Category: History

Sunday Morning Reading

The world gets meaner, uglier, and stupider, but Sunday mornings are still for reading.

The world continues to spin off its axis. And yet, it is another Sunday. So, here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share.

One of my theatre professors used to say that we weren’t really doing theatre “unless someone with guns showed up at the box office to stop you from selling tickets.” Given how things are going these days those words keep coming back to me. Especially after reading this article about Svetlana Petriychuk and Yegenia Berkovich, who were put on trial by a Russian military court and found guilty of “justifying terrorism.” Check out Valarie Hopkins’ article Russian Playwright and Theater Director Are Convicted of ;Justifying Terrorism.’

Steve Radlauer and Ellis Weiner continue their excellent serialized tale, The Split, with Chapter Thirty-Six at The Wonkette. I highly recommend you check out the entire thing.

You might want to prick up your ears at this one. David Rothkopf discusses America’s Death Wish. 

Scammers and Con Artists are in vogue these days. To some it’s the American Way. Check out Priscila, Queen of the Rideshare Mafia by Lauren Smiley. It’s a wild ride.

NatashaMH and David Todd McCarty each recently  took a dip into the technology and design pool and how it splashes all over our culture. Natasha took a trip to the what she calls ‘Planet Apple’ via the new Apple Store in Kuala Lumpur and not only marvels at the design of the store but might have lost her Android religion in the process. Check out Taking a Bite of the Apple. Meanwhile McCarty thinks that the further technology allows us to advance the dumber we become in Better Than Ever But Worse Than Before.

Returning to the sentiment that opened this week’s edition, check out White Supremacy With a Law Degree: How Do We Escape ‘The Originalism Trap”? By Paul Rosenberg.

George Dillard says We’re All Hostages of Ego as he discusses the fate of our country and how it relies on the psychology of two elderly men.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.You can also find me on social networks under my own name.

Clowns to the Left of Me Jokers To The Right

What a sticky mess we’re in.

Well this is a fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. The media/political party industrial complex has put us right where they want us to be. Spinning, Whirling, Scared. Confused. Befuddled. Pissed Off.

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As I watch my grandson propel himself around his surroundings this weekend with the reckless abandon of innocence, I can’t help but wonder at the wonder of it all. Watching him realize the consequences of waving an ice cream cone around in the heat of a summer night was a heartbreaking humorus lesson in beginning to see the light. The whirling and spinning only stop when gravity takes over and it all ends up a mess on the sidewalk.

Meanwhile back in the world of knowledge and supposed wisdom, it seems  those of us in the rareifed air of adulthood who know better have become unconcerned if not unmoored from the law of physics.

After Joe Biden’s interview on ABC last night it seems we’re completely at the mercy of upcoming news cycles, whether we tune in or tune out. It’s starting to feel like it’s going to be an endless summer, fall and beyond. It’s an unending episode of Lost, where confusion reigns at the expense of narrative and plot. At some point it has to end, but there doesn’t need to be an end, just an endless supply of Special Features.

Sadly, whenver this spins to an end that end that will only help the party of convicted felons and child rapists help us end it all. But that can be spun up and away too.

I’m heartsick that the Democrats have fallen into depths beyond disarray, with new depths still to be plummed apparently. I’m pissed off that what used to be the GOP is happily using this ramapaging forest fire as cover to run and hide from Project 2025, while they continue to scan for more to burn.

The world feels like it’s caught in a lyric somewhere between Tommy Roe’s Dizzy and Stealers Wheel’s Stuck in the Middle With You, with some sort of AI generated click track back beat played by a boy band wearing Supreme Court robes, pretending they understand Hip Hop.

Goodness knows when this will all fall down. But then goodness has nothing much to do with any of it.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

The Sad Irony of Our Political Fireworks

Going to be surreal celebrating USA independence from a king after the Supreme Court ruling.

I’m struggling through this political mess we’re in and shared some of my thoughts in Rome Magazine on Medium. I hope you take a minute of your time to read it. 

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The irony of the Supreme Court giving the president immunity most monarchs would die for may be rich, but it’s also extremely sad, given the timing. Yes, I’m still in a state of profound disillusionment and yes, I’m working to figure out how to change that, but I’ve got to be honest. There are moments when I’m not sure if it’s worth the candle, much less lighting up some fireworks this 4th of July.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Sunday Morning Reading

Steering clear of politics (mostly) here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share.

