advocated that American intellectuals not be ashamed of jazz, but reaffirm and support it instead.

This horrified the critics of The Dial, the magazine for which Seldes was managing editor. They derided him as pretentious and vulgar on many occasions. In response, Seldes was especially critical of American expatriates and critics who favored European art media and scorned American popular culture. He called them the "debunkers" and argued that European culture was not worthy of veneration. It had "foisted on us [America] feeble ideas,