Life News (Popular Culture)

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In an era of spin doctors and media handlers, high profile agents and power publicists, the public's awareness of celebrity is greater than ever.

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"Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity" is the culmination of extensive research into country music and the sociology of culture by Richard Peterson, Vanderbilt University sociologist.

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The start of a new year -- at least for most of us -- means a vow to diet and to get into shape. Beyond the obvious health considerations, did you ever wonder why getting skinny tops our lists of resolutions?

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Playing with the idea of "The End" is simply too close to the realities of modern anxiety and too much fun to ignore, as Carnegie Mellon Social Historian Peter N. Stearns shows in his book, "Millennium III, Century XXI."

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"It's a Wonderful Life" is one of the most popular and heartwarming films ever made. Long regarded as the definitive Christmas movie, "It's A Wonderful Life" tells the tale of a man's life that is recognized as wonderful and truly rich after he suffers through many hardships and trials. Yet in 1947, the FBI had some very different ideas about this holiday classic. In fact, the FBI branded "It's a Wonderful Life" and seven other films, including "The Best Years of Our Lives" as subversive.