JOSEPH VOGEL is an Assistant Professor at Merrimack College. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book, Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson (Sterling, 2011) and two forthcoming books: James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era (University of Illinois Press) and Prince: The Crossover Revolution (Bloomsbury Academic). His work has appeared in the James Baldwin Review, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, The Journal of Popular Culture, and the Journal of Popular Music Studies. He has also written for The Atlantic, Slate, The Huffington Post, and PopMatters. He holds a PhD from the University of Rochester.