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\"Beatles vs. Stones. Biggie vs. Tupac. Kanye vs. Taylor. Who do you choose? And what does that say about you? Actually--what do these endlessly argued-about pop music rivalries say about us? Music opinions bring out passionate debate in people, and Steven Hyden knows that firsthand. Each chapter in [his book] focuses on a pop music rivalry, from the classic to the very recent, and draws connections to the larger forces surrounding the pairing\"--Amazon.com.

Background Music students are more vulnerable to depression than their peers in many other academic fields. Contributing factors include early specialization and social isolation resulting from long hours of practice, the prevalence of chronic pain and the challenges associated with developing a coherent identity within the context of an inherently competitive field. Moreover, the culture around music seems to reward suffering at times, which may impede seeking professional medical assistance. Method Seven professional classical musicians participated in a written semi-structured interview. This study aimed to gain insight into the experiences of classical musicians who have been medically diagnosed with depression at some point during their studies and in their subsequent careers. The objective was to identify the specific challenges faced by musicians and the (effective) strategies employed. Furthermore, the focus was on enhancing awareness of the existing resources and developing strategies for further improvement. Results The findings indicated that all participants were embedded within a robust social support system that facilitated their ability to seek medical assistance. They received a standard medical treatment, which included cognitive-behavioral therapy with or without medication. Financial difficulties, the impact of an inability to work, and external expectations were among the most prevalent challenges. Distinctive challenges specific to musicians during depression included a decline in their creative output, a loss of voice, heightened anxiety, and difficulties to engage with emotions. Participants indicated that their strategies for enhancing their health were largely based on their individual resourcefulness and not necessarily a direct result of their formal education. Conclusion The findings indicate the necessity of integrating a positive approach to (performance) anxiety, establishing secure environments for vulnerable students beyond their academic settings, and enhancing students’ awareness of available (medical) standard multidisciplinary treatments. The emergence of a specialized, board-certified field of musicians’ medicine within the medical field is a promising development that could provide support to musicians and facilitate their long-term career prospects.

Why is shame so central to our identity and to our culture? What is its role in stigmatizing subcultures such as the Irish, the queer or the underclass? Can shame be understood as a productive force? In this lucid and passionately argued book, Sally R. Munt explores the vicissitudes of shame across a range of texts, cultural milieux, historical locations and geographical spaces - from eighteenth-century Irish politics to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, from contemporary US academia to the aesthetics of Tracey Emin. She finds that the dynamics of shame are consistent across cultures and historical periods, and that patterns of shame are disturbingly long-lived. But she also reveals shame as an affective emotion, engendering attachments between bodies and between subjects - queer attachments. Above all, she celebrates the extraordinary human ability to turn shame into joy: the party after the fall. Queer Attachments is an interdisciplinary synthesis of cultural politics, emotions theory and narrative that challenges us to think about the queerly creative proclivities of shame. Contents: Series editors' preface: After shame; Foreword, Donald L. Nathanson; The cultural politics of shame: an introduction; Queer Irish sodomites: the shameful histories of Edmund Burke, William Smith, Theodosius Reed, the Earl of Castlehaven and diverse servants - among others; Shove the queer: Irish/American shame in New York's annual St Patrick's Day parades; Expulsion: the queer turn of shame; Queering the pitch: contagious acts of shame in organisations; Shameless in Queer Street; A queer undertaking: uncanny attachments in the HBO television drama series Six Feet Under; After the fall: queer heterotopias in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy; A queer feeling when I look at you: Tracey Emin's aesthetics of the self; Bibliography; Index. Sally R. Munt is Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex , UK. She has published extensively in cultural studies and is the author or editor of seven previous books including Heroic Desire: Lesbian Identity and Cultural Space (1998) and (as editor) Cultural Studies and the Working Class: Subject to Change (2000). She has given numerous keynote speeches and invited lectures in Europe and the US.

The New York Times, for example, marked Williams's passing with only a brief, error-filled, page-four newswire obituary headlined \"'King of Hillbillies' Dies in Sleep in Auto. Stressing the supposedly instrumental role she had played in Williams's career, she presented him as a devoted, loving son (\"Hank's Mother was always his first girl, and he never forgot it\"), while ignoring the sordid details of his personal life, among them his alcoholism and prescription drug abuse, his philandering, his turbulent first marriage, and his rancorous divorce.4 A mother might perhaps be excused for presenting a glowing and sanitized portrait of her son, but Lillie Stone was not alone in recasting Williams's life story following his death. [...]by her own admission, Irene had limited contact with Hank during his peak years of fame, raising questions about what she could have known for certain about his adult life and behavior. [...]it is at times difficult to determine when reading her commentary whether we are learning more about her brother or about Irene.

