"Female characters throughout history have been burdened by the moral trap that is likeability. Any woman who dares to reveal her messy side has been treated as a cautionary tale. And yet today, unlikeable female characters are everywhere in film, TV, and wider pop culture. For the first time ever, they are being accepted by audiences and even showered with industry awards. We are finally accepting that women are-gasp-fully fledged human beings. How...

"There is a vast cultural movement emerging from beyond the Western world. Truly global in its range and allure, it is the biggest challenge yet to Hollywood, McDonald's, and blue jeans. This is a book about these new arbiters of mass culture arising fromthe East-India's Bollywood films, Turkish soap opera, or dizi, and South Korean pop music. Carefully packaging not always secular modernity with traditional values in urbanized settings, they have...

"The incisive and often hilarious story of one of our most interesting cultural phenomena: boredom. It's the feeling your grandma told you was only experienced by boring people. Some people say they're dying of it; others claim to have killed because of it. It's a key component of depression, creativity, and sex-toy advertisements. It's boredom, the subject of Yawn, a delightful and at times moving take on the oft-derided emotion and how we deal...

From beloved and bestselling author Roxane Gay, "a strikingly fresh cultural critic" (Washington Post) comes an exhilarating collection of her essays on culture, politics, and everything in between. Since the publication of the groundbreaking Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle big issues embroiling society--state-sponsored violence and mass shootings, womens rights post-Dobbs, online disinformation, and the limits of empathy--alongside...

Drawing on the latest scholarly research and archaeological evidence, the author examines the accomplishments of the Anasazi people of the American Southwest and speculates on why the culture vanished by the thirteenth century.

"Life is boring: filled with meetings and traffic, errands and emails. Nothing we'd ever call fun. But what if we've gotten fun wrong? In Play Anything, visionary game designer and philosopher Ian Bogost shows how we can overcome our daily anxiety; transforming the boring, ordinary world around us into one of endless, playful possibilities. The key to this playful mindset lies in discovering the secret truth of fun and games. Play Anything, reveals...

Why do so many people care so much about celebrities? Who decides who gets to be a star? What are the privileges and pleasures of fandom? Do celebrities ever deserve the outsized attention they receive? In this fascinating and deeply researched book, Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession with fame. Icons are not merely famous for being famous; the media alone cannot make or break stars; fans are not simply passive...

Key topics: Culture, Group norms, Power culture, Role culture, Task culture, People culture. What's meant by the culture of an organisation? What are group norms? How do these invisible factors influence the way a business works?

"In Sex and the Office, Kim Elsesser delves into how issues as varied as sexual harassment, workplace romance, spousal jealousy, and communication styles create barriers between men and women at work. These invisible barriers, which Elsesser labels the "sex partition," tend to have the greatest impact on the careers of women, because men typically still dominate senior management, and connections with senior managers are essential for career advancement....

A critically acclaimed documentary about the last hold out of old-school arcade culture in New York City. An intimate portrait of the passionate and exceptionally diverse community at the beloved Chinatown Fair, THE LOST ARCADE, chronicles the evolution of arcades, while celebrating the camaraderie and history of a pop culture phenomenon. Nominated for the Metropolis Grand Jury Prize at **DOC NYC**. *"A deeply felt and bittersweet experience." - Chris...