Category Archives: Popular culture

Some thoughts on Taco Bell

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

I am informed by some spammy email in my Outlook that today is “National Taco Day,” which I have confirmed by checking in with Google. Ser Amantio di Nicolao, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Four_tacos_from_Santa_Rosa_Taqueria.jpg In honor of … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, History, Learning, Life, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Getting in on the discussion of F. Scott Fitzgerald and football’s two-platoon system

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

This morning, I noticed that a blog post I wrote 11 years ago was getting lots of views, and traffic seemed to be coming from both Reddit and Bluesky. So I did some quick digging and found that, for whatever … Continue reading →

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The Influence of Influences

Posted on August 7, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

Inspiration may strike, but creativity accumulates. One is lightning in a bottle; the other is molasses—slow to pour, but sticky enough to catch the stray ephemera that lend rich flavor to whatever artistic projects you’ve got baking. Creativity is not … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creative Practice in the Age of AI, Creativity, design, Music, Photography, Popular culture, Technology, Writing with AI, Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Smiley (Or, The Most Happy Staircase)

Posted on July 31, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

Two references to unpack in that title, but first . . . . . . here’s a photo I took the other day around 2:15 PM of the atrium staircase at the Grohmann Museum (where my office is). If you … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Photography, Popular culture | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

LOL, that lurid, sensationalist movie poster for “12 Angry Men”

Posted on May 29, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m teaching a technical communication course this summer and using the film 12 Angry Men as “raw material” for students to use in analyzing positive and negative communication behaviors commonly found on project teams. In doing some class prep, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Movies and film, Popular culture, Teaching | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Only murders . . . and criminal negligence?

Posted on May 23, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

A stairwell on campus is closed for painting, and when I noticed the yellow “CAUTION” tape blocking off the doorway, I suddenly thought about Season 3 of “Only Murders in the Building.” Season 3, you may remember, is the storyline … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and reading, Creativity, Popular culture, Television, Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Marian Anderson’s 1939 Easter Concert

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

When contralto Marian Anderson was denied an opportunity to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D. C., by the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution, whom we never hear about anymore but who sadly were once very much in the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Music, Popular culture | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Happy (slightly belated) birthday, Bob Mackie!

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

My daughter and I were talking about famed costume designer Bob Mackie yesterday and realized that not only is he still alive but he just had a birthday earlier this week (March 24). I thought he must be close to … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creativity, design, History, Media studies, Movies and film, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Is Corned Beef Really Irish? | Smithsonian

Posted on March 17, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

The rise and fall and rise of the traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal — Read on http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/is-corned-beef-really-irish-2839144/ My daughter told me about this fascinating article about the close ties Irish immigrants developed with their Jewish neighbors in America. What we … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Popular culture | Tagged , | 7 Comments

‘Chaos: The Manson Murders’ Review: All You Ever Knew is Suspect – The New York Times

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

My January 2022 post about Charles Manson and Dennis Wilson is getting LOTS of views today. And now I know why. There’s a new documentary on Netflix starting today, reviewed here in the New York Times: Errol Morris returns to … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged , , | 2 Comments