I just finished watching Hamilton. And it was fine. Better than fine, actually, it was remarkably well done. From the acting to the singing and from the costumes to the set, Hamilton ticks all the right boxes and its Tonys, I’m sure, are well-deserved. But I’m not interested in Hamilton per se, but in the […]
Category: Pop Culture
If We Hate You, It’s Not For Your Christianity
According to Baltimore’s most sage and snarky journalist, the “martyr complex” is a real thing: “The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts. He ascribes all his failure to get on in the world, all of his congenital incapacity and […]
Sexual Puritans in an R-Rated Culture
As you probably know, Christian and I interviewed Dan Savage on our most recent episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors. For those not familiar, Dan is a gay-rights activist as well as the nation’s most well-known sex-advice columnist. Going in, we pretty much knew that the episode would make some people uncomfortable. We were right. I won’t […]
Trans-Jenner
I realize Caitlyn Jenner has been discussed ad nauseam by this point, but I would like to weigh in from a slightly different angle. I fully recognize that in some rare cases a person’s sex may not comport with their gender identification. For example, hermaphrodites (or “intersex” people) who were born with both sets of […]
Vengeance, Vindictiveness, and Valar Morghulis
In George R. R. Martin’s epic series A Song of Ice and Fire (on which the Game of Thrones TV show is based) one character, Arya Stark, goes to sleep each night muttering the names of those on whom she vows to get revenge: Every night Arya would say their names. “Ser Gregor,” she’d whisper to her […]
“Now I’m Just Turning Tricks….”
I have been a fan of Bright Eyes, and of their lead singer/songwriter Conor Oberst, for a little over a decade. Despite his being a bit off his game when I saw the band live (drunk), and despite his not having the best voice out there (understatement), his powers with a pen are admirable to […]