The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Michael Maiello's picture

    Keep the Police Away From the Public

    By Michael Maiello on Tue, 11/25/2014 - 12:21pm | Politics

    I'm having a hard time believing Darren Wilson's story, particularly where he says that Michael Brown, while struggling for the cop's weapon in a confrontation that lasted less than a minute, said, "you're too much of a pussy to shoot me."  This brings to mind the words that George Zimmerman put into the mouth of Trayvon Martin -- all bluster and villainy, the street thug equivalent of Dr. Doom telling Mr. Fantastic that "You'll crumble before the power of my atomic nullifier!" rather than just using the damned thing.

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    The Fire This Time

    By Doctor Cleveland on Tue, 11/25/2014 - 12:11am | Politics, Social Justice

    There is one truth that we need to face today, after the grand jury's decision in Ferguson. And that truth is simple. No one can live like this.

    No one can live with an arrangement where their sons can be killed with impunity. No one can make their peace with that. No one can accept that. No one can live like this.

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Social Justice
    Michael Maiello's picture

    The Strategic Overview of J. Alfred Prufrock

    By Michael Maiello on Sun, 11/23/2014 - 2:53pm | Arts & Entertainment

    I reimagined The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock as a PowerPoint presentation.

    Topics: 
    Arts & Entertainment
    Ramona's picture

    John Kennedy's Death And How It Changed Us

    By Ramona on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 8:26pm | Politics
    John Kennedy, even with his publicly reported physical frailties, was a man with an almost mythical presence.  He was young and vibrant, he had a beautiful wife and two small children, and, true or not, we perceived him as the peoples' president--as close to being one of us, his wealth notwithstanding, as we were likely to get.  He was the FDR we had been wishing for.
    Topics: 
    Politics
    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    Turning Down the Imaginary Car (Advice from Actors to Academics, Part 2)

    By Doctor Cleveland on Mon, 11/17/2014 - 8:52pm | Personal

    I blogged earlier about how the academic job search can be framed like the search for an acting job (where the odds are incredibly steep, rejection is pervasive, and the stakes feel deeply personal). Today's post is a second installment of advice from Robert Cohen's classic Acting Professionally, a very career-specific book of advice that I have found applicable to other careers.

    Topics: 
    Personal
    Michael Maiello's picture

    Why Is Brookings Pushing Scammy Annuity Products?

    By Michael Maiello on Sun, 11/16/2014 - 5:33pm | Business

    On Saturday morning, a Tweet from Brookings caught my eye.  It suggested “Longevity Annuities” would be a great solution to the post-pension problem of longevity risk.  This is such an unbelievably bad idea that my first thought was that some insurance company had corrupted Brookings.  I see no evidence of that, however.  It’s probably just a case of two Hamilton Project thinkers who are overly in love with private industry solutions to truly public problems.

    Topics: 
    Business
    Ramona's picture

    So It Happened And It Was Bad. No Quitting Now.

    By Ramona on Mon, 11/10/2014 - 3:11pm | Politics

    It's been almost a week since the mid-term elections and you may or may not have noticed that this space has been empty.  Deserted.  Lights out.  Nobody home.

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Michael Maiello's picture

    Midterms Open Thread

    By Michael Maiello on Tue, 11/04/2014 - 11:57am | Politics

    Have you all noticed that over the last two days, whoever is picking op-eds for The New York Times has decided that we shouldn't even have midterm elections?

    Well, we do have them.  And you can discuss them and how they are all Obama's fault (or not) right here!

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    Thinking Like the Plague

    By Doctor Cleveland on Fri, 10/31/2014 - 8:19am | Politics

    The Ebola panic in the American media seems uncannily familiar to me, in the worst possible way. Anyone who studies Renaissance literature for a living has read many accounts of terrible epidemics, and many stories of epidemic hysteria. (In fact, some people have written learned and illuminating books about literary responses to the plague; I can't pretend to be one of them.) Smallpox is a terrible affliction. Bubonic plague is worse.

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Michael Maiello's picture

    The End of QE and the Bret Easton Ellis Era of Monetary Policy

    By Michael Maiello on Wed, 10/29/2014 - 5:31pm | Business

    Quantitative Easing, we hardly knew ye, and now ye are gone without a lot of people even knowing what ye did or how ye did it. Well, here were some of your effects.

    Topics: 
    Business

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