Review

Book Review: “Run Towards the Danger” — Grappling With Memories of Trauma

January 18, 2023
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Sarah Polley’s essay on sexual assault by itself is worth the price of the book, essential reading for anyone interested in the physical and psychological after-effects of violence against women.

Television Review: “The Big Payback” — The Road Toward Reparations

January 18, 2023
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The Big Payback doesn’t exhibit a clear slant either way: it simply tells the tale of how a bill asking for reparations came to be, along the way highlighting how past injustice shapes present inequities.

Watch Closely: New Year, New Format, New TV

January 17, 2023
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I’m going to try out a new format in 2023. Along with posting longer reviews of single series, I will also be experimenting with a new (weekly!) format where I include several features in one column.

Book Reviews: Discoveries Galore — Three Children’s Books About the Natural World

January 17, 2023
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This trio of beautifully-illustrated children’s books offer journeys into science that rival science fiction.

Film Review: “M3GAN” — Child’s Slay

January 14, 2023
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M3GAN is a movie algorithmically generated to spawn as many memes about itself as possible before undiscerning viewers realize what they’re watching is a reworked Black Mirror draft.

Album Review: “Satan Is Busy in Knoxville: The Knoxville Sessions, 1929 & 1930” — The Devil’s in the Details

January 14, 2023
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Ted Olson continues bringing important location recordings of early American music back to light.

Visual Arts Review: The Trouble with “Symbionts” — and an Unlikely Antidote

January 14, 2023
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Many of the entries in Symbionts do not question scientific worldviews as much as attempt to validate art in a world ruled unquestionably by science.

Concert Review: Boston Symphony Orchestra Plays Dello Joio, Stenhammar, Boulanger, and Dvořák

January 13, 2023
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Justin Dello Joio’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, written especially for pianist Garrick Ohlsson, creates an emotionally satisfying canvas out of thorny harmonies and astringent lyricism.

Jazz Album Review: “Blues & Bach: The Music of John Lewis” — A Remarkable Accomplishment

January 12, 2023
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MJQ pianist John Lewis would have loved to have had an orchestra this well rehearsed and recorded so beautifully.

Television Review: “Koala Man” — Rowdy Aussie Hijinks

January 11, 2023
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The animation itself is akin to what you will see in familiar domestic cartoons, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers. So it’s the quirky humor that makes Koala Man uniquely Australian.

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