So let’s say you’ve been reading the posts last week during Banned Books Week and you’re thinking you’d like to write your own tome that will one day vex some censorious-minded individual by its very existence. Well, first off: great bucket list item. I’ve yet to meet an author who doesn’t find it as amusing to be in that circle of writers even as they’re annoyed at the small-mindedness of others that put them there.…
Okay, so I’ve been posting daily during this Banned Books Week, but perhaps you’re reading this and feeling guilty that you haven’t dived into some banned book. You shouldn’t. The only people who should feel guilty should be people who are say, trying to burn books they haven’t read in a school’s furnace. Bear in mind: Enter Emily Temple compiling a list of 43 of the most iconic and engaging short stories in the English…
As I continue to celebrate Banned Books Week 2024, I feel I need to follow up yesterday’s post about Kurt Vonnegut’s “dignified fury” with mockery… and when they’re cooking with gas, few folks mock as well as McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Shanna Walsh, who as a former middle school teacher knows a thing or two about the dangers facing kids, gives us a list of children’s books that will make their brains rot… or possibly their…
In celebration of Banned Books Week, I have a post I’ve meant to make for some years now. With every story I read about the late writer Kurt Vonnegut, it reminds me that I should read and re-visit his own stories — his novels. One of these stories relates to a letter he wrote to some honest-to-badness book burners. I first read it on Letters of Note (note, paywall) and also via the Peabody Institute…
I’ve always enjoyed the official start of Fall, but one of the more recent heralds of the season is Banned Books Week, something I’ve posted about on this blog since 2018. Much like Pumpkin Spice, some people hate on particular books for the most spurious of reasons. And then some people get mad that you use words like ‘spurious,’ which they’re pretty sure has to be a naughty word. I’ll be posting throughout the week,…
On this, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, it is only just and right that we talk about pirates not simply like them. Now, I’ve posted about pirates before, and you should definitely check out Isli Lawrence’s video which I linked to before. She also has this piece specifically about famous pirates: But why confine yourself to just one pirate historian? Enter Rebecca Simon, who has a whole host of insights to give you that’ll…
Since I was recently speaking about cinematic joy, this is a story that absolutely gives The Force “the feels.” There’s a brand new language dub of the original Star Wars in the Ojibwe language. The group can be found across the northern United States and Canada, so, when digging for more news, I found many a local report, as they appear to have sought speakers from all over to bring this latest version of the…
The algorithm fae have decided to gift me with the news that Every Frame a Painting is back… if only for a short while. Tricky fae. Starting about 10 years ago, and for tantalizingly too few episodes, Taylor Ramos & Tony Zhou crafted meticulous videos that remind one of why cinema is magical. The care in making the videos is, of course, why there are not a gazillion episodes, but that invigorating feeling is why…
Somewhat derailed by yesterday’s news, I pushed this post until today, but I wanted to offer a counter-balance to last’s week’s video tearing apart the tech industry mania of about AI with a thoughtful one from a different Adam. The video could be divided into two parts, one about AI and the other about connecting with people online (or the difficulty therein). And while there may not be a through-line at first glance, it flows…
Really don’t have much to mention at the moment except that I felt a great disturbance in the Force earlier, and now I know why: James Earl Jones has died at the age of 93. I’m going to go release my feelings and try not to turn to the Dark Side now. ### UPDATE In addition to the BBC article above, you can also check out the Washington Post and, really, a slew of pieces…