Often hailed as one of the greatest television series of all time, The Sopranos is a product of its time, firmly embedded in the problems of post-industrial, post-ethnic America. In The Sopranos: Born under a Bad Sign, Franco Ricci examines the groundbreaking HBO series and its impact as a cultural phenomenon. Ricci demonstrates an encyclopedic knowledge of the series, the genre, and their social context in his analysis of the show’s complex themes and characters. He explores The Sopranos’ deep engagement with problems of race, class, gender, and identity, specifically in its portrayal of the Italian-American experience, consumer and media-driven society, and contemporary psychosocial issues. The series’ protagonist, Mafia boss and patriarch Tony Soprano, in many ways embodies the anxieties of our age. Focusing on Tony’s internal struggles and interactions with his therapist, family, and associates, Ricci traces this archetypal character’s existential conflicts and sheds light on his search for self, connection, and meaning. Comprehensive in scope and sophisticated in approach, The Sopranos: Born under a Bad Sign is richly rewarding reading for anyone with an interest in the popular television drama, both as entertainment and social commentary.

Will truth out? Set over one evening, Rathmines Road by Deirdre Kinahan is a play that rages in a tiny room. Fraught, funny and ferocious, it testifies to the pain of carrying the memory of sexual assault throughout a lifetime. A play about secret trauma and public revelation, Rathmines Road bristles with tension and interrogates catharsis to ask: when and how do we take responsibility? The play premiered at the Abbey Theatre as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival 2018, previewing at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght, in a co-production between Fishamble and the Abbey Theatre.

Critical Responses About the Black Family in Toni Morrison's God Help the Child explores the integral role of what Kobi Kambon has called the “conscious African family” in developing commercial success stories such as those of Morrison’s protagonist, Bride. Initially, Bride’s accomplishments are an extension of a superficial “cult of celebrity” which inhabits and undermines the development of meaningful interpersonal relationships until a significant literal and metaphorical journey helps her redefine success by facilitating the building of community and family.

Famous pop stars and rappers from Jay-Z and Rick Ross to Rihanna and Christina Aguilera are believed by many to be a part of the infamous Illuminati secret society. These stars allegedly use Illuminati and satanic symbolism in their music videos and on their clothes that goes unnoticed by those not “in the know.” Since these stars appear in our livings rooms on family friendly mainstream shows like Good Morning America, Ellen, and dozens of others—and are loved by virtually all the kids—they couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the infamous Illuminati or anything “satanic,” could they? Some famous musicians have even publicly denounced the Illuminati in interviews or songs. Illuminati in the Music Industry takes a close look at some of today’s hottest stars and decodes the secret symbols, song lyrics, and separates the facts from the fiction in this fascinating topic. You may never see your favorite musicians the same way ever again. Includes 50 photographs. Discover why so many artists are promoting the Illuminati as the secret to success. Why an aspiring rapper in Virginia shot his friend as an “Illuminati sacrifice” hoping it would help him become rich and famous. How and why the founder of BET Black Entertainment Television became the first African American billionaire. Why popular female pop stars like Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Kesha and others are promoting Satanism as cool, something that was once only seen in heavy metal and rock and roll bands. Some musicians like Korn’s singer Jonathan Davis, rapper MC Hammer, Megadeth’s frontman Dave Mustaine, and others have all denounced the Illuminati and artists promoting them. Les Claypool, singer of Primus wrote a song about the Bohemian Grove. Muse singer Matt Bellamy recants his belief that 9/11 was an inside job after getting a taste of mainstream success with his album, The Resistance. Bono said he attended an Illuminati meeting with other celebrities. Was he joking or serious? Why rap and hip hop is filled with Illuminati puppets and wannabes more than other genres of music. Includes detailed profiles on dozens of artists who are suspected of being affiliated with the Illuminati and highlights the handful of musicians who have denounced the secret society and their puppets. Learn about media effects, the power of celebrity, what the externalization of the hierarchy means and how you can break free from the mental enslavement of mainstream media and music. By the author of The Illuminati: Facts & Fiction

This volume provides an overview of communication study, offering theoretical coverage of the broad scope of communication study as well as integrating theory with research. To explicate the integration process, the chapter contributors -- experts in their respective areas -- offer samples in the form of hypothetical studies, published studies, or unpublished research, showing how theory and research are integrated in their particular fields. The book will appeal to graduate students and faculty members who want a thorough overview of not only the field, but also sample research stemming from its various component parts.

Is it ever possible for people to act freely and intentionally against their better judgement? Is it ever possible to act in opposition to one's strongest desire? If either of these questions are answered in the negative, the common-sense distinctions between recklessness, weakness of willand compulsion collapse. This would threaten our ordinary notion of self-control and undermine our practice of holding each other responsible for moral failure. So a clear and plausible account of how weakness of will and self-control are possible is of great practical significance.Taking the problem of weakness of will as her starting point, Jeanette Kennett builds an admirably comprehensive and integrated account of moral agency which gives a central place to the capacity for self-control. Her account of the exercise and limits of self-control vindicates the common-sensedistinction between weakness of will and compulsion and so underwrites our ordinary allocations of moral responsibility. She addresses with clarity and insight a range of important topics in moral psychology, such as the nature of valuing and desiring, conceptions of virtue, moral conflict, andthe varieties of recklessness (here characterised as culpable bad judgement) - and does so in terms which make their relations to each other and to the challenges of real life obvious. Agency and Responsibility concludes by testing the accounts developed of self-control, moral failure, and moralresponsibility against the hard cases provided by acts of extreme evil.