David Luhrssen lectured at UW-Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and Milwaukee Area Technical College. He is author of Secret Societies and Clubs in American History, Mamoulian: Life on Stage and Screen, Hammer of the Gods: Thule Society and the Birth of Nazism, and coauthor of The Encyclopedia of Classic Rock, Brick Through the Window: An Oral History of Punk Rock, New Wave and Noise in Milwaukee, War on the Silver Screen, Elvis Presley: Reluctant Rebel, A Time of Paradox: America Since 1890, and Searching for Rock and Roll. He has contributed to the American National Biography Online, the Grove Dictionary of American Music and 100 People Who Changed 20th-Century America and has been published in Historically Speaking, History Today, the Journal of American History, and other journals. Luhrssen co-founded the Milwaukee International Film Festival, is a regular contributor to WUWM’s “Lake Effect” program and Managing Editor of Milwaukee’s weekly newspaper, the Shepherd Express.
David Luhrssen
On the Road with Bing and Bob
Reissued on Blu-ray, the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope comedies contain the DNA for Hollywood's buddy-road pictures. Read more
Milwaukee Writer Scores with ‘Bull Durham’ Story
As baseball season approaches, it's time to reflect on the great baseball movie ever. Read more
Home Movies/Now Streaming: March 14, 2019
Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: The World Before Your Feet, The Possessed, My Name is Julia Ross, So Dark the Night, Unknown Soldier. Read more
Couramiaud -Laurent Lufroy and F
'Climax' Asks: Who Spiked the Sangria?
Hedonism turns into mayhem as a party goes out of bounds. Read more
Elvis Presley: The Best of the '68 Comeback Special (RCA Legacy)
NBC-TV’s “’68 Comeback Special” was a sensational restart to a fizzling career that dynamically refurbished Elvis’ image without losing his roots and became a more-or-less timeless artifact. Read more
Photo credit: VisitMilwaukee.org
Café El Sol’s Flavorful Fish Fry
Café El Sol, situated inside the United Community Center, offers delicious fish fry and an all-you-can-eat buffet every Friday. Read more
A Supernatural War: Magic, Divination, and Faith During the First World War (Oxford University Press), by Owen Davies
In A Supernatural War, British historian Owen Davies examines a gamut of “supernatural” actions and sightings that accompanied a war of unprecedented technological slaughter. Read more
Nobody's Looking at You (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), by Janet Malcolm
Janet Malcolm’s essay collection, Nobody’s Looking at You, has no unifying theme beyond her unassuming-yet-willing-to-draw-blood sensibility. Read more
The New 'Captain Marvel' Busts Up the Boys Club
Brie Larson carries the role endearingly in the new Captain Marvel, although beating the odds must be easy if your hands can shoot photon beams at all adversaries. Read more
Mapping the Boundaries of Human Reason
Oxford professor finds many ways to understand our universe. Read more
Guantánamo Kid: The True Story of Mohammed El-Gharani (Abrams), by Jérôme Tubiana and Alexandre Franc
Illustrated by prolific graphic novelist Alexandre Franc, Guantánamo Kid: The True Story of Mohammed El-Gharani by Jérôme Tubiana is a story of gratuitous brutality countered by troublemaking by prisoners with little else to do. Read more
Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine (Knopf), by Emily Bernard
Race, the morphing yet consistently troubling question in American history, is unavoidable in Emily Bernard’s life and present on every page of her collection of highly personal essays. Read more
Novelist Recalls 'The Lost Night' at Boswell Books
Milwaukee-area native Andrea Bartz will discuss her debut novel, The Lost Night, on March 15 at Boswell Book Company. Read more
Home Movies/Now Streaming: March 7, 2019
Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: Moko Jumbie, The Midnight Man, Band VS Brand, Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco. Read more
The Fatal Attraction of 'Greta'
Isabelle Huppert is more than she seems in the new thriller by director Neil Jordan. Read more
American Myths on Film
New essay collection shows how Hollywood has tried, again and again, to rewrite history. Read more
Home Movies/Now Streaming: Feb. 28, 2019
Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: Waterworld, The Revelation of Lee Scratch Perry, The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion and Peppermint Soda. Read more
The Roots of Colombian Drug Traffic Explored in 'Birds of Passage'
Traditional codes of honor are frayed in this superb, subtitled Colombian crime drama. Read more
