RSS“Does society need a mandatory time-out?” asks an article in The Atlantic. I am drawn to the notion of the Sabbath, albeit secular, for a number of reasons, not just thanks to my recent conversion to Judaism. ⇰ Continue Reading
Archive for the ‘culture’ Category
NPR changes language for reporting on abortion
NPR shifts from language focusing on the contentious, dubious opposition between “choice” and “life” to terms that emphasize that the debate is about the right to choose. ⇰ Continue Reading
Triumph of the Cyborg Composer
If a machine could write a Mozart sonata every bit as good as the originals, then what was so special about Mozart? And was there really any soul behind the great works, or were Beethoven and his ilk just clever mathematical manipulators of notes? ⇰ Continue Reading
The old authority
This quotation from Bakhtin's Rabelais and His World seems timely and topical. I've copied it here, without commentary, for your reflection. ⇰ Continue Reading
On verisimilitude and the religious right
The bits hit the virtual fan yesterday when the omgwtf-machine was whipped into a frenzy over the announcement, straight (no pun intended) from the mouth of our dear and glorious leader J.K. Rowling, that Dumbledore, beloved imaginary wizard of the Harry Potter-verse, was, to the author's mind, gay. What followed was truly unbelievable. ⇰ Continue Reading