Ron's rages are sincere and — according to his wife — healthily cathartic. But can these splenetic outbursts loosen the grip of capitalism at its most monstrous?
‘The reckoning with race has only just begun’
The country-music industry is being pressurised to acknowledge its troubled handling of black artists — and not before time, says LIAM KENNEDY
Mickey Guyton (left) and (right) Charley Pride
[(Left) NPR Tiny Desk and (right) Republic Country Club/Creative Commons]
ANGUS REID considers the power of the podcast as a vehicle for consensus building in opposition to mainstream media narratives
GLENN FOSBRAEY recommends a biography worth reading for both existing George Michael fans and those yet to be converted
FRANCIS DEVINE introduces a new collection of essays that draws on Pease McKenna’s example to indicate future paths for the movement
KEVIN DONNELLY and MARIA DUARTE review Shoot the People, The Last One For The Road, Rosebush Pruning, and Moana
JAMES WALSH recommends an exceptional documentary about the experience of Western doctors in Gaza
WHEN most people think of country music, they envisage plaid-wearing, guitar-strumming artists like Johnny Cash or Dolly Parton. They rarely think of black men like Charley Pride.
Pride, who died on December 11 at the age of 86, was one of the very few black superstars in the history of American country music. Acknowledging his contributions to the genre, the Country Music Association Awards presented him with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in November.
In a year when protests about racial injustice swept across the US, it was a symbolic moment for the industry as it celebrated the black presence in country music. It had been pressurised to acknowledge its troubled history of racial difference.
Similar stories
New releases from Shearwater, Florry, and Navy Blue
New releases from Kneecap, Sam Blasucci, and Juni Habel
WILL STONE applauds a comprehensive survey of love in its many moods and musical forms
STEVE JOHNSON relishes a celebration of the commonality of folk music and its links with the struggles of working people the world over