Humans have learned so much since the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment two and a half centuries ago. We learned our universe was inconceivably larger and older than we had imagined. We learned life on earth began, not in a Mesopotamian garden with magic fruit trees and a talking snake, but in the ocean,…
I’d like to take a few minutes to explain why yesterday’s news from the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, CA, was such a big deal — and why it also wasn’t. What I don’t want to do is suggest I’m an expert in nuclear physics. No, I’m a geek with a lifelong affection for…
If you aren’t a Star Wars nerd, you can skip this post, I promise. I think episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett has been out long enough now that I can share a pet theory of mine here publicly. You might remember that four years ago, David Benioff and D.B. (Dan) Weiss were…
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: There’s a desert planet, OK? And on this planet is a teenage boy with a Biblical first name. He doesn’t want to be there. It’s a world where moisture is currency, rusty mining vehicles share the surface with giant worms, and a tribe of hooded “sandpeople” ambush the…
Have you felt it? I haven’t updated this site in over a year. That changes now. I’ve completed the first draft of a new novel. Expect to hear more about it soon. COVID struck America hardcore in March 2020. With nothing to do but stay home for the summer — my day job is teaching…
We need to rethink how we approach so-called “problem plays.”In Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, a woman is threatened with the death of her brother if she doesn’t submit to sexual assault. The guilty party gets discovered and punished, but the innocent victim is victimized yet again by an allegedly just duke coercing her into a…
It’s taken me fifty years to understand this, but most people define good behavior (by themselves and those around them) as that which benefits them, not that which benefits other people …
As a writer, I’m fascinated by the various methods of transition from words on a page, whether from a bestselling book or that hot new screenplay some Hollywood upstart typed into Final Draft on his laptop in Starbucks, to thousands of video screens all over the world.
I am a lifelong fan of stand-up comedy. Among my earliest memories are the hours I spent listening to and all but memorizing the classic Bill Cosby albums in my uncle’s collection. When someone asked me recently what my favorite TV show of all time was, I decided it was Saturday Night Live, from the…
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