Editors' Introduction

In this issue of HoW, we're pleased to feature an interview with Alex Shakar, author of The Savage Girl. Set amongst a group of professional trendspotters, Shakar portrays a world where the idea of marketing "diet water" is a real possibility. That's right, a world much like our own. Beyond that, in this issue we try to demonstrate why observing pop culture is sometimes like watching a train wreck. more

Tapping into Social Surrealism: An Interview with Alex Shakar - Interviewed by Dave Zauhar

I did a lot of research for The Savage Girl and found a lot of creepy stuff. Ernest Dichter's Cold War era book, The Strategy of Desire, compares American marketing with Soviet propaganda, saying that on the surface the two things look very similar, but that the difference is that whereas Soviet propaganda exists to make its citizens feel content with their lives, American marketing exists to foment discontent. more

Night Tides and the Legacy of Spade Cooley - Kiki Gilderhus

Spade's crime fascinated me. I developed a little obsession with the tragic couple around the same time I started compiling a rough mix tape of songs about wife-killing, practically a song genre of its own: Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe," Guns 'n Roses' "I Used to Love Her But I Had to Kill Her," Neil Young's "Down By the River," or BR5-49's "Knoxville Girl" among others. more

Dalio's Glow, Ringo's Hole, Keanu's "Whoa" - Jim Kirchner

Then came the shot in Rules of the Game that grabbed me: we see Marcel Dalio looking both back to the machine and out to the audience, his face a kaleidoscope of expressions. This variety of looks flows across his face with a remarkable fluidity, making it hard to tell where one ends and the next begins. more

We Walk Alone - Dr. Julius Wankler

How did this state of affairs come about? How is it that soccer (have I mentioned that it's the most popular sport in the world?) barely registers on the U.S. radar? How come when it does register, the game is often met with sarcasm, mockery, denunciations, or bemused indifference? Yet most of the world would instantly understand why a legendary coach in England referred to soccer as "the working man's ballet." more

Nico: Lost in the Land - Part I: Solitary Dream - Jeff Purdue

Nico’s voice is the most readily identifiable part of her sound. Even those who don’t appreciate her qualities as a musician and composer acknowledge the unique nature of her singing voice. I remember the first time I heard her, the first reaction I had was a kind of queasy displacement: is this really a woman singing? more