Lisa M. Stulberg | How to Win a Culture War: LGBTQ+ Social Change Through Pop Culture

Phoenix Books is delighted to welcome writer and professor Lisa M. Stulberg to Phoenix Books Burlington on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:00 PM for a talk focusing on her latest book, How to Win a Culture War: LGBTQ+ Social Change Through Pop Culture. 

Lisa M. Stulberg  is Associate Professor of Sociology of Education at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Developement and an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Sociology at NYU.  Her research focuses on the politics of race and education, affirmative action in higher education, school choice policy and politics, and LGBTQ+ social change. She is the author of Race, Schools, and Hope: African Americans and School Choice after Brown (Teachers College Press, 2008) and LGBTQ Social Movements (Polity, 2018). She is the co-editor (with Eric Rofes) of The Emancipatory Promise of Charter Schools: Toward a Progressive Politics of School Choice (SUNY Press, 2004) and the co-editor (with Sharon Lawner Weinberg) of Diversity in American Higher Education: Toward a More Comprehensive Approach (Routledge, 2011). She is a frequent speaker and editorial writer on schooling, pop culture, and politics. She is also a devoted fan of television, an enthusiastic reader of fiction, and a strong advocate for institutional change in higher education through her work with NYU Steinhardt’s Womxn and Work Task Force, LGBTQ Working Group, and the Council for Action and Advocacy United for Social Justice and Equity (now called CAUSE).  (Lisa also runs very slow half marathons and just ran one in Shelburne, VT last fall!). She currently is working on a book with Anthony S. Chen, of Northwestern University, on the origins of race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions. She received an A.B. from Harvard College, a Masters in Social Science (M.Soc.Sci.) in Cultural Studies from the University of Birmingham (in the U.K.), and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley. 

About the book: The unquestionable runaway television hit of late 2025 was Crave/HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry, a show that tells the love story of two queer ice hockey players. This show—and the wider social context around it—would have been unthinkable without the courageous writing, art, and advocacy of previous generations of LGBTQ+ people and their allies in the entertainment industry. In How to Win a Culture War, sociologist Lisa M. Stulberg argues that, despite substantial barriers, past and current creatives and athletes are changing American culture through their contributions to arts, sports, and politics. 

Stulberg conducted in-depth interviews with 170 culture workers—including television, film, and theater actors and creators; musicians; elite athletes; and activists over the span of 14 years. 

These include stars such as Will & Grace’s Eric McCormack, Orange Is the New Black’s Lea DeLaria, Olympic diver Greg Louganis, and several former NFL players, as well as the TV and movie writers, producers, and directors behind some of pop culture’s boldest moves. These culture makers take six primary steps toward LGBTQ+ social change: they become visible, use available platforms, change their workplaces, overachieve, become normal, and stay queer. In this work, they are opening up the culture, changing hearts and minds, and building community, even amid a fresh round of ruthless political attacks on LGBTQ+ people.  

Providing rich behind-the-scenes insight and cultural material, Stulberg outlines an urgently needed playbook for how to win a culture war. 

DATE: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: Phoenix Books Burlington, 89 Church Street, Burlington, VT 

TICKETS: Tickets are FREE. Phoenix Book shas adopted an RSVP-based system, and you can RSVP through the Seven Days Tickets website. Your RSVP grants you a $3.00 off coupon for How to Win a Culture War: LGBTQ+ Social Change Through Pop Culture. 

BOOKS: Copies of How to Win a Culture War: LGBTQ+ Social Change Through Pop Culture by Lisa M. Stulberg will be available at the event for purchase.