A bad week for public intellectuals
I was never formally introduced to either Vaclav Havel or Christopher Hitchens, but I encountered both of them exactly once. I was lucky enough to hear Havel deliver a speech at Stanford University...
View ArticleWe interrupt normal IR blogging to state the obvious about the Star Wars films
Your humble blogger has occasionally demonstrated an interest in the Star Wars saga, and, alas, I see over the weekend that a lot of nonsense and some occasional brilliance has been written about this...
View ArticleIf the Exodus took place today...
Your humble blogger is busy going into carbohydrate withdrawal celebrating Passover this week. I blogged about the international relations implications of this holiday a few years ago -- but that was...
View ArticleThe timeless international relations humor of The Daily Show
Over the years, The Daily Show has tackled issues relating to world politics and American foreign policy with a sharp satirical, somewhat left-of-center edge. I have found most of these takes to be...
View ArticleHow Game of Thrones found its political groove
[WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD] I enjoyed the first season of Game of Thrones but was somewhat underwhelmed with efforts to use it as a window to understanding world politics today. The second season, which...
View ArticleWhy foreign policy professionals can't have it all
I take my cues from the front page of the New York Times just like any other effete intellectual member of the Media Elite. And today, Jodi Kantor delves into the latest paroxysm of debate about women...
View ArticleGone Comic-Con-ing
Posting will be intermittent for the next few days, as your humble blogger is headed to... Comic-Con 2012 in San Diego. I will be going in two capacities: 1) An expert for the Zombie Research...
View ArticleWhat world politics wonks can take away from Comic-Con
Your humble blogger will be winging his way back to the East Coast after a few days at Comic-Con. Now, one of the purposes of this blog is to act as a networked node between the worlds of popular...
View ArticleAs an expert in post-apocalyptic political economy....
For the past ten days your humble blogger has been doing some intense work on a project that will see the light of day in the spring of 2013. This project has left your humble blogger's brain in a...
View ArticleWhen television goes MAD
This television season has been a mixed blessing for those of us who like to study how humans behave under anarchy. On the one hand, in addition to Season Three of The Walking Dead about to start,...
View ArticleIdeologues to social scientists: get off our lawn!!
As I've written before, I'm a big fan of Chris Hayes'Twilight of the Elites, and the argument contained therein that public distrust of elites and expertise more generally is at an all-time high. Two...
View ArticleArgo -- the Foreign Policy review
Last night your humble blogger went to see Argo, which Ben Affleck directs and stars in. Here's a trailer: Now, those readers who care about things like "cinematography" or "editing" will love this...
View ArticleWhy World War Z scares me -- and not in the good way
We might live in an era of globalization, but its is nevertheless true that travel abroad leads to some odd news gaps when one returns. Last year I took a transatlantic flight and while I was...
View ArticleHas the zombie apocalypse jumped the shark?
In recent weeks there's been a low hum of pretty interesting and not-so-interesting essays asking why there has been so much attention paid in the zombie apocalypse, and what that attention signifies....
View ArticleWhen foreign policy pundits analyze Santa Claus
December 25th is a time of love, gifts, prayers... and thinking long and hard about Santa Claus as an actor in world politics. Sure, one could just compose awesome poems in the holiday spirit -- or...
View ArticleAn appalling lack of zombie preparedness in the Great White North
Your humble blogger is taking a vacation at an undisclosed zombie-proof redoubt for the next ten days, so blogging will be on the lighter side. Speaking of the lighter side, juuuuuust a few friends...
View ArticleThis is me at TEDx on zombies
Your humble blogger gave a talk at the "Sex, Tech and Rock & Roll" TEDx event at Binghamton University last month. My talk was entitled "Metaphor of the Living Dead" and was in part prompted by my...
View ArticleHow the zombie apocalypse affects interest group politics
Over at the Guardian, Ed Pilkington notes a rather curious silence from a powerful American interest group: The National Rifle Association is so tied up fighting new gun restrictions in the wake of...
View ArticleBrad Pitt just depressed the living hell out of me about World War Z
So the big push for World War Z is clearly afoot. The second trailer for the film was released a week ago: So this trailer isn't all that different from the first trailer, which means my qualms...
View ArticleIdeas, Identity, and Game of Thrones
[WARNING #1: SPOILERS AHEAD] [WARNING #2: I HAVE NOT READ THE GAME OF THRONES BOOKS. WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN ANALYSIS BASED SOLELY ON THE HBO SHOW. YES, I KNOW I COULD READ THE BOOKS TO DISCOVER WHAT...
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