The Funny, the Serious and the Social: A Reflection from the Leno/Conan Controversy

It’s been an odd couple of weeks in the news recently, with a number of articles and video segments frantically reporting on the Conan O’Brien/Jay Leno fiasco. “I’m with Coco” fans’ dreams for the future of The Tonight Show were laid to rest when NBC executives officially announced a little over a week ago that they planned to send him and his crew packing. In short: there has been much hype surrounding...

By Amy Cannon in Other — February 8, 2010 at 2:48 pm

I have not seen Avatar. I don’t plan on seeing it, either. Before the film fanatics stone me, know that I watch very few movies at all — much less movies that cost over 10 dollars to see. I don’t have much of a soft spot for SciFi, and — I have heard — though the visual affects are heavenly, the story line holds about as much water as a swiss cheese. I’m more interested in...

The Funny, the Serious and the Social: A Reflection from the Leno/Conan Controversy

By Jennifer D Gaertner

February 4th, 2010 | Media, Television | Read More

33 Things: This Week’s Intriguing & Amusing Links

By Robin Dembroff

Here we go again! This week’s 33 links–everything from Apple flops to Burger King bars to French politics. We’ve got it all. 1.Victor Davis Hanson asks, “Is Obama trying to be Plato’s Philosophy King?” 2.Before & After: Satellite Images of Haiti 3. Pants bomber causes grief...

January 29th, 2010 | Thirty Three Things | Read More

A Rush to the Middle… Class

By Lindsay Stallones

It’s the speech the White House Communications Office spends a year writing, and the news media spends a couple days dissecting. It was important enough that the Framers mandated that the president “shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend...

January 28th, 2010 | Conservative/Liberal, Democrats, Domestic Policy, Economy, Politics | Read More

Barack Obama: The Populist Professor?

By Rachel Motte

Last night’s State of the Union address changed nothing, aside from Chris Matthews’ eyesight, which I trust has returned to normal. President Obama is still committed to the same unpopular policies that have left him with a dropping approval rating, and he “won’t quit”. Neither will Republicans,...

January 28th, 2010 | Democrats, Other, Politics, Republicans | Read More

Finding Flannery

By Lauren Myracle

Flannery O’Connor famously claimed that “there won’t be any biographies of me because, for only one reason, lives spent between the house and the chicken yard do not make exciting copy.” Happily, Brad Gooch has begged to differ.

January 28th, 2010 | Art & Literature, Book Reviews | Read More

Was the Haitian disaster preventable?

By Amy Cannon

The obvious response to this potentially offensive question is no. Haiti was hit by a massive earthquake, as straightforward an Act of Nature (or God, depending on who you ask) as one could find. The world is now rushing to relieve the overwhelming devastation this tiny country has suffered. Whether...

January 27th, 2010 | Social Justice | Read More

I :heart: My Boss: Achieving Employee Efficiency

By Robin Dembroff

Two facts: It has been pouring rain in Southern California for three days. I can be an incredibly stubborn person. Added together, they created the scenario in which I refused to drive to work and instead literally waded down sidewalks covered in a foot and a half of water. One mile and thirty minutes...

January 26th, 2010 | Economy | Read More

Global Warming: Facts, Fiction, and Freedom

By Rachel Motte

Global warming might be real, but that doesn’t mean you have to do anything about it. In fact, if your actions are motivated by guilt or fear, Katharine Hayhoe and Andrew Farley would rather you didn’t act at all. Hayhoe and Farley are the authors of A Climate For Change: Global Warming...

January 25th, 2010 | Book Reviews, Creation Care, Culture, Media, Science | Read More

Deconstructing Darwin

By Lindsay Stallones

Those who are surprised that a movie about Charles Darwin’s struggle to complete On the Origin of the Species raised controversy in the U.S. haven’t spent much time following the mundanity of the culture wars. In this country, we’ve created entire industries based on the tit for tat public battles...

January 22nd, 2010 | Film, Intelligent Design | Read More

33 Things: The Week’s Amusing and Intriguing Links

By Robin Dembroff

After taking a week reprieve in order to bring you our special 33 Things: Haiti Edition, 33 Things the (renewed) original is back! Peruse, examine, enjoy. ’till next week!IGIF [I Guess I’m Floating] lists the best songs of the last decade. . A useful word for your vocabulary. (Unless you...

January 22nd, 2010 | Thirty Three Things | Read More

Climbing Raven’s Ladder

By Lindsay Stallones

A good book is a rare delight, and a good fantasy book, rarer still. Jeffrey Overstreet’s Auralia Thread promises four great ones. Overstreet began his career not as an author, but as a film reviewer. His book Through a Screen Darkly: Looking Closer at Beauty, Truth, and Evil in the Movies should...

January 20th, 2010 | Book Reviews | Read More

Hey Critics, Dig a Little Deeper!

By Tim Bartel

[Warning: Mild Spoilers] If I read one more race-focused review of The Princess and the Frog I’m going to gag. The Princess and the Frog is not about race, any more than the Little Mermaid is about flippers or Aladdin is about fezzes. Yes, it’s true that Disney’s latest 2-D animated film features...

January 20th, 2010 | Film, Media | Read More