AI is changing how we define death. That’s not a good thing.
Alexa, when is the Apocalypse?
In less than one year, every person on Earth will be dead. Or so imagined famed science-fiction writer, Ray Bradbury.
If Aliens Exist, Where Are They?
Let’s consider for a moment that aliens exist. Consider too that those aliens are equal to or more intelligent than humans. If those two premises are true, then why have they not contacted us here on Earth? This, in a nutshell, is Fermi’s Paradox.
The End of Indigenous Languages
Tulu is just one of over 3,000 endangered languages across the globe that could soon be forgotten.
A Long Shot: Eliminating Misogyny in Adolescence
Adolescence pushes the boundaries of what is cinematically possible, but also uses that continuous shot to approach the critical junction of young teens and social media content.
Making A Great American Novel
A great story is one that lasts through generations, a story that reveals a struggle within society and forces us to rethink our values. And there are many that fit that bill
Enough With the Birthday Wishes
I turned 40 years old last week. And before you wish me a happy belated, I am more than content to have gone the day without your well wishes.
Mediocrity at the Movies
For the last twenty years, I have wanted Night to be a filmmaker who reinvented cinema. But after two decades of disappointment and mediocrity, it seems more and more like he doesn’t know when to hang up his hat.
On Buying Reading Glasses
Reading glasses indicated that I was old. And old is something I am not. No, no. Not me. Not yet.
Vegetables Don’t Exist.
The word “vegetable” is an arbitrary word given to any non-fruit part of the crops in our diet.
After Twenty Years
Humanity is on the verge of another dramatic transformation. In the next twenty years, every aspect of our lives will be altered.
Bibliosmia: The Smell of Old Books
We all knew old books had a distinctive odor, even if we never had a word for it.
Social Media: The Silent Addiction
Social media apps are designed to be attractive to everyone, but in many ways, they mimic the brain’s response to addictive behavior
The Signal: Speculative Fiction and First Contact
The plausibility of truth has become the antithesis of the alien trope.
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Hungry Masses
I have lost count of how many children I have taught, who struggled with food insecurity at home and wrestled with red tape at school.
One Last Glimpse of the Milky Way
Emerson and the other transcendentalists of the time had the last full, unobstructed view of the night sky—the celestial bodies, the shimmering constellations, even the Milky Way, a sight now impossible to behold for 8 out of 10 Americans.
Barbenheimer: The Cinematic Mirror
It’s fun to quip about the dichotomy of the two features released on the same day, but these films are more similar than one might think
Artificial Intelligence: or Why the Terminator Has Teeth
We as people design our fictitious worlds and the characters within them with our world and our bodies as templates
The Time Travel Conundrum
Writers and story-tellers have explored the idea of time travel for over a century. Here are a few paradoxes they have encountered.
And the Academy Award Goes to … Guns!
American cinema is more concerned with impolite speech than the portrayal of gun violence
Do Vegetarians Have a Choice?
The decision, more often than not, has already been made for us.
Welcome to Our World: Please Obey the Rules
Rules govern the worlds in our science fiction and fantasy stories. We must accept they cannot be broken, bent, or distorted.
Parallel Parking: Using Data to Drive Classroom Instruction
Imagine driving on a narrow one-way street. Ahead is a car whose driver is attempting, unsuccessfully, to parallel park. You watch, helplessly, impatiently, as they inch closer to the curb. Still you cannot get by them until they are successful. Our classrooms are designed like this one-way street.
Why High School Sucks and Video Games Don’t
I consider video games not as a hindrance, but as the very model our education system should adopt
Is Listening, Reading?
Audiobooks are an indispensable tool for struggling readers, advanced readers, and everyone in between.
Fix Your Car
I was fixing other people’s cars. And in doing so, I was neglecting my own.
Joshua Bangera Young 