Jack Hamilton
@jackhamilton.bsky.social
Professor of American Studies and Media Studies at the University of Virginia and pop critic for Slate magazine. Author of JUST AROUND MIDNIGHT: ROCK AND ROLL AND THE RACIAL IMAGINATION
at every academic conference panel Q&A there's someone who raises their hand with "more a comment than a question" that ends up just being a ramble-y complaint that the paper would be better if it was more like their own work. anyways glad I haven't been at a conference panel with emily wilson
season 8 sometimes gets overlooked but lance scorpio, kirk van houten's divorce, poochie and frank grimes all within the span of a few months is one of the craziest heaters in all of american art
obama's music lists are always so bizarre and all over the place that I often think they are actually real? as opposed to his book lists which are clearly put together by some comms person while barack listens to the latest hoop collective
i hate reading reviews of newer stones albums that act smugly affronted that they're still putting new stuff out in their 80s. I think that's cool as hell
saying the odyssey is "non-fiction" because there's archeological evidence that troy was a real place is a little like saying that star wars is non-fiction because someone went to the moon once
I think my favorite thing about bluesky is that the new york times pitchbot account isn't here
this week is Spielberg Week at @slate, the cinematic corollary to 2016's Wonder Week. my contribution is this essay on spielberg's colossal 1993, which was fun to write slate.com/culture/2026...
He’s One of History’s Greatest Filmmakers. For a Long Time, He Was a Punching Bag. Then One Year Changed Everything.
It was the most astonishing one-two punch in the history of cinema. It still is.
slate.com
YOU’RE LISTENING TO SISYPHUS FM, THE HOME OF NON-STOP ROCK
some personal news, i just released *three* full albums of original material toda--
Amadeus Mozart
ALT: Amadeus Mozart
static.klipy.com
RIP clarence carter. this is one of the most astonishing recordings ever made imo www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTSB...
Making Love (At the Dark End of the Street)
YouTube video by Clarence Carter - Topic
youtube.com
there are actually a lot of notable exceptions!!! so many that I would argue that the first part of this sentence is simply wrong
Narrated two great articles on @theatlantic.com this week + @jackhamilton.bsky.social on Heartland Rock + Hua Hsu on the photos of Lee Friedlander www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202... www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202... Shoutout to @harkaudio.com and The Atlantic for prioritizing human narrators!
the real list is smokey robinson, everyone else is playing for second
greatest dead american songwriters list would be a true banger
I wrote about heartland rock for the new issue of the atlantic www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Lost Idealism of Heartland Rock
The genre of Bob Seger and John Mellencamp reached across the ideological spectrum in a way that seems unimaginable today.
theatlantic.com
I reviewed MICHAEL, a bad movie that does some things very well, which in many ways makes it worse slate.com/culture/2026...
The Real Problem With the Michael Jackson Movie
The megabudget biopic is a train wreck, morally and cinematically. It’s going to be huge.
slate.com
media always talking about disaffected young men... what about affected young men
the social media era is such a weird cycle of things being discovered and then known and then forgotten and then (re) discovered and then known and then forgotten and this just repeating endlessly
i wrote about peaky blinders and the new movie, which is entertaining but ultimately kind of unsatisfying slate.com/culture/2026...
It Was One of My Favorite Shows of the 2010s. Now It’s Back With a Big-Budget Movie.
Netflix’s hit gangster series was great precisely because it never tried to be The Sopranos. The Immortal Man doesn’t either.
slate.com
replying to every political email I get from Steve Kerr with a 3-1 lead meme
the best led zeppelin lyric is the bit about the church in "hey hey what can I do." the second best is rhyming "breakdown" with "breakdown" on "communication breakdown"
wrote about morgan neville's excellent new documentary about paul mccartney's 1970s slate.com/culture/2026...
Paul McCartney Is One of the Most Important Artists in Rock History. He Was Also One of the Most Controversial.
The great new documentary about the virtuosic Beatle rehabilitates two different figures.
slate.com
i hope it's just the incredibly annoying ad campaign but THE BRIDE looks waayyyyyy too joker. never ever ever go joker
