In the Light
Sean MurphyWe can (and should) talk about late-stage capitalism and the sickening disparities it has accelerated; we can (and should) talk about the poisonous effects of bigotry and anti-immigrant rhetoric (always…
December 8, 1980
I am he as you are he, as you are me and we are all together… It's impossible to properly describe the delightful (and disorienting) effect this song had on…
Giving Tuesday: An Anti-Appeal
This blog is free to read. Most of my writing, going back three decades, is also free (find some of it here). As I get older if not necessarily wiser,…
‘They Live’: The Most Blunt Critique of Unfettered Capitalism Ever Committed to Celluloid
*shirt fully endorsed (and worn) by author of this article. (Author’s note: Most self-respecting writers do anything to avoid using words like “timeless” and “more true today than ever!” but…
Deliver Me From Nowhere: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’
(Damn right I came up with the title of the movie first. Actually, Bruce did—and it’s one of his best lines, from one of his best songs from an album…
The Big Saudi Sellout
i. Look, this doesn’t warrant or require a great deal of description or detail. A bunch of hacks sold out. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support…
Robert Redford, an American Museum
What am I supposed to say that everyone doesn’t already know? Robert Redford, in so many of the important ways, was that guy, always was that guy, and now that he…
Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here at 50
It isn’t that Pink Floyd made some of the best albums of the ‘70s (they did), or that Pink Floyd moved the art form forward (they did); it’s that Pink…
Academia Is Engagement, Not Indoctrination
I remember first learning I wasn't white my second year of college. Well, not really white. By that I mean that I encountered other white people—men from small towns south of northern…
Wayne Shorter on Thelonious Monk & More…
Wayne Shorter performs with his quartet at the 2008 Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival in Basque Country, Spain. Insights into music, mental illness, iconoclasm, and a particular American Genius i. First off,…