Cassette Tapes About to Go the Way of Eight Tracks?

First it was the eight track, then Beta Format video tapes, then the VHS format then vinyl records then the floppy disk now the sign that we are at the end of an era--the cassette tape. Here is a New York Times article,Say So Long to an Old Companion: Cassette Tapes that reads the tealeaves and tells us that our dearly beloved cassette tapes are not long for this world.

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Boomers : A Gloomy Crowd?

Boomers are pessimistic and grumpy these days according to the Washington Post's interesting report today, Baby Boomers Got the Blues Viewing Life Through Morose-Colored Glasses
It maybe a generational thing--it seems that there were a lot of us and that meant quite a bit of competition for the prizes. When we consider the optimism and excitment about the future--not getting your dream fulfilled can seem to be more of a downer for this generation than for others. A "generational historian" is also quoted to make parallels with other generations that were similarly placed in history who experienced the same sense of disappointment:

It's a cyclical downer that follows many generations born after times of crisis, says Neil Howe, an author who gained fame for his theories of recurrent generational behavior. It plagued the Transcendental generation, born on the heels of American independence, and the Missionary generation that arrived after the Civil War.

"People born in times of cultural renewal tend to take an overt attitude of pessimism," Howe says.

They see their pessimism as a tonic that will wake up the world, then they just end up drunk on disappointment.

Rick Perlstein's Nixonland -Must Read of the Year?

Nixonland looks more and more like the must read book of the year. CNN gave Rick Perlstein some space on its website to feature his new book. A particular focus for Perlstein in this report was the angry divide between the generations that Nixon was able to exploit effectively as it turned out:

"The generational divide went so deep as to form a fundamental argument about what was moral and what was immoral," Perlstein says. "This was how people lived in the world -- through popular culture and through politics. The two feed off each other."

Though the era is now remembered through the rosy lenses of the baby boomers, their parents -- the heart of the "Silent Majority" -- didn't look upon the culture so fondly. Many disdained the era's pop music, the most obvious expression of youth.

Moreover, some of the highest-rated TV specials of 1969 and 1970 were Bob Hope programs, Perlstein writes, and when a movie such as 1970's "Joe" came out -- about a hardhat who loathes the hippies -- many in the audience came to cheer for the hardhat.

Movies may have been the most revealing mirror of society. The rise of the youth culture coincided with the death of the studio system. Some of what emerged were films willing to show the grit and ugliness of the cities ("the cities" being a common euphemism for civic decline). "Midnight Cowboy" and "The French Connection," the Academy Awards' best pictures of 1969 and 1971 respectively, show a weary, cold New York crumbling under its residents' feet.

There are some good slide shows with Perlstein's voice over. The one on movies and TV is quite insightful--supporting a review I recently completed on Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris that traces the key movies of the same time period that transformed Hollywood.

Changing of the Guard on Campus as Boomer Professors Retire

The New York Times loves stories that show large social trends at work--so the reporters can show their sociological as well as journalistic skills. The following article on how the so called 'left wing' or 'liberal professors' are now retiring and leaving the campus to their more conformist colleagues contains the same kinds of over simplifications about the boomer era many of us are used to by now.

First the tag 'liberal' or 'liberal activist' without the use of a corollary term for the radical right wing activist--the excuse is that this is the way they supposedly describe themselves--but when they are filling out a survey you only get to choose the terms the survey writer uses. Of course more people would define themselves as 'moderate' as that seems more in line with rational discourse and the duties of a professor.

In general, information on professors’ political and ideological leanings tends to be scarce. But a new study of the social and political views of American professors by Neil Gross at the University of British Columbia and Solon Simmons at George Mason University found that the notion of a generational divide is more than a glancing impression. “Self-described liberals are most common within the ranks of those professors aged 50-64, who were teenagers or young adults in the 1960s,” they wrote, making up just under 50 percent. At the same time, the youngest group, ages 26 to 35, contains the highest percentage of moderates, some 60 percent, and the lowest percentage of liberals, just under a third.

When it comes to those who consider themselves “liberal activists,” 17.2 percent of the 50-64 age group take up the banner compared with only 1.3 percent of professors 35 and younger.

The reporter wonders what this is all due to? Encroaching corporate forces seem to be the most to blame for the new conservatism on campus.


Gerald Graff does not see such a drastic change Gerald Graff, president of the Modern Language Association and author of the 1992 book “Beyond the Culture Wars,” is more skeptical, saying he hasn’t seen evidence of change at the University of Illinois in Chicago, where he teaches English. “You’d think that the further we get away from the ’60s, where a lot of our political attitudes are nurtured, there would be,” he said, “but I have to say it doesn’t seem to be happening.”

What is your impression--major change--or not much? What did the boomers add to the academic conversations--we are told in the article--it was their ability to look at large social forces and develop theories around them--as opposed to today's interest in building out (but not very far I would argue) from small empirical studies--lets start a discussion on this in the News wiki..