Meryl Streep faces off against Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, and the youngest ever competitive Oscar winner to determine who gave the best supporting performance in the 1970s. … More Every Best Supporting Actress Oscar Winner of the 1970s Listed and Ranked
The success or failure of a presidency largely depends on whether or not the president is able to deliver on the agenda he or she sets upon taking office. Are they able to get things done? Can they focus and prioritize their goals so they don’t waste time on something that isn’t achievable or realistic … More How the Chief of Staff Shapes the Presidency: The Gatekeepers, by Chris Whipple: Book Review
On #InternationalWomensDay, I thought it would be important to stop and take a look at literature’s most famous female character. Ask people who their favorite literary character is and you’re bound to get a wide variety of results. But I’d be willing to bet that Elizabeth Bennet would be near the top. Sure, she represents half … More Why Elizabeth Bennet Still Matters
The Association of Small Bombs begins with a sudden explosion in a Delhi marketplace in 1996. Two young brothers, Tushar and Nakul Khurana, are killed. Their friend Mansoor Ahmed survives. The novel then follows what happens over the next twenty years in order to show the ripple effect that this “small bomb” has. Tushar and … More A Culture of Violence: The Association of Small Bombs, by Karan Mahajan: Book Review
And I don’t just mean that they’ve run out of heroic institutions to base spin-offs around. I mean, where else could they go? Chicago Education? Chicago.Gov? Don’t give Dick Wolf any ideas about the last one, because come to think of it a City Hall spinoff actually might work now that they’ve branched into legal. … More The Problems With NBC’s Chicago Series
No question, the 89th Academy Awards will always be remembered for #EnvelopeGate, the Best Picture flub heard round the world. It’s an awards show’s ultimate nightmare–made even worse given that it happened in the social media age, when the error would be replayed, examined in close detail, and shouted to the world AS IT WAS … More The 2017 Oscars: Why a Shareable Ceremony Doesn’t Work
The Best Actor category in the 1970s is full of larger than life performances that commanded your attention. Perhaps in an attempt to balance that out, the Supporting Actor category went in the opposite direction, tending to honor more thoughtful and quiet performances. Understated is the key word here. Once again, it behooves me to … More Ranking Every Best Supporting Actor Oscar Winner of the 1970s
“There was so much to destroy.” Every reader knows the sensation of getting really excited by the idea behind a book, then finding the execution is totally meh. When it happens, it’s natural to experience denial. You try to like it in spite of itself. You make excuses for the problematic areas. In your head, … More Coming of Age in a Cult: The Girls, by Emma Cline
Now that we’ve gotten the best books I read in 2016 out of the way, let’s do the unpleasant business, shall we? If you follow me at all, you probably know I made it a project to read all the James Bond books written by Ian Fleming in 2016 and that by the end it … More The Worst Books I Read in 2016
There’s a common theme in the best books I read in 2016: oppression. Perhaps that isn’t so surprising in a year where the country seemed to take a giant leap backward following a contentious election, but it also reflects a sort of state of being for where I am as a reader. Perhaps you’ve noticed … More The Best Books I Read in 2016
Supposedly Fun 