On Ben Rhodes and the Dangerous Fecklessness of Modern Democrats

"During my decade as a speechwriter for Barack Obama, he used to say that our entire job was to tell a really good story about America." - Ben Rhodes, Former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting for Barack Obama What is America and who gets to define it? Ben Rhodes' recent piece…Read more On Ben Rhodes and the Dangerous Fecklessness of Modern Democrats

Burnham’s Long Defeat: On “All Eyes on Me,” Tolkien and the Prospect of Eucastrophe

"Together through the ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.”- Lady Galadriel to Frodo Baggins, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Late in Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, Lady Galadriel speaks to the novel’s protagonist, Frodo Baggins, about how she has fought the “long defeat” for literal…Read more Burnham’s Long Defeat: On “All Eyes on Me,” Tolkien and the Prospect of Eucastrophe

On Freaky and the Horrifying Connection Between Meat and Mind

Freaky, the enormously entertaining 2020 body-switch horror-comedy, is a movie that straddles several different genres. Yet more than anything it’s a coming-of-age story. While hardly a novel subject, the film also stages a discourse on bodies, on human meat, which allows for a resonant and interesting take on its tried-and-true story. Freaky proposes that bodies are central…Read more On Freaky and the Horrifying Connection Between Meat and Mind

TV Review: The Alienist: Angel of Darkness (2020)

Recently, I had the treat of watching and reviewing the second season of The Alienist, subtitled as Angel of Darkness. While not a towering entry into the genre of serial killer entertainment, it is an effective and, at times, surprisingly touching character piece. It is also beautifully acted and contains production values of a caliber…Read more TV Review: The Alienist: Angel of Darkness (2020)

A Woman In Orhan

She could hardly remember a time when she could be reasonably described as happy. Occupying a luxurious apartment in a quaint river town, the material circumstances of her life couldn’t be better. The raw, nearly unimaginable suffering occurring just outside her doors hardly touched someone like her, or so you might be tempted to believe.…Read more A Woman In Orhan

“Colossal We Come These Renegades in the Ring”: On the Triumph of Male Fragility in The Greatest Showman and Eurovision Song Contest

We can all agree that the last few years in Donald Trump's America have felt like an eternity - filled with a dizzying array of national outrages and humiliations. But if there has been one theme that has consistently defined this period it is raw male fragility, particularly white male fragility. Being a part of…Read more “Colossal We Come These Renegades in the Ring”: On the Triumph of Male Fragility in The Greatest Showman and Eurovision Song Contest