Show Notes
Do academics ruin the Beatles, or help them last? Three scholars join host Robert Rodriguez to explore Beatles Studies: the history of how academia has treated the band, what fans and scholars get right and wrong about each other, and what the field still hasn't covered.
Guests: Christine Feldman-Barrett (author, A Women's History of the Beatles), Duncan Driver, and Paul Long (co-editor, Journal of Beatles Studies).
In this episode:
• Why early academic writing on the Beatles was dismissive, and how that shaped the field
• The "Aeolian cadences" legacy, and why Beatles lyrics rarely get serious literary study
• Shakespeare and the Beatles: why some artists seem to reflect us back to ourselves
• Gen Z, "boomer nostalgia" and why the Beatles keep finding new listeners
• Beatles university courses and the Journal of Beatles Studies
• Mark Lewisohn's Tune In, Ian Leslie's John & Paul, and why there's no "final word"
• What's missing: social class, women's perspectives, and the global Beatles
• How to read any Beatles book critically
🔗 Read the open-access Journal of Beatles Studies: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/journal/jbs
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Tags: the beatles and the academics, beatles studies, journal of beatles studies, beatles podcast, something about the beatles, beatles academics, beatles history, beatles lyrics analysis, beatles university course, why the beatles still matter, mark lewisohn tune in, ian leslie john and paul, a women's history of the beatles, the beatles and the historians, beatles anthology disney, duncan driver, christine feldman-barrett, paul long, robert rodriguez
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