Commentary

Music Documentary Review: “Music Under the Swastika” — Uncomfortably Timely

April 23, 2023
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The road to ultimate destruction is lined by spiritual apathy, intellectual carelessness, and moral equivalency.

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Arts Remembrance: Visiting the Birthplace of the King

April 17, 2023
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Our last Mississippi destination was a major reason for my trip South. I told Bob I wanted to see the boyhood home of Elvis Presley in the small town of Tupelo, the singer’s Bethlehem.

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Book Review: Advertisements for Democracy — Norman Mailer’s Anti-Fascist Eloquence

April 9, 2023
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Guns, anti-Semitism, paranoid conspiracy theories — it never gets old.

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Jazz Album Review/Commentary: “Don Quixote’s Adventures in the World of Jazz” — Is Jazz Intrinsically Quixotic?

March 31, 2023
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It’s hard to think of music that is more foolishly impractical than jazz, even with its pursuit of lofty ideals.

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Book Review: Jess Walter — The Best Short Story Writer in 21st Century America?

March 30, 2023
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Jess Walter is a writer capable of inspecting humanity’s foolishness and foul play, but he is rarely unkind to his dimmest characters. Even sociopaths get to explain what is going on in their minds.

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Book Review: Writer Thomas Mann — Still August After All These Years?

March 27, 2023
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How does Thomas Mann’s grandiosity hold up today? A new selection of his short stories, freshly translated by veteran translator and fiction writer Damion Searls suggests an answer, though only partially.

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Arts Commentary/Interview: Some Thoughts on The Climate Crisis and Theater

March 20, 2023
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How can we create theater that practices critique and empathy in relation to climate change that simultaneously challenges and lifts us, provokes and provides a muscular hope?

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Book Review: One More Round with Norman Mailer

March 18, 2023
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In his centennial year, it’s difficult not to see that Norman Mailer’s literary standing is at an inflection point.

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Film Commentary: The Books That Shaped My Film Aesthetic

March 8, 2023
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Here’s a personal list of the 25 most important, influential books about American cinema. Only one book per author.

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Rock Remembrance: David Lindley, A Splendidly Cavalier Spirit

March 4, 2023
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Electric guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, saz, oud, Hawaiian guitar, lap steel, fiddle, cittern; if it could be plucked, strummed or bowed, odds are Mr. Dave played it and played it well.

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