{"id":6099,"date":"2025-03-07T21:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T21:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/?p=6099"},"modified":"2025-03-07T21:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T21:27:08","slug":"notes-from-underground-zines-and-the-politics-of-alternative-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/notes-from-underground-zines-and-the-politics-of-alternative-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Can zines save the world? Maybe, says Stephen Duncombe in the updated&nbsp;fourth edition of his&nbsp;groundbreaking study of the zine publishing underground, but only if we act on what we learn from&nbsp;them. Duncombe&#8217;s&nbsp;lovingly&nbsp;critical and thought-provoking book explores the history, theory, and usefulness of zines, from their origin in the early twentieth century sci fi fandom, their spread through 1960s counterculture, and their rise through the 1990s punk and riot grrrl communities. Throughout,&nbsp;zines have critiqued&nbsp;capitalism, broken&nbsp;from mainstream culture, and provided outlets for marginalized people to express themselves and communicate with each other.&nbsp;In an era of book bans and culture wars, we need zines now&nbsp;more than ever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Featuring a foreword by Emma Alice Johnson, midwestern farmer-zinester and&nbsp;author of such gems as&nbsp;<em>Alternatives to Beekeeping&nbsp;<\/em>and&nbsp;<em>Midnight Queens: 80s Horror Movies Written and Directed by Women<\/em>, the fourth&nbsp;edition of&nbsp;<em>Notes from&nbsp;Underground<\/em> includes&nbsp;comics,&nbsp;quotes, and excerpts from around the zine scene, inviting us into a vibrant, contemporary zine culture that pairs powerful art with urgent action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can zines save the world? Maybe, says Stephen Duncombe in the updated&nbsp;fourth edition of his&nbsp;groundbreaking study of the zine publishing underground, but only if we act on what we learn from&nbsp;them. Duncombe&#8217;s&nbsp;lovingly&nbsp;critical and thought-provoking book explores the history, theory, and usefulness of zines, from their origin in the early twentieth century sci fi fandom, their&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/notes-from-underground-zines-and-the-politics-of-alternative-culture\/\" title=\"Read Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[261],"class_list":["post-6099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-out-now","tag-out-now"],"my_excerpt":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Can zines save the world? Maybe, says Stephen Duncombe in the updated&nbsp;fourth edition of his&nbsp;groundbreaking study of the zine publishing underground, but only if we act on what we learn from&nbsp;them. Duncombe's&nbsp;lovingly&nbsp;critical and thought-provoking book explores the history, theory, and usefulness of zines, from their origin in the early twentieth century sci fi fandom, their spread through 1960s counterculture, and their rise through the 1990s punk and riot grrrl communities. Throughout,&nbsp;zines have critiqued&nbsp;capitalism, broken&nbsp;from mainstream culture, and provided outlets for marginalized people to express themselves and communicate with each other.&nbsp;In an era of book bans and culture wars, we need zines now&nbsp;more than ever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Featuring a foreword by Emma Alice Johnson, midwestern farmer-zinester and&nbsp;author of such gems as&nbsp;<em>Alternatives to Beekeeping&nbsp;<\/em>and&nbsp;<em>Midnight Queens: 80s Horror Movies Written and Directed by Women<\/em>, the fourth&nbsp;edition of&nbsp;<em>Notes from&nbsp;Underground<\/em> includes&nbsp;comics,&nbsp;quotes, and excerpts from around the zine scene, inviting us into a vibrant, contemporary zine culture that pairs powerful art with urgent action.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","my_excerpt_rendered":"\n<p>Can zines save the world? Maybe, says Stephen Duncombe in the updated&nbsp;fourth edition of his&nbsp;groundbreaking study of the zine publishing underground, but only if we act on what we learn from&nbsp;them. Duncombe&#8217;s&nbsp;lovingly&nbsp;critical and thought-provoking book explores the history, theory, and usefulness of zines, from their origin in the early twentieth century sci fi fandom, their spread through 1960s counterculture, and their rise through the 1990s punk and riot grrrl communities. Throughout,&nbsp;zines have critiqued&nbsp;capitalism, broken&nbsp;from mainstream culture, and provided outlets for marginalized people to express themselves and communicate with each other.&nbsp;In an era of book bans and culture wars, we need zines now&nbsp;more than ever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Featuring a foreword by Emma Alice Johnson, midwestern farmer-zinester and&nbsp;author of such gems as&nbsp;<em>Alternatives to Beekeeping&nbsp;<\/em>and&nbsp;<em>Midnight Queens: 80s Horror Movies Written and Directed by Women<\/em>, the fourth&nbsp;edition of&nbsp;<em>Notes from&nbsp;Underground<\/em> includes&nbsp;comics,&nbsp;quotes, and excerpts from around the zine scene, inviting us into a vibrant, contemporary zine culture that pairs powerful art with urgent action.<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6100,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6099\/revisions\/6100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}