The Old Days Were Outrageous – You Couldn’t Say Anything
History of offense, protest, and censorship Outrageous is more of a clip show but also a riotous reminder that nothing in the cancel culture wars is new.
Culture
Teju Cole’s ‘Tremor’ Records a Post-COVID Landscape of Art and Rage
If there is any consolation to be had in Teju Cole’s slippery and sinuous Tremor, it’s not found in art or literature but in the music that permeates its pages.
Trapped in the Long Tomorrow: ‘Blade Runner’, Cyberpunk, and Our Stuck Future
Blade Runner serves our vision of an inevitable dystopian future because we live in a “stuck future”, refusing to heed cyberpunk’s warning.
‘Suffering Sappho!’ Unghosts the Lesbian in Lesbian Camp
Lesbian camp is not a thing of the past. It evolves and remains relevant to subsequent generations. Suffering Sappho! Unghosts the lesbian in lesbian camp.
Hans Kundnani’s Forward-Looking ‘Eurowhiteness’ Suffers Blind Spots
Hans Kundnani’s Eurowhiteness is a take on racism from a European perspective, which is as forward-looking as it is occasionally short-sighted.
The Rise of Rock ‘n’ Roll Nation and the Far Right Reaction
American anxieties about the rise of rock ‘n’ roll nation were exploited by the far right, relating the music’s lyrics, sounds, dances, and subcultures to ubiquitous worries about communism and the developing civil rights movement.
American History X’s Eerily Prescient Take on Today’s Neo-Nazis
Tony Kaye’s 1998 crime film American History X connect today’s Neo-Nazi hatred back to poisons long carried by Americans, dating back to the country’s original sin of slavery.
The Idols of the Twilight: AI in Our Age of Inventive Divination
In their pseudo-creativity and occasionally malevolent capriciousness, generative AI programs resemble an order of magical spirits from another age.
AI, Humanics, Paradox: Towards Being Human in the Tech Workplace
If the future of work is interaction with intelligent machine counterparts, workers’ cognitive and emotional experiences will undergo a seismic shift.
Chuck D’s Graphic Novel ‘Summer of Hamn’ Zeros in on “Hatriots” and More
With graphic novel Summer of Hamn, rap legend and now visual artist Chuck D has produced his second, strong, COVID-era work of art and social commentary.
A Case for Pretending: Why Identity Is a Sham and Authenticity an Illusion
The tighter we cling to any aspect of self-identity, the more we suffer and the more vital it becomes to release our grip.