Topic: Art and Culture

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Luce Brings Light to the Age of Anxiety

– September 1, 2019

The film Luce is beautiful, haunting, and profound precisely because it doesn’t take the easy path. It doesn’t disguise the underlying truth that our endless search for saints to canonize and witches to burn is nothing but a cover for our failure to deal with the much less dramatic troubles in our own lives. 

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The Obama Film American Factory Backfires

– August 26, 2019

The Obamas may have intended to make a film about workplace culture clashes, but American Factory is at its core damning snapshot of American labor entitlement in an age of increasing globalization.

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The Pursuit - Capitalism

The Film Capitalism Needs Right Now

– August 24, 2019

Something tells me that if we are ever going to regain the footing in public culture, the Brooks path might be the one to make it happen.

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aquaman

What Is the Point of Jason Momoa’s Bodyguards?

– August 4, 2019

Imagine there are two people, Jason and Namor, and they have these production possibilities for crimes prevented and movies made per year.

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Dear Taylor Swift: The Trouble with Copyright Is Deeper Than You Know

– July 9, 2019

Instead of worrying about the rights over her songs falling into the wrong hands, she should understand that unleashing her work from the tight grasp of IP’s claws would benefit her, as it would set her apart from other artists, and benefit all humankind, as others would be able to improve on what she’s done.

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Elton-John

Elton John’s Soundtrack to Half a Century

– June 12, 2019

It’s a rare artist who elicits the kind of widespread emotional homage that Elton John is receiving right now, hopefully, many years before his career is really over.

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goldcoins

In Money We Trust (Documentary by Steve Forbes)

– June 6, 2019

The origin of money, the history of central banks, the operation and destruction of the gold standard, the rise of inflation and massive government debt, the disastrous bailouts of 2008 – it’s all covered in an outstanding hour-long documentary appearing on PBS stations called In Money We Trust.

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nazar amulet

Every House Needs a Nazar Amulet

– March 26, 2019

We need some protection from the evil eye that modern politics is working daily to unleash.

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clockrepair

The Strange Economics of Mechanical-Clock Repair

– March 4, 2019

You are not in it for the money? That might be the source of the problem. 

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shallnotgrowold

The Veneer of Civilization Slipped Away

– February 22, 2019

Every idealist hopes that humankind can learn from history. There is plenty of evidence that we do not.

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Bohemian Rhapsody Shows That Artists Should Care About Audiences

– November 16, 2018

The wonderful movie based on the life of Freddie Mercury and his band makes a great case that commerce can be and is the friend to art. It has always been so, but we are only now fully coming to terms with what this implies for the artistic endeavor generally.

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Incredibles 2 and the Power of Envy

– November 10, 2018

The Incredibles must discover the fortitude to push through and say no to those who want to bury talent in a thicket of mediocracy.

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