Amanda Marie Martinez
@amamartinez.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of American Studies at UNC. UCLA PhD. Views my own.
https://www.amandamariemartinez.com
https://www.amandamariemartinez.com
Pinned
“Country’s Cool Again”
Featuring twelve classic hits from the archive and three new essays, this collection brings country music’s past and present together to consider why country’s cool again (and again).
www.southerncultures.org
Me & the good folks at Southern Cultures have been working hard on a country music studies reader in anticipation of the special issue I’m guest editing. Proud of how it’s come together! It includes 12 essays from the archive & 3 new ones.
Check it out: www.southerncultures.org/reader/count...
Check it out: www.southerncultures.org/reader/count...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
UPDATE: The Indiana legislature announced that, across the state's public universities, it will immediately eliminate 75 programs, suspend/teach-out 101, and force 232 to consolidate or be eliminated. Not surprisingly, these closures disproportionately affect arts, humanities, and social science.
July 1, 2025 at 12:02 AM
UPDATE: The Indiana legislature announced that, across the state's public universities, it will immediately eliminate 75 programs, suspend/teach-out 101, and force 232 to consolidate or be eliminated. Not surprisingly, these closures disproportionately affect arts, humanities, and social science.
Blown away by Sinners and still processing. This is an excellent movie syllabus but would def add Roediger etc. for the Irish component.
www.aaihs.org/the-sinners-...
www.aaihs.org/the-sinners-...
The ‘Sinners’ Movie Syllabus - AAIHS
The 'Sinners' Movie Syllabus is a curated educational resource inspired by the 2025 film 'Sinners,' directed by Ryan Coogler. This syllabus delves into the multifaceted historical, cultural, and socia...
www.aaihs.org
May 3, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Blown away by Sinners and still processing. This is an excellent movie syllabus but would def add Roediger etc. for the Irish component.
www.aaihs.org/the-sinners-...
www.aaihs.org/the-sinners-...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
"At the same time, his administration has elevated candidates with scant qualifications to positions of power across the federal bureaucracy...That this is all being done in the name of “merit-based opportunity,” as Trump’s executive order put it, is patently absurd."
slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com/news-and-pol...
Trump’s DEI Crackdown Is a Smokescreen for Something Much More Sinister
It’s an attack on labor. But he can frame it as something else.
slate.com
March 26, 2025 at 1:49 PM
"At the same time, his administration has elevated candidates with scant qualifications to positions of power across the federal bureaucracy...That this is all being done in the name of “merit-based opportunity,” as Trump’s executive order put it, is patently absurd."
slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com/news-and-pol...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
And @amamartinez.bsky.social wraps up the panel with ““My Own Kind of Hat”: Headwear and Country Music’s Evolving Class Politics” #PopCon2025
March 14, 2025 at 12:00 AM
And @amamartinez.bsky.social wraps up the panel with ““My Own Kind of Hat”: Headwear and Country Music’s Evolving Class Politics” #PopCon2025
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
Black Studies and the Fight Against Fascism
Join us for a timely conversation with @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social, @jfernandez1202.bsky.social, Sarah Haley, Robin D.G. Kelley, Barbara Ransby, & Robyn Spencer-Antoine
Tuesday, March 4 at 6:00 pm ET
RSVP to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
Join us for a timely conversation with @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social, @jfernandez1202.bsky.social, Sarah Haley, Robin D.G. Kelley, Barbara Ransby, & Robyn Spencer-Antoine
Tuesday, March 4 at 6:00 pm ET
RSVP to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
February 28, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Black Studies and the Fight Against Fascism
Join us for a timely conversation with @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social, @jfernandez1202.bsky.social, Sarah Haley, Robin D.G. Kelley, Barbara Ransby, & Robyn Spencer-Antoine
Tuesday, March 4 at 6:00 pm ET
RSVP to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
Join us for a timely conversation with @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social, @jfernandez1202.bsky.social, Sarah Haley, Robin D.G. Kelley, Barbara Ransby, & Robyn Spencer-Antoine
Tuesday, March 4 at 6:00 pm ET
RSVP to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
This fall I’ll begin a tenure track Assistant Professor position in the Dept of American Studies at UNC, where my postdoc’s been since last year. Can’t imagine a better academic home. It’s been a long road of luck, community, & hard work to get here & I couldn’t be more grateful.
