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Prompted by our Red issue, I bring you a sampling of fiery, scarlet songs for your listening pleasure.

Track listing after the jump!

A couple of commenters have raised questions about progressiveness in country music. Today, I want to suggest that there are progressive voices, at least in Americana, roots, and alt country music, but those voices are limited. They are almost always white, and usually populist and male. There are a few women in country who arguably identify as feminists. None of these...

“When I was a teenager, like 14, I took off from an abusive foster care situation (one of many) and I had to ‘make it’ on my own. I had no ID, and no money. I danced at Billy’s Topless and a place called The Baby Doll Lounge, until I was legal age to be on my own and to get a proper job. I never got drunk at work, I never did drugs, or slept with or dated clients. The older women looked...

You know how the past decade or so has brought us countless films with a male protagonist who is juvenile and irredeemable, and it’s kind of a problem? Wouldn’t it be so equally problematic edgy and trendy and subversive if filmmakers started casting WOMEN in those roles instead of men?! Well, it didn’t work in Bad Teacher, so Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody are giving...