PurposeThis retrospective phenomenological case study examines the experiences of 18 politicians who participated in a political campaign using performing arts and artists in a regional heads and legislators in Indonesia. Also, the role of Gandrung art as a performing art is becoming a political communication tool for political actors in Indonesia.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a retrospective phenomenological case. The informants recruited were 18 politicians who have local, regional and national political levels. The participants were interviewed about their experiences of campaigning using traditional performing arts as a form of political communication. Data collection techniques used in this study include interviews and photo documentation during the campaign process to triangulate findings.FindingsBased on a case study analysis and through thematic analysis, this research reveals three emerging themes which indicate that performing arts function as political communication tools in three significant ways: (1) as a form of artistic expression for conveying political messages through movement and the use of dancer costumes; (2) as a medium for showcasing cultural identity and representation as a form of concern for the local culture of voters; and (3) as a means to garner mass appeal and propagate political propaganda.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has two limitations. First, the study only interviewed a small number of participants. Thus, generalization for wider contexts of politicians is not possible. Second, the study focuses on examining the voice of politicians and analyzing it using thematic analysis.Originality/valueThere is a scarcity of research that specifically focuses on uncovering the perspectives of politicians who employ performing arts as a political communication tool. This study contributes to the understanding that art performance is inherently non-neutral, highlighting how performing arts can actively engage in political communication by conveying messages, shaping cultural identity and influencing public opinion in the context of Indonesia.

Since ancient times, music has been instrumental in giving life to the stories we build our identities and cultures around. I will examine how, in our time, music creates new myths by creating its own heroes and heroines through capital and the star system. In traditional literary and cultural analysis, a distinction was drawn between the natural and the supernatural when discussing literary mythology; in the twentieth century, an equivalent distinction was made in works of art that, in Baudrillard’s terminology, make use of the realms of the real and the “hyperreal” (1981). In today’s mythmaking, the supernatural has been largely replaced by the technological, and recent developments blur the line between science fiction and fantasy; tech has become megalotech. A recent episode of the television series Black Mirror, “Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too” (2019), explores these concepts with an examination of the pros and cons of replacing human performers with AI simulacra.

Background: For children, the decision to play a specific musical instrument may be influenced by several factors. Among them, a relevant role is played by beliefs about gender appropriateness of musical instruments, which may guide the choice toward instruments “for boys” or “for girls”. This would limit the range of choices available, overshadowing preferences based on aesthetic and personal tastes. Methods: the current study aims to investigate stereotypical beliefs about gender appropriateness of musical instruments among Italian primary and middle school students. An online questionnaire with close-end and open-end questions has been proposed to 370 students. Qualitative and quantitative analyses have been performed. Results: indications emerged about the presence of specific beliefs about gender appropriateness for some musical instruments. There is a tendency for both girls and boys to express a major preference for those instruments which are considered “feminine” (for girls) and “masculine” (for boys). Conclusions: Among children, there still persist some gender stereotypes about specific instruments, although these are not so strong. The gender of the participants, and not their level of education and musical experience, seems to be a discriminating factor in the appearance of such beliefs. Educators should encourage students to experiment with different musical instruments.

The tobacco industry's use of social media sites, such as Facebook, is an emerging area of research; however, this is the first study of the potential for social media to advance tobacco control. This paper presents three case studies of using social media for tobacco control advocacy, demonstrates how social media can facilitate direct and effective action, and provides tools and lessons learned for future campaigns.

The tension between performer and teacher identities in music education is a widely recognized phenomenon within the profession. However, in Colombia, previous research has mainly focused on curricular evaluations, profile, and labor market conditions, leaving a significant gap in our understanding of identity. This study aimed to investigate the role identities among graduates of the Adventist University Corporation. Two focus groups were conducted to explore the existing condition of teacher and performer identities and the impact of government-mandated curricular modifications on recent graduates’ teacher identity. The results revealed a persistent dichotomy among participants in their working lives despite institutional efforts. The major causes of identity imbalance were less than ideal working conditions in public schools, hidden curricula, and career breadth. To address these issues, future governmental and institutional endeavors should focus on improving working conditions, adapting curricula to the labor market, and providing active support for teacher identity based on experiences.

While most mainland Chinese today have extremely few direct contacts with either America or Americans, their indirect contacts with both, via globalized American popular culture, are increasing rapidly. Do daily parasocial contacts with American celebrities shape Chinese views of America? Based on two experimental studies, this paper argues that even indirect, subconscious exposure to American celebrities via popular magazine covers shapes Chinese views of America. However, the impact of that exposure depends upon both the specific nature of the bicultural exposure and the psychological predispositions of the Chinese involved. Not all Chinese are alike, and their personality differences shape whether they experience American popular culture as enriching or threatening, leading to integrative and exclusionary reactions, respectively. 尽管绝大多数现代中国人从来没有和美国或美国人有过直接的接触, 但是, 在日益加剧的全球化的大背景下, 中国人接触美国流行文化的机会却无处不在。美国的流行文化会影响中国人对美国的看法吗? 本文以流行杂志封面的中、美明星人物为启动中、美, 结果发现, 大众杂志封面上的美国明星可以影响中国人对美国人的看法, 但是只有当美国明星人物出现在中国杂志封面上时, 这种影响才会发生。并且, 这种影响因人而异: 只有高民族自恋的人才会将美国流行文化看作威胁, 而低民族自恋的人却把美国流行文化视为有益, 并分别导致排斥性或包容性的反应。