One thing consistently haunts me as we edge globally into a permanent state of Orwellian doublespeak. It’s not merely the weakening of journalism within the American democracy at the hands of social media–to some degree, a purely free market pivot. Who wants to pay for it, after all, despite its cornerstone value to accurate [...]

I recently watched Barbarella for the first time, a 1968 movie famously starring Jane Fonda. I’d always understood it to be a kind of cheesy sci-fi flick. Nevertheless, it mysteriously gets attached to her name 8 times out of 10, & it left some indelible imprint on pop culture that persists into now through spin [...]

By my observation, some writers take easily to the spotlight of self-promotion. A primary mentor of mine, Allen Ginsberg, did so with enthusiasm. He saw himself, I think, as not just a guy selling books, but as some sort of harbinger of changing consciousness, sexual and political liberation, spiritual proclamation, and really quite a list