Ever since Michael Jackson died last week, I’ve been listening to his music almost non-stop. I had forgotten just how many mega-hits he had in his arsenal, and I’ve been shocked and awed all over again by their timelessness. The music of the 80’s and early-90’s had a very disctint sound that, in my humble…
Read MoreJust a reminder that the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay is still open and operating. President Obama, as one of his first acts in office, vowed to close the facility within the year… but there are still over 200 detainees waiting there. It’s still unclear what awaits them, though, when they are released. The…
Read MoreAs you have probably heard by now, Harvard professor and academic superstar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested at his home in Cambridge today in a completely bizarre story. It’s still not clear what exactly transpired–though you can read the police report here— but Gates got cuffed-n-stuffed for “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior” in the…
Read MoreTake a look at this short lecture (only about 10 minutes) that Jim Hanas delivered as a part of the “useless lecture series” that he helps curate. According to Hanas, the point of his address was to debunk what he calls “America’s Big Lie,” the one perhaps best epitomized by Andy Warhol’s famous remark about…
Read MoreListening to the Digital Dialogue conversation about Identity the other day, coupled with reading way-too-many of the “comments” sections on the Skip Gates’ arrest story, has gotten me thinking a lot about the merits and demerits of online anonymity. Anyone who spends more than a second on the Internet surely knows the drawbacks– “flame” wars,…
Read MoreFriend and fellow philosopher-blogger Chris Long (Pennsylvania State University) has started a really interesting project that he’s calling “Socratic Politics in Digital Dialogue,” which is a series of philosophical conversations/interviews that Chris is making available as podcasts. (You can subscribe on iTunes by searching for “Digital Dialogues” under the podcast section.) This is a summer…
Read MoreAs some of you know, I got to film a music video for my original song “Heart of Stone” last week with my best friend from college, Dana Gabrion (Co-Executive Producer of America’s Next Top Model) and musician/composer/videographer and all-around artistic genius, Chris Morgan. I should say, first, that the whole idea of shooting a…
Read MoreMark Bauerlin’s asks some interesting questions in his recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Diminishing Returns in Humanities Research”). Questions like: with 4,230 new academic publications on Hamlet appearing in just the last fifty years, is there really anything else to say about it? He raises legitimate concerns about the “publish or perish”…
Read MoreMy good friend (and one of my favorite bloggers), Petya, recently moved to Memphis with her husband, who is my new colleague at work. I have been anxiously anticipating their arrival all summer, and especially anticipating introducing them to Memphis. Now, I love this city and I love showing people around here, but after many…
Read MoreSure, we all know that Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is the world’s fastest man, but who is the world’s fastest woman? That seems to be a matter of some debate… South African runner Caster Semenya (pictured left) recently ran 800 meters in less than two minutes, more than 2 seconds faster than the next-fastest female…
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