Alyssa Rosenberg, reflecting on Salman Rushdie, offers some choice words about art & politics:   …quality conversations and political ones aren’t separate from each other. Falling into dreadful politics can also mean falling into cliche without transcending it. Ignoring the details and realities of life in your search for “what is the case, what isRead moreRead more

Well, folks, it’s the end of an era.   For the past few years I have celebrated the mid-November birthday of my writing partner and hetero life partner, Kelly – co-creator of both Hobo Pancakes and Femikaze – with a drunken, opening-weekend viewing of the newest “Twilight” film.  It’s been good times; the movies areRead moreRead more

First, some background reading on voting in America: how we came to have a secret ballot and why, despite the protestations of those who claim voting is an essentially useless act, it actually matters a lot.   Yesterday, before any election returns began to roll in, Alyssa Rosenberg wrote this, discussing the characterization of theRead moreRead more

Today, in order to celebrate my bank balance finally climbing above the one-dollar mark*, I sat around and caught up on a bunch of television.  And it was (mostly) awesome.   I have a bit of space to fill in my usual TV routine since I kicked “Up All Night” from the roster.  The showRead moreRead more

I’ve said some harsh things about Lena Dunham a few times before, and you’re probably all sick of it by now.  But I’m gonna keep doing it, at least for this post.   Alyssa Rosenberg piqued this particular point of interest, quoting from an NPR interview Dunham did in the spring wherein she defended theRead moreRead more

This article is both an interesting glimpse into Hawaiian (and therefore, American imperialist) history, and also an excellent demonstration of the idea that anything can be politically significant; even something as seemingly neutral as surfing can be executed in a fashion that promotes understanding and equality, or can just be another platform of the West’sRead moreRead more

This might be my favorite thing ever written about evolutionary biology.  Nothing is more deserving of high-minded snark than high-minded attempts at fake science, truly.

Things are nutty at the moment, but lengthier posts will resume soon.   In the meantime, I thought this was fascinating: a post about the (relatively recent) belief amongst psychologists that maternal love was a damaging force to even (especially) the very youngest of children.  To today’s enlightened (or “enlightened”) minds it seems absurd toRead moreRead more

Law enforcement: a land of thin accountability.   “Failing” schools: the narrow view of a single metric.   We are not post-racist; we are just a more sophisticated form of it.

Two disparate pieces caught my eye recently: the first, an account of voters without photo ID combating new laws in Pennsylvania; the second, an effort to fact-check New York Times columnist David Brooks.   Where do these two intersect?  Both Brooks’s pop sociology and the arduous new voter ID laws rely on invented narratives, inRead moreRead more