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VERSION:2.0
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CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:Fame\, Gender\, and the Scrutiny of Cultural Icons
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Pacific Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260610T213438Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_52251779245324
DTSTART:20260418T203000Z
DTEND:20260418T213000Z
DESCRIPTION:Writer Maggie Nelson and cultural critic Karen Tongson join mus
 icologist Nate Sloan for a conversation on fame\, gender\, and the scrutin
 y faced by cultural icons. Drawing on Nelson’s provocative new book The 
 Slicks: On Sylvia Plath and Taylor Swift\, which traces the parallels betw
 een the two artists as targets of patriarchal efforts to disparage creativ
 e work by women\, and Tongson’s work on queer viewership and popular cul
 ture\, the discussion will explore how cultural and gendered narratives in
 form audience perceptions\, critical reception\, and artistic success.\n\n
  \n\nPanelists:\n\nMaggie Nelson is the author of over a dozen acclaimed b
 ooks\, most recently The Slicks (2025) and Pathemata\, Or\, The Story of M
 y Mouth (2025). Previous works include Like Love: Essays and Conversations
  (2024)\; the national bestseller On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Const
 raint (2021)\; the international bestseller The Argonauts (2015\; winner o
 f the National Book Critics Circle Award)\; The Art of Cruelty: A Reckonin
 g (2011)\; Bluets (2009\; adapted for the stage at the Royal Court Theatre
  of London)\; and The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial (2005). A recipi
 ent of a 2016 MacArthur “genius” fellowship\, she is currently a Disti
 nguished Professor of English at USC.Karen Tongson is the Barbra Streisand
  Professor of Contemporary Gender Studies at USC\, where she also directs 
 the Mellon-funded Consortium for Gender\, Sexuality\, Race and Public Cult
 ure. She is the award-winning author of Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV
  that Soothes Us (2023)\, Why Karen Carpenter Matters (2019)\, and Relocat
 ions: Queer Suburban Imaginaries (2011). Her writing and cultural commenta
 ry have appeared in Slate\, NPR\, The Los Angeles Review of Books\, PBS Ne
 wsHour\, The Los Angeles Times\, The AV Club\, Entertainment Weekly\, and 
 KCRW’s Good Food among other venues. In 2019\, she received the Lambda L
 iterary Jeanne Córdova Award for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction. She currently 
 co-hosts the podcasts\, The Gaymazing Race\, and The Art of Grief.Nate Slo
 an (moderator) is a musicologist and performer who researches jazz\, class
 ical\, and popular music. He is assistant professor of musicology at the U
 niversity of Southern California Thornton School of Music and co-host of t
 he podcast Switched on Pop. Nate is co-author of Switched on Pop: How Popu
 lar Music Works and Why it Matters\, has contributed articles about music 
 to the New York Times\, Musical Quarterly\, and Journal of Musicology\, an
 d appeared as a music commentator for NPR\, CBS\, PBS\, and MSNBC. \n\nThi
 s panel is part of the 2026 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC.
GEO:34.020804;-118.287064
LOCATION:Wallis Annenberg Hall (ANN)
SUMMARY:Fame\, Gender\, and the Scrutiny of Cultural Icons
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.usc.edu/event/fame-gender-and-the-scrutiny-o
 f-cultural-icons
CATEGORIES:Lecture / Talk / Workshop
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