John E. Branch Jr. – Medium

John E. Branch Jr.

John E. Branch Jr.

Confronting the shadow

In 1991, a friend and I saw an eclipse from the coast of Mexico. It was like this.

4 min readApr 7, 2024

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Confronting the shadow

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John E. Branch Jr.

It’s a mad mad mad mad nuclear world

We’ve been mad about the bomb for a long time. Here are examples, from lost weapons to lost chances to get rid of them.

4 min readJul 23, 2023

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The cover of a book called Atomic Postcards, with a missile forming the letter “I” in the title.

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John E. Branch Jr.

Notes on sinking

A few thoughts on descending and ascending, and on growing up as the child of a submariner.

4 min readJun 25, 2023

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A steel sphere bearing the words “New York Zoological Society | Bathysphere | National Geographic Society.”

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John E. Branch Jr.

On Maggie Q and the costs of an action career

A 2021 film prompts reflections on where Maggie Q came from and how she got here.

3 min readMay 28, 2023

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Actor Maggie Q, with eyes closed, looking reflective.

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John E. Branch Jr.

Mars on the Mind

Why it’s still a good time for reading a 30-year-old novel about the colonization of the Red Planet

4 min readMay 14, 2023

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The cover of the paperback book called Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson. It shows an outline of a planet, and the main color is red.

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John E. Branch Jr.

Red Bull finds a handsome gang of plotters and schemers in ‘Arden of Faversham’

The course of true crime never did run smooth, to judge from a historical example from the Elizabethan age.

4 min readMar 19, 2023

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Four characters from Red Bull Theater’s production of Arden of Faversham.

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John E. Branch Jr.

Seeing Hopper

An exhibition attuned me to Hopper-esque scenes of private moments in public

2 min readFeb 26, 2023

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A handful of visitors at an exhibition of paintings.

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John E. Branch Jr.

The problem with welcome news about AI in China

That we’d like to believe something doesn’t mean we should

2 min readFeb 19, 2023

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John E. Branch Jr.

The trouble with football

The game is violent, and destructive, and people love it. That’s the problem.

2 min readFeb 12, 2023

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John E. Branch Jr.

Looking backward: A 2015 view of the Wright brothers and Elon Musk

Want a fresh perspective on Elon Musk and tech innovators? An LRB review from 2015, of biographies of the Wright brothers and Musk, can…

4 min readDec 4, 2022

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Looking backward: A 2015 view of the Wright brothers and Elon Musk

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John E. Branch Jr.

John E. Branch Jr.

5th-gen. Texan now in NY. Into tech & culture. All views my own or stolen from admirable sources. (I write, but not for NYT.) http://ifitbenotnow.wordpress.com/

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