On HU

Featured Archive Post: Kailyn Kent on service in the Grand Budapest Hotel.

Me on the tragic vision of Red Dawn.

Chris Gavaler retells Superman’s origin story in the style of road signs.

Chris Gavaler and I provide dueling 20 key superhero texts.

I restarted my Patreon, so if you like my writing and have spare pennies consider contributing.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At Quartz I wrote about

—the documentary Yarn and the feminism of fiber art.

—the fact that the main victims of gun violence: men.

At the Guardian I wrote about why the Shallows is better than the Birds. (film snob twitter was really upset at this one.)

At the Chicago Reader I wrote about Brian Wilson and how idiosyncratic genius is coded as white.

At Playboy I wrote about how Terminator 2 is the best sequel ever.

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—why I wrote about the Hammer vampire films.

—Neil Degrasse Tyson, Trump, and the allure of technocracy.
 
Other Links

Suki Kim on the racist reaction to her reported book on North Korea (which was sold as a memoir.)

Saving Country Music on the blackballing of the Dixie Chicks.

Noah Gittell on LBJ’s pop culture moment.

David Perry on a Clinton ad full of disability stereotypes.

 
On HU

Philip Smith on Jeeves and social change.

Chris Gavaler on the sci-fi power and sexism of giant women.

on Serpieri’s Druuna and rape in Heavy Metal.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Establishment I interviewed Jillian Keenan about her book Sex and With Shakespeare, and why spanking can be child sexual abuse.

At Playboy I wrote about

—why the NRA is influential (it’s not the money.

—why there’s nothing wrong with fan entitlement.

At Quartz I wrote about Brock Turner and why we should get rid of sex offender registries.

At Random Nerds I interviewed sci fi author Kameron Hurley about criticism and geek feminist revolution.

At Splice Today I wrote about

—Sense and Sensibility and the relief of finding a boring male romantic lead.

—Hammer’s The Satanic Rituals of Dracula and how James Bond unfortunately beats the vampires.
 
Other Links

Tonia Thompson on racist double standards in attitudes towards parenting and tragedy.

Robert Greene II argues that the Civil Rights movement started with the New Deal.

Ken White on why celebrating the woes of Gawker isn’t a good idea.

 
On HU

Featured Archive Post: Consuela Francis and Qiana Whitted on Captain America: Truth.

bit of a short week…though we do have more for next week, I promise.

Chris Gavaler explores the line between abstraction and narrative in comics.

On the tragedy of being named Noah.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Establishment I wrote about indigent defense, and how it can reduce mass incarceration.

At Quartz I wrote about how even if Mexico is not a race, Trump’s comments about Mexicans are still racist.

At The Week I wrote about Al Giordano, an activist and organizer threatening to run against Sanders for the VT Senate seat in 2018.

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—Dracula A.D. 1972 and old vampires same as new vampires.

—third parties, which don’t work in the United States.
 
Other Links

Daniel Harper on Death Proof.

Cripin Sartwellon why Stephen Hawking doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

John M. Harris praises the Confederacy.

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Consuela Francis on teaching race in the comics classroom. Conseula died earlier this month. We’ll really miss her.

Ng Suat Tong on Jacen Burrows’ art in Providence.

Tom Head on imperfection and activism.

Chris Gavaler on how Daredevil is like a weakly electric fish.

Me on failing to write that back to the future thinkpiece.

Jimmy Johnson on the worst television show ever.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Chronicle of Higher Ed I wrote about how even people who don’t know anything about Wonder Woman can write about Wonder Woman.

At the Establishment I wrote about how everyone has embodied sexual fantasies, but only trans women are shamed for them.

On Splice Today I wrote about

—how people who hate identity politics should hate Trump’s white identity politics first.

—the Dracula Hammer film Dracula Rises from the Grave, and how vampires bite through your continuity.

—how I am more rational than all the rationalists.

At the Chicago Reader I wrote about the lovely indie folk band Mutual Benefit. (yes, the name is no good, alas.)

 
Other Links

Ryan Cooper on Barack Obama’s failures in the foreclosure crisis.

Maggie McNeil on rape fantasies.

Adrienne Keene on that Washington Post R*dskins survey.

 
News

In very sad news, Consuela Francis, who wrote a couple of posts for HU over the years, died earlier this week. Details are here. Consuela was wonderfully smart, and I felt lucky to work with her and get her to write for us. We’ll miss her.
 
On HU

Featured Archive Post: Darryl Ayo on Michael DeForge’s sketchbook.

Ng Suat Tong on the mediocrity of Max Landis’ Superman: American Alien.

Me on the documentary Nuclear Nation and the Fukushima tragedy.

Chris Gavaler on the difficulty of defining comics.

Me on how Merrick Garland’s unique merit lies in his being a white man.

Me on Air Supply and the virtues of inauthenticity.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Establishment I wrote about Mark Kirk and hating sex workers to make yourself look moderate.

At Random Nerds I wrote about how the definition of comics today is superhero film.

At Quartz I wrote about how Disney reboots may not be so bad.

At Splice Today I wrote about

—the continuing relevance of music labels and some great releases from Hausu Mountain.

—how Psycho is a vampire film for my weekly post on the Hammer dracula series (this one on Dracula: Prince of Darkness.)

—employment discrimination against women and that 77 cents statistic.
 
Other Links

Yasmin Nair with a nice profile of prison activist Mariame Kaba.

Jonathan Bernstein on what he got wrong about Trump.

Chloe Angyal on how anti abortion terrorism isolates women.

 
On HU

Ng Suat Tong on Frank Miller’s decaying art.

Ben Rietano on superhero parents.

Ng Suat Tong on the awfulness of Captain America: Civil War.

Me on how Frank Miller could be worse.

Me on why the white working class won’t save you.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Guardian I wrote on Sly Stone, who is still alive, thank goodness. (This is unexpectedly one of my biggest stories ever in terms of traffic, I think.)

At the Week I wrote about why Hillary Clinton needs a wife.

At the Establishment I wrote about manly male book clubs for men and also tentacle sex.

At the Daily Dot I wrote about how Google’s lobbyists will save the public domain (maybe.)

At Splice Today:

—my second Hammer dracula post! This one on Brides of Dracula, and how the male gaze falls in a plothole.

—I encouraged people to fear not the Sanders/Trump supporters.
 
Other Links

Emily Bazelon with a NYT feature on whether sex work should be criminalized.

Julia Serano on why trans woman should play cis roles on film.

Aaron Bady on the badness of Daredevil.