Mapmakers once filled unknown regions with lions and monsters. The phrase hic sunt leones did not appear everywhere, but the instinct did. Where knowledge ended, imagination supplied danger. We still do this. We draw lions around people we do not know, histories we avoid, and futures we cannot control. Political leaders exploit that instinct. They…
Books get burned. Newspapers get censored. Frequencies get jammed. Artists disappear. Anthems are outlawed. But music always finds a way to outwit the walls built to contain it. A Song Can Preserve a Nation Governments try to erase languages, cultures, identities. Music resists. Yankee Doodle began as a British insult, a catchy tune meant to mock rustic…
Lately, I’ve been wondering whether journalists could be considered artists. I’ve come to the decision that they were not considered artists until Americans were dumbed-down by cable television, the media oligarchy, and the internet. All one needs to do is watch Fox News to witness a new absurdist theatre. In the history of real news, however, editorial cartoonists have…
Your mind, your creativity, and your skills no longer matter to these giants. Billionaire Peter Thiel’s company, Palantir, intends to upend humanity and replace the US Constitution with a 1000-year republic. In this model, an echelon of techno-nationalists will hold reign over a caste-based system of human beings. The Heritage Foundation (authors of Project 2025…
A few days ago I asked my social media connections to send me the songs they reach for when they need them most. I expected maybe a handful of responses. Instead, I got a hundred songs. A hundred answers to the question of what joy sounds like. That flood of music has been sitting with…
Governments are comfortable with creativity they can predict. They can live with art that entertains, flatters, or is over as soon as it is seen. They will even promote work that feels daring … as long as nothing actually changes. Those in power know how to live with artistic expression that splits people’s attention, isolates…