film

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Cassidy Hutchinson testified on Tuesday that Trump grew violent in the presidential limousine, nicknamed the beast, toward a member of his Secret Service detail. Trump had orchestrated the attack on the Capitol by the Oath Keeper and Proud Boys white nationalist militias and had promised them he would lead them […]

African-Americans

Sidney Poitier – Hollywood’s first Black leading man reflected the civil rights movement on screen

The Conversation

By Aram Goudsouzian | – In the summer of 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. introduced the keynote speaker for the 10th-anniversary convention banquet of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Their guest, he said, was his “soul brother.” “He has carved for himself an imperishable niche in the annals of our nation’s history,” King told the […]

Climate Crisis

‘Don’t Look Up’: Hollywood’s primer on climate denial illustrates 5 myths that fuel rejection of science

The Conversation

By Gale Sinatra and Barbara K. Hofer | – Every disaster movie seems to open with a scientist being ignored. “Don’t Look Up” is no exception – in fact, people ignoring or flat out denying scientific evidence is the point. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play astronomers who make a literally Earth-shattering discovery and then […]

Featured

Emma Watson of Harry Potter Fame expresses Solidarity with Palestinians, is Smeared as Anti-Semite by Far-Right Likudnik

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – British actress Emma Watson, 31, whom many remember from her childhood role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, is all grown up. And she made big waves on the internet by posting an image to Instagram that showed Palestinians protesting, waving the Palestinian flag, and demanding a “free […]

Culture

Why ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is a lesson in Restorative Justice needed by our Vindictive Politics

Waging Nonviolence

Raven Yamamoto | – This article contains spoilers for “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” ( Waging Nonviolence) – I went into “Spider-Man: No Way Home” thinking it was going to be another feel-good film about one of my favorite characters to come out of Marvel’s long list of heroes. But I was happily surprised to find […]

Authoritarianism

House censures defiant Rep. Gosar for Video in Which he Murders AOC, strips Committee Posts

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Ulysse Bex | – ( Cronkite News) – WASHINGTON – The House censured Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, Wednesday and stripped him of his committee assignments as punishment for a violent cartoon he posted that appeared to show him killing a liberal Democratic member and threatening the president. Gosar, speaking to the full House, said […]

Africa

Dune – a prophetic tale about the environmental destruction wrought by the colonisation of Africa

The Conversation

By Oli Mould | – Director Denis Villeneuve’s most recent sci-fi epic is the latest attempt to tell the story of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed 1965 novel, Dune. The film is set millennia in the future when the galaxy is ruled by a class of family Houses. Each house battles for control over the most valuable […]

Books

At its heart, Dune is a Tragedy, and a Warning against Trumpism

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The protagonist of the new Denis Villeneuve film, Dune, Paul Atreides, is a complex character, but he should be seen as an antihero, as the protagonist of a Greek tragedy with a fatal tragic flaw. The author of the 1965 novel on which the film is based, Frank Herbert, was […]

Culture

Was Mark Ruffalo wrong to accuse Israel of Genocide?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The great actor and great humanitarian Mark Ruffalo apologized on Twitter last week for asserting that Israel was committing “genocide” toward the Palestinians, saying that the accusation was inaccurate, inflammatory and disrespectful and he had thought better of it. He also implied that such language was related to anti-Semitic hate […]