Holiday Reading: Sara Gruen’s Hatchimal Scandal
The metaphor could not be more apt: A best-selling author attempts to raise funds to free a prisoner by selling the year’s must-have toy–a cute mammal that hatches from an egg. But now Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants, At the Water’s Edge) finds herself trapped in a storm of angry parents, unfriendly journalists, and difficulties reselling her haul. —-...
Pop Culture Pulse: Flashback for Election Season 2016 — gender, toys, and politics.
How we play says who we are … and how we vote. The first Barbie was sold in 1959. Pop culture has always reflected on and responded to gender and politics. And more than that — what we play with and how we play helps determine who we are. So what may seem like a happy little diversion in...
From Our Pages: “Making Friends with Midge,” an essay on your best friend and Barbie’s. By Susann Cokal.
“Midge was, as all Mattel’s toys and books and marketing materials identified her, ‘Barbie’s Best Friend’— not simply herself. She never even had an essay written especially for her till now.” Spend some time palling around with Midge, Barbie’s best friend, and Barbie fan/scholar Susann Cokal. Besides being a literary critic, novelist, teacher, and Broad Street‘s editorial...