February 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
This fall I’ll begin a tenure track Assistant Professor position in the Dept of American Studies at UNC, where my postdoc’s been since last year. Can’t imagine a better academic home. It’s been a long road of luck, community, & hard work to get here & I couldn’t be more grateful.
Trump follows a long line of conservatives who’ve co-opted country music, identifying its listeners as his voters. Like most of his predecessors, there’s little evidence he had an organic interest in the music. Many country stars have already been happy to play into his interest, as seen w the inaug
President Trump purged the bipartisan Kennedy Center board of Biden appointees, fired the center’s president and made himself the new chairman last week. So what will he do with an institution central to Washington’s cultural life? One expectation: more country music.
Trump’s Revenge Now Includes His Takeover of the Kennedy Center
What will a thin-skinned showman do with an institution central to Washington’s cultural life? One expectation is more country music.
www.nytimes.com
February 18, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Trump follows a long line of conservatives who’ve co-opted country music, identifying its listeners as his voters. Like most of his predecessors, there’s little evidence he had an organic interest in the music. Many country stars have already been happy to play into his interest, as seen w the inaug
Next week in Chapel Hill we’ll celebrate the Southern Folklife Collection w exciting events, a couple of which I’ll be a part of.
On 2/20, David Garcia & I will be in conversation w Amythyst Kiah
On 2/22, Jewly Hight, Jocelyn Neal, & I will have a panel on commercial country music
Join us!
On 2/20, David Garcia & I will be in conversation w Amythyst Kiah
On 2/22, Jewly Hight, Jocelyn Neal, & I will have a panel on commercial country music
Join us!
February 10, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Next week in Chapel Hill we’ll celebrate the Southern Folklife Collection w exciting events, a couple of which I’ll be a part of.
On 2/20, David Garcia & I will be in conversation w Amythyst Kiah
On 2/22, Jewly Hight, Jocelyn Neal, & I will have a panel on commercial country music
Join us!
On 2/20, David Garcia & I will be in conversation w Amythyst Kiah
On 2/22, Jewly Hight, Jocelyn Neal, & I will have a panel on commercial country music
Join us!
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
Corporate Coup in Global Context
Join @naomiaklein.bsky.social, @chenjerai.bsky.social, @astra.bsky.social, & @keeanga.bsky.social for an emergency town hall on the accelerating corporate dominance of our societies
Mon., Feb. 17 at 5:00 pm ET
RSVP to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
Join @naomiaklein.bsky.social, @chenjerai.bsky.social, @astra.bsky.social, & @keeanga.bsky.social for an emergency town hall on the accelerating corporate dominance of our societies
Mon., Feb. 17 at 5:00 pm ET
RSVP to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
February 8, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Corporate Coup in Global Context
Join @naomiaklein.bsky.social, @chenjerai.bsky.social, @astra.bsky.social, & @keeanga.bsky.social for an emergency town hall on the accelerating corporate dominance of our societies
Mon., Feb. 17 at 5:00 pm ET
RSVP to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
Join @naomiaklein.bsky.social, @chenjerai.bsky.social, @astra.bsky.social, & @keeanga.bsky.social for an emergency town hall on the accelerating corporate dominance of our societies
Mon., Feb. 17 at 5:00 pm ET
RSVP to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
I went into the Grammys expecting the focus to be on Bey/Tay and was happy to see Bey and Kendrick get their deserved awards. But the night's story was Gen Z. Millennials are official elders now www.npr.org/2025/02/03/n...
Gen Z conquers the Grammys
Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar won the night's biggest awards, but the real takeaway from the Grammys is that a wave of younger stars has arrived on the pop scene, fully prepared to own the spotlight.
www.npr.org
February 3, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I went into the Grammys expecting the focus to be on Bey/Tay and was happy to see Bey and Kendrick get their deserved awards. But the night's story was Gen Z. Millennials are official elders now www.npr.org/2025/02/03/n...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
Dear National Media,
If tariffs don’t end up materializing, please don’t say he struck a deal. He didn’t. He intentionally picked a fight with friends & tanked the stock market so he’d be able to claim he was great.
