Blog Posts by Subject: Popular Culture

I caught up with a few of the Harlem Globetrotters while they were on a shoot at the William F. Passannante Ballfield in the West Village. A nearby elementary school uses the park as a playground during school hours, and the Globetrotters mingled with the kids, juggling balls and answering questions between takes.

Born October 9, 1940, John Lennon spent his post-Beatles years (1971–1980) living and working in New York City. Commemorate Lennon's birthday and life in NYC by exploring an interactive map of landmarks, suggested books, and more.

Never has a topic been more talked, bought, dyed, and cried about as much as the subject of "hair." Hair beliefs, attitudes, and styles vary across cultures and time periods, but the most common interest in hair is growth.

Culinary tours…global entrepreneurs…dangerous political weapons in America…Nazi art theft and the quest for justice…forensic DNA…the Tappan Zee Mega Project…the Gowanus Canal…. If any of these topics have piqued your interest, then please join us for an Author @ the Library program in October at the Mid-Manhattan Library.

The cartes de visite, cabinet photographs and stereograms of Kate Claxton, an intensely photogenic actress.

The advent of contact sheets was great for photography studios and of course, actors and their agents.

Hutch Harris is the lead guitarist and vocalist of Portland, Oregon–based band The Thermals. His songs paint vivid pictures and pose challenging questions, not unlike our favorite books and prose. See what books he recommends!

Here are other books filled with friends, road trips, elusive and mysterious dream girls (and dream boys) who force us out of our comfort zones and universal truths about life, love and living in the moment.

Teen literature spends a good proportion of its existence taking on tough topics, shedding light on what it means to be different and how we strive to become our most authentic selves. So it should come as a surprise to no one that teen lit has been showcasing the courageous, true and fictional, stories of transgender teens, teens struggling with gender identity and teens dealing with transgender friends and family members for years.

The goal of We Need Diverse Books is for diversity to become the norm by promoting "literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people." During the BookCon panel it was noted that the literary world should reflect the diversity in the world.

The series finale of Mad Men that aired on AMC on May 17 roughly coincided with NYPL's digitization of over one-thousand fashion illustrations produced in the 1950s and '60s by New York City-based firm Creators Studios. See if you can spot the traces of the show's female protagonists in these ready-to-wear design drawings.

A recent trend in YA Lit is the fantasy sub-genre: court and political intrigue fantasy. It’s full of all the stuff that makes for great high stakes drama: power, family, politics, love, betrayal, swords, treachery, corruption, duplicity, vengeance, manipulation, secrets, nefarious plots, fighting, revenge, occasionally some dragons and usually, a good healthy dose of flirtation and swoon.

It’s going to be rough wait, but we will do it together and somehow find other books and films to fill the Downton-sized hole in our hearts.

RuPaul was crowned the “Queen of Manhattan” in 1989 and has since published two books and released hit songs over the course of eleven studio albums. We were lucky to hear our LIVE from the NYPL guest discuss the dualistic nature of identity, the great Diana Ross, and fantasy.

Way way back, in 1990, I wandered into a Portland, Oregon bookstore and found a romance novel, set in Scotland, involving time travel and I was hooked! Since then, it’s been a 25 year odyssey of reading and waiting. Outlander finally returns to TV on April 4.

In the rain soaked Seattle of the early '90s, grunge rock was the soundtrack to our lives and Kurt and Nirvana were at its center. Twenty one years on, his legacy continues in two recent YA books Carnival at Bray and Love Letters to the Dead. Both books examine the power of music and words to bring people together, inspire us and give us hope.

With the bleakest part of the winter now upon us, some readers may be craving a feast of Scandinavian noir. Here are a few more contemporary Swedes (and one Norwegian) I've enjoyed.

Beyond the animation cels, drawings, media and the amazing experience of seeing the Muppets up close, the exhibition, "Somebody Come and Play,” lets us see and hear the way that research and entertainment/production values inform each other to create memorable moments. And, since the 1970-1971 season, those moments have include Jeffrey Moss’ song “Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?”

The list includes a selection of 25 novels, non-fiction books, and graphic novels chosen by a committee of Young Adult librarians who work with teens in NYPL’s neighborhood branches.