Culture

Ayn Rand, U.S. government, and censoring of Hollywood dissent

March 6, 2014 By Chris George

In Dennis Broe's "Film Noir, American Workers and Postwar Hollywood," there is an attempt to categorize the film noir movies of different time periods.

“Stand-Off at HWY #37”: Mixed loyalties, motives in great Native drama

March 5, 2014 By Ed Rampell

Ramirez courageously unleashes the dogs of war and sets her characters on a collision course. And as they head for the brink, she struggles to rein them in.

“Redefining Realness”: Janet Mock’s compelling memoir about gender, race, identity

March 5, 2014 By Elyse Vesser

I sat down last weekend, intending to read for 30 minutes or so, and ended up devouring Redefining Realness cover-to-cover in five hours.

“Billy Budd”: sex, revolution and sea in jaw-dropping opera

March 4, 2014 By Ed Rampell

In 1888 Herman Melville began the philosophical novella Billy Budd. Perhaps one could say that composer Benjamin Britten and his librettists E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier "completed" it with their adaptation.

Ideology in crime mysteries: dapper detectives vs. working PIs

February 28, 2014 By Chris George

For many years, detectives came from a variety of occupational backgrounds - but with the large exceptions of industrial workers and farmers - "largely because these people do not have the leisure time to be detectives."