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 ShepherdExpress.
While some of the imagery in mother! is compelling, director Darren Aronofsky falls into the trap of contemporary horror directors for whom enough is never enough and subtlety is sacrificed for visual overkill.more
Despite a long running time and a profusion of baroque horror visuals, It is an effective adaptation of Stephen King focused on a band of outsider kids forced to confront their fears.more
Frank Sinatra was still in his peakyears, a couple decades before time began to collect its inevitable chargesagainst his voice, at his 1962 concert in the Royal Festival Hall. Royalty waspresent, but all eyes were on the perf..more
On Flying Carpet, the German world music ensemble Quadro Nuevo collaborate with Cairo Steps, a German jazz band, on an album that explores the music of the Middle East.more
The Milwaukee Short Film Festival, located this year at the Fox Bay Cinema Grill, offers two days of films 15 minutes or less in length. The selections are from all over the world but include many minority and women directors from Milwaukee...more
The first American death in the conflict that grew into the Vietnam War was, in the words of Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, “the result of a tragic misunderstanding." Lieut. Col. A PeterDewey was in Saigon in 1945 trying t..more
In Slight Exaggeration, poet Adam Zagajewski argues eloquently against the flat irony of postmodernism and for admiration and enthusiasm in the humanities.more
The sequel to Al Gore’s Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, shows the growing danger of climate change. It also spends too much time on Gore.more
Ricky Phontaine, a Milwaukee rapper with an alias adapted from a minor character on Martin Lawrence’s ’90s sitcom, debuts as an album artist with his artistic persona fully formed.more
In a reversal of the usual American order of the day, Stax’s stars were African American but behind them stood integrated ensembles such as The MGs.more
As Wisconsin historian Michael Edmonds astutely observes in his picture-book history, the architects “wanted nothing to do with modernism" and resolutely designed an edifice that was “nostalgic, reassuring, and safe."more
“Lone Star BBQ—The PerfectPartner for Your Chicken," Lee Hayden insists. A movie star in the 1970s, Lee(Sam Elliott) is reduced to doing voice work for commercials. He keeps impatience in check when the unseen producer asks ..more
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers written circa 200 CE by Diogenes Laertius receives a beautifully produced new translation that includes artwork inspired by those philosophers over many centuries and cultures.more
In Amity and Prosperity, The New Yorker’s award-winning journalist Eliza Griswold examines the unexpected deleterious effects caused by the fracking industry on an economically depressed Pennsylvania town.more
Upcoming in the Milwaukee performing arts scene are an instalment of Florentine Opera’s At the Center Series, various family friendly offerings at SummerStage, the Footlights 2018 People’s Choice Awards and Patrick Schmitz’ Katelyn’s Wasteland.more
On June 16, there will be a “Community Cleanup and Cookin’ Up Arthaus” event that begins with a neighborhood cleanup, followed by a program outside the Arthaus featuring live music and poetry and a barbecue.more
In Frenemies, the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta investigates an advertising industry convulsed by unanticipated change whose ramifications have made Facebook rich and traditional media poor.more
Dulcet-voiced Yvette Landry explores the less cultivated regions of music in her home state of Louisiana— what she calls “1950s Louisiana jukebox.”more
America’s past is the subject of new books by award-winning reporter Seymour Hersh as well as distinguished historians and Foreign Service veterans.more
Why isn’t it legal to shout “fire!” in a crowded theater? Attorney Michael J. LaMonica traces the sometimes thorny history of interpreting and applying the First Amendment in this illustrated booklet.more
This summer, the Jewish Museum Milwaukee reprises its 2015 exhibit, “Stitching History from the Holocaust” with “Stitching Histories from the Holocaust.” “Histories” includes two additional stories with ties to the Milwaukee area.more
