On October 18, an essay appeared at Current Affairs entitled, “What is Žižek For?” by Thomas Moller-Nielsen. As you might expect from the title, it is a takedown of the high-profile Lacanian-Marxist philosopher Slavoj Žižek.
I found this to be an interesting read for a variety of reasons, the first of which was because of nomenclature. Read more …
When I was growing up in the ‘80s, I considered Bruce Springsteen to be a buffoon. Watching him prance around in the video for “Dancing in the Dark” at the age when you think GI Joe is where it’s at embarrassed me profoundly, and made me feel embarrassed on behalf of those around me who were mesmerized by this spectacle. Read more …
I recently purchased Alex Chilton’s Baton Rouge 1985 which had been released by Klondike Records late last year. Most readers, if familiar with Chilton at all, know him as the teenage leader of the Box Tops, whose 1967 hit “The Letter” rocketed them to international fame, or as the primary songwriter behind the proto-indie rock band Big Star. Read more …
The conception prevalent among the general public is that since the late 1960s the left has been culturally ascendant. To a certain extent this is true: leftist values forged in the ‘60s (and prior) have achieved a sort of cultural dominance in the media, academia and the marketplace. Read more …
I would like to take a moment to briefly respond to Spencer Quinn’s excellent letter to Terry McAuliffe. In Werner Herzog’s 1977 film Stroszek the protagonist, Bruno S., gives an account of the difference he had experienced between living in a National Socialist-run orphanage and living in America. In the orphanage, if a boy wet the bed he was forced to stand in the sun, holding the sheet until it dried. Read more …
On Žižek, Nothingness, & Original Sin
On October 18, an essay appeared at Current Affairs entitled, “What is Žižek For?” by Thomas Moller-Nielsen. As you might expect from the title, it is a takedown of the high-profile Lacanian-Marxist philosopher Slavoj Žižek.
I found this to be an interesting read for a variety of reasons, the first of which was because of nomenclature. Read more …