This is classic narcissistic personality BS & the remedy is calling it out.
If tariffs don’t end up materializing, please don’t say he struck a deal. He didn’t. He intentionally picked a fight with friends & tanked the stock market so he’d be able to claim he was great.
This is classic narcissistic personality BS & the remedy is calling it out.
February 3, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Dear National Media,
If tariffs don’t end up materializing, please don’t say he struck a deal. He didn’t. He intentionally picked a fight with friends & tanked the stock market so he’d be able to claim he was great.
This is classic narcissistic personality BS & the remedy is calling it out.
If tariffs don’t end up materializing, please don’t say he struck a deal. He didn’t. He intentionally picked a fight with friends & tanked the stock market so he’d be able to claim he was great.
This is classic narcissistic personality BS & the remedy is calling it out.
Last day to submit. Looking at what we've gotten so far and I'm so stoked. You're not ready for how good this is gonna be!
There's 2 more weeks to submit something for our Southern Cultures issue on Country Music's Mythology. Tell your friends and please consider contributing: www.southerncultures.org/call-for-pap...
Call for Papers: Country Music’s Mythology
Southern Cultures, the award-winning, peer-reviewed quarterly from UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South, encourages submissions from scholars, writers, and artists for a special issue…
www.southerncultures.org
February 3, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Last day to submit. Looking at what we've gotten so far and I'm so stoked. You're not ready for how good this is gonna be!
Anyway, the Grammys were a brief nice escape from reality.
The DEI caused the plane crash narrative is a distraction. The tariffs are a distraction. Whatever insane nonsense Trump spews that the media will chase like cats chasing a laser light is a distraction. The only story that counts right now is the wholesale hijacking of control of the US government.
February 3, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Anyway, the Grammys were a brief nice escape from reality.
Great Cowboy Carter won big & she’s one of few Black artists to win a Country Grammy. But also worth noting every Black artist who’s won is a non-Nashville/non-primarily country artist. We need class analysis in our celebrations; the struggles for emerging Black country artists in Nashville remain
February 3, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Great Cowboy Carter won big & she’s one of few Black artists to win a Country Grammy. But also worth noting every Black artist who’s won is a non-Nashville/non-primarily country artist. We need class analysis in our celebrations; the struggles for emerging Black country artists in Nashville remain
Thank you!
Amanda Marie Martinez does fabulous work around the history of country music and race, and is way smarter than me about all of this. She's a great writer and has been rightly featured in a bunch of podcasts and documentaries in recent years: www.amandamariemartinez.com/media
Media | Mysite
www.amandamariemartinez.com
February 3, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Thank you!
And she did win AOTY. And gave a shoutout to Linda Martell. Support Martell’s granddaughter, Quia Thompson, who’s working on a documentary about her grandmother: www.lindamartell.com/badcaseofthe...
February 3, 2025 at 5:18 AM
And she did win AOTY. And gave a shoutout to Linda Martell. Support Martell’s granddaughter, Quia Thompson, who’s working on a documentary about her grandmother: www.lindamartell.com/badcaseofthe...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
Chappell Roan is completely correct! Musicians are workers, and we deserve fair payment & dignity in our workplace. UMAW introduced the Living Wage for Musicians Act with Rep. Rashida Tlaib to build a fairer music industry and increase wages for musicians. We need your help to make it happen!
"Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection. Labels, we got you, but do you got us?"
-Chappell Roan, accepting her first ever Grammy award
www.stereogum.com/2295357/gram...
-Chappell Roan, accepting her first ever Grammy award
www.stereogum.com/2295357/gram...
February 3, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Chappell Roan is completely correct! Musicians are workers, and we deserve fair payment & dignity in our workplace. UMAW introduced the Living Wage for Musicians Act with Rep. Rashida Tlaib to build a fairer music industry and increase wages for musicians. We need your help to make it happen!
