Category Archives: Religion

U2: All That You Can’t Leave Behind

Everyone else may hate U2, but Kurt Baumeister will always love them in spite of themselves. Continue reading

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Looking Back at the Abyss: Reflections on Binge-Watching “Hannibal”

Binge-watching Hannibal gets to be a pretty harrowing affair. Hear why. Continue reading

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WannaBowies: The Top Twenty Bastards of Bowie

David Bowie, like the Beatles and Bob Dylan, long ago achieved the status of adjective. For Monday Rock City, Robert Burke Warren lists the Top Twenty Bowie Bastards, i.e. the most Bowie-esque soundalikes, stretching from the 70s to the ‘aughts. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, David must be feeling pretty special right about now. Continue reading

Posted in Appreciations, Humor, I Want(ed) My MTV, Literature, Monday Rock City, Music, Popped Culture, Popular Culture, Religion, The Weeklings, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Love & Mercy and the Saving of Brian Wilson

Beach Boy Brian Wilson, musical genius and cultural icon, should have died, but did not. Someone saved him. Who, exactly, did the saving is up for debate. In any case, hot new biopic Love & Mercy, fleshes out the less-familiar trope of “saving the artist,” and our own Robert Burke Warren digs that. Continue reading

Posted in Memoir, Monday Rock City, Music, Popped Culture, Popular Culture, Religion, The Arts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bigger Than Jesus: The Gospel of U2, Leonard Cohen, and Sufjan Stevens

Robert Burke Warren goes deep into his own story to talk about the persistence of God in pop, and how and why non-believers and doubting Thomases still go for it. Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Memoir, Monday Rock City, Music, Philosophy, Popped Culture, Religion, The Arts, The Weeklings, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Black Herman: The World’s Greatest Magician

Joseph Neighbor revisits the dusty pages of Black Herman’s autobiography, as he discusses the life and mystery of the notorious magician, the art of illusion, and practicing hoodoo. Continue reading

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In Defense of Disco

At its height, the “Disco Sucks” movement drew fifty-nine thousand people to a Chicago stadium to watch a shock jock explode LPs, inciting a full-on riot of mostly white dudes. WTF? Our Robert Burke Warren, who became enamored of disco in the lusty confines of a Catholic school broom closet, writes about the music that arrived at the same time as his teens, and how it inspired him. Continue reading

Posted in Cinema, Memoir, Monday Rock City, Music, Philosophy, Popped Culture, Popular Culture, Religion, Sex, The Weeklings, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments