Aug
22
My New Book: Status and Culture
A sneak peek into my new book that links individuals’ fundamental desire for social status to the formation of taste,
4 min read
W. David Marx
Jul
21
Notes on Our Tasteless Era
Recent journalism, criticism, and social media posts suggest a surge in bad taste across art, fashion, and media. What does
7 min read
Jun
23
Vanilla, Peaches, and All the Other Lesser Smells
The scientific search for fundamental human taste preferences is commendable but our "evolutionary instincts" can't explain
4 min read
Jun
08
The Sociology of John Mayer’s Outfit Guidance
John Mayer's "point-system" for balanced creative dress reveals a few key
realities about how culture works
4 min read
May
26
Future Sounds: Cheap Gear and Easy Samples
Does the democratization of electronic music tools change how we hear the
sounds?
Like many others in the late 1990s,
5 min read
May
11
Art versus commerce in the NFT Era
With no more "art for art's sake" nor "selling out," we have landed upon
5 min read
Apr
28
Notes on The Nineties
Thoughts on Chuck Klosterman's The Nineties: A Book and the lived experience of
the Nineties, a particular decade
6 min read
Apr
01
What is Culture? Part Seven: Summary and Bibliography
Wrapping everything up, with a few clarifications and some suggestions for
further reading
We started with a near-impossible mission: Define
3 min read
Mar
15
What is Culture? Part Six: Defining cultural phenomena
If everything in culture is made of conventions, we should be able to explain all cultural phenomena in terms of
4 min read
Mar
11
What is Culture? Part Five: A web of meanings and values
Conventions explain why we follow the same regular behaviors in our community, but they also explain how groups agree on
3 min read