Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4660 )

• Mothers’ Instinct

  

  Maternity leave (not for me, but still) demonstrates just how sexist capitalism is. This becomes very clear in publishing where schedules are reinforced by... Read more

  Posted on 28 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Learning Lingo

  

  Languages are more than ways of communicating. They are ways of thinking. I figured that out with German, the first foreign language I studied. It became even... Read more

  Posted on 27 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Taste of Gilgamesh

  

  The Epic of Gilgamesh is considered a world classic. Some would designate it the first novel written and others an example of how basic human concerns haven’t... Read more

  Posted on 26 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Down to the Sea in Ships

  

  One of the first great trends of 2021 has turned out to be sea shanties. Micro-current historians have traced the craze, at least in part, to a TikTok video... Read more

  Posted on 25 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Dirty Books

  

  annoy me. Not that kind of dirty book, but books that arrive dirty. If a book is expensive, particularly an academic book, I look for a used copy. Read more

  Posted on 24 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Savage Doc

  

  Over the past several years I’ve written quite a lot about childhood books. Despite my ambivalence toward the internet, it has made it easier to find books... Read more

  Posted on 23 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ship Shop

  

  I support the US Post Office. As someone who still prefers print to electronic, having something actually delivered remains a thrill. I have to confess, however... Read more

  Posted on 22 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Welcome Home

  

  It feels like we’ve got our country back. I’m not talking about just Democrats, but all Americans. The last wicked four years felt like a nightmare to... Read more

  Posted on 21 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sea Romance

  

  Sea shanties seem to be one of the early rages of 2021. I’ll likely address this as a separate topic soon, but today I would note their appropriateness for... Read more

  Posted on 20 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Early Literature

  

  In a recent discussion I was asked what piece of literature that I first recollected as being superior. A couple of provisos here: I’ve got a few decades to... Read more

  Posted on 19 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• BLM, MLK, and Justice

  

  Martin Luther King Jr. was a martyr. The word martyr means “witness.” Given what we’ve all seen done by the Republican Party over the past two weeks, let’s... Read more

  Posted on 18 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• In Praise of Brevity

  

  I recently read an article in praise of short books. Marina van Zuylen, whose response led to the article by Steven Weiland, praises not only brevity, but also... Read more

  Posted on 17 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Goats, Sheep, and Politics

  

  Reasonable evangelicals need a new name. As a voting bloc, evangelicals have, according to many of their leaders, fallen from grace. Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Feelings of Horror

  

  One thing that’s become clear to horror fans (or those of us who try to analyze it, anyway) is that more and more pundits are asking serious questions about... Read more

  Posted on 15 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lizard Lords

  

  Photo by Bankim Desai on UnsplashIn the aftermath of last week’s attempted coup by the alt-right crowd, NBC ran a story about conspiracy theories. Specifically... Read more

  Posted on 14 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Year Book

  

  I have to confess that I’ve had trouble letting go of the holidays this year. Actually, that’s kind of normal. The let down from “sacred time” (however that... Read more

  Posted on 13 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Childhood Music

  

  I recently happened to hear the Alice Cooper song “Desperado.” If you’re thinking of the Eagles’ song, think again. Cooper’s song is from his 1971 album Killer. Read more

  Posted on 12 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Slow Jinn

  

  You can sort of tell when an author has a background in religion. Early on in my blog writing, I made note when novels had religious elements. It’s so common... Read more

  Posted on 11 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Look, New…

  

  You may’ve noticed a new look to my website. That isn’t intentional. I woke up Friday only to learn that Word Press (which used to be friendly to individual... Read more

  Posted on 10 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Prophet Margins

  

  One of the most misunderstood of biblical phenomena is prophecy. One of the reasons it’s so misunderstood is that other ancient peoples came to associate it wit... Read more

  Posted on 09 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY