Culture and Society

Ransom Stephens’ 'The Left Brain Speaks, The Right Brain Laughs' is a cleverly written, irreverent take on neuroscience. But it's also illuminating — and the science is real.

Google has been amping up its powers with its advertising platform, Google AdWords. Meanwhile most people have been going about their daily lives unaware that they’re quite literally being targeted throughout their day.

Along with the witch in flight and grinning and jack-o-lantern, the black cat in full arched-back fright mode is among THE iconic symbols of Halloween. Even to this day, who doesn’t feel a little charge when a black cat streaks across one’s path, especially on Halloween? Cats have been variously worshiped or reviled throughout human history, but they have almost always been seen as magical and otherworldly.

Hocus Pocus has unexpectedly but perhaps inevitably become the consensus family favorite of the season nationwide. When it was released, bizarrely, in JULY of 1993, it was not a smash, was reviewed lukewarmly, and went on to generate a moderate $39.5 million ($65 million in 2015 dollars) at the box office.

This musical-in-progress about a legendary New York City innovator and force of nature – who isn't Alexander Hamilton – shows a lot of promise.

Since Bob Dylan seems uninterested, I wish to nominate myself to be the recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Devised by playwright Patricia Lynn and director Geordie Broadwater, this hybrid or mutant entertainment is told in old-style cinematic fashion, but updated storywise to the present day, while hewing largely to the plot of the original novel. I found its curiosities just right for Halloween season.

In concert, and as I found out in person as you can see in the video interview below from the Friars Club in New York, Patrizio's charm, unforgettable persona, and anointed voice allow him to revel in interpreting pop songs and Italian and international standards, leading to millions of album sales globally.

This is the way to deal with masks that has worked for me: seek to identify myself as an individual expression of God’s goodness, which strips away masks or false identities.

We're hoping for a fun weekend of great college football – hopefully without serious injuries. And while we'd like to think that CFB officials would get their act together and finally learn how to call a game with equality for all teams and players, we somehow don't think that's likely to happen. Still, we're looking forward to the end of the season.