When was the first time "school lunch" was ridiculed in a movie (most likely a teen flick) or a TV show? We're currently producing a documentary on school lunch, and we know that there was a cultural shift in how school lunch was perceived (great social achievement to grotesque laughingstock). If you can help us identify the first instance of this shift in popular culture, we'll give you a film credit.
posted by jacknose on Nov 18, 2009 - 17 answers

When, exactly, did Halloween become so frickin' popular? [more inside]
posted by Diablevert on Oct 13, 2009 - 26 answers

Why was the name Nicholas suddenly so popular after 1977 in the US? [more inside]
posted by chiababe on Jun 6, 2009 - 8 answers

What Is That Song They Always Use...? [more inside]
posted by jfrancis on Jun 3, 2009 - 127 answers

I like to gripe about Top 40 radio, but I don't have much of a technical music vocabulary. Are there names for the vocal styles of Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, et al.? [more inside]
posted by Beardman on Mar 9, 2009 - 20 answers

Nonfiction accessible to the layman? [more inside]
posted by btkuhn on Dec 16, 2008 - 19 answers

I'm looking for blogs where someone did a personal project online for a year and/or it got some notoriety. [more inside]
posted by jenfullmoon on Nov 19, 2008 - 22 answers

What are the best examples of human/computer interaction in tv and movies (please mention specific scenes and episodes if you can). ex: HAL in 2001, The touch screen in Minority Report, Scotty talking to the mouse in Star Trek IV -lol, etc...
posted by libraryman on Jul 13, 2008 - 33 answers

What are some fashion trends that are popular everywhere else but North America? [more inside]
posted by 913 on Mar 25, 2008 - 58 answers

what's so great about lead and why are Chinese companies using so much of it? [more inside]
posted by flowerofhighrank on Nov 29, 2007 - 15 answers

Research Filter: How and when did Apple become so popular? [more inside]
posted by InsanePenguin on Nov 5, 2007 - 32 answers

What is the origin of the phrase "Local Boy Makes Good"? I Googled it and see that it was a Mervyn LeRoy movie from 1931, so it's at least that old.
posted by abbyladybug on Sep 11, 2007 - 4 answers

What makes disco disco? In particular, what makes it different from funk, r & b or soul? Is it the arrangement? Is it the beat? Is it the horns? Details please.
posted by wittgenstein on Sep 5, 2007 - 12 answers

I was recently introduced to two songs featuring the harpsichord, and I really liked them a lot. And it got me thinking: is there a lot of this kind of music out there? They're not classical (I think), but they're definitely enjoyable. [more inside]
posted by cybertaur1 on Mar 6, 2007 - 22 answers

Why do people (myself included) feel the need to identify oneself with something cultural (i.e., book, movie, etc)-- as having been interested in it PRIOR to another person? What, if any, is the evolutionary purpose for this instinct? [more inside]
posted by mireille on Nov 11, 2006 - 27 answers

We are sending a capsule into deep space to carry a sample of America as it was in the 60's and 70's. We can include 12 CDs (or albums transferred to CD) to reflect popular music of the time (1960 through 1979.) What 12 CDs best represent what was happening then?
posted by leafwoman on Jul 28, 2006 - 26 answers

I know many people who don't live in houses but in apartments - empty nesters, young couples with or without children. However, if you were to base your idea of Americans' residences solely on television shows, it would seem that absolutely everybody lives in a house. [more inside]
posted by gregb1007 on Mar 21, 2006 - 39 answers

I am trying to make a list of big new ideas. [more inside]
posted by Hildago on Feb 15, 2006 - 15 answers

I enjoy early American popular music (say up until the late 1920s), and especially period recordings of the same. I have about a dozen CDs compiling this music, and have downloaded other songs from alt.binaries.sounds.*. I'm looking for other sources of free mp3s of early American popular music. (Don't fret about copyright issues: the stuff I'm looking for is old enough that it's in the public domain.) I'd also love recommendations for modern(ish) recordings of these old songs. I know Garrison Keillor performs some from time-to-time (and just did on his last broadcast, for example), and I know of Joan Morris/William Bolcome and Jody Dall'Armi.
posted by jdroth on Oct 2, 2005 - 19 answers

The Gates could be "the most photographed thing ever." Could be! To date, what is the most photographed thing ever? A landmark like the Taj Mahal or the Grand Canyon? A sporting event? New Year's Eve in Times Square? Something totally different?
posted by djacobs on Feb 11, 2005 - 33 answers

Is it just a matter of time until spammers usurp the del.icio.us popular page? Or does social bookmarking by nature provide some kind of defense? [more inside]
posted by deshead on Jan 8, 2005 - 6 answers

What are some good pop culture blogs? I'm looking for some good writers who like to riff on anything and everything: music, movies, books, random pop-sociology articles, etc.; people who aren't breathlessly following the latest reality show but also who aren't trying to show off their fanboy Pitchfork-esque indie creds. The less politics, the better. Bonus points for people who do more original stuff and less meme-o'-the-day crap and for people with a wicked sense of humor.
posted by alidarbac on Nov 18, 2004 - 20 answers