Punk & Pedagogy
Stories
Rabbit holes, banned book stories, and dispatches from the shelf — the writing behind the catalog.
Joe Strummer Wrote Footnotes in Three-Minute Songs
Strummer's songs sent fans to Orwell and Lorca. Three books to read next: two by writers he pointed to, one he'd have handed you.
Oct 1, 2026
1984 Is Banned for Opposite Reasons. That's the Point.
The Soviets banned 1984 as anti-communist. A Florida county challenged it as pro-communist. Every censor reads it as a book about somebody else.
Oct 1, 2026
When a School District Pulls The Bluest Eye, It Proves Morrison's Point
Cobb County, Georgia pulled The Bluest Eye from its middle and high school libraries on Sept. 17 and says that is not a ban. The novel is about a town that looked away from a child.
Sep 30, 2026
"Think of the Children" Has Never Once Included the Children
Book bans are sold as protecting kids. The kid is the one person nobody asks. The school board fight is really about who gets to decide what a child is allowed to know.
Sep 30, 2026