Mindy Clegg holds a phd in modern US and world history from Georgia State University. Her most recent book is Punk Rock: Music is the Currency of Life which comes in August 2022 from Suny Press. Her research focus includes the history of subcultures at home and abroad during the late Cold War period. Her dissertation “Music for the International Masses” brought to light the role the American state played in shaping the global market place for popular music and how that helped facilitate a global, translocal punk movement. Clegg occasionally writes on matters historical and pop cultural at the blog Tropics of Meta. Her work can also be found in the e-book New Worlds, Terrifying Monsters, Impossible Things: Exploring the Contents and Contexts of Doctor Who published by Pop Matters and in The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time published by Greenwood. She currently serves as a part time instructor in US and World history at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta, GA. Email: mindy.clegg [at] gmail.com
by Mindy Clegg For many historians beginning their journey through graduate school, one question arises over others to prompt many sleepness nights: so what? We, as individual scholars, hope to formulate a unique choice of topics. But at times an advisor or the department might push you into a more mainstream and marketable topic, that…
by Mindy Clegg The Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame recently announced this year’s inductees; the Doobie Brothers, T. Rex, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G, Depeche Mode, and Whitney Houston, with the Ahmet Ertegun Award (for members of the industry who are not the talent) going to Jon Landau and Irving Azoff. Not too long after,…
by Mindy Clegg This past week has been a roller coaster in American foreign policy, as we quite nearly ended up in a hot war with Iran. A curious phenomenon reared its ugly head during the fallout of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran’s top generals—comparisons to the start of the First World…
by Mindy Clegg In issue 85 of The Big Takeover, regular contributor Tim Sommer declared in his editorial that we continue to get punk wrong. Rather than a singular historical event, split between NYC and London, he argued for two different events with a shared name happening in each place.1 He advocates for something like…
by Mindy Clegg Welcome to the future, which is now the past. As James Gleick argued (in his thoughtful and entertaining book, Time Travel: A History) the concept of the future is now fodder for historical understanding. As Gleick notes in his book, popular culture provides a key insight into how ideas about the future…
by Mindy Clegg In 1994, Miramax Pictures released a small, independently made film by an unknown director from New Jersey named Kevin Smith. Made for a mere $27,000 (maxing out credit cards and the proceeds from selling his comic collection), the black and white film—replete with deeply offensive language, references to drug dealing and usage,…
by Mindy Clegg In recent years, social and political conflicts over fandom emerged into general public consciousness. Both Captain Marvel and the upcoming film Joker illustrate the point. Both films stirred contentious debates around gender this past year.1 But many who are either new to fandom or count themselves as casual fans might miss that these…
by Mindy Clegg Forty years ago, a band from Manchester recorded and released their first full length album. It arrived after a year or so of gigs, an EP, and several tracks on a sampler LP put out by their new (and newly created) label, Factory Records. Thanks to producer Martin Hannett, it sounded unlike…
by Mindy Clegg Public discussions of generations lately most often only focus on two generations–the boomers (1946-1965?) and millennials (1985-2000?). Yet many in our culture do not identify with either. One such group, Gen X, represents a midpoint between the two. And it’s a cohort that exerts more cultural influence than is generally understood.1 Once dubbed…