It’s Funny How Complicated Coexistence Can Be
Activist-cum-stand-up comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi documentary Coexistence, My Ass! makes it painfully clear how complicatedly funny/not-funny coexistence can be.
politics
How David Lynch’s Beetle-Infested Nightmares Creep into AI-Assisted Assassinations
So long as AI-assisted assassinations are sold as clean acts of “self-defense”, modern states will keep writing sequels to David Lynch’s beetle-infested nightmares.
Not Amused: Why Standup Comedy Isn’t Funny
In most of today’s standup comedy the outrageousness of the topic goes a long way toward compensating for the absence of wit. I’m not amused.
The DNC Misses a Beat: A Political History of Migration through Latinx Pop Songs
What should we understand as the connection between politics, people, and places? Can Latinx pop songs be trusted to represent us?
Christopher Hitchens and Fights Worth Having
You can smell the cigarette ash and Johnnie Walker Black Label on the pages of A Hitch in Time, a gleefully pugilistic posthumous Christopher Hitchens anthology.
Greek Weird Wave’s Absurdism and Tragedy
Greek Weird Wave films are existential with a hefty dose of absurdism, surrealism and tragedy, where alienated protagonists struggle in a meaningless milieu.
Albert Camus’ Struggles with Earthly Existence in ‘Travels in the Americas’
The Albert Camus of Travels in the Americas diaries is a passionate, despairing reckoner with the struggles of earthly existence, both personal and societal.
The High Price of Gay Life in Washington, D.C.
James Kirchick’s riveting history of gay life in Washington, D.C. is a Cold War epic of hypocrisy, surveillance, and survival.
Antonio Gramsci Biography ‘To Live Is to Resist’ Is Unrivaled
In Gramscian fashion, Frétigné details the material conditions of Antonio Gramsci’s insight and influence while shirking historical determinism and abstract idealism.
1934 Horror Film ‘The Black Cat’ Slinks Easily into Our Time of Terror
Nazi power had already risen and Hitler was Chancellor when The Black Cat shared its laser-focus on the dangers of the rising tide of right-wing politics.
‘Beirut 2020’ Portends What Awaits America
Majdalani’s Beirut 2020 warns that unwillingness to enforce rules and due process lies at the heart of the problems plaguing both Lebanon and America.
Tribeca 2021: ‘LFG’ Shows the Struggle and Sacrifice in Fight for Equal Pay
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix’s new documentary, LFG, focuses on the women’s national soccer team’s court battle to get paid what they’re worth.