Chris Hayes’s “Sirens’ Call” draws on a Homeric allusion as it warns us against being devoured by social media.
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Tag Archives: social media
Social Media’s Siren Call
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Chris Hayes, Homer, Internet, Odyssey, Sirens' Call Comments closed
Carter Foresaw Algorithm Manipulation
Carter’s novel “The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman” predicts Trump’s assault on reality.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged AI, Angela Carter, Caroline Orr Bueno, Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman Comments closed
The Best Minds Destroyed by Social Media
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by social media,” write a couple of tweeting satirists, referencing Ginsberg’s “Howl.”
More People Reading Poetry
According to recent surveys, poetry is more popular than ever. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of fiction.
A President Who Hates Books
No president has been so adverse to reading as Donald Trump, whose contempt for books conjures up images of “Fahrenheit 451.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, Fahrenheit 451, Fire and Fury, GOP, Michael Wolff, Ray Bradbury, twitter Comments closed
The Blue Guitar vs. Facebook
Wallace Stevens asserts that art changes “things as they are.” So does Facebook. We need the first to counteract the second when it is taken over by hostile forces.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Blue Guitar, Donald Trump, Facebook, Martha Nussbaum, Wallace Stevens Comments closed
Tolstoy and the Forerunners of Twitter
Before there were people sending tweets about the important developments of the day, there was witty repartee in European salons. We get a taste of such banter from Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.
Social Media, Our Modern Day Pillory
Social media has become the pillory of the 21st century, shaming people the way Hester Prynne is shamed in “The Scarlet Letter.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Jon Ronson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter, shaming, twitter Comments closed
A Deep Faith in Lit’s Redemptive Powers
In his overlooked classic “Stoner,” John Williams makes a compelling case for art’s redemptive powers. Art is authentic, unlike much of modern culture.