Press

Five Scholars Honored with USC Dornsife Communicator of the Year Awards
USC Dornsife News, February 6, 2024

‘Normporn TV Appeals to Viewers’ ‘Universal Desires for Peace’
KCRW’s Press Play with Madeleine Brand, January 23, 2024

Interview: What is Normporn, and Why Do We Love It?
From the Square, November 10, 2023

Review: “Normporn” — Yearning for the Impossible Middle
The Arts Fuse, November 7, 2023

Review of Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us
Publishers Weekly, November 7, 2023

November’s Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Literature
Lambda Literary Review, November 2023

The Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books for Fall 2023
Electric Literature, August 31, 2023

10 Best Contemporary Books that Blend Music & Personal Narrative (includes Why Karen Carpenter Matters)
Pop Matters, July 18, 2023

How Kylie Minogue’s Pride Anthem Padam Padam Tapped into Queer Joy…
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), June 17, 2023

Queer: The word’s meaning has evolved since the 19th century
KCRW, Greater L.A., June 13, 2023

A Pivotal year for Pride Puts LGBTQ+ Community in the Spotlight — and the Crosshairs
Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2023

Taking a Look at the History of Pride Month
KCBS News, May 31, 2023

USC Pride Celebrations Come as LGBTQ+ Community is Targeted Across the Country
USC News, May 30, 2023

Dodgers are in a Mess Over Charity Group and Pride Night
KCRW Press Play with Madeleine Brand, May 23, 2023

LGBTQ+ Jeopardy! Champions Have All the Answers During USC Visit
USC News, March 31, 2023

Biden administration reforms public service student loan forgiveness program
CBS News, Interviewed by Tony Dokoupil and Tanya Rivero, June 2022

Karen Tongson & Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh of Waiting to X-Hale Curate Humanities Program for LA PHIL’s Gen-X Fest
Walt Disney Concert Hall Press Release, September 30, 2021

USC Dornsife professor launches a podcast series mixing pop culture with research
USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, March 16, 2021

The Dyke Kitchen: Defining Taste with Karen Tongson
Autostraddle, December 19, 2020

The Queer Haircuts of Quarantine (interview with Karen about her Instagram project, “Butch Hair Quarantine”)
Vice, June 23, 2020

Why Karen Carpenter Matters among Finalists for the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards, Announced Exclusively on OprahMag.com
Oprah Magazine, March 10, 2020

Why Karen Carpenter Matters is a Lambda Literary Finalist for LGBTQ Nonfiction in 2020
Lambda Literary, March 10, 2020

USC Promotes 1st Woman of Color to Full Professor in English Dept.
Spectrum 1 News (TV Broadcast), February 25, 2020

Breaking Barriers (cover story)
Daily Trojan, January 30, 2020

Why Karen Carpenter Matters on The Believer Book Awards Editors’ Longlist for Non-Fiction
The Believer, January 15, 2020

Filipina American becomes First Woman of Color Promoted to Full Professor at USC English Department
Asian Journal, January 11, 2020

Karen Tongson Wins the 2019 Jeanne Córdova Award for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction
Lambda Literary, 2019

Why Karen Carpenter Matters among “The Best Music Books of 2019”
Pitchfork, December 19, 2019

NPR’s Ken Tucker names Why Karen Carpenter Matters among his favorite music books by women in 2019

Why Chuck Berry, The Carpenters, and William S. Burroughs Matter
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 3, 2019

They’re Playing My Song - Andrea Lawlor and Karen Tongson on music's doorway to self-discovery
Austin Chronicle, October 28, 2019

We Went to Texas Book Festival and Made You This Reading List
Austin 360 by Austin-American Statesman, October 28, 2019

10 Great Music Books for Hopscotch Hangovers and IBMA Attendees
WRAL.com, September 19, 2019

Writer Karen Tongson on ‘Gender Trouble’ and Karen Carpenter
The Advocate, July 10, 2019

Close to Her: Karen Tongson revisits the Soft Rock Icon - Megan Milks reviews Why Karen Carpenter Matters
4 Columns, May 24, 2019

7 Non-Fiction Books About Filipinx America by Pinoy Writers
Electric Literature - A survey of significant Filipino-American works by novelist Elaine Castillo (America is Not the Heart), April 15, 2019

LARB Radio Hour: A Tale of Two Karens
Los Angeles Review of Books, April 12, 2019

Why is Karen Carpenter’s Music Still So Popular with Diverse Communities? (Interview w/ Karen Tongson)
Dornsife Magazine, April 4, 2019

Michelle Tea Gets the Tea From…Karen Tongson
INTO, September 2018

Traveling Home
Dornsife Magazine - discussing immigration and the American experience w/ KT and other USC professors, July 2018

2017 People Issue Profile
L.A. Weekly, May 2017

10 Angelenos Who Make L.A. a Better Place
L.A. Weekly, May 2017

100 Women We Love
GO Magazine, April 2017

Let’s Dig In
Dornsife Magazine feature on KT’s USC Maymester course giving “students a taste of the ways politics, culture and gender are sprinkled into everyday meals,” November 2014

Foodstagram
Dornsife Magazine - on how “foodstagramming” was integrated into KT’s USC Maymester course on gender and food politics, November 2014
 

Recent Press Commentary  

NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour
Karen Tongson joins Aisha Harris to discuss the new Netflix series The Chair
August 24, 2021

Why Rainbow Capitalism Can Be Harmful to LGBT Rights
Sara Moniuszko, USA Today
June 4, 2021

The Song that Sold America to a Generation of Immigrants
Jason Jeong, The Atlantic
May 4, 2021

"Jonathan, Are You Crazy?”: The Making and Meaning of The Silence of the Lambs
Tracy Moore, Vanity Fair
February 16, 2021

Enough With The Lesbian Period Dramas
Lauren Strapagiel, BuzzFeed News
November 20, 2020

The Rise of Butch Leading Ladies on TV
Lisa Selin Davis, Shondaland.com
May 28, 2020

Here’s What 10 Queer and Trans Creatives Predict for the Next Decade of LGBTQ2 Representation
Tre’vell Anderson, Xtra
February 4, 2020

Yesterday Once More: The Feel-Good Sadness of a Carpenters’ Fan Convention
RJ Smith, The Los Angeles Times
May 16, 2019

Is Lizzo Music’s Next Major Female Icon?
Lena Felton, The Lily (Washington Post)
April 22, 2019

The Real Story of the YMCA that Inspired the Village People’s Gay Anthem
Abbey White, Gothamist
December 20, 2018

What Hollywood can gain by placing the 'queer gaze' in the spotlight
Tre’vell Anderson, Los Angeles Times
March 16, 2018

When you treat politics as entertainment, you get Sean Spicer at the Emmys
Christpher Ingraham, Washington Post
September 18, 2017

The Babadook as an LGBT icon makes sense. No, really. 
Jessica Roy, Los Angeles Times
June 9, 2017

What's it Like Inside a Queer Feminist Seder?
Javier Cabral, Munchies at Vice.com
April 25, 2016