Self-parody capital of our nation.

Last updated on: August 1, 2012 at 1:04 am By Eve Tushnet

Gene Wolfe, from SF writers’ 1987 time-capsule predictions for 2012

Last updated on: July 28, 2012 at 1:28 pm By Eve Tushnet

The Thumb—Power: America and the U.S.S.R. preserve an uneasy accord, each testing the other’s will within well-defined limits. No major nuclear war has taken place. Soviets are more like Americans (and Americans more like Soviets) than anyone else. –read the rest here; Tim Powers’s answer sounds eerily like the kind of thing my grandfather would have written! Link is probably via Jesse Walker. And I made the case in that final sentence here! Read more

“Choosing poorly in your friends”

Last updated on: July 26, 2012 at 1:19 am By Eve Tushnet

A great interview with Dan Barden, author of The Next Right Thing, which I reviewed (glowingly!) for the Weekly Standard. I love his line about “earthly justice” as well. Link via HEAR. Read more

“A Geek and Her God”

Last updated on: July 26, 2012 at 12:42 am By Eve Tushnet

in which I interview Leah Libresco. Topics include praying in sign language, being the gooseberry, and what Catholics should know before discussing the faith with atheists. (I think I get to call her a gooseberry since I already called myself the Freak of the Week when this happened.) Read more

After the house of the dead

Last updated on: July 26, 2012 at 12:37 am By Eve Tushnet

The extensive government regulation of behavior extends after the prison. As UCLA law professor Sharon Dolovich argues in “Creating the Permanent Prisoner,” those leaving prison enter into a dense web of government management, simultaneously punitive and neglectful. People who leave prison face “[b]ans on entry into public housing, restrictions on public-sector employment, limits on access to federal loans for higher education, and restrictions on the receipt of public assistance… The American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section recently embarked on a... Read more

From Raymond J. Nogar, “The Lord of the Absurd”

Last updated on: July 26, 2012 at 12:36 am By Eve Tushnet

Father Teilhard’s vision [of order and beauty in the cosmos] seems to have all the qualities of the old myth of the eternal return, in which history is really incidental and novelty is, at bottom, only apparent. In his cosmic order, even Christ the Lord of history finds His “place” at the center, and the contradiction of the Cross is quite logical and expected. In that world, there is no terror, no trickery, no trouble…. The God of the strange... Read more

Kraken wall decal.

Last updated on: July 23, 2012 at 11:58 pm By Eve Tushnet

…ON SALE. Via Boykis. Read more

“Public Faces”

Last updated on: July 23, 2012 at 3:26 pm By Eve Tushnet

in which I review the National Gallery of Art exhibit, “I Spy: Photography and the Theater of the Street, 1938 – 2010.” Show closes August 5 so you should go soon! Review is subscribers-only, at least for now. Read more

Interview with “Beasts of the Southern Wild” director

Last updated on: July 23, 2012 at 3:16 pm By Eve Tushnet

is a mixed bag for sure, but I liked this glimpse into where he was coming from. My review (spoilery) is here. Read more

“Drug decriminalization in Portugal decreases number of addicts”

Last updated on: July 23, 2012 at 2:26 pm By Eve Tushnet

via The Fix. Read more