Culture and Society

People, we need your help. I am lukewarm at best about awards based upon mobilizing voters on your own behalf (or mobilizing bots to do the dirty work for you), but I am even less interested in sucking hosewater in said polls, especially when the vote totals are public and …

I have laid off the digital music wars for the most part of late because all parties — from the small-minded, self-defeating, niggardly record labels, to the disingenuous, spyware and corrupted file-laden file sharing services, to the morally oblique file sharers — share culpability for the current miasma. The legal …

Since we have hitched our wagon to their star, I can’t be called neutral, but I think Amazon is a reliable, generally customer-friendly company that has blazed the trail for general online retail for the masses. That they are actually making money at it is impressive and reassuring for e-business …

New radio documentary tomorrow on famed NYC columnist and muckraker Jimmy Breslin, on KCRW, NPR’s flagship station for Southern California: “JIMMY BRESLIN: THE ART OF CLIMBING TENEMENT STAIRS” Documentary produced for KCRW TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 at 2:30pm (PT) — A “Politics of Culture” Special Program Love him or hate him, …

We don’t have any reviews of the new SpongeBob Squarepants movie yet, although we have plenty of info on it here and Bill Lamb’s review of the soundtrack — with tracks from The Shins, Wilco, Ween, The Flaming Lips, Avril Lavigne and Motorhead — here. And we have glad tidings …

Eternal life may be changing from a death-defying fantasy to something more mundane, as this new book reveals...

The National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), over a period of approximately 20 years, will create a national, digital resource of historically significant newspapers from all the states and U.S. territories published between 1836 and 1922. This searchable database will be permanently maintained at the Library of Congress and be freely …

Oliver Stone’s epic Alexander finally opens next week. We just did a big hoohaw preview a few days ago, focusing on Pete Green’s survey of recent Alexandrian literature, and in particular Alexander’s evolving image. Archaeology magazine has just put up an Alexander resource on the web. Included in the section …

The time of Alexander draws nigh (November 24 to be precise), Oliver Stone’s epic historical biopic of one of the greatest and most enigmatic figures in history. Click on the above banner for every manner of interactive doo-dad and gizmo relating to the film, starring a blonde Colin Farrell as …