Michael Shermer, in his book Why People Believe Weird Things, wrote about his workmanlike history of appearing on television chat shows to debate neo-Nazis and Holocaust revisionists. Some of his colleagues, he wrote — even ones with impeccable antifascist credentials — told him he was not just wasting his time, but …
We are living, you know, in an age of quality television. Everyone knows it. I know it; you know it; that one guy on Twitter who won’t stop gassing on about The Americans knows it. Television is so good that it would be worth giving up sex for, if anyone ever …
Hey! You! You look like a smart guy, gal, or gender nonconforming individual! Are you tired of being played for a sap? Are you sick of being swindled, stuck with the check, and made out to be the A-number-1 chump at every party and board meeting? Well, I’m here to …
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice,” Bishop Desmond Tutu told us in 1984, the year I first manifested what might be called a political consciousness, “you have chosen the side of injustice.” Injustice, cruelty, oppression, and inequality refuse the position of neutrality; they will not recognize a central …
Today was the first day of the Democratic Socialists of America’s national convention. It’s taking place in my own city of Chicago, and it’s the first convention since the DSA experienced unprecedented growth in the wake of the Bernie Sanders campaign and the election of Donald Trump. In addition, it’s …
Louis C.K. has his fingers in a lot of pies these days. The great auteur figure of 21st-century comedy maintains, in addition to a robust touring schedule as a stand-up comedian, a production company that shepherds his own television projects. These include straight-up documentaries, stand-up specials by himself and some …
Criticizing the Republican Party is always a tricky proposition. With the election of Donald Trump in particular, it’s practically impossible; calling out a moronic huckster who won the election by making jerk-off gestures at the very notion of being a respectable politician is like arguing against a fart. Part of …
Friends, colleagues, comrades: I have a confession. I like Chapo Trap House. Yes, that’s right: I am a big fan of one of the most popular podcasts in existence. I listen to it regularly; I talk about it with some of my friends; and I look forward to each new episode. …
Let us say, just for the sake of argumentation, that you find yourself on the editorial staff of a large national men’s fashion or entertainment magazine. This is nothing to be ashamed of; certainly, it is humiliating and embarrassing, but we all must make a living. Should you wake up …
It has come to my attention, after a careful review of American commerce and culture, that what this country truly needs right now is another overpriced sandwich shop. Please give me ten million dollars in venture capital to make this dream a reality. All profits from Piercenham’s Sandwich Shop, after …
Okay, thanks, Kerry — that’ll wrap up the checkins from the Calligraphy for Stalinists working group. Good job, everybody, and we’re all really looking forward to the “Merry Christmas from the Gulag” cards this year. Now, if there’s no other new business…yeah, Carl? Well, that’s really old business, Carl, and …
I wanted to like Wonder Woman. I really, really did. I’ve always enjoyed the character, for any number of reasons: the intriguing backstory of her creator and his motivations; her origin story, steeped in some of the stranger aspects of Greek mythology; her debut during the early days of America’s involvement …
There was a time when I used to say, in agreement with the great Paul Fussell, that July 4th was the one day we should hold up nothing but praise for the things that make America great. The rest of the year should be given to relentless criticisms of what …
Who are your comrades? The more time I spend in the political space that involves ground-up building of resistance and alternatives to capitalist hegemony — call it activism, call it organizing, whatever suits you — the more I begin to notice the patterns that we use to trip ourselves up …
Today’s question: how good can a show about wrestling be if the wresting in the show isn’t very good? The answer, at least if the show under discussion is Netflix’s new series GLOW, is…well, pretty good, actually! Maybe that’s because of the show’s many other strengths, or maybe it’s because of …