It’s a tough weekend to put this Sunday Morning Reading column together in the wake of last week’s U.S. Presidential debate. I’ve never seen so many knees jerk so violently at once leading me to assume there are quite a few bruises caused from crashing them against computer desks. So, I’ll be avoiding politics this morning. Perhaps. Maybe. We’ll see.

Did you know that milk is the latest front in the culture wars dividing America? Tony Diver tells us how.

Yes, it’s political but no, it isn’t about recent events specifically, so once again I highly recommend you check out The Split by Steve Radlauer and Ellis Weiner. The Split, now up to Chapter 34, is a terrific serialization of all things political, social, and well… all things.

James B. Stewart and Benjamin Mullen take a long look at the future of streaming in The Future of Netflix, Amazon and Other Streaming Services. It’s a worth your time kind of read even though it takes awhile, but it more than hints that none of the titans of this industry has a clue.

The entertainment industry isn’t the only place run by folks without a clue. Check out The Federal Reserve’s Little Secret by Rogé Karma. Apparently those folks pulling the strings on interest rates don’t have much of one either.

And speaking of titans of industry and god-like powers David Todd McCarty thinks If Someone Asks If You’re A God, You say Yes. 

On the Artificial Intelligence front Wired has been doing some good work lately reporting on on that front. Check out Lauren Goode and Tom Simonite’s This Viral AI Chatbot Will Lie and Say It’s Human.

Also check out Elizabeth Lopatto’s Perplexity’s Grand Theft AI. Sounds human to me.

Joan Westenberg has an interesting think piece on the misconstruing and appropriation of the message of George Orwell’s 1984 in “This Is Just Like 1984.” Great piece.

I said I’d avoid the political hot potato of the presidential debate. It’s not that I lied, or changed my mind, it’s that this piece is too good to not recommend. Check out Natasha MH’s view in The US Presidential Debate Reminded Me of My Divorce.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.You can also find me on social networks under my own name.

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday Morning Reading and mourning insights to share.

Another sweltering summer Sunday morning so it’s time for a little Sunday Morning Reading with a host of topics mostly dealing with the myriad challenges ahead of us and mourning some that are behind us.

Natasha MH reminds that in the midst of tough times there are ways to conjure magic that’s actually within our power to control in When Space Meets Stoicism. A lovely piece that hits home. Good advice in these unsettling times. Or even settled ones.

Speaking of unsettling, Cody Delistraty takes a look at how we Americans do and don’t deal with grief in It’s Mourning in America.

Artificial Intelligence remains a hot topic this summer and will remain so for quite some time. There’s been some excellent points made on all sides of the issues involved and I can’t wait to be a few years down the road and see how that’s all rolled up and regurgitated by some generative AI engine that probably doesn’t exist today. In the meantime check out some interesting thinking on the matter from Wenzel in Apple Intelligence and the DMA, Dan Henke’s take in Beardy Guy Musings, and Tim Marchman and Dhruv Mehrotra’s chronicling of Wired’s adventures with Perplexity, Plagiarism and the Bullshit Machine here and here.

Most of the above centers on the issues surrounding AI and its potential for abuse of creators. Sadly, history proves the heat around that issue will eventually cool down. Perhaps we should examine the heat all of this “compute” needed to power this abuse takes on the planet. Check out Bloomberg’s AI’s Insatiable Need for Energy Is Straining Global Power Grids. 

David Todd McCarty gives us an artist’s guide to learning how to listen in It’s Not All About You. It’s not just advice for artists.

As crazy as the political and tech worlds are these days, the entertainment world is just as nuts, especially when it comes to the covering of it. Winter of Content by Kevin Nguyen is a rich piece focusing on print media’s transition to the Internet from within the crazy explosion of coverage of Game of Thrones. Great read.

And speaking of entertainment coverage and mourning, it’s a fun game for this older guy to track the sad news surrounding an artist’s death. You can tell when a typically young writer knows very little about an artist’s body of work by the ludicrous title choices of that artist’s work they choose to run in the lede of the obituary. I doubt AI summaries of this will be any better than the quick scans of Wikipedia these interns obviously do now. With this week’s passing of Donald Sutherland it was particularly entertaining given the breadth and complexity of his career. However, there was one piece that grabbed my attention that bucked the trend. Amber Haley tells her remembrance of working with Donald Sutherland as a young set decorator proving that not only do small details matter, they tell the bigger story.  Check out The Set Decorator and Donald Sutherland. 

