In an article published in PopPolitics magazine, Jim Curtis reassesses George W. Bush’s presidency — and life — as an extreme form of American individualism.  Taking the worst (or best?) from such varied icons as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Frank Sinatra, Bush lives in a very comfortable, very American, bubble: Now that George W. Bush’s career [...]

Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger writes about his recent tour of the “Dollhouse” set — guided by the creator Joss Whedon himself — in anticipation of the start of Season 2 in late September. The articles gives us a lot to look forward to — as well as a reminder to catch the last unaired episode [...]

So, if you haven’t heard, Obama’s drinking Bud Light at tonight’s “Beer Summit,” which brings together Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge Sergeant James Crowley in an attempt to seize a “teachable moment” on race relations. Unfortunately, if this moment is teaching us anything about race in America, it’s that we don’t know how to talk [...]

David Simon, creator of “The Wire,” has been making the rounds lately — and I couldn’t be more pleased. While I am eagerly awaiting his new TV series set in post-Katrina New Orleans (appearing on HBO in 2010 – already re-upped for a full season!), he wasn’t doing the usual promo cameos. It’s a little early for that, anyway. No, Simon is testifying in front [...]

In an article published in PopPolitics magazine, Sarah Yahm ponders why the reincarnated “Battlestar Galactica,” a show that consistently raised complex and challenging questions over its four seasons, decided to fall back on pat answers in its devastatingly reactionary series finale: Frederick Jameson, the Marxist literary critic, argues that pop culture consistently provides us with interesting [...]

This is a post of utter joy. Vermont, where I lived for many years, has become the first state to legalize gay marriage without the prompting of a court order.  It’s the fourth state overall. Although it has obviously gotten a lot of national press, I suggest following the coverage in the Rutland Herald, Vermont’s family-owned, independent newspaper, [...]

After a few fits and starts, according to Michelle Orange of the New York Times, HBO’s series “In Treatment” begins its second season tonight.  We are back in the life of Paul Weston, a psychoanalyst played by Gabriel Byrne, and his patients, whose individual sessions occupy each 30-minute episode. You might never have heard of it [...]

Cultural theorists of all sorts have long argued that identity is a construction.  Race, gender, etc are not inherent, biologically-determined qualities in individuals — they are “made up” and enforced through exposure to a variety of cultural texts over the course of an individual’s life. Girls, to cite an obvious example, learn how to be “girly” [...]

It feels like Christmas morning for sci-fans tonight. Guests are arriving in a few minutes for our Battlestar Galactica finale party. They are bringing their own concoction of neon green ambrosia. Okay, we’ve just entered a deeper concentric circle of geekdom, didn’t we? Well, like Christmas, we will soon be experiencing withdrawal, a wave of sadness as [...]

Some might say that Barack Obama has better things to do than fill out his bracket for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament — let alone invite Andy Katz of ESPN to interview him about his entire picking process: And some people, like Jeff Zeleny of The Caucus (New York Times’ political blog), might even reduce it all to [...]

I’m still watching Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse,” and I’m becoming mildly intrigued. Television reviewers had only been given episodes 1-3 when they made their initial, mixed at best, reviews of the series. I wanted to wait until I got through episode 4 before I starting making any pronouncements. So now here’s a tepid one. The story has [...]

Part of me rolls my eyes, and another part of me cringes when I contemplate the premise of “Dollhouse,” Joss Whedon’s new television series for Fox which premieres tonight. Joy Press at Salon sums up the premise of the show: It stars former “Buffy” star Eliza Dushku as Echo, a young woman — known on the [...]

I’ve already confessed my preference for local, craft-brewed beer. And if I haven’t done so already, I must give a shout-out to Drinking Liberally (feel free to join us the second and fourth Tuesday of every month)  — which combines two of my great loves: beer and politics. Little did I know that my innocent predilections, however, [...]

After the latest entry in Richard Crepeau’s annually devastating catalog of the gluttonous consumer buffet that is the Super Bowl, I am still amazed that Bruuuuce Springsteen has finally agreed to play the halftime show. But he’s not.  Speaking in an extended interview with Jon Pareles of the New York Times, he argues that it is [...]

One of the most fascinating angles to the Rod Blagojevich saga is the reaction of mental health professionals to everyone calling him “crazy” or “cuckoo.” As the Chicago Tribune reports: The language offends many and blames mental illness for alleged criminal behavior, they say. Ann Raney, CEO for Turning Point Behavioral Health Care Center in Skokie, said [...]