10 Things For Progressives to Be Thankful For
It’s been an insane year for progressives, who have seized the international spotlight thanks to populist uprisings in politics, economics, media and elsewhere. I shared my list on Thanksgiving at […]
Terror and Terraformation
Occupy Hip Hop
“I hope hip hop can open itself to the possibilities that Occupy Wall Street presents. If we can use its power, we may see some lasting change from this after all.”
Welcome to Population Overload
“We’ve already crossed the threshold.”
Six Heroes Who Fought The Power and Won
While winners ultimately writes histories, what makes a winner often depends on the tenor of the times. And the times they are a-changin’. Again.
Nine Twilight Zone Blockbuster Upgrades
Hollywood is turning into a serious culture vulture scavenging off of existing properties, whose box-office is logically positioned better than films with no previous franchises. It’s a double-edged sword. For […]
Private Roads, Public Tolls
Try to avoid the road rage.
Nuclear Cinema: Ten Prescient Meltdowns
Fukushima and worse could have been avoided if the public and proper authorities would have just watched the following 10 destabilizing cinema and documentary meltdowns.
We’ve Entered the Age of Mass Extinction
Every species has but one goal: To take over the planet. And every species that could, would, if it got the chance.
Our Biggest Security Threat Is Global Warming’s Extreme Weather
If we don’t start seriously sweating the existential crisis of climate change and ignoring the small-time drama of terrorism and partisan sellouts, then we’re finished.
Alan Moore On The Sixties, Superheroes, America, The Bible And Why Lost Sucked
“When the state started to take us seriously and initiated countermeasures, the majority of us folded like bitches.”
Patriot Acts: Ten Comics Nationalists
Straight-up supersoldiers, jingoistic nationalists, unrepentant terrorists and even clueless dunces
Frank Miller Is Ready For His Comics Fatwa
DC Comics said hell no, in a manner of speaking.
Futurama: The Sci-Fi Toon That Wouldn’t Die
Payback is a shiny metal ass, fully bitten.
Adam Curtis’ Killing Machines of Loving Grace
Humanity now sees through the dead eyes built into the machines to which we have ceded our lives.
Superman Defies America, God In 900th Issue
The genius of Superman is that he belongs to everyone, for the dual purposes of peace and protection. He’s above ephemeral geopolitics and nationalist concerns, a universal agent unlike any other found in pop culture.
Moby Makes Sense of Destroyed Media
Moby has been making music across media and genre for over three decades now. Which means he’s watched genres bleed into each other, technology kill the music industry as we […]
Anonymous Clowns Cybersecurity Loudmouths. So Who’s Next?
I’ve been following the sometimes merry digital pranksters of Anonymous for awhile now. But I was stoked when my AlterNet editor Jan Frel asked me to break down their genius […]
Grant Morrison’s Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne Is a Masterful Time-Wipe
No one mashes science, philosophy and superheroes as well as Grant Morrison. And his years-long run on Batman, the most iconic human superhero of all time, is an object lesson […]
All Hail Our Robot Overlords! Sci-Fi’s Best Bots
Czech playwright Karel Capek popularized the term robot in the 1921 play R.U.R., spawning a deluge of artificial life forms in popular culture.
Star Wars Director Dave Filoni Chronicles Life During Clone Wartime
One of pop culture’s most accessible entry points for understanding a War on Terror is a cartoon from George Lucas.
Peak Oil and Climate Change Suck. High-Speed Rail Can Help.
I recently revisited the War on Terra for AlterNet. This time, in a double-barreled breakdown of the national high-speed rail network gaining ground in America, which is still lamely to […]
Plastic Planet Pollutes Our Minds With Truth
It floated atop a garbage patch of discarded water bottles.
Merlin’s Magical Sci-Fantasy Catches Fire
One of my guilty television pleasures is the BBC’s reboot Merlin, which mashes Arthurian legend through the teen soap trope with surprisingly funny and rewarding results. I took the opportunity […]
Bill Gates Is Not a Great Teacher
America sniffs the global average when it comes education. And the last thing it needs is lame advice from Microsoft’s Bill Gates. But that’s what it’s getting, according to my […]
Facebook Co-Founder Unveils Socially Conscious Networker Jumo
Facebook is great for sharing hyperbole about what we ate, saw or spent. But its co-founder Chris Hughes has a new startup called Jumo, which takes social networking into the […]