Wow!! I was expecting Cowboy Carter to win AOTY but not Best Country Album!
February 3, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Wow!! I was expecting Cowboy Carter to win AOTY but not Best Country Album!
Planning a game w students where we watch ads & debate over audience interpretations in a sort of Adorno v Stuart Hall (etc) approach. So far I've got the Nic Kidman AMC ad & this Sprite commercial. Any other ideas??
(h/t to @oliviastowell.bsky.social for this idea!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtSi...
(h/t to @oliviastowell.bsky.social for this idea!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtSi...
Sprite 'Wanna Sprite' TVC with LeBron James via W+K
YouTube video by CBAustralia
www.youtube.com
January 23, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Planning a game w students where we watch ads & debate over audience interpretations in a sort of Adorno v Stuart Hall (etc) approach. So far I've got the Nic Kidman AMC ad & this Sprite commercial. Any other ideas??
(h/t to @oliviastowell.bsky.social for this idea!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtSi...
(h/t to @oliviastowell.bsky.social for this idea!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtSi...
There's 2 more weeks to submit something for our Southern Cultures issue on Country Music's Mythology. Tell your friends and please consider contributing: www.southerncultures.org/call-for-pap...
Call for Papers: Country Music’s Mythology
Southern Cultures, the award-winning, peer-reviewed quarterly from UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South, encourages submissions from scholars, writers, and artists for a special issue…
www.southerncultures.org
January 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
There's 2 more weeks to submit something for our Southern Cultures issue on Country Music's Mythology. Tell your friends and please consider contributing: www.southerncultures.org/call-for-pap...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
it genuinely sucks that basically nothing on the internet works well anymore. search? barely works. social media? filled with garbage engagement-bait designed to game the algorithm. news websites? pages that refresh at random or so covered in video ads that it’s impossible to read stories
January 8, 2025 at 3:38 AM
it genuinely sucks that basically nothing on the internet works well anymore. search? barely works. social media? filled with garbage engagement-bait designed to game the algorithm. news websites? pages that refresh at random or so covered in video ads that it’s impossible to read stories
It's terrifying that my past 3 sources of annual funding (MTSU's Diversity Dissertation Completion Fellowship, this, and the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity--all longstanding fellowships for marginalized candidates) are no longer options.
www.h-net.org/jobs/job_dis...
www.h-net.org/jobs/job_dis...
H-Net Job Guide
www.h-net.org
January 1, 2025 at 9:41 PM
It's terrifying that my past 3 sources of annual funding (MTSU's Diversity Dissertation Completion Fellowship, this, and the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity--all longstanding fellowships for marginalized candidates) are no longer options.
www.h-net.org/jobs/job_dis...
www.h-net.org/jobs/job_dis...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
$50 million over 5 years.
Thank God, the UNC Board of Governors disbanded the DEI programs so money is available. www.nytimes.com/athletic/598...
Thank God, the UNC Board of Governors disbanded the DEI programs so money is available. www.nytimes.com/athletic/598...
Bill Belichick agrees to deal to become UNC football head coach
Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots, will return to the sideline in the college ranks.
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2024 at 2:23 AM
$50 million over 5 years.
Thank God, the UNC Board of Governors disbanded the DEI programs so money is available. www.nytimes.com/athletic/598...
Thank God, the UNC Board of Governors disbanded the DEI programs so money is available. www.nytimes.com/athletic/598...
Reposted by Amanda Marie Martinez
One strategy to address all of the anger and scorn stirred up by the assassination of the health insurance CEO would be to push for Medicare for All and/or eliminate private health insurance.
December 5, 2024 at 1:27 PM
One strategy to address all of the anger and scorn stirred up by the assassination of the health insurance CEO would be to push for Medicare for All and/or eliminate private health insurance.
Should be illegal for cashiers to ask you (and be incentivized to push) if you want to sign up for a credit card when you check out. Evil stuff.
December 4, 2024 at 8:37 PM
Should be illegal for cashiers to ask you (and be incentivized to push) if you want to sign up for a credit card when you check out. Evil stuff.