With God on Our Side

A book like this intensifies a sense of black community for its readers by being racial, yet universal. It is almost a totem.

“Wise Unto Salvation”: The Fugitive Slave’s Leap of Faith

Never Caught is a fascinating, absorbing account of slavery and freedom in the early days of our nation and is especially accessible for the non-specialist, non-academic reader.

After

The most dreaded question a college senior could be asked: What are you doing after graduation? College graduation sneaks up on a person. At first it seems far away, as if it will never come, and then in the blink of an eye there are caps and gowns and diplomas…

How to Draw Comics and Influence People

Last Girl Standing, the autobiography of cartoonist and comic book historian Trina Robbins, tells the story of a New York Jewish girl “who didn’t grow up in a dysfunctional family.”

The February Revolution

The year 1917 was a significant one in the history of the Great War, and in no country was that more true than Russia. It began with a revolution in February of that year in which power was transferred from the autocratic Romanov dynasty to a provisional government and ended…

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Jonathan Eig has compiled the most interesting and informative details from the best of the Muhammad Ali biographers, boxing historians, and Ali’s friends and family to give readers a comprehensive look at a complex life both blessed and cursed by the sports world’s toughest profession.

An Album While You Wait

Throughout her career thus far (it is hard to remember that she is just 33 years old), Esperanza Spalding has proven that hers is a unique voice in the music industry, easily crossing genre boundaries, yet continuously lauded by jazz musicians and audiences.

Bass Hits

To readers who are encountering the bassist for the first time, Conversations offers colorful (re)tellings of Haden stories that are now part of jazz’s folklore.

Glamorizing the Nightmare Trade

Netflix’s mega-popular Narcos series romanticizes Pablo Escobar’s Colombian cartel by effectively distancing the international drug trade in time and place. But like the narcotizing effect of the drug Escobar traded in, gripping television should not lure us from the drug problems of our here and now.

The Body in Question: Herbie Hancock in Concert

What happens to the body in technologically-mediated live performances, particularly those that continue to be defined as jazz by many audiences? The music of Herbie Hancock, in many ways, answers that question.

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