Things have been getting busy for me recently. On the one hand that includes the drudgery of making money, on the other hand it's also because I've been working on several creative projects. One of those projects just dropped its first little bit of content: the premier episode of the Radical Thoughts Podcast. Radical Thoughts … Continue reading Radical Thoughts Premier Episode: Culture & Materialism
Culture
Literature and Social Reflection (or: Yet Another Essay on Thomas Mann)
Among the works of literature dealing with Fascism or authoritarianism, it is often the dystopias that take center stage; both classics like Brave New World, and newer works such as Ready Player One - not to mention the burgeoning genre of Young Adult Dystopian literature - have gripped the imagination in troubling times and been utilized as … Continue reading Literature and Social Reflection (or: Yet Another Essay on Thomas Mann)
Fragments on Unfreedom
I Beyond even the enslavement of the Other (the obvious injustices inflicted upon those we distinguish from our homogeneous societies' stated rights and freedoms) there is a suppression of freedom that is actually encountered in freedom itself: freedom that subverts its own foundations. Of particular note is the right to bear arms. No government, regardless … Continue reading Fragments on Unfreedom
Fun: it’s Serious Business
"Dumb Fun." It's a phrase that gets thrown around a lot. It's associated with horror movies and action flicks, with videogames, with mass-market paperbacks and bubblegum pop. It just is. It's dumb fun, a guilty pleasure, an indulgence. But why? Sure, there's plenty of media that lacks artistic substance, that succeeds because "it's so bad … Continue reading Fun: it’s Serious Business
Programming Culture: From A Conversation
I was talking with my father about my experiences taking CS courses for college and the conversation turned to programming languages, their uses, and their problems. I mainly talked about how hard it was to get used to writing code in a classroom setting, especially when the professors didn't allow students to work together, but … Continue reading Programming Culture: From A Conversation
Pen and Screen 