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John Paul Meyers

@johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social

740 followers 890 following 260 posts

Ethnomusicologist. Associate Prof. of Af-Am Studies at UIUC. Midwestern repatriate. My book, "Same Old Song: The Enduring Past in Popular Music," is out now! https://www.amazon.com/Same-Old-Song-Enduring-American/dp/1496850874/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8

www.amazon.com

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 1d

Here are the last two pages on D'Angelo from my book. Not trying to self-promote here, but @upmississippi.bsky.social and Craig Gill did a great job with this book. So if you found this writing about D'Angelo interesting, you'd probably like the rest of it. www.amazon.com/Same-Old-Son...

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote 6 pages on D'Angelo for my book, and I titled its last chapter after a line from his song "Back to the Future." To my ears, he was one of the most important artists, musically and politically, of the past 30 years.

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 4d

watching the football team of my employer on TV, since they're playing the #1 ranked team. I am a married, 42-year old white male homeowner with an upper middle class salary. Still, I am DEFINITELY not the target market for the ads being shown on this.

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 7d

Jimi Hendrix and Joe Biden are almost exactly the same age. Hendrix is 7 days younger.

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 8d

Literally, wtf does he mean by this: “But the military of the 2020s has been as overburdened by the imperatives of progressivism as schools were by the duties of racial integration in the 1970s.”

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 8d

oh jfc. the chick fil a guy?

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 11d

Marijuana possession? Weed has been legal in Illinois for 5 years.

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 13d

If you make t-shirts with this, I will buy one!

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 13d

Not the point, but uh, what 91 year old wants to live in a row house? They're going up and down stairs all day?

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 14d

"You can still get a big cheap McMansion but your neighbors will want a race war and think knowing calculus is a sin." Damn.

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 14d

Seeing him in Chicago on Halloween, looking forward to it!

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 15d

Questions? I feel like they're pretty specific in their username.

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 15d

Second student has told me that I remind them of a particular stand-up comedian. It's the one I share some superficial age/race/demographics with (you can probably guess) but otherwise I look and sound nothing like him.

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 17d

Underrated comment.

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 19d

Bonkers disco-funk version of "Eres para mi" by Julieta Venegas, with orchestra. What a time to be alive! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye3c...

Eres Para Mí (Sinfónico En Vivo)

YouTube video by Julieta Venegas - Topic

www.youtube.com

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 21d

Gearing up for a bunch more concerts in the next week. Hyde Park Jazz Festival this weekend, including Jason Moran doing a solo Ellington set. Back to Urbana for Nidia Gongora at the Krannert Center. Then back to Chicago for Makaya McCraven and Tom Skinner at Thalia Hall.

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 23d

Terrible. We went to high school together 25 years ago. Durba was brilliant then, and from following her career, she has done amazing research and been recognized as an outstanding teacher and mentor since. What is Harvard doing denying tenure to such a productive and engaged scholar?

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 29d

In the attack that targeted Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in 2011, a federal judge and a congressional staffer were killed (along with four other non-political people).

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 29d

That's the thing though. She isn't expressing opinions about you or me. She specifically says white men who espouse hatred or violence.

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · 29d

My aunt, who is probably about 80 years old, has gone all in on the AI-generated Ch@-ie K!rk Facebook memes depicting him as some kind of Christian martyr/saint. I doubt if she had ever heard of him before last week. Yikes on bikes.

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · Sep 4

Everything correct, except Canada's infant mortality isn't 4.6%, but 0.46%.

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John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · Aug 21

I found this "conversation" remarkably vacuous. And is it any wonder given that WashU is perhaps the most elite-serving institution in the US? From a 2017 NYT article, it had the most out-of-whack ratio of students from the top 1% and students from the bottom 60% of incomes. nyti.ms/45my7an

Some Colleges Have More Students From the Top 1 Percent Than the Bottom 60. Find Yours. (Published 2017)

A new study, based on millions of anonymous tax records, shows that colleges are even more economically segregated than previously understood.

nyti.ms

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · Aug 20

My wife and I spent a week in Tallinn last year. We loved it, and thought the guide videos done by this person were amazingly helpful. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wojt...

17 Dishes to Eat in Tallinn, Estonia! Food Guide 2023

YouTube video by Visit Tallinn - Medieval city by the sea!

www.youtube.com

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · Aug 15

When he threw that sandwich, he really put some mustard on it.

John Paul Meyers @johnpaulmeyers.bsky.social · Aug 6

I teach Illmatic and Ready to Die together. I think they work really well, obvious similarities and dissimilarities. Also Tyler's Call Me If You Get Lost and Megan's Good News--challenges to dominant ways masculinity in hip-hop has been expressed.