I like big subjects and immodest titles, having previously examined slavery and the American Revolution, the feminist movement and women and the press. The desire to look at multiple topics comes from a belief that all subjects are impacted by the same forces,in varying degrees and in varyingconstellations. Thus, to write about anything it is necessary to cross intofields beyond one's own--politics, history, sociology, anthropology, popular culture, and so on.In "The Making of American Culture" I suggest that the cultural products that we have come to accept as representing our nation did not simply rise out ofthe ground, like Old Faithful, seemingly prompted by their own force alone. Rather, what came to be accepted and what came to be rejected, or simply forgotten, had most to do with the levers of influence of their time. What gets a place at our cultural table is not based on merit alone--rising to the top like cream--but from the levers of influence that allow certain products to be served up while other worthy entrees stay in the kitchen.