul, rock and roll, funk and reggae, to hip hop, house, techno—not to mention the significant contributions of African-Americans to traditional genres such as musical theater, opera, classical symphony, and choral music—the African diaspora originated and shaped the development of all of the wonderful and diverse music enjoyed here and across the world today. This incredible heritage developed, moreover, despite facing legal and societal injustice and a scandalous…

Websites to Lose Yourself In

Matthew,

Everyone who uses the Internet knows that one of its perils is the website that can suck you in for hours, or even days at a time. In normal times, such sites can often be a problem. Now, though, with everyone sheltering in place in their homes, these sorts of websites may in fact be the ideal distraction. Presented here are some excellent websites to get lost in, along with a book pairing to complement the sites. TV Tropes This “all devouring pop-culture wiki” is a compendium of “tropes [storytelling device or convention] used to tell stories.” This is like calling the…