Hi folks — here’s the first in what will hopefully be a continuing series of thoughts on various new films. These won’t necessarily be reviews, but more an exploration of…

Here’s a trailer I cut last summer for the ReelAbilities film festival here in Chicago. The annual festival is “dedicated to sharing the human experience of disability through art and film.” As…

[Originally appearing in Dr. Alan Gitelson’s American Government textbook, 2014] “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” — Mark Twain So, you’re listening to the radio…

[Originally appearing in Dr. Alan Gitelson’s American Government textbook, 2014] "Well, I was disappointed again this year in our inability to come to grasp the issues on the daily broadcasts,…

[Originally appearing in Dr. Alan Gitelson’s American Government textbook, 2014] So, try to envision the following big-budget Hollywood film: a couple of American journalists travel to Beijing… and along the…

[Originally appearing in Dr. Alan Gitelson’s American Government textbook, 2014] At what point does a biographical film turn into political advertising? For a variety of reasons, fictional politicians often seem…

Greetings everyone! Hope your 2014 was a bit healthier than mine? After recovering from a frozen shoulder (relating to a 2013 ruptured appendix), I came down with an abscess in…

Hey folks — it’s been a while! The podcasts have been few but my doc project, Enemies of the State, is coming along — there are revised clips on its page here covering…

Hello, folks! For those not in the know, I’ve been working on a documentary about the relationship between Hollywood villainy and societal fears (working title, Enemies of the State). It now…

We live in an age where we have nearly-limitless access to not only mass media, but also the critical dissection of said culture via the internet. What sort of impact…