For my birthday I treated myself to Episode 2 of RUR (Rossum’s Universal Robots) — the play that introduced the word “Robot” to the world 100 years ago. Similar:How Russia’s Disinformation Apparatus Ran Aground in UkraineSkillful propagandists always leverage p…CultureTop deck of a #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser needs an airlock at the top of the spiral…
Similar:There are many Star Wars references in Dani Girl, so I made this tribute to Tom Jung's 197…CultureWhat would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood? @shu_hog… AmusingYou're Doing It for the Exposure!! The Oatmeal on working for “exposure…BusinessLooking in on the officers' wardroom (conference and dining) one…
Rewatching ST:TNG after 30 years. After playing the trombone at his birthday party and passing out on a gassy planet, a gray-flecked Riker awakens in sickbay, where he learns 16 years have passed and he is now the captain of the Enterprise. After the requisite medical technobabble (virus, amnesia, blah blah), Dr. Crusher tries to…
Similar:Loud as a Whisper (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 5)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…DramaFirst steps towards reconstructing a 30-year-old simulation. Marking the locations of the …First steps towards reconstructing a 30-…AestheticsToday I didn't save the world, but I did help a student while power-walking at the mall.I’m far from perfect, and injustice and …AcademiaJustice…
Deadline seems to have briefly published, then taken down, a breaking news story including the sentence “Pence announced late Wednesday that he is among those who have tested positive in the ongoing White House coronavirus outbreak.” 1. Google search for “tom tapp coronavirus pence” shows a hit for a Deadline story with a headline prefaced…
I recall just sort of telling the editors that I would be taking this story, thank you very much. I started looking for this clipping when I reviewed The Measure of a Man for my ST:TNG Rewatch. Sadly The University Journal is no more. When I was at U.Va. it was one of two competing…
Similar:Me as a highshool photo-bomber, I presume at the cast party for The Music Man.Drama‘Twelfth Night’ is a Shakespearean hoot, and Prime Stage actors Carolyn Jerz, Malcolm MacK…Why is Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Nigh…AestheticsBlondes 'to die out in 200 years'”The last natural blondes will die out w…CultureThe Article is Dead. Long Live the ArticleTake the background paragraph.…
Headlines are important. (Send an editor some love.)
The first act of Artistic Prosperity’s virtual production of R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) is online. I designed the set backdrops and I play the humble builder Alquist. The first act is something like an office comedy, but the story takes a few twists and turns before the epilogue. Oct 12: Replaced link with new version.…
Those darned reporters. Always publishing newsworthy facts of national importance that powerful people would rather keep silent. When Hicks tested positive, she worried about others around her who might be infected, too, but the White House sought to keep that information from the public. Without Jennifer Jacobs, a dogged Bloomberg reporter who broke the story…
So negative! Why does the lying America-hating fake news media keep publishing stories that make Trump look bad? Where are the reports about superspreader events in the Obama White House? Where are the stories about Obama’s family members and staff ostentatiously refusing to take precautions that their own medical experts recommended that all Americans take?…
From Frank Bruni, NYT It’s a measure of the cynicism that has infected American politics — and, yes, me — that among my initial reactions to the news that President Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus was: Are we sure? Can we trust that? A man who so frequently and flamboyantly plays the victim,…
Similar:Why fake news worksFake news works on our emotions, usually…CybercultureIn News, What’s Fake and What’s Real Can Depend on What You Want to Believe The proliferation of fake and hy…CultureThe Media Bubble is Real — And Worse Than You ThinkIn the early 20th century, print journal…CultureNo, Prince Philip did not dress as a palace guard…
This is a sample link. Similar:Who Watches the Watchers (ST:TNG Season Three Episode 4) Rationalist, talky mythbustingRewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….EthicsFake News Is Not the Real Media Threat We’re FacingConservative talk radio predates the Int…CultureSoldiers and Sailors Memorial and Museum Another visit to Pittsburgh with my his…CulturePittsburgh Post-Gazette reducing print edition to 2 days…
I have been experimenting with midnight deadlines lately, including midnight Sunday deadlines. Students who don’t want to work Sundays can of course get the work done earlier in the week. I also often have students start assignments during class time, ask them to submit what they have by the time class is over, and let…
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. The Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire requests Picard’s help about an urgent matter. Chancellor K’empec names Picard arbiter over the power struggle that will follow his impending death. He suspects that one of the two rival faction leaders has been slowly poisoning him. The scenery-chewing Ambassador K’Eyhlar gets…
This is the end of the coronavirus pandemic. And this is how it could happen in the United States: By November 2021, most Americans have received two doses of a vaccine that, while not gloriously effective, fights the disease in more cases than not. Meanwhile, Americans continue to wear masks and avoid large gatherings, and…
I had to teach my Introduction to Psychology class today to 300+ students from my cell phone while I was trapped in my apartment building elevator with my two young kids. This has to go down as my most surreal and stressful teaching experience. — Jay Van Bavel (@jayvanbavel) September 24, 2020 Similar:Out &…
To defend Fox personality Tucker Carlson against a defamation lawsuit, Fox’s lawyers successfully argued that no reasonable viewer takes Carlson seriously. CBS | MSN This is a legal win for Fox, who convinced a judge that Carlson is “not stating actual facts” on his show. As Defendant notes, Mr. Carlson himself aims to “challenge[] political…
One of the weirder ways this debate has played out since Barrett was first discussed as a potential Supreme Court nominee is the fight over whether or not People of Praise, the group of which she is a member, is also one of the inspirations for The Handmaid’s Tale. In Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel (and its recent TV adaptation), fertile women are forced to live as childbearing slaves called handmaids. The book isn’t an established inspiration — but the story has developed legs anyway.