From the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, Michelangelo Paganopoulos (London): Jesus Christ and Billy the Kid as Archetypes of the Self in American Cinema; Victoria Meng (ASU): Everyday a Miracle: History According to Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN); Emily Clark (FSU): Of Catholics, Commies, and the Anti-Christ: Mapping American Social Borders Through Cold War Comic Books; and Jennie Chapman (Manchester): Tender Warriors: Muscular Christians, Promise Keepers, and the Crisis of Masculinity in Left Behind. Robert Pippin on his book Hollywood Westerns and American Myth: The Importance of Howard Hawks and John Ford for Political Philosophy. A small town in 1920: A hundred years ago, freedom — and society — looked quite different. A Promising Land: Small towns in the South are looking for a few good Jewish families. Networking the neighborhood: A Vermont town reinvents the Net. A review of The Last Empty Places: A Past and Present Journey Through the Blank Spots on the American Map by Peter Stark. Dare to be finished: The Dictionary of American Regional English gets ready to close the book on its already 45-year-old project. More on Greil Marcus’s New Literary History of America. Redemption Song: Why music is the one giant thing America has done right. More and more and more and more and more on Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc. — How the Working Poor Became Big Business by Gary Rivlin. From Adbusters, Chris Hedges on American Psychosis: What happens to a society that cannot distinguish between reality and illusion?; and an article on America's identity crisis: Coming to terms with imperial decline. Call the Politburo, we’re in trouble: Tom Engelhardt on entering the Soviet Era in America.
