(un-)imaging

Or: why the blank page is a lure in imagining the new

In a dark room, projected onto a wall, we see the hands of a man, dressed in black, on a wooden table. In crisp detail, we see him holding a page from a magazine, with some advertisement on it. Slowly, the page is being crumpled, we hear the whispers of ...
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The Perversion of America’s Self-Made Man

Exploring the twisted personalities calling the shots in a culture where mean is celebrated

Mark Lipton – with rich experience as an adviser to major corporations, start-ups, government agencies, and not-for-profits – integrates years of psychological research to uncover what drives men in powerful positions to do dastardly things in order to fulfill their “visions”. Mean Men: The Perversion of America’s Self-Made Man reveals the ...
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What’s the Point of a Creative Writing Workshop?

Writing and resistance in the Age of Trump

Two days after the 2016 election, people arrived in my writing workshop talking non-stop. Their disbelief, grief, anger, and guilt at not ‘having done enough,’ ricocheted around the room. It was a challenge for them to focus on the page. In the weeks that followed, this scene repeated itself over ...
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Intellectuals—Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them, Part II

Are intellectuals really the enemies of democracy?

You threaten democracy. They hate you. They suspect that you despise them, as “they cling to their guns and bibles.” They know that you think you are better than they are. When they resent you and act upon their resentment, they too threaten democracy. We recognize that the anti-intellectualism of the less ...
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Monday November 27: Book Launch at The New School, 6 P.M.

Join us live, or for a live tweet, of Federico Finchelstein’s

What is fascism and what is populism? What are their connections in history and theory, and how should we address their significant differences? What does it mean when pundits call Donald Trump a fascist, or label as populist politicians who span left and right such as Hugo Chávez, Juan Perón, ...
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A Public Seminar Thanksgiving

Looking back, looking forward

In past years we have had some great Thanksgiving posts from Mackenzie Wark, Jeremy Varon and Jeff Goldfarb. Claire Potter, at her old Tenured Radical perch, used to occasionally give out awards to the top ten "turkeys" of the year: for a blast from the blogging past, you can see them here and ...
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The Death of Homo Economicus

A review of Peter Fleming’s latest book

Fleming takes up the metaphor of the tsunami to describe the 2008-2009 financial crisis and its aftermath. The tsunami metaphor has been invoked, particularly in the media, Fleming notes, as a way to frame discussions of the economic devastation and subsequent austerity that the crash has wrought on economies around the world. ...
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Can A Republican Have Progressive Values?

Bob Holden, New York City Councilman from Queens, says yes

Again, what's not to love? Well, since you asked... Mayor de Blasio, who won an overpowering mandate for a second term, does not love him. Last fall, Holden -- a lifetime registered Democrat -- primaried Elizabeth Crowley, a cousin of Queens Democratic powerbroker Joseph Crowley, and lost. Fair enough. But then ...
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After Hurricane Maria

Puerto Ricans Find Refuge in a Central Massachusetts City

Krysthina Ortiz refused to get up from a chair outside her school’s main office. Tears streamed down the 9-year-old’s face as she looked up at her mother, Krysthia Gauthier. “No quiero ir (I don’t want to go)! No quiero ir!” the girl cried. Gauthier leaned forward and wiped her daughter’s face with her ...
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Queers, Zombies, and Institutions

A Review of Lorenzo Bernini’s Queer Apocalypses: Elements of Antisocial Theory

Edelman’s words, published in 2004, may seem an already antiquated sentiment: (many) queers can now marry and fight in American wars; the Pope has ordered Christians to atone for the marginalization of LGBT people; and queer theory is fully lodged in American academia, making its charge for revolution resound less ...
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