economicspolicy
Poll: U.S. Public Happy with Internet Service, Want Government to Keep Hands Off

If you like your Internet service, can you keep it? President Obama says no, and that migh...

television
NBC’s ‘Peter Pan Live!’ Won’t Match Influence of 1960 Version

Following up on the network's successful live performance adaptation of The Sound of Musi...

television
New TV Network Will Feature True-Crime and Public Service Programming

A new broadcast TV channel, the Justice Network, will feature "gripping stories of true c...

economicspolicy
Obama Goads Senate, Presses Net Neutrality Issue

As I noted here last week, the Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate ensures that Cong...

economicspolicy
Classical Education Challenges Dewified Public Schools

Now that conservatives are done basking in the glow of last Tuesday's decimation of the De...

movies
May-December Relationship Is Done Well in ‘Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud’

Tales of May-December romances can easily fall into cliched male fantasy:  an attractiv...

culture101
Pulp Fiction Rights-Holder Clarity Could Aid Ongoing Republication Boom

As I've noted earlier on this site, pulp fiction was quite unlike what people commonly thi...

television
Upcoming TNT Series ‘Agent X’ Promises Interesting Concept

The TNT cable network has announced a new ten-part series, Agent X, will debut in 2015....

commerce
Republican Senate Takeover Reduces Likelihood of Net Neutrality Mandate

The upcoming Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate could have significant effects on t...

mysteries
CBS Announces ‘Mentalist’ Return Date

There's good news for TV mystery fans: CBS-TV has announced that The Mentalist will retur...

manners-and-morals
There is no “Death with Dignity”

A young woman with terminal cancer made news the last couple weeks when we learned that th...

books
Jews and the Left-Wing

  Jews and the Left:  the Rise and Fall of a Political Alliance by Philip Mendes....

television
SNL Sketch Skewers Unwavering Black Support for Obama

The most recent episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live included an extraordinarily pithy an...

journalism
Conservative Dollars and the Building of Cultural Institutions

I love Mark Judge. Now, I don't know Mark, nor have I ever met him, so don't get worried. ...

theater
A Fine ‘Julius Caesar’ at the Folger Library

After Hamlet, Julius Caesar is among my two or three favorite Shakespeare plays; yet I h...

television
And the Loser Is . . .

Don't get me wrong: I enjoy the Arrow TV series—at least when the characters aren't wall...

television
NBC’s ‘Constantine’ Translates Occult Comic Book Series to TV

Just in time for Halloween, the NBC-TV gothic-action series Constantine arrived last week,...

mysteries
Murder Yesterday and Today: The Stakes Were Higher Then

While reading a mystery novel from the "golden age" of detection, the 1920s to the early '...

books
Review: ‘Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy’

Leo Strauss was undoubtedly one of the most important political philosophers of the twen...

television
NBC Commits to Full Season of ‘Mysteries of Laura, CBS Affirms Four Series

NBC-TV has given a full-season order for new mystery series The Mysteries of Laura. After...

music
Morse’s ‘Songs from November’ Is Classic Classic Rock

Neal Morse is one of the most important figures in progressive rock, even though he didn't...

music
The Greatness of Jack Bruce

Jack Bruce, best known as the bass guitarist, songwriter, and lead singer for the rock s...

television
Ax Falls on ‘Manhattan Love Story’; Will Anyone Notice?

The first domino has fallen: after plumbing horrifying MSNBC levels of ratings disaster,�...

commerce
The World-Changing Possibilities of Apple Pay and Other Electronic Payment Options

Advances in information technology have not only transformed the media and the nation's cu...

manners-and-morals
New Book Documents the Reality of Family Fragmentation: It is a Problem

Jonathan Last at The Weekly Standard has a review of a new book about the breakdown of the...

commerce
New CBS Streaming Service Reflects Rapidly Changing TV Market

Hot on the heels of the announcement of a new streaming service from cable channel HBO ...

mysteries
The Amazing Badness of ‘Scorpion’

The new CBS-TV crime-drama series Scorpion is a clear attempt to refresh the cop show g...

movies
Review: Simenon Adaptation Sustains Mystery in ‘La chambre bleue’ (‘The Blue Room’)

The new film The Blue Room is based on a Georges Simenon detective story (which I have not...

genres
‘Gracepoint’ a Worthy Remake of Ambitious British TV Crime Drama Series

My attitude toward genre fiction is that it's best when the creator is satisfied to make g...

culture101
A Book for October: Ellery Queen’s ‘The Egyptian Cross Mystery’

October is, of course, a good month to read horror fiction, given the obvious connection t...

books
An Excellent Resource for Mystery Aficionados

(GIVE ME THAT) OLD-TIME DETECTION - Summer 2014 - Issue #36 - Old-Time Detection Special...

television
City of Houston to Pastors: Your Views are No Longer Allowed

Yesterday when I turned on my computer I saw this headline on Drudge:  “City subpoenas ...

commerce
HBO Streaming Announcement Is Good News for All Entertainment Consumers, Not Just HBO Watchers

Acting on plans reported here a month ago, entertainment channel HBO has decided to end it...