In an important way, Bowie isn’t really dead. I’ve been listening to David Bowie’s music for more than 40 years, I didn’t think of the arc of his work when I heard […]
40 years of Bowie (and my life)
Patrick Vecchio
No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus
Your little friends are right: There is no Santa Claus. Why someone who is 8 years old still believes in this claptrap is something you should take up with your pediatric psychiatrist. […]
Is this what our culture has come to?
Miley Cyrus is a Girl Scout compared to Wendy O. Williams, whose performances were getting her arrested for lewd conduct 30 years ago. Three faculty colleagues and I spoke informally last week […]
If government is broken beyond repair, why are you running?
The Republican presidential candidates’ debate last night was the most cynical two hours of campaigning I’ve ever heard—and I’m not referring to policies or proposals raised by any of the candidates. I’m […]
The National’s enigmatic darkness: Saturday Video Roundup
I was listening Sunday night to The National’s most recent album, Trouble Will Find Me. As I lay there with headphones on and the first song playing, I thought, “I don’t know […]
The Perseids: bullet the black sky
One sign of the change of seasons around here is morning fog. It started this month, and August fog reminds me of a high school buddy, Bob. Bob and I, and often […]
Bob Marley, Haile Selaisse and one cup of coffee*
Scanning the supermarket shelves for coffee, I spotted this: The box says the coffee is Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.
The NFL is decadent and depraved
Junior Seau case shows why we should turn the game off and do something else. Anything else. Here’s an expert of the speech Junior Seau’s daughter said she would have given Sunday […]
Flying through Coleridge
Last night I started reading the second volume of Richard Holmes’s superb biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who probably is best known for his poems “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and […]
New analysis reveals major flaws in Achilles myth
Today’s edition of the Greek newspaper Pireaus Chronographos breaks a major story that should shock anyone who has ever used the phrase “Achilles heel.” Reprinted by permission. _____ A Scottish researcher’s stunning […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 