Back in the summer of 2011, my friend Ernest Myers and I observed “June of Jest” by challenging each other to read Infinite Jest in one month. We were long out of college and not looking to impress anyone other than ourselves. It was a joy to read it alongside a friend and to have someone to share the burden with. As I watched The End of the Tour, based on Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky’s five-day interview with David Foster Wallace in 1996... Read more
Editors’ Note: This article is part of the Patheos Public Square on the Future of Progressive Christianity in America. Read other perspectives beginning this evening here. With the release and success of each new blockbuster film, a certain niche of the filmmaking community mourns the death of original (read smaller, indie) film content. They lament a future of theatrical releases that will be dominated by endless comic book adaptations and sequels. The concern is understandable but misplaced. These fears parallel... Read more
Having wrapped up the third season of Orange is the New Black, Tony Jones and I have moved on to a new Killer Serial, Mr. Robot. Read on for our thoughts on the first four episodes. (more…) Read more
If you’re not familiar with the Stanford Prison Experiment, you’ll be thrilled and riveted by the film of the same name. If you know about the infamous experiment, the film, while still engaging and disturbing, might leave you wanting more. (more…) Read more
In this installment of Killer Serials, Tony Jones and I look back over season 3 of Orange is the New Black and discuss a few lingering and overarching themes. (more…) Read more
When you teach undergraduates, there are frequent moments that remind you that youth culture has passed you by, and that the “coolness” card that every young person carries simply by virtue of their age, in your case, has been revoked. During a recent class, a student made a presentation arguing that reality television was not just unreal, but bad for society. This argument has been around since the first reality TV experiments, like An American Family, shown on PBS in... Read more
We’re back with the latest installment of Killer Serials, in which Tony Jones, and I discuss the final four episodes of Orange is the New Black, season 3. (more…) Read more
My book, Hollywood Biblical Epics: Camp Spectacle and Queer Style from the Silent Era to the Modern Day, dropped yesterday. Get it on Amazon or anywhere fine books are sold. Continuing now with the “Popping Collars” podcast in which the Rev’s Greg Knight and Betsy Gonzalez and I discuss biblical epics, scripture, and popular culture. Here’s the link to the whole podcast, which is much more entertaining than reading a transcript. Again, I offer the caveat that this is a... Read more
So the big day has arrived. My book, Hollywood Biblical Epics: Camp Spectacle and Queer Style from the Silent Era to the Modern Day, drops today. Get it on Amazon or anywhere fine books are sold….online. With a title like that they’re not exactly going to have it at your local Books-A-Million. To celebrate, I want to post an excerpt and a link to a recent appearance I made on the “Popping Collars” podcast explaining some of what the book... Read more
The next installment of Killer Serials, in which Tony Jones and I discuss episodes 7-9 of the third season of Orange is the New Black. (more…) Read more
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