Ross Benes

1 month ago | mentalfloss.com | Ross Benes

From ‘Doom’ to ‘Pokémon,’ the ‘90s were a consequential decade for video game fans. During the 1990s, video games gained popularity and became a cornerstone of pop culture. While writing my new book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times, these were the most interesting facts that I came across. Congress freaked out about a pretty mild game called Night Trap. Grand Theft Auto’s publicist planted stories about how bad the game was for kids.

1 month ago | denvergazette.com | Ross Benes

A tag team consisting of a reality TV star and the former CEO of the world’s largest professional wrestling organization wants to dismantle the Education Department. This unlikely duo’s rise to power began a quarter century ago, when a sea of shlock engulfed America, propelling Linda and Vince McMahon to become billionaires and Donald Trump to announce his first presidential run. Some critics regard 1999 as the greatest year in cinema history and the birthdate of prestige TV.

1 month ago | poynter.org | Ross Benes

The following article is adapted from “1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times.” Prior to a 1995 taping, “The Jenny Jones Show” put out a call for guests, asking viewers to call its 1-800 number “if you have a secret crush you would like to reveal to a same-sex friend.” Watching the show in his trailer home 50 miles northwest of Detroit, Scott Amedure and his friend Donna Riley called in to report Amedure’s crush on a man they both knew.

2 months ago | aei.org | Jonah Goldberg |Ross Benes

Jonah Goldberg is joined by author and research analyst Ross Benes to discuss his new book, 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. Jonah and Ross discuss beanie babies as a precursor to crypto, the political triumph of the WWE, and the age of media deregulation. Plus: the phenomenology of moral panics and the bourgeois-ification of transgressive culture. Show Notes:—1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times

2 months ago | beltmag.com | Ross Benes

By Ross Benes The following is an excerpt from 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times by Ross Benes and released by the University Press of Kansas. Insane Clown Posse’s brilliance is best exemplified during an August 1999 Howard Stern segment. Live on air, the clowns and Sharon Osbourne argue about ICP dismissing the Osbourne-managed band Coal Chamber from its tour. Osbourne and Coal Chamber were suing ICP for breaching their contract.