Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4649 )

• Thoughtful Transformation

  

  Philosophical horror’s a thing. A friend introduced me to Moorhead and Benson films—these aren’t major studio productions—and I’ve been watching them as I can... Read more

  Posted on 11 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Driving Complexity

  

  It should be a pretty straightforward thing, buying a car.  Unless you live in a city like New York you need one, so the process should be simple since it... Read more

  Posted on 10 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Modern Work

  

  The entertainment industry has proven itself, time and again, resistant to recessions.  It says something about our lives that we need that outlet no matter... Read more

  Posted on 09 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Shopping Trip

  

  Personal Shopper is one of those movies I’m not sure I understood, but which was nevertheless profound. It didn’t help that it was one of those “free with... Read more

  Posted on 08 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Little Bang

  

  I’ve always been interested in the sky.  At times it feels like I’m in love with it.  Having attended a Sputnik-era high school—a rural high school with an... Read more

  Posted on 07 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Moving Hope

  

  We were young and recently engaged.  I had to move from Boston to Ann Arbor, and all my worldly possessions fit into the trunk and back seat of a rental car. ... Read more

  Posted on 06 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Cabin Stories

  

  Almost always I come out on the same side of the debate. The book is better than the movie. The book allows things to be explained more fully and is the way... Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Consider the Ant

  

  Ants, the Bible suggests, are worth both watching and learning from. I was reminded of this while at the Easton VegFest a couple weeks back. The VegFest is an... Read more

  Posted on 04 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Closure of a Trilogy

  

  So the final part of Jessica Verday’s Hollow trilogy really moves into supernatural explanations of life after death. At least for those destined to become... Read more

  Posted on 03 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Funny Scares

  

  Camp has its own aesthetic. I’m not talking about the kind with tents and sleeping bags, but that has its own aesthetic too. No, I mean campiness in pop culture. Read more

  Posted on 02 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Reframing

  

  Theory can be tough to stomach, but once you get through it you can often find all kinds of valuables in an academic book. I learned quite a lot from Cecilia... Read more

  Posted on 01 September 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Self-Correcting

  

  A comment by a friend regarding Wikipedia recently got me thinking about self-correcting systems.  When I was teaching, I didn’t eschew Wikipedia like many of m... Read more

  Posted on 31 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Life Semesters

  

  Some people have a school calendar in their blood.  For me, that was one of the great appeals of the teaching profession.  I worked a lot during summers—class... Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• How Many Stairs?

  

  It tries. It really does. Still, The Girl on the Third Floor is just not that good. It got quite a few accolades, but I was waiting for something extraordinary. Read more

  Posted on 29 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Whence We Are

  

  Rootless.  Or perhaps a better word is “wandering.”  Although I was born in Pennsylvania, neither of my parents were and back another generation, few of the... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• More Young Fear

  

  Okay, so the second one has a cliff-hanger ending. I should’ve seen that coming. This installment of Jessica Verday’s The Hollow Trilogy moves the story pretty... Read more

  Posted on 27 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Good Horror

  

  As strange as it may seem, my goal in life has always been to bring more good into the world.  As they phrase it in Nerdfighteria, helping “to decrease world... Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Christian Horror

  

  Following the lead of a friend (I don’t regularly read Christianity Today on my own), I found “How Horror Uncovers Our ‘Holy’ Hypocrisy,” by Sara Kyoungah White. Read more

  Posted on 25 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lights, Camera

  

  I’m not quite sure how the monster in Lights Out should be classified. Perhaps a tulpa? A tulpa is a materialized being brought about by the power of thought,... Read more

  Posted on 24 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Used, Again

  

  It may be impolitic to admit it, but I have positive associations with Amazon.  This goes back to before they started using smily boxes. Read more

  Posted on 23 August 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY