About Rebekah Buchanan

Rebekah Buchanan is a Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. She has written extensively on popular culture in the classroom, youth’s out of school literacy practices, music-based pedagogy, and punk, including her book "Writing a Riot: Riot Grrrl Zines and Feminist Rhetorics" (Peter Lang, 2018). She's a diehard Cubs fan and misses The Winchester Brothers.

Rebekah Buchanan is a Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music.

Rebekah's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Rebekah:

Jennifer Lang, "Places We Left Behind: A Memoir-in-miniature" (Vine Leaves Press, 2023)

March 22, 2024

Places We Left Behind

Jennifer Lang
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Jennifer Lang's Places We Left Behind: A Memoir in Miniature (Vine Leaf Press, 2023) uses short chapterettes and experimental prose to examine her mar…

Stephen Lee Naish, "Music and Sound in the Films of Dennis Hopper" (Routledge, 2024)

March 21, 2024

Music and Sound in the Films of Dennis Hopper

Stephen Lee Naish
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In Music and Sound in the Films of Dennis Hopper (Routledge,2024), Stephen Lee Naish explores how as a director Dennis Hopper used music and sound to …

Herbert Gold and Ari Gold, "Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems" (Rare Bird Books, 2024)

March 20, 2024

Father Verses Sons

Herbert Gold and Ari Gold
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems (Rare Bird, 2024). When the global pandemic forced his ninety-six-year-old father into isolation, filmma…

Brenda Novak, "Tourist Season" (Mira Books, 2024)

March 17, 2024

Tourist Season

Brenda Novak
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In Brenda Novak's latest book, Tourist Season (Mira Books, 2024), Ismay Chalmers' plans to spend a relaxing summer at the beach are derailed when she …

Tyler C. Gore, "My Life of Crime: Essays and Other Entertainments" (Sagging Meniscus Press, 2022)

February 28, 2024

My Life of Crime

Tyler C. Gore
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In his debut essay collection, My Life of Crime (Sagging Meniscus Press, 2022), Tyler C. Gore brings readers on an awkward visit to a nude beach. A bi…

Richard T. Rodríguez, "A Kiss Across the Ocean: Transatlantic Intimacies of British Post-Punk and US Latinidad" (Duke UP, 2022)

February 9, 2024

A Kiss Across the Ocean

Richard T. Rodríguez
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In A Kiss Across the Ocean: Transatlantic Intimacies of British Post-Punk and US Latinidad (Duke UP, 2022), Richard T. Rodríguez examines the relation…

Judith Fathallah, "Killer Fandom: Fan Studies and the Celebrity Serial Killer" (Mediastudies Press, 2023)

January 27, 2024

Killer Fandom

Judith Fathallah
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Judith Fathallah's Killer Fandom: Fan Studies and the Celebrity Serial Killer (Mediastudies.Press, 2023) is the first long-form treatment of serial ki…

Kathleen Collins, "Study in Hysteria" (Vine Leaves Press, 2024)

January 24, 2024

Study in Hysteria

Kathleen Collins
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Kathleen Collins talks about her debut novel Study in Hysteria (Vine Leaves Press, 2024)). In the middle of 1974, Flora is privileged and middle-aged …

Nate Patrin, "The Needle and the Lens: Pop Goes to the Movies from Rock 'n' Roll to Synthwave" (U Minnesota Press, 2023)

December 23, 2023

The Needle and the Lens

Nate Patrin
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In The Needle and the Lens: Pop Goes to the Movies from Rock 'n' Roll to Synthwave (University of Minnesota Press, 2023), Nate Patrin examines how the…

Jarret Keene, "Hammer of the Dogs" (U Nevada Press, 2023)

December 17, 2023

Hammer of the Dogs

Jarret Keene
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Set in the wasteland of post-apocalyptic Las Vegas, Jarret Keene's, Hammer of the Dogs (University of Nevada Press, 2023), is a literary dystopian ad…

H. E. Sawyer, "I Am the Dark Tourist: Messenger of Remembrance" (Headpress, 2023)

December 3, 2023

I Am the Dark Tourist

H. E. Sawyer
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Dark tourism is the practice of visiting sites associated with death and disaster. Participation is increasing, yet much of the machinations behind da…

Douglas Weissman, "Life Between Seconds" (Addison & Highsmith, 2022)

December 2, 2023

Life Between Seconds

Douglas Weissman
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In Life Between Seconds (Addison & Highsmith, 2022), Douglas Weissman explores found family and magic. After his mother dies, Peter Berry collects m…

Greg Beets and Richard Whymark, "A Curious Mix of People: The Underground Scene of '90s Austin" (U Texas Press, 2023)

November 5, 2023

A Curious Mix of People

Greg Beets and Richard Whymark
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Ask anyone outside of Austin what they know about the city and chances are the first thing they'll mention is the music. While the Armadillo Era has b…

Stephen B. Armstrong, "I Want You Around: The Ramones and the Making of Rock 'n' Roll High School" (Backbeat Books, 2023)

October 27, 2023

I Want You Around

Stephen B. Armstrong
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Stephen Armstrong's new book I Want You Around: The Ramones and the Making of Rock-n-Roll High School (Backbeat Books, 2023), provides a detailed prod…

Paul Crenshaw, "Melt with Me: Coming of Age and Other '80s Perils" (Ohio State UP, 2023)

October 12, 2023

Melt with Me

Paul Crenshaw
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Listen:

In his new collection of essays, Melt with Me: Coming of Age and Other '80s Perils (Ohio State UP, 2023), Paul Crenshaw examines the intersection of 1…

Marlena Williams, "Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of the Exorcist" (Mad Creek Books, 2023)

October 6, 2023

Night Mother

Marlena Williams
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Listen:

Never watch The Exorcist, Marlena Williams's mother told her, just as she'd been told by her own mother as a Catholic teen in rural Oregon when the ho…

Chris Molanphy, "Old Town Road" (Duke UP, 2023)

September 15, 2023

Old Town Road

Chris Molanphy
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Listen:

In Old Town Road (Duke University Press, 2023), Chris Molanphy considers Lil Nas X’s debut single as pop artifact, chart phenomenon, and cultural wate…

Anise Vance, "Hush Harbor" (Hanover Square Press, 2023)

September 5, 2023

Hush Harbor

Anise Vance
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Listen:

In his debut novel, Hush Harbor (Hannover Square Press, 2023), Anise Vance takes readers inside a race revolution as a resistance group takes America'…

Andy Cowan, "B-Side: A Flipsided History of Pop" (Headpress, 2023)

August 4, 2023

B-Side

Andy Cowan
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Listen:

In his new book B-Sides: A Flipsided History of Pop (Headpress, 2023), Andy Cowan explores a century of music b-sides. Pop music would be a different …

Rich Deakin, "Grebo!: The Loud & Lousy Story of Gaye Bykers on Acid and Crazyhead" (Headpress, 2021)

July 23, 2023

Grebo!

Rich Deakin
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In Grebo! The Loud & Lousy Story of Gaye Bikers on Acid and Crazyhead (Headpress, 2021) Rich Deakin explores West Midlands 1980s, home to heavy metal.…

Miranda Corcoran, "Witchcraft and Adolescence in American Popular Culture: Teen Witches" (U Wales Press, 2022)

July 19, 2023

Witchcraft and Adolescence in American Popular Culture

Miranda Corcoran
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Listen:

Witchcraft and Adolescence in American Popular Culture: Teen Witches (University of Wales Press, 2022) by Miranda Corcoran is a study in teenage witch…

Marie Arleth Skov, "Punk Art History: Artworks from the European No Future Generation" (Intellect, 2023)

June 30, 2023

Punk Art History

Marie Arleth Skov
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Listen:

In her book, Punk Art History: Artworks from the European No Future Generation (Intellect Books, 2023), Marie Arleth Skov examines the punk movement o…

Heather Augustyn, "Rude Girls: Women in 2 Tone and One Step Beyond" (2023)

May 25, 2023

Rude Girls

Heather Augustyn
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In her latest book, Rude Girls: Women in 2 Tone and One Step Beyond (Sally Brown Publishing, 2023), Heather Augustyn explores the ska revival in the U…

Jolene McIlwain, "Sidle Creek" (Melville House, 2023)

May 13, 2023

Sidle Creek

Jolene McIlwain
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In her debut short story collection, Sidle Creek (Melville House, 2023), Jolene McIlwain skillfully interrogates the myths and stereotypes of the mini…