The Material World of Modern Segregation
St. Louis in the Long Era of Ferguson
Uncategorized
Fake Priest, True Art
Still from ‘Thy Kingdom Come,’ produced by Beyond the Trees. Artists can be up to many things, but I have always been drawn to those who bear witness. “Poetry begins with listening,” says poet Sean Singer. In this role the artist is a sort of Quan…
Remembering Director Jules Dassin Who Died on March 31, 2008
Well into my adulthood I thought film director Jules Dassin was a European. It was not unusual for me to think this. My interest in film for many years was merely casual, even now; so, I did not pay close attention to the people who made movies.
The Simulation Hypothesis
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson shocked a lot of his fans when he gave the simulation hypothesis fifty-fifty odds of being true, adding that it was hard to argue that we were not in a simulation.
The Art of Interrupting
To decide whether interrupting is rude, you cannot generalize. You need to know the style (verbal and cognitive) of everyone in the conversation, as well as its tone and its level of difficulty.
The Slap Heard Round the World, or What is the Sound of One Hand Clapping?
The Oscars have figured out how to make this long, boring show interesting: Have the participants assault each other.
Pillow Talk
To be pillowed, the Urban Dictionary tells us, is to be so exhausted you feel giddy, a little drunk.
An Index to the Index
There is much I never knew in Index, "A History of the, whose subhead promises “A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age.” First, I never realized how jokey indexes could be, or how easily they could pop an overblown ego.
Good Cat
Photo by John Griswold Maybe you have had a cat like our Abbey—everything on her terms, selective in her affections, so distant she seemed half-wild, but firmly part of the family. We adopted her and her “brother” at the same time, when our sons were little. We found…
If We Were Refugees
Some of the Ukrainians fled to other parts of their own country. Keep going, I urged them mentally. You are not safe yet. But where is safe?