“Writing with Emo Nostalgia: Toward Musical Mattering” with Steve Lamos

Show Notes: In today’s episode we dive into his recent work, “Writing with Emo Nostalgia Toward Musical Mattering” where we explore how nostalgia functions not just as a backward glance, but as a way of imagining alternative futures. We’ll talk about emo beyond its stereotypes—less as individual angst and more as a site of community, affect, and critical engagement. We’ll also unpack concepts like “writing with” music, critical punk orientations, and the unexpected afterlives of cultural production in digital and social spaces.At the center of this discussion is the concept of nostalgia, not as passive longing or sentimental reflection, but as something active—something that shapes how we make meaning in the present and how we move toward the future. We unpack how nostalgia operates psychologically, culturally, and pedagogically, and why it might matter more than we think.We also dig into the idea of “writing with” music—a challenge to traditional academic thinking that separates mind and body, subject and object. Instead, this approach asks what happens when we treat music as something lived, embodied, and co-constructed—where writing becomes less about analysis and more about participation, sensation, and transformation.Along the way, we touch on emo’s shifting aesthetics, questions of gender, race, and inclusion, and the strange ways cultural forms circulate—through scenes, technologies, and generations—often taking on new meanings far beyond their original contexts.This is a conversation about how culture moves, how it lingers, and how it continues to shape us—even when we think we’ve left it behind.If you like what we do here please subscribe and support show on patreon.com/everythingisideology or follow us on Instagram.com/everythingisideologyBiography: Steve Lamos is Associate Professor in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric and the English Department. His work focuses on issues of race and racism within U.S. college-level writing instruction, particularly in the context of “basic writing” programs; on issues of teaching-track labor in contemporary U.S. writing programs; and on novel forms of literate becoming at the intersection of the sonic and the alphabetic.  Lamos’ published work includes the book Interests and Opportunities: Race, Racism, and University Writing Instruction in the Post-Civil Rights Era (Pitt UP, 2011), winner of a 2013 “Special Commendation” from the Conference on College Composition and Communication Outstanding Book Award committee; the essay “Toward Job Security for Teaching-Track Composition Faculty: Recognizing and Rewarding Affective-Labor-in-Space,” which won the 2016 Richard C. Ohmann prize for outstanding essay in College English; and a range of pieces in College Composition and Communication, College English, Journal of Basic Writing, Writing Program Administration, Composition Studies, and several edited collections. Dr. Lamos’ current book project is tentatively titled Resonant Rhythms: Drumming, Writing, and Professing a Literate Life.  It explores intersections between his academic work and his work as the drummer and trumpet player for the indie/emo band American Football. American Football is routinely included among important contemporary emo artists by outlets including Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Pitchfork, NPR and many others.Links: https://online.ucpress.edu/jpms/article/38/1/3/217703/Writing-With-Emo-NostalgiaToward-Musickal