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Secret octopi, culture wars, convictions, and reading between the letters. In this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

Life is beginning to settle in after the big move, although there’s parts of it we still can’t figure out which box we packed some of it in. Perhaps we need some sort of A.I. bot to help us figure that out.  But we’ll get there. In the meantime here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share.

Speaking of AI, WTF is AI? That’s the question posed with some attempted answers by Devin Coldeway. It’s a decent primer on the topic. Watch out for secret ocotopi.

A couple of pieces on AI from Nico Grant at the NY Times shows just how unknown and perhaps reliably unreliable this fast evolving tech territory is. First up is Google’s A.I. Search Leaves Publishers Scrambling. Follow that up with Google Rolls Back A.I. Search Feature After Flubs and Flaws. I wonder how AI will spit all of this back at us once articles like these are trained in. I also wonder when publishers will start to standardize whether or not we’ll write it as AI or A.I.

Some think The AI Revolution Is Already Losing Steam. I happened to agree with Christopher Mims, the author of this piece.

Even in the midst of moving it’s been tough to ignore the political comings, goings and convictions in the news. Check out David Todd MCCarty on Bedtime for Bonzo, Or Nothing To See Here. Even after 34 convictions for the orange dude, this piece holds up.

This piece from July of 2021 by John Pavlovitz resurfaced in my feeds in the last week. The Sadness of Sharing A Country With Trump Supporters is worth a re-read in the wake of this week’s news. Somehow I think it will remain relevant for quite some time.

With all that is going on in the political world, it’s a good idea to always remember there is so much more going on behind the scenes than we ever want to realize. Check out Ken Silverstein’s look behind the curtain in Off Leash: Inside The Secret, Global, Far-Right Group Chat. You might be sorry you did.

I hope The Wonkette is writing you visit often. There’s an excellent serial novel there called The Split by Ellis Weiner and Steve Radlauer. It’s up to Chapter 30. It’s terrific and worth your time.

There’s a new book worth highlighting and highlighted by Laura Colliins-Hughes in the NY Times. James Shapiro’s The Playbook chronicles the history of The Federal Theatre Project. The subtitle teases well: A Story of Theatre, Democracy and The Making Of A Culture War. A great story from back in the day when live theatre was actually something folks believed was dangerous enough that it could change minds.

And to close out this week’s edition check out Natasha MH’s Writing The Unpretentious Prose. Don’t just read the words. Look between the letters.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

It’s a Sunday morning of a somewhat lost, yet restorative weekend. Simultaneous with spring daffodils starting to bloom, the cast from my recent gig, The Lehman Trilogy, made a suprise trip from Memphis to Chicago to visit for the weekend. Made we think and feel deeply. Made me laugh. It was glorious. Bonds don’t get any deeper. I needed that. That said, and still recovering, here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share.

First up David Todd McCarty is searching for the answers on why we do the things we do in Frittering Away What’s Left of Eternity. Terrific piece with no frittering. Resonated with me when it was published earlier this week. After this weekend it resonates with stronger vibrations.

Radley Balko delves into The War On the Woke in an excellent piece The War on the Woke Trumps the Truth for Heterodox Thinkers. 

Sarah Jones takes a look at The Exvangelicals Searching for Political Change. I think she coined “Exvangelical.” Regardless of the label credit, its meaning sticks.

Jim Sciutto sees current global tensions as a 1939 Moment in his new book The Return of The Great Powers. Russia, China and the Next World War. I’m looking forward to reading it. You should too. In the meantime, David Smith talks about Sciutto’s book in ‘A 1939 Moment’: Jim Sciutto On Russia, China and the Threat of War.

Once a teacher always a teacher. I grew up in a family of teachers. NatahsMH in The Blind Leading the Blind recounts her experiences of teaching young ones what it’s like to experience being disabled for only an hour. I’m not talking comedy, but here’s the punch line: “And you experienced being disabled for one hour. Imagine a lifetime. Now go design the world a better, smarter place.” 

It’s been 10 years? On the anniversary David Pierce wonders Who Killed Google Reader? I remember that death. The internet remains, but there’s a hole left by it.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday Morning Reading as the time shifts and some are racing against the clock to turn back the hands of time in our political and social lives. Yes, some politics but also some history and some tech today.

Laughter may be the best medicine, but not when it can be used against us. Fintain O’Toole in the New York Review of Books takes a look at how cruel humor can be used as a weapon. Laugh Riot is an excellent if not troubling (also long) read.

