CategoryArts & Culture
On the State of Men and Reading
Valuable advice to students: Learn how to read deeply
The Enduring Relevance of The Brothers Karamazov
Dostoevsky opposed materialism and pointed readers to beauty and mystery
Wanted: Comedian Who is Actually Funny
First Colbert, now Kimmel.
What If Science Tried Doing Without Materialism?
In a thoughtful review of The Immortal Mind, John Zmirak points to the way it currently underlies most popular presentations of science
At COSM 2025: When AI Meets Tinseltown… Look Out!
Superagent Ari Emanuel will be back at COSM this year, to talk about how AI is reimagining Hollywood
Declining Literacy Rates and What Happens Next
Are we being alarmist or is literacy really on a lifeline?
In a Materialistic Universe, Literature Doesn’t Make Sense
Language itself is theological. It’s an ascent
Colbert, CBS, and the Shrinking of Legacy Media
Is journalistic objectivity possible? Can comedians just stick to being funny?
AI Songs and Bands Are Creeping into Spotify
It's official. The bots are now coming after the bards
Sports Gambling is a Big, New Problem
Common sense says sports betting isn't worth it. But once you start, it can be hard to stop.
Book Ban in San Fran
Bookstore states it won't sell Harry Potter anymore based on Rowling's views on gender
The State of Reading in an AI World
Are we heading to a post-literate society?
Did Orwell’s 1984 Predict the Rise of AI?
A simple act like writing a diary entry emblemizes the struggle to stay humanThree books stand at the top of the dystopian genre, even several decades after their publication: Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley; Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury; and perhaps supremely, 1984, by George Orwell. Each novel features versions of a futuristic society in which freedom is restricted (through different means) and foresees a bleak existence governed by the basest impulses in the human race. While Orwell’s masterpiece is typically hailed as a warning of the surveillance state, where individuality is erased in favor of group identity, it is also about the rise of technologies that replace human thought. Novelist Walter Kirn points this out in a recent episode of America This Week: 1984 is the story of the extinguishing, the Read More ›
Deep Reading in a World Full of Words
The media environment is saturated with images, videos, and words. How can we regain our attention?
Chicago Sun-Times Used AI to Create Fake Summer Book List
The blind trust in AI continues
The Last Humanist: What the Digital Age Can’t Replace
My review of Superbloom by Nicholas Carr, perhaps the last critic standing, with thoughts on some of his earlier books
Dean Koontz on Writing and the Mystery of Life
Koontz believes every writer must have a metaphysic
Famed Reclusive Novelist to Release New Novel in the Fall
How can writers and creators today attain success in their fields?