Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4674 )

• Religions and Horrors

  

  My latest piece on The Golem has just appeared on Horror Homeroom. It’s free—check it out. In it I briefly discuss Jewish horror. I mainly write about... Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• No Go Subjects

  

  The problem with being eclectic is that you never catch up with everything. Although I was once a professor of Hebrew Bible—not technically the field in which... Read more

  Posted on 10 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Animal Spirituality

  

  I had little scientific basis for my claims. It wasn’t that I didn’t have evidence, but it was more one of those “if you see something say something” kinds of... Read more

  Posted on 09 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Book Birthing

  

  Books, like humans and other animals, undergo a process of conception, development, and birth. It may seem, when holding a book in hand, that it is the... Read more

  Posted on 08 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• How Clean Is Your Brain?

  

  First it was in. Then it was out. Now nobody seems to be sure. “Brainwashing” isn’t really a scientific term, but human suggestibility is very well in... Read more

  Posted on 07 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Gothic Dreams

  

  There’s something that compels a large number of people to consume material in the horror genre. Whether it takes the form of movies, books, or music, it is a... Read more

  Posted on 06 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Christian Nationalisms

  

  Ongoing analysis of the Capitol Riots continues as footage of the event is scrutinized. Although the press is puzzled, those who study religion—underfunded and... Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Gothic Celts?

  

  Two separate projects lately set me on the trail of preliterate Europe. While this isn’t the best time to celebrate white cultures (timing has never been an... Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ode to Snow Days

  

  Once upon a time there were special gifts called “snow days.” On these special days no one was required to report to school or work. Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• February Festivities

  

  One of the more commonly overlooked holiday complexes comes around Groundhog Day. It may seem strange to be thinking about spring right now, but it’s on... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Growing in Intent

  

  Balance has become a desideratum. Ours is an age of extremism. Black and white instead of shades of gray. One of the unnecessary polarizations is that between... Read more

  Posted on 01 February 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Contains Cookies

  

  In the early days of this blog I used to get regular reactions from other bloggers. This was back before I started the long commute to New York City and when I... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mittens and Circuses

  

  Bernie Sanders, since we’re now making up our own facts, clearly won this election. Or at least the inauguration. An inescapable meme of Sanders, bundled up wit... Read more

  Posted on 30 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bookstore Odyssey

  

  Work isn’t the best place to express yourself. Once a marketer asked for input from everyone concerning their favorite independent bookshop. Well, I might’ve... Read more

  Posted on 29 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• 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