As any sentient comedy fan knows by now, Tracy Morgan recently said some fucked-up shit in a performance.  An audience member called him on this fucked-up shit, and kerfuffle ensued.  Tracy Morgan issued an apology that, as far as celebrity apologies go, was refreshingly direct and unambiguous.  And then Louis C.K. got interviewed about itRead moreRead more

Hey! Want to get all riled up with some data-driven anti-corporate sentiment?? Yeah, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t… for a fine overview of the American obsession with productivity (and the fact that all of its financial gains accrue to the top), read this bit of journalism. And then learn about how corporations areRead moreRead more

The scandal over Dominique Strauss-Kahn has made headlines internationally and been big news even in the global South.  There’s been a lot of back-patting about American egalitarianism, that we might prosecute those in power as easily as those out of it – which may be valid enough in this case, but as a systemic observation,Read moreRead more

The New York Review of Books has the first of an incisive two-part look at antidepressants and the epidemic of mental illness in America, in which they review three books from the growing body of contrarian literature.  I’m always intrigued when normally skeptical, scientifically-minded folks blindly accept conventional medical wisdom: unlike, say, theoretical physics, medicineRead moreRead more

I hate to be someone who decries contemporary cultural production as somehow less than in the past; maybe it’s just the museums I’ve been visiting here in the Southern Hemisphere, filled with art that’s less than great.  But today, as I wandered into a joint in Buenos Aires, I was struck with the same unimpressivenessRead moreRead more

I would be remiss not to offer some thoughts on the Big Story Of The Day, but two people have already said everything that can be said, and more eloquently: 1.  Radley Balko reflects on the cost of killing one man; and 2.  Kai Wright discusses the warped logic that killing one man is aRead moreRead more

A couple nights ago I was in Valparaiso, couch-surfing with some lovely folks who happened to have cable television – ‘cable’ being a kind of international code for ‘American.’  I channel-surfed and happily happened upon a VH1 showing of one of my favorite comedies, ‘Ghostbusters’.  I hadn’t seen it in a while (five years?) butRead moreRead more

I adored this recent post from The Urbanophile, about the particular challenges – and pitfalls – of so-called ‘boomerang migration’, wherein a promising young mind moves away from their hometown to explore the wider world, and then returns in order to Make A Difference.  It was particularly affecting as someone who struggled, for several yearsRead moreRead more

I’ve been thinking recently of reinvention. Prior to my departure to South America, I struggled with a post – never published – about my reasons for making this trip; it had much to do with the realization of an ideal self, most aspects of which I will probably never come to resemble (e.g., being prettier,Read moreRead more

One of the most powerful tools in a sketch comedy writer’s arsenal is a simple one: the reversal.  A character, introduced in one context, elides preconceptions and reveals herself to be something else altogether, to hold an opinion or be of a background that the audience never expected.  It’s pretty simple, but surprisingly satisfying, narrativeRead moreRead more