An exploration of a quarter century of cultural stagnation, examining the commercial and technological forces that have come to dominate contemporary culture—from music and fashion to art, film, TV, and beyond.
Lucid and entertaining —yet despairing ... Less a rant against art’s monetization than it is a despairing look at the enthusiastic embrace of selling out ... [A] grumpy tone ... Marx’s key point about the bland sameness of art in 2025 will resonate with anybody who has a hard time remembering when a new song made them perk up, pay attention and realize they have never heard anything like that before.
A cultural history of the first quarter of the 21st century ... Mr. Marx detects the death of cool and the counterculture ... Mr. Marx is right to feel that our popular arts are going nowhere, but none of his 'ideologies' transformed anything.