(Side note: some folks get upset at links I offer here that are behind paywalls or require registration. I get it. Two thoughts: Writers deserve to get paid. Also, there are only a gazillion ways around circumventing these kinds of things on the Internet. Use your smarts.)

Taylor Lorenz offers up The Word ‘Viral’ Has Lost Its Meaning. I think she’s correct.

The use of Artificial Intelligence continues to baffle. Charles Bethea takes a look at The Terrifying A.I. Scam That Uses Your Loved One’s Voice.

Speaking of baffling tech, Steven Aquino takes a look at How Smart Home Technology Made My Home More Accessible. Why do I say baffling? Steven’s post isn’t, but in the potential gold mine and boon for those with accessibility issues that is Smart Home Tech, no one has gotten this right yet. When it works it’s great. When it doesn’t it’s a mess.

Apparently back in 2022 the US was quite nervous that Putin would launch a nuke towards Ukraine. Check out Jim Sciutto’s piece Exclusive: US Prepared ‘Rigoursly’ for potential Russian Nuclear Strike in Ukraine in 2022. It’s a good read, although I’m not sure why it’s an exclusive as I recall most of us being worried about this.

Josh Kovensky in Talking Points Memo takes us Inside A Secret Society of Prominent Right-Wing Christian Men Prepping for a ‘National Divorce.’

Sascha Pare tells us that Scientists Just Discovered A Massive Reservoir Of Helium Beneath Minnesota. Sounds like the Iron Range might be getting a new nickname.

And returning back to time, David Todd McCarty is searching for answers. I think we all are. Well worth your time to read Frittering Away What’s Left of Eternity.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

It’s one of those winter Sunday mornings. Time to share a little Sunday Morning Reading while trying to get back into a different groove after returning home from a long gig and nursing a couple of bulging disks in my back. Today’s version is a wide mix of topics today mostly in the cultural realm. Enjoy.

First up, check out Scott-Ryan Abt’s The Euphoria of Quiet Time. Quiet time is something I’m trying to find more time for.

Controversial theatre director Milo Rau is coming to America. Helen Lewis takes a look at why he’s controversial in The Theater Director Who Likes to Go Too Far.

Family squabbles over money and legacies are never fun. Certainly when they invovle art collections. Check out Kelly Crow’s piece about the Neuman family in The $1 Billion Art Collection That’s Tearing a Family Apart.

Legendary record producer Max Norman says there’s no point in making “world class” records any longer because no one cares anymore. Check out The Phonecian’s article on Norman here.

It’s no secret what most of us think of as journalism is in as much trouble, if not more so, than anything else. Phillip Longman offers How Fighting Monopoly Can Save Journalism. It’s a long, detailed look at a troubling issue.

Speaking of journalism, Kirstin Butler tells us why Dorothy Thompson Is The Most Famous Female Journalist You’ve Never Heard Of.

Michelangelo Signorile discusses an issue that I wish was a larger part of our political discourse in Welfare States Declare War On Donor States. But They Have No Money. It’s ironic how those who decry socialism need it to survive.

David Todd McCarty says I Owe You Nothing. He’s right. Go read the piece and find out why.

And finally this week marked the release of The Apple Vision Pro. I posted some links to some great review coverage of the device and what it may or may not promise here. This one, Apple Vision Pro Review: The Infinite Desktop, from Brian Heater is also worth your time, regardless of which device you read your bits and bytes on.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

We just commemorated the anniversary of the history altering events of January 6th. So some of thse links in this weeks’ edition of Sunday Morning Reading will reflect that. Not all. But some. If that turns you off, apologies in advance. Not to you. Because of you.

Kicking it off is David Todd McCarty’s Who’s Teaching You a Lesson? Read it damnit.

Driftglass offers up The Art of Persuasion is Over. Short. Sweet. Persuasive.

David French offers up The Case of Disqualifying Trump is Strong. I agree. Too bad the judges it will be argued in front of are not.

David Graham tells us How Trump Taught America to Tolerate Brazen Corruption. We’ve always tolereated corruption. Most of us just don’t want it flaunted openly in our face by a bunch of bragadocius buffoons.

Changing the tune, check out To Own The Future, Read Shakespeare. Not what you think. It’s about tech and the liberal arts. Great read.

NatashMH wonders how the plot got lost regarding feminism in We Were Once Dragons and Phoenices. Another great read.

And then for something completely different, check out Dana Milbank’s I Killed A Deer From My Bathroom.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.