Puppetry
In this day of video-everything, the old-time art and skill of puppetry is still hanging on, if by a thread, so to speak [and yes, it’s a terrible pun]. In fact, one well-known F&SF author – Mary...
View ArticleIs Freedom Killing Us?
Most Americans, from what I’ve heard and seen, like to think of themselves as a peaceful people, who only fight when provoked and to defend their freedoms. Certainly, over the decades, pundits and...
View ArticleThe Real Problem With Finance
What’s not to love about the burgeoning U.S. financial sector? After all, the U.S. finance, insurance and real estate sector now accounts for 20 percent of GDP — compared with only 10 percent in 1947....
View ArticleCertainly Not “The Best”
I recently read an anthology of “best science fiction” from 2016, published in 2017 and co-edited by a respected editor with whom I’ve previously worked. I’m not revealing more because the purpose of...
View ArticleMarch Question
Tor just revealed a new set of covers for the first three Recluce books. Was this really necessary? Necessary? Perhaps not, but covers are one of the reasons why readers buy some books and don’t pick...
View ArticleThis Worried Age
Because I’ve been involved with F&SF for a considerable period of time, I’ve seen trends in writing come and go. I’ve seen writers burst upon the scene and then fade, while others creep in and...
View ArticleConflicting Values
In the latest issue of The Atlantic, writer and scientist Alison Gopnik lays out the basis for one of the greatest and most unacknowledged value conflicts in American life – the conflict between...
View ArticleHow Long Will It Be…
…before Republicans and others who supported Trump will acknowledge their mistake? Will they ever? Trump hasn’t been true to much of anything in his entire life. Not to his three wives. Not to keeping...
View ArticleCollege Teaching
As long-time readers of this blog may have discerned, I have quite a few links to higher education, including a three-year stretch as a college lecturer. I’m anything but pleased with what I perceive...
View ArticleIndiana Comic Con
This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (March 30,31, and April 1) I’ll be at Indiana Comic Con in Indianapolis at the Indiana Convention Center. I’ll be hanging out at the Bard’s Tower booth most of the...
View ArticleCoaches and Professors
For some time now, I’ve observed a certain strange difference between the way both individuals and the media differentiate between collegiate coaches and college voice professors. Both professions...
View ArticleThe Rise of Snowflakes and Teacups
Over the past several months, I took an informal survey of professors at roughly a dozen colleges and universities across the United States, asking about students who entered their respective schools...
View ArticleMotivating the Latest “Generation’
I’m fed up with the all the education and policy bullshit that declares that the U.S. – and sometimes even the world – needs to revamp education totally in order to motivate students of the present...
View ArticlePolitics, not Solutions
President Trump doesn’t understand either economics or foreign trade. Neither, unsurprisingly, do most of his supporters. As a businessman and a college graduate, Trump ought to understand comparative...
View ArticleFree Market “Environmentalism”
This weekend, an interesting story appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune about how Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has proposed rolling back emissions regulations on producing oil and natural gas...
View ArticleIdeals, Ideologues, Politics, and Corruption
Sometimes, when discussing highly volatile subjects, such as politics, it’s best to begin with definitions. So here are four. Ideal – a standard of perfection; a principle to be aimed at. Idealist – a...
View ArticleGratitude and Appreciation
Most of the teachers, professors, and others from whom I learned the most and whom I appreciated the most are dead. That wouldn’t seem surprising, given my age, but several of them died far too young....
View ArticleThe Most Basic Technology?
Most people, when they think of technology, immediately think of advanced forms of tools, and certainly the Greek roots of the word “technology” mean “systematic treatment of art or craft,” which tends...
View ArticleFalse News – A Different Perspective
Like most of what Donald Trump says, there’s a grain of truth in his claims about “false news,” and it’s a grain of truth that most reputable news organizations are essentially ignoring, and by doing...
View ArticleGod-Given Rights?
Today, the local newspaper featured a letter from a reader who was totally irate about the stance of a previous reader, who had suggested that some gun-control legislation was in order. The irate...
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