The problem with “cultural appropriation”

I remember the 2010 World Cup for two things: vuvuzelas and Shakira. While most people loved “Waka Waka”, there was also some enraged tweeting about “cultural imperialism”. What right did this white (South) American woman have to come to Africa and sing an…

Stoicism, Pop and Classical

How most of what’s written about Stoicism in blogs is different from…

Psychological Shibboleths

I’ve always loved the word “shibboleth”. It sounds like one of H.P. Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones, a horrific…

Grit, gritty, grotty

“Grit” is a popular term these days. Just in case you were curious, it comes from the Anglo-Saxon greót, meaning grit…

Shirtstorm and Gamergate

[Since I’ve got too much work on to write any of the articles I’ve got knocking around in my head, here’s another blast from the past. This originally appeared on the main Sensible Marks of Ideas website, which got destroyed this summer and has still only partially been rebuilt. I’d…

Hillary, Trump, and the problem with first names

What Fantasy and Kung Fu Films Have in Common

While thinking about the tangle of features that distinguish fantasy from other…

Whose Democracy?

What Plato and Aristotle have to do with Trump and Brexit.

Elite: Nice adjective, shame about the noun

Why I want to slap hacks who go on about “the elites”.