Leigh M. Johnson

President Obama’s First State of the Union Address (Video and Transcript)

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Obama, Politics, RMWMTMBM Archive 1 Comment

“Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans, Our Constitution declares that from time to time the president shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They’ve done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility, and they’ve done…

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Unscrambling Marx

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching 10 Comments

I’m about to begin teaching Karl Marx in my 19th C. philosophy class this week. Although students usually get some (very elementary) introduction to Marx in most of my other classes as well, this is the course in which they get the most extensive and systematic exposure to his writings. I always anticipate the Marx…

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The Deadly Serious Business of Tenure

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Politics, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching, Women and Gender Issues 0 Comments

Last week, University of Alabama-Huntsville Professor of Biology Amy Bishop opened fire in a faculty meeting, killing three of her colleagues and wounding three others. Despite our hopeful image of the Ivory Tower as a place far removed from the ugliness of “real world” violence, stories like these remind us that, regrettably, wishing doesn’t make…

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Battle of the Sexists?

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive, Sports, Women and Gender Issues 2 Comments

First, my apologies to regular readers of this blog for my extended absence of late. As some of you know, my department is hiring for a new tenure-track line this semester, a process which has the tendency to eat up every last moment of “spare” time for everyone involved. Second, I hope that you don’t…

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The Orchid Hypothesis

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Weak Humanism 10 Comments

On my way back from the APA conference a week ago, I picked up a copy of The Atlantic in Laguardia to read on the plane ride home. In it, there was a fascinating article by David Dobbs called “The Science of Success,” which discusses the influence of certain genetic factors on social/psychological development. Dobbs…

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Quiet Desperation

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Film, Film Reviews, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive 4 Comments

The new film Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman of Juno and Thank You For Smoking fame, has gotten a lot of buzz lately, most of it surrounding George Clooney’s performance as a “corporate downsizer” (he fires people for a living) and for-all-intents-and-purposes homeless, constantly “up in the air” business traveler (his greatest…

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When Growing-Up Is NOT “The Bomb”

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Memphis, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve recommended a book on this blog, the last one being Junot Diaz’s tragic and beautiful The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Part of the reason for the absence of good fiction here is because I went through a bit of a literary drought recently, reading several books that…

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The Peter Principle

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive 2 Comments

I just read an article in NewScientist about the “Peter Principle” (based on the theory put forth by Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull in their 1998 book The Peter Principle: Why things always go wrong). The Peter Principle is a fundamental law of “Hierarchiology” that states: In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to…

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Follow This Blog!

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Memphis, RMWMTMBM Archive 3 Comments

As my first post for the new year, I want to send out an invitation to all of you lurking readers of this site to scroll down the column to your right and choose “Follow This Blog.” I’m entering my fifth consecutive year here at readmorewritemorethinkmorebemore and, like most blogs, this site has its regular…

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Mulligan?

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

One of my favorite stories ever was told to me by a colleague of mine in the Psychology Department, Dr. Julie Steel. Frustrated with end-of-the-semester appeals for better grades by wayward students, she figured there must be a better rejoinder than simply sighing in exasperation and staring-back with incredulity. So, when students ask that oh-so-familiar…

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