Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Mendacious David Barton

Posted on Monday 17 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Amanda Marcotte at Salon: First fake news, now fake history: Glenn Beck wants to train young people to promote an alternative history About Glenn Beck and his partner, David Barton -! If there are two characteristics that really define Trumpism, … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Kolbert on Trump and Climate Change

Posted on Thursday 13 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Elizabeth (The Sixth Extinction) Kolbert, in The New Yorker: Earth Day in the Age of Trump. She wonders how “A White House characterized by flaming incompetence has nevertheless managed to do one thing effectively: it has trashed years’ worth of … Continue reading →

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Science Fiction as Engagement with Inhuman Reality

Posted on Thursday 13 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

A thought for the day. I’ve seen a post by SF critic Paul Kincaid wondering how a film like Hidden Figures — a historical film about the early US space program — can be nominated for a Hugo Award, an … Continue reading →

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Lawrence M. Krauss: THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD — SO FAR

Posted on Thursday 13 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Lawrence M. Krauss’ new book is a book by a theoretical physicist, and so the greatest story turns out to be — a history of physics, especially of the last few decades. He begins by emphasizing how this is a … Continue reading →

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Apple Valley History

Posted on Wednesday 12 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Apple Valley was not quite so obscure a place as I may have implied. Even as a child, I was aware of a couple exceptional circumstances. First, it was the home of then famous (if by now likely forgotten) singing … Continue reading →

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Both Proud of Our Ships: TOS “The Corbomite Maneuver”

Posted on Tuesday 11 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

The Enterprise encounters an enormous alien vessel that blocks its path and threatens its destruction. Now watching the episodes in production order; this one is production order #2, after “Where No Man Has Gone Before”; this was the first episode … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Expertise, Dunning-Kruger, Tactics of Denialists

Posted on Monday 10 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

NPR’s Adam Frank on Why Expertise Matters, commenting in part about Tom Nichols new book The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters. Frank quotes a couple key passages from Nichols: Nichols is profoundly troubled … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Bannon’s historical cycles; the Myth of Main Street; Late Bloomers

Posted on Monday 10 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Interesting stories and essays from Sunday’s New York Times. Bannon’s Worldview: Dissecting the Message of ‘The Fourth Turning’ A news article about a book that has influence Steve Bannon’s thinking about the world, a book by two amateur historians, that … Continue reading →

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Religious Zealotry in Science Fiction

Posted on Saturday 8 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

There has been a controversy within the SF field over the past few years about how groups called the “sad puppies” and the “rabid puppies”, for various reasons, have mounted campaigns to influence the Hugo Awards nominations. (They succeeded two … Continue reading →

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No Beach to Walk On: TOS “The Naked Time”

Posted on Friday 7 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

An infection brought on board the Enterprise causes crew members to reveal their innermost fears and desires, as the ship spirals in toward a disintegrating planet. This time the planet is blue, appropriately, since it’s a cold ice-planet. In the … Continue reading →

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