Michael J. Kramer
@michaeljkramer.bsky.social
Historian, SUNY Brockport Editor, The Carryall thecarryall.org Cultural criticism, culturerover.net The Republic of Rock (OUP, 2013), republicofrock.net Berkeley Folk Music Festival Project, bfmf.net Union, uupinfo.org More, michaeljkramer.net
Over at the @susih.bsky.social Book Review, my new review essay about Marc Stein’s *Bicentennial: A Revolutionary History of the 1970s*. s-usih.org/2026/08/phil...
Philadelphia Freedom | Society for US Intellectual History
Oh, Philadelphia freedom, shine on me, I love ya… Philadelphia freedom, don't you know that I love you? Elton John/Bernie Taupin, “Philadelphia Freedom” Just in time for the semiquincentennial (or the...
s-usih.org
Vibe shift. 2010s, “bucket lists.” 2020s, “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.”
Accountability & affordability. Is that too much to ask?
New essay by me on the international dimensions of the 1976 bicentennial up at @newlinesmag.bsky.social. Thanks to @dannypostel.bsky.social for the ace editing. newlinesmag.com/essays/how-t...
How the World Celebrated America’s 200th Birthday
Countries around the world participated in the 1976 bicentennial, in a turning point for US soft power
newlinesmag.com
The U.S. bicentennial in 1976 was an international affair, celebrated in diverse ways by countries around the world in a turning point for American soft power. Such a fun and illuminating read by historian @michaeljkramer.bsky.social at @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/how-t...
How the World Celebrated America’s 200th Birthday
Countries around the world participated in the 1976 bicentennial, in a turning point for US soft power
newlinesmag.com
excited to be on a panel on july 18th at @gonzofest.bsky.social in nyc (with my pals/colleagues peter richardson & @michaeljkramer.bsky.social), speaking about when i profiled & hung with hunter s. thompson for a 2003 @relixmag.bsky.social feature & other topics. gonzofest.net#schedule
Imaginary concert dream #05: Last night I dreamt that Pauline Oliveros and Garth Hudson were dueting on accordion. I wished, in my dream, that I had a way to record the event.
New #culturerover #unfamiliarquotations: Surprise! Greil Marcus on the job of the critic. www.michaeljkramer.net/surprise/
New at The Carryall: Wanda A. Hendricks and Brittney C. Cooper discuss the life, thinking, and social activism of Fannie Barrier Williams. thecarryall.org/fannie-barri...
Red Scare Hits the Silver Screen: Students in History 212 Modern America—US Since 1865 at @sunybrockport.bsky.social's Department of History imagine Cold War containment era film posters. www.michaeljkramer.net/red-scare-hi...
This week at The Carryall: in the audio interview roundtable "Thinking Through the Black Panther Party," Joe Street discusses his book *Black Revolutionaries: A History of the Black Panther Party* with @randalljstephens.bsky.social and @julianchambliss.bsky.social. thecarryall.org/thinking-thr...
Thinking Through the Black Panther Party | Carryall
In this audio interview roundtable, Joe Street discusses his book Black Revolutionaries: A History of the Black Panther Party with Randall J. Stephens and Julian C. Chambliss.
thecarryall.org
New #culturerover: Flipping—are federalism & localism reversing in the USA? www.michaeljkramer.net/flipping/
New #culturerover: Nothin’ On—does the Boss’s cable-tv era ennui still hold true? www.michaeljkramer.net/nothin-on/
We begin *The Carryall* Issue 02: Spring/Summer 2026 with Scott Saul (@scottsaul.bsky.social)'s essay "Learning From Jorge Drexler (@jorgedrexler.bsky.social)," which asks what Latin American humanism might offer US cultural and intellectual history. thecarryall.org/learning-fro...
Learning from Jorge Drexler | Carryall
“Al Otro Lado del Río” & the Possibilities of Latin American Humanism.
thecarryall.org
The Carryall Issue 02: Spring/Summer 2026 begins. Editor's Note, Tortoise Defeats Hare, from @michaeljkramer.bsky.social. thecarryall.org/tortoise-def...
Tortoise Defeats Hare | Carryall
Welcome to Issue 02 of The Carryall, crawling out to you this spring and summer. Slowly But Surely I sometimes joke that The Carryall should have been
thecarryall.org
Wait, did the Supreme Court schedule the birthright citizenship case on April Fool's Day on purpose?
"They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob." - FDR, 1936 millercenter.org/the-presiden...
Does anyone know more about the band Butter Swamp? Boise, Idaho to Medellin, Colombia?! h/t @saving-throw.bsky.social @thewiremagazine.bsky.social @resonancefm.bsky.social butterswamp69.bandcamp.com/track/the-at...
Butter Swamp
Butter Swamp formed in 2022, butter swamp is this somehow devocore lo-fi "music" machine, now settled in colombia. MEET THE BUTTER SWAMP!!!!!!! - Silas Grayson/Crazy Horse: all fuggin instruments and those hideous vocals hope you find it interesting or at least horrid fangz
butterswamp69.bandcamp.com
Will always remember Madeleine Grynsztejn walking by my cubicle at the @mcachicago.bsky.social publishing dept on the way to the elevator & I overheard her say to an older, male, white-haired donor, "Well you just have to give the museum $10 million!" Strong! www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/17/m...
MCA leader Madeleine Grynsztejn will step down after nearly 20 years
After nearly two decades at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, director Madeleine Grynsztejn is stepping down
chicagotribune.com
New #culturerover: One Cartoon After Another, history gets untethered in One Battle After Another & we are left with the problems of caricature. www.michaeljkramer.net/one-cartoon-...
New #culturerover: The Flimsiest, the cynical faux-realism of The Brutalist. www.michaeljkramer.net/the-flimsiest/
New review essay: Hearing Thinking—What Musicology Can Offer Intellectual History, on Brigid Cohen’s *Musical Migration and Imperial New York* & Michael Gallope’s *The Musician as Philosopher,* @susih.bsky.social s-usih.org/2026/02/hear...
Hearing, Thinking: What Musicology Can Offer Intellectual History: Michael J. Kramer on Brigid Cohen’s *Musical Migration and Imperial New York: Early Cold War Scenes. New Material Histories of Music*...
Over the last decades, musicologists faced a growing problem. The artistic and social significance of music beyond the walls of the conservatory and concert hall became obvious, but the field largely ...
s-usih.org
@sunybrockport.bsky.social Spring 2026 Public History Webinar Series. sunybrockporthistorydept.net/sunyhistoryl...
