Cold War Country: How Nashville’s Music Row and the Pentagon Created the So

Dr. Joseph Thompson (Miss. State Univ) will present a lecture based on his book Cold War Country: How Nashville’s Music Row and the Pentagon Created the Sound of American Patriotism, which examines the institutional ties between the U.S. military and the country music industry during the Cold War, highlighting how this partnership helped construct a particular image of American patriotism through sound and performance. His book was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in history and selected by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best books of 2024.