By Jonathan P. Eburne Each year, the editors of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary select a “word of the year” based on the …
December 2016
Religion and Materialism at the K-Spa
Natura Spa is a Jimjilbang hidden in the basement of a decadent old marble-walled department store on the corner of …
What He Believed: Revisiting E.M. Forster’s Defense of Liberalism
“I do not believe in Belief.” So goes the first sentence of E.M. Forster’s 1939 essay “What I Believe,” written …
Hong Kong Noir
By Susan Blumberg-Kason When I lived in Hong Kong in the 1990s, my only interaction with the police occurred when …
Everyone Can Benefit from Mindfulness Practice
By Inger E. Burnett-Zeigler Despite the cultural perception that mindfulness is reserved for those endowed with white privilege, the practice …
VICELAND’s Desus & Mero: Late-Night Television With a Laugh (And Plenty of Thought)
By Thomas Klepacz On the Wednesday, November 30th episode of VICELAND’s new daily program Desus & Mero, the show’s two …
Journalism Without Authority: What Have We Lost?
By Steven L. Isenberg Journalism was once cloaked in a mantle of authority, offering trustworthy information and avoiding slant. Careful reportage …
Blade Runner 2049 and Los Angeles’ Korean Future
By Colin Marshall “LOS ANGELES NOVEMBER, 2019.” So, with that stark title card, begins the film that presented the most …
Finding Humility in Camus’ The Plague
Shortly before Christmas Day 1946, Albert Camus delivered a book manuscript to his publisher. Unhappy with what he had written …
Remembering My Father in Trump’s America
By Catherine Biggart On September 11th, an American freelance photojournalist ran from his apartment toward the World Trade Center after …