What rights do people have as ICE continues to grow, and as the president deploys the National Guard domestically? @anneapplebaum.bsky.social explores this in the new season of “Autocracy in America.” Listen here:

The Minneapolis mayor also blasted ICE for being "utilized" by the Trump administration in the "wrong" way.

Reminder: If you are submitting to be a part of the 2026 Popular Arts Conference, tomorrow is the deadline for your submission to receive the fullest consideration. Anything submitted after January 12 may be considered, but that is not guaranteed. Go submit your paper or panel!

We have a YouTube channel now!!! Panels from previous conferences are slowly being uploaded. Over time we hope to add more presentations from PAC and other events we hold both in-person and virtually. www.youtube.com/channel/UCA1...

Have you submitted your paper or panel to the Popular Arts Conference yet? No? You should hurry. The deadline for 2026 is January 12! Click the link below for the CFP. I can't wait to see you there! populararts.org/2026-cfp/

Just a reminder that conference presenters must register by Wednesday, January 14, 2026 (5:00 PM CST).

SIG members: We're compiling a list of fan- and audience studies publications by our members that came out in 2025. Enter yours here by Dec. 31, and we'll compile a list to share: forms.gle/V7zsgTowJahU...

New in Journal of Popular Music Studies ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Vibes, gender and musical affordance on the internet: A study of the Lofi Girl fandom and community Iván Navarro Flores, Jenessa N. Williams & Ivan Mouraviev #FanStudies online.ucpress.edu/jpms/article...

A festive blog post from Henry Jenkins ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Fandom as Consumer Collective: Christmas Trees as Fannish Display #FanStudies henryjenkins.org/blog/2025/12...

New in Feminist Media Studies ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Gur-Ze’ev, H., & Kligler-Vilenchik, N. (2025). “Joss is (no longer?) Boss”: three layers of cancelling in the Joss Whedon fan community. #FanStudies doi.org/10.1080/1468...

Call for proposals We invite proposals for a new book series, Twenty-First Century Musical Theatre, which will focus on contemporary musical theatre on stages or screens anywhere in the world. Find out more 👉https://ow.ly/vjSL50XKg9G

New issue of Journal of Anime and Manga Studies now available on open access! Ghibli/Loewe collabotation, Vision of Escaflowne, Attack on Titan, Akira, Junji Ito, Kaori Yuki and more! Plus back issues available on iopn.library.illinois.edu/journals/jams

Day 7 of our Festive Season Reading Countdown🌟 Today we feature Hip-Hop Archives by Mark V. Campbell & Murray Forman, exploring cultural memory and the foundations of hip-hop studies Essential reading — and under £30 Read the introduction and find out more about the book👉https://ow.ly/nrjp50XFNn3

New review! ⭐ Find out more about Music Making and Civic Imagination by Dave Camlin 👉https://www.intellectbooks.com/music-making-and-civic-imagination

Performing Ethos: International Journal of Ethics in Theatre & Performance 15.2 is out now! In this issue, the journal launches a new special section titled ‘Performance as Witness, Memory and Resistance in Times of War’. https://ow.ly/MuVm50XKKtG

Special Issue Call for Papers ‘Apparatus – the role of technology in illustration’ We invite papers that expand upon and discuss the relationship between illustration and technology. Deadline: 26 January 2026 Find out more 👉https://ow.ly/G7t250XKopi

Journal of Visual Political Communication 12.1 is out now! 📰 Including ‘Visual attention to mobilizing political social media posts: An eye-tracking study’ by Anna Gaul, Katharina Pohl, Elisabeth Schmidbauer, Anna Sophie Kümpel and Jörg Haßler. https://ow.ly/FqA650XKKAB

#SaturdayShelfie 📚 A glimpse into Gareth Dylan Smith’s bookshelves—where rhythm, research, and reflection live side by side. Every spine tells part of a story. What’s on your shelves right now?

“I uncover / orange embers, carry them / to a covered grill, and, glancing up, / see the stars’ braille / against the night’s black page.” Read a new poem by Arthur Sze:

This is fucking grim. Somebody invented a white guy, an "IT professional" named Edward Crabtree, who stopped the Bondi shooting and spread it all over the internet, which was picked up by AI agents and slop aggregation sites. The real hero is a fruit stand owner named Ahmed el Ahmed.

I already did Pacific Rim when I did the first set of comfort watches two years ago: whatever.scalzi.com/2023/12/27/t... That said, I'm not taking requests for this series of essays because they're about my choices. However I encourage others to write about THEIR comfort watches. It's fun!

These iconic cultural figures were actually barely known when they were alive.

Did you know we have a Facebook group? Popular Culture Scholars at DragonCon is a place on Facebook where you can connect with other scholars and find out more about PAC and #DragonCon! Come join us! www.facebook.com/groups/760815476809126 #AcademicSky #PhDsky

Hello #AcademicSky and #PhDSky!! The CFP for our 2026 Conference is live. The Popular Arts Conference is an annual academic conference for the studies of the popular arts that occurs as a part of @dragoncon.org. Come join us in Atlanta September 3-7, 2026. populararts.org/2026-